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The Coalition Continues to Defund Science

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, May 18th, 2025 - 6 comments
Categories: jobs, science, tertiary education, unemployment - Tags: , , , ,

The Coalition has a warped view of what science is, of its purpose, of its role in and for society, and of what should be funded with public money (clue: not much). It has culled another science fund and so far, it has only been picked up by the superb people at Newsroom.

The press release from MBIE announcing that Endeavour Fund 2026 round will not invite applications mentions the ‘operational burden’ as the reason but fails to come clean about the other reason that is ‘saving money’. It does state that funds will be redirected to cherry-picked projects but obviously this will never be the full amount that was originally allocated for 2026 minus the unavoidable compliance costs associated with this change.

The deep cuts in the public sector are starting to bite and MBIE is no exception with several hundreds of jobs lost. So, the operational burden is probably real. For example, MBIE’s free mediation in employment disputes, which are on the rise in this tough financial climate, is under pressure, but delays are desirable to employers and the Coalition because they save money in the interim and often permanently because not many complainants have the mental and financial stamina to stick it out and see it through thereby quite possibly forgoing their rights as employees – this is a genuine grievance industry that’s ‘booming’ and partly caused and supported by the Coalition’s imposed austerity regime.

People are the ones who lay the golden eggs, not AI bots, not computers, not automated machines. Scientists create, exemplify (put into practice) ideas, and arrange protection of IP. The Coalition is starving them of funds to generate new innovative ideas – when scientists are worried about their jobs and stressed because of change fatigue and imposed on and by their organisations they become less creative, less productive, and less efficient (and much less happy!).

The Coalition wants to attract investors from overseas to invest in the country’s ‘promising’ science sector but it’s not clear what they’re supposed to invest in. Is it existing IP? Is it land and/or brick & mortar fixed assets?

Universities are also under financial pressure and struggling to meet budget KPIs imposed by government. But they rather invest in costly brick & mortar vanity projects which they call assets that they can glorify and brag about while the people they employ are resources and a financial liability and are laid off to lighten the burden when the going gets tough – the powerless people get going, e.g., overseas to find better opportunities. This is similar the Coalition prioritising investment in infrastructure – potholes over people. People are not commodities that can be on- and off-loaded willy-nilly!

NZ universities will find it harder to claim to be a “pre-eminent research-led institution” and will therefore struggle to maintain their placing in world rankings. This will affect the number of enrolments and hit them in the pocket even further. Meanwhile, the science sector is already starved of vital funding and must wait for another year or so, at least, and after the General Election. For many this will be too little too late and lab benches will gather dust. All thanks to the sheer brilliance of the Coalition.

6 comments on “The Coalition Continues to Defund Science ”

  1. Patricia Bremner 1
    18 May 2025 at 5:24 pm

    All part of fund their funders and devil take the rest.

    All short term better for me now thinking.

    Reply
  2. Drowsy M. Kram 2
    18 May 2025 at 6:04 pm

    Dairy R&D will be over the moon, while other scientists run away with their IP spoons.

    John Roche named as PM's new chief science advisor [7 May 2025]
    "I [Luxon] also expect them to provide bold and courageous advice about those areas that aren't delivering value for New Zealanders and may need to be deprioritised.

    "It's about making sure we are investing in what will have the greatest impact for New Zealanders."

    He said his new chief scientist, who was the principal scientist for animal science at DairyNZ and currently leads MPI's Mycoplasma bovis advisory group, would support robust decision-making by providing high quality, independent scientific advice.
    …
    Other members of the Science and Technology Advisory Council include Craig Piggott, the founder of a company that developed a collar to monitor beef and dairy cows; Auckland Bioengineering Institute director Professor Merryn Tawhai, who leads a research programme into the respiratory system; Komal Mistry-Mehta, who heads up Fonterra's corporate venture capital arm; and Genesis Energy chief executive Malcolm Johns.

    Reply
  3. Incognito 3
    19 May 2025 at 9:15 am

    Thus, while Science Minister Shane Reti recently celebrated an increase in business expenditure on research and development, it is not clear that that success story will continue to pay dividends while our science system as a whole remains woefully underfunded.

    Last year the National Science Challenge research funding was cut from the Budget; this year the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has announced the cancellation of the Endeavour funding round for 2026. While existing contracts may be extended and not all of this funding should be lost, this will impact negatively on researchers in applied science and innovation, the exact type of applied science and innovation this Government has repeatedly stated it wants to encourage.

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/19/how-to-grow-a-deep-tech-economy-but-for-real-this-time/

    A more articulate opinion on the current dismal state of science funding in NZ that points also to the elephant in the room, for those who are wilfully blind and deaf, that government funding of science in NZ is too low, too little, and most likely too late. Unfortunately, in the opinion piece they only focus on advanced technologies and don’t mention arts, humanities, social sciences that are equally if not more important for a well-functioning society – the stare remains fixed on the economy.

    Reply
  4. AB 4
    19 May 2025 at 1:00 pm

    Maybe they're desperate for a silver bullet to bring down Dairy's CO2 emissions – before NZ conspicuously fails to meet its Paris commitments and they have to publicly disgrace themselves (and us) with a Trumpian withdrawal from the agreement?

    Maybe they don't know the first thing about creativity and innovation? In particular, that good ideas don't spring perfectly formed out of the minds of individual geniuses – but instead rely on a whole lot of basic science that has been done without any commercial motive and in a way is just lying around waiting for some moment of synthesis where multiple connections are made between existing bits of research and new hypotheses emerge that can advanced and test, i.e. that science requires a community of scientists?

    Reply
  5. Incognito 5
    20 May 2025 at 10:16 am

    Across the ditch things are no different and they’re also searching for new ways to lift the dropping productivity.

    What’s needed to properly tackle the problem is thoughtful reform and long-term, strategic planning to secure the nation’s prosperity for decades to come.

    https://theconversation.com/the-federal-government-wants-to-boost-productivity-science-can-help-256567

    Again, the authors view science as an economic tool, a means to an end, through a strictly economic lens. Anyway, the most productive strategy won’t involve cutting funding of the science sector and, by extension and close proximity, funding of tertiary education, which is the NZ Coalition’s way.

    Reply
  6. Incognito 6
    20 May 2025 at 3:49 pm

    Another great piece by Rob Campbell who looks up rather than down and farther ahead than most. The latter is not really a challenge, as he points out.

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/19/we-need-venture-socialists-to-match-venture-capitalists/

    Reply

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