Question Time in Parliament yesterday gave Labour the opportunity to flush out information on the effects of the science sector restructuring.
Reuben Davidson, Labour MP for Christchurch East, asked Dr Shane Reti, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, how many full-time research jobs have been lost or left unfilled in the last two years as a result of funding cuts or restructuring in the science system.
Hansard records the reply:
Hon Dr SHANE RETI (Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology): I am advised that there have been 114 science jobs associated with the disestablishment of Callaghan Innovation. I am further advised that there has been a net reduction of 224 science staff within the Crown research institute / public research organisations from July 2024 to September 2025. However, these are not the result of the current reforms of the science system, but, rather, operational decisions. It is important to note that our science organisations make changes to staffing levels for a variety of reasons as they adjust to changes in emerging priorities and fluctuations in market conditions, including success in contestable funding and commercial revenues.
Dr Reti did answer the next question but he didn’t provide the information requested.
Reuben Davidson: Has he asked how many of the 200 Kiwis a day leaving the country to find work overseas are scientists?
Hon Dr SHANE RETI: I value all of the scientists who are currently in the system and who currently may be making a choice to go offshore. I would encourage them to contribute or be a part of the funding I have just announced, but, furthermore, I am encouraged by the biannual StatsNZ R & D survey, which shows that the broader New Zealand science sector has actually grown from 28,200 roles in 2022 to 30,600 roles in 2024, adding around 2,400 full-time roles.
It’s a fair guess that Dr Reti hasn’t asked how many of the Kiwis leaving New Zealand are scientists.
He did answer the next question:
Reuben Davidson: Does he agree with the winner of the Prime Minister’s Science Prize, who last month said that, if the funding doesn’t change, “scientists will pack their bags and move to other countries.”, and, if not, why not?
Hon Dr SHANE RETI: I agree with the winner of that award and congratulate him on the good work that he was doing, and I can reassure him that during this period of the Government’s restructuring of the science sector reforms, the funding for the science portfolio has not changed.
The rest of the questioning went like this:
Reuben Davidson: Will he, instead of cutting jobs, ring-fence or expand support for early-career researchers, to encourage our youngest and brightest to stay in New Zealand?
Hon Dr SHANE RETI: Early-career researchers are well looked after through a number of funding mechanisms, including Marsden, including the Health Research Council, and including the Endeavour Fund, and we’ll continue to ensure that pipeline of emerging researchers through to later careers.
Reuben Davidson: What is he more proud of: the $10 million invested in the Deep Heat geothermal project or the $11 million he has spent to make scientists redundant at Callaghan Innovation?
Hon Dr SHANE RETI: If the member is proposing that they should receive no redundancy, he should discuss that with the Public Service Association, and I’m very proud of the $10 million for Deep Heat supercritical geothermal energy in the Taupō Volcanic Zone.
Reuben Davidson: Is the winner of the Prime Minister’s Science Prize right to accuse the current Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, of being “an idiot for running a Government who budgeted more for AI than for the Marsden Fund” and to characterise his Government’s science funding as “batshit” for budgeting 327 times more funding for a single road than for basic science?
Hon Dr SHANE RETI: I thank the Prime Minister for his support of the science portfolio and would suggest that some accurate numbers actually be done. Marsden was $70 million or more in one year; AI is $70 million over seven years.
Source: Hansard
