Source: PSA
A group of scientists are calling for an expanded, non-partisan approach to science funding after two years of widespread cost-cutting by the coalition government resulting in over 700 science roles lost.
The Save Science Coalition’s new report, ‘Underfunding our Future: The Human Face of the Science Cuts’ [attached], contains eleven stories from New Zealand scientists who had to move countries or shift into a different field to find work as a result of the cuts, as well as some scientists who can’t find a job at all.
Geoscientist Caleb Rapson Nuñez del Prado took voluntary redundancy at GNS Science (now Earth Sciences NZ) in 2025 after his team was cut by 25 per cent.
In his former role, he contributed to 24/7 monitoring of New Zealand earthquake and tsunami risk, sending out real-time alerts to emergency management agencies advising them of any imminent dangers.
“What that means is a degradation in the service we provide, in particular the resiliency of the service,” Caleb explains. “There will be times where New Zealand’s monitoring will step backwards from a live monitoring system to an on-call system.”
He now lives and works in Rome, where he has taken up a role at the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.
“To me, Government funded science and research exist to serve the public good, and understanding and responding to natural hazards does exactly that. The value of that work, and the lives it helps protect, can’t be judged solely through a dollar-value or a return-on-investment lens. Yes, there should be efficiencies – things like promoting collaboration – but cutting funding and pushing these essential public services into a commercialised approach is not how you deliver these services for New Zealand.
“As a Kiwi, I am hopeful that I will one day be able to come back to New Zealand and apply what I’ve learnt overseas in the natural hazards/tsunami space. To do that, I hope that a new Government would address these issues with science funding, and I could come back to a New Zealand with a strong science funding system in place.”
Save Science Coalition spokesperson and experimental physicist Ben Wylie-van Eerd says publicly funded science is crucial both economically and to New Zealand’s wellbeing as a nation.
“We know that investment into R&D works – so why are we risking turning off the tap?
“At the end of the day, we need scientists to do the work. New Zealand has an excellent education system that produces incredible talent. We need to look after these people and put them to work so we can grow and diversify the economy, increase our productivity, and become a more attractive place for global investment and collaboration.
“The stories in this report are personal for me – I was one of the many scientists made redundant because of these cuts. I came very close to having to leave New Zealand. I left once before as a young scientist chasing my dreams, but I came back home and I brought the skills and connections I made with me. If I had been forced to leave again, I doubt I would have come back a second time.
“Scientists want to see a new approach to science funding that doesn’t change each election and has ambition to raise us to the levels common in our peer nations. Science and research are too important for the long-term prosperity of New Zealand to ignore.”
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
