Robin Williams

But, you see, one of the problems was that the...

lack of support for science, Barry Jones, the minister, called the scientists themselves, he said everyone should be part of the championing.

They hadn't been.

And he called them wimps.

He did.

Outside Questacon.

Outside Questacon, that's right.

So the prime minister was delayed and came to the live broadcast

rather well he wasn't cross he was rather mystified as to what had happened just now wimps happens to be a term that applies to physics as well and the possible nature of dark matter but the thing is

How do you galvanise people, as Barry Jones was trying to get, from people in science or community outside science to act together to make a difference?

Anna Maria Arabia, who stepped down just a few days ago as the CEO of the Australian Academy of Science.

Watch for her name soon in, who knows, yet another position of leadership in this uncertain nation.

To some extent, yes, because Barry Jones, who was a science minister under Whitlam, always said that you become a science minister either on the way up or the way down.

Except in his instance, that was there for a long time.

And he always said that he was being treated as a science minister in exile when he was no longer.

And it's always added on to something else, industry, education and so on.

And quite often when the ministers are being interviewed in public or

They are put on tomorrow's questions to do with the household bills in the supermarket, price of petrol, not what is going to be realised in five years' time when the point of science, that particular research project, has been realised.

Even five years' time is being optimistic.

You see, apart from training in athletics...