Madam Speaker, I listened very closely to my colleague's speech, and I hope he can help me work through a dilemma that I face.
I hear contradictory statements from Minister of State for Science and Technology. The first is that the government is putting more money than ever into science. It is tripping over itself to open up the coffers and help scientists investigate problems. In the next breath, the government says that it has found efficiencies and is making cuts. With one breath it is saying that it is keeping everything the way it is and in the next breath it is saying that it is fundamentally shifting so that science can serve industry.
I find this a problem. The government cannot keep things the way they are and fundamentally change them. Could my colleague perhaps shed some light on these rather contradictory statements made by the government?