Money worries in wool research

Press, 14 August 1976, Page 3

Money worries in wool research

The Wool Research Organisation at Lincoln, New. Zealand’s premier wool-research organisation, is having to curtail its activities because of financial problems. It is financed by the Government, the Wool Board, and industrial members.

At one stage in the last year, when some of the money from its contributing organisations was a little slow in coming to hand, the organisation was on the point of having to go into overdraft to pay its staff. “We have reduced staff, done without equipment, economised and cut costs whenever it has been in our power to do so, and as a result we have come up with a respectable balancesheet,’’ the chairman of the executive (Mr A. G. Lawrence) told the annual meeting of the organisation yesterday. “Though an excess of expenditure over income of $9117 may look reasonably respectable when

our reserves stand at $BO,OOO, the effect, in my opinion, is far from satisfactory. “We have no show of achieving a reasonable balance next year without further reducing our research effort. To start with, we have already suspended our research grants to the universities and have been roundly criticised for doing so. “The problem is that, in spite of a favourable recommendation from the National Research Advisory Council and comprehensive submissions to the Minister of Science and Technology on our part, we have been unable to persuade the Government to have the organisation reclassified from a category C research association to category D, which would substantially increase Government funding. We have, in fact, only just received a negative reply from the Minister for this year’s funding, and he gives nol

indication of the level of funding for next year. “Though we realise we are suffering as part of a total cut in State spending, it is most frustrating as we are now moving towards our annual review of the research programme when the level of next year’s research is determined." Mr Lawrence told the meeting that he had written again to Mr Gandar that day. But in contrast to the Government’s inaction, their industrial members had responded well. Woolgrowers, through the Wool Board, had increased their contribution by $50,000 to $450,000. Scourer members had doubled the rate of their levy and agreed to consider a further increase this year. Textile members had also doubled the total of their contribution, but Mr Lawrence said that, in his view, this still fell well short of a Ireasonable commitment.

: l Mr Lawrence said he wanted to give notice that the executive would be asking for a further commitment from all industrial members. The executive of the organisation has proposed to scourers that their subscriptions for 1976-77 should increase from 0.07 c per kilogram of scoured wool produced to o.lc, with the rate in future years being adjusted to provide for changes in research costs. Mr Lawrence said that the executive would be making every effort to persuade the Government to increase its contribution. The director, Mr N. F. Roberts, said that they were getting 81.6 c. from the Government for every dollar contributed by industry. Even if the Government contribution was increased, it w r ould still be below a dollar for dollar and it would progressively decline proportionately again as expenditure rose.

In the annual report of the organisation Mr Roberts said that the increase in expenditure in the last year was very largely due to salaries, bursaries and fellowships, even though the number of the staff had declined by four. J

‘The rising level of direct staff costs as a percentage of total expenditure is a matter of some concern, in that the stage could be reached when the balance of funds available for operating and other expenses may not be sufficient to effectively support a reduced staff.” In the last two years, he said, they had tended to reduce staff numbers so that it was possible to support the staff they had with equipment more adequately. Mr Lawrence said that they had assessed that, by this year, they would have a staff of 1,01 but, in fact, it was 82.