Science has also had a trying year. While New Zealand likes to talk about how it punches above its weight when it comes to research and innovation, there have not been many bright spots in a year which will largely be remembered for universities cutting crucial science capability after many years of underfunding.
It is not all doom and gloom. There remain plenty of talented individuals whose work is making a difference. And there are science agencies whose researchers work hard to do what they can to promote New Zealand science offshore.
Where things have gone pear-shaped is in the university sector. Most Kiwi scientists work for either one of the seven public Crown research institutes, such as AgResearch, GNS Science and ESR, or for the agency Callaghan Innovation, or at one of the country’s universities.
Harsh winds have been blowing through the tertiary industry. This year, the University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, Massey University and AUT have cut a significant number of academic and professional staff, scientists among them.
Probably the most high-profile of these has been the decision by Massey bosses a fortnight before Christmas to push ahead with a controversial proposal to axe 67 science roles and merge two schools.
The affected scientists are in disciplines including chemistry, zoology, ecology, and conservation and molecular biology. Students and staff are angry about the cuts, which the Tertiary Education Union has called deeply disappointing, completely unnecessary and short-sighted.
At the University of Otago, jobs have been cut in the geology department and the science communication department is being disestablished next year. And at Victoria University, scientific staff in geophysics and physical geography have been made redundant.
All these actions are extremely myopic, as is often the case in New Zealand when quick and dirty corrections are needed to make the bosses and the bottom-line look better. Anyone with any iota of insight and strategic thought knows the benefits of such fields of study become apparent in the medium to longer-term.
The Te Ara Paerangi consultative process, which determined the sector needs to be more culturally diverse, more supportive of especially younger researchers, and invested in more wisely, is left flailing after the savage cuts inflicted this year.
Should we be worried about the state of New Zealand science? Absolutely. Should the new government mark it as a priority for 2024? Definitely.
A vibrant, diverse and inquisitive science sector is the key to a successful economic future, one which delivers for us all in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.
And another thing ...
There are plenty of jobs which attract criticism from others, many of whom suggest they would somehow be able to do yours better than you can. There are also occupations which attract more than their fair share of abuse from the public, including politicians, councillors and council staff, the police, and weather forecasters.
Journalists have always been targets for abuse, both casual and ongoing. Particularly overseas, their work has drawn huge criticism and even violence from those who are not on friendly terms with the truth, and wish both it and its inconveniences to their connivings would just disappear.
New Zealand has been perhaps one of the kinder countries in which to be a journalist — that is, until the rise of Trumpism and ludicrous conspiracy theories from the Right in the past few years.
A recent study reveals just how pervasive the abuse of journalists has become here too, both online and in person. Women, especially Māori women, reporters receive the most frequent and toxic online abuse, with some fearing that could spill out into actual attack and injury.
This abuse has to stop. Without a freely operating media, our precious democracy can easily be undermined by the crackpots purveying lunatic theories and all those wanting to take advantage of those less well-off.
