Ian Macfarlane, the industry minister, has hit out at the 'precious petals in the science industry' who criticise the government over Australia's lack of a science minister.
Macfarlane, who oversees a large portfolio that includes energy, skills and science, said he is irked by criticism of Tony Abbott's decision to not appoint a dedicated science minister.
'I'm just not going to accept that crap,' he said. 'It really does annoy me. There's no one more passionate about science than me, I'm the son and the grandson of a scientist. I hear this whinge constantly from the precious petals in the science industry.'
Australia had a dedicated science portfolio in cabinet since the 1930s until Abbott's decision to fold the role into Macfarlane's purview.
Last year, Abbott told a gathering of scientists that the government should be judged 'by our actions, not by our titles'. In the budget, the funding of the CSIRO, the government's science agency, was cut by $111m over the next four years.
Macfarlane, speaking at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia event in Sydney, also stressed the government's support for renewable energy.
The sector is currently in a state of limbo following a review of the renewable energy target led by businessman Dick Warburton. The review found that the RET, which stipulates that 41,000 gigawatt hours of Australia's energy must come from renewable sources by 2020, was successfully driving jobs and investment but should either be closed to new entrants or suspended until energy demand rises.
The Coalition promised not change to the RET prior to the last election. Labor and the Greens oppose any change to the target, while the clean energy sector has warned that $15bn in new investment and around 20,000 jobs will be put at risk if the scheme is wound back or closed.
Macfarlane did not say what the government's official response to the review would be, but said he was 'alarmed' that Labor would not negotiate over the RET.
'If Bill Shorten and Mark Butler don't reach a bipartisan position with us on the RET, it's the renewable energy industry that will suffer the consequences, not the Coalition,' he said. 'It won't be us who suffer, but it will destroy the renewable energy sector.'
'So I'll wait to hear from Labor. But neither option from Dick's report is closing down the RET, to be clear.'
Macfarlane said that while Australia has around 9,000MW of excess energy capacity, challenges remain if the country is to become an 'energy superpower'. He said gas production in NSW needs to be stepped up, otherwise the state will become 'very, very short' of gas within the next five years.
On Wednesday, Bernie Fraser, head of the Climate Change Authority, an agency the government is attempting to abolish, said the old, carbon-intensive coal generators could be paid to shut down, reducing Australia's excess capacity while bringing down emissions.
Fraser said this could be done by using funds from the Coalition's proposed $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund, which will, if legislated, provide voluntary grants to businesses that wish to reduce emissions.
However, a spokesman for Greg Hunt, the federal environment minister, told Guardian Australia that the government's focus is on 'cleaning up, not shutting down power stations.'
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