FASTS Newsletter Extracts - April 2002
Edited by Nicola Elliott
From FASTS (Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies) President, Chris Fell and FASTS Executive Director, Toss Gascoigne.
1.
“Science Meets Parliament” (SmP) Day
This year SmP will be held on November 12 –13 (Tuesday and Wednesday). The
morning of November 12 will be free for supplementary meetings.
FASTS hopes to incorporate a new aspect, a Science-Industry dinner on the evening of November 13, and will announce a full program as soon as possible.
2. The Minister’s New Science Advisor
Dr Thomas Barlow is Dr Brendan Nelson’s impressive new science advisor. Dr Barlow is a chemist, (USyd and Oxford) with experience at MIT, and working as a freelance journalist immediately prior to his appointment.
3. Dr Barlow’s request
“I want to
have on hand a file on key successes in Australian (especially university)
research conducted over the past 5 years. Can you therefore perhaps ask your
member organisations to send me reprints of what they might consider the most
interesting or influential research produced by their members over this time?”
Dr Barlow’s address is:
Office of Dr Brendan Nelson, MP
Suite 8
12-16 Tryon Rd
Lindfield NSW 2070
4.
Workshops for Member Societies
Early this year, FASTS approached Science Minister Peter McGauran with a
proposal to run workshops around Australia to assist our Members to manage
their affairs.
The workshops would deal with a set of practical problems which confront all professional or learned Societies. Our Presidents nominated some of these issues last year:
i. Delivering benefits to members
ii. Finding, motivating and co-ordinating a volunteer workforce
iii. Finding and working with professional help – the role of the executive officer
iv. Communicating with Members, including finding what members want
v. Influencing policy and raising the profile (including use of media)
vi. Effective use of database and accounting packages
Chris Fell is glad to announce that the arrangements for these workshops are nearly complete and wants to acknowledge the support of Peter McGauran in breathing life into the proposal.
FASTS will let WISENET know shortly about the content and schedule of these workshops.
5. New Parliamentary Committee for Science (from a media release by Peter McGauran)
“Science is set to feature in a new Parliamentary committee, announced recently by the Howard Government.
“Federal Science Minister, Peter McGauran has welcomed the formation of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on ‘Science and Innovation’.
“A dedicated Science and Innovation Committee has been championed by the Federation of Australian and Scientific Technological Societies and I congratulate FASTS on its advocacy which has resulted in this important initiative,” Mr McGauran said.
“The Committee’s work will expand the Parliament’s knowledge and support for research and development.”
The new Committee will be chaired by the Liberal MP Gary Nairn. FASTS has been asked to suggest items the new Committee may consider.
6.
Occasional Papers
Occasional Paper No 4 on the state of parasitology in Australia continues to
echo in Government circles. Minister Peter McGauran will address the
Parasitology Society’s annual conference in Hobart later this year and
government departments are continuing to work out how they can best respond to
the issues the paper raised.
If WISENET members would like discuss how WISENET members could be involved in raising issues through publishing and Occasional Paper in this series, please contact the FASTS office at PO Box 218, Deakin West ACT 2600 or by email to Toss Gascoigne at fasts@anu.edu.au