Jim Salinger, one of New Zealand’s top climate scientists, has been fired from his job at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa). Salinger, a common guest in various media, is reported to have been sacked for ignoring a new Niwa policy against speaking publicly without prior approval. TV One said Niwa had accused Dr Salinger of serious misconduct after he took part in a programme the channel produced about glaciers. Salinger told One News “I can’t understand it, it’s not as though I’m doing bad science, it’s not as though I’m under-performing, so I’m really astounded,”

The New Zealand Association of Scientists (NZAS) have issued a press release stating that they support “scientists speaking freely in their areas of scientific expertise without inappropriate corporate constraints or threat of dismissal.” noting that “Communicating scientific advances to the public and commenting publicly on relevant science issues is an essential part of the scientific process, particularly in non-commercial areas supported by the taxpayer.” NZAS also expressed concern with the corporate operatings models and commercial imperatives that have existed since the science reforms in the early 1990s that set up the Crown Research Institutes. NZAS argues that such business imperatives can undermine freedom of scientific expression.

The government is currently reviewing its science structures and NZAS believes that this review should include a reassessment of whether the current organizational structures are “the most appropriate ones for the innovative science that New Zealand will need to address environmental, social, economic and human health issues in the years to come.”