Australian science in crisis, 1984: the founding of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS)

The thesis covers two troubled years in Australian science: April 1983 to April 1985. The two years began with the arrival of Barry Jones as Minister for Science and Technology, with his vision of a high technology future, and the growth in expectations amongst Australian scientists - resulting from this vision - of increased government support for scientific research. They ended in dismay following the fall from grace of Barry Jones, the dashing of expectations from the 1984 federal budget, and the resolve of scientists to form a national political organisation FASTS (the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies), to act on their behalf to lobby government. The magnitude of the crisis in 1984 which produced FASTS indicates. the essentially internal nature of the crisis. The marginal and powerless position of the scientific community in 1984 demonstrates the inadequacy of any definition of science which does not accommodate the broader social and political nature of science.