| Abstract: | The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR, later to become CSIRO) was established in 1926 to replace the pre-existing Institute of Science and Industry. Its beginning was suffused with an optimism based on surpluses in Commonwealth revenues in the years 1926–8, an optimism which was reflected in the action of the Parliament in voting the sum of ł500,000 to be placed to the credit of a Trust Fund to give the new organization a good start. This amount was the exact sum which was mentioned by the then Prime Minister, W. M. Hughes, in his burst of enthusiasm, in December, 1915, when he first launched the Advisory Council of Science and Industry. |
