CSIRO chief’s exit offers Labor rare opportunity to alter direction of Australia’s science agency

Industry and science minister Ed Husic is expected to present the government’s statement of expectations for CSIRO in the new year. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

When CSIRO announced last week that Larry Marshall had opted not to try to extend his role as chief executive of Australia’s premier science agency beyond June 2023, some internal critics expressed a sense of relief.

“The organisation was changed profoundly under his leadership,” one senior scientist told Guardian Australia about Marshall’s term that began in 2015. “It was painful.”