@itjohnstone
Account based inAustralia
About this account
- Account based in
- Australia
- Connected via
- Australia App Store
Account-level information from X, not a live location or the device used for a specific post.
Perth - Geneva - Madison - Reading - Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia
Joined September 2012
- Tweets21.5K
- Following2.7K
- Followers2.2K
- Likes27.9K
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
One of several problems here is that it is nearly impossible to judge in advance that any genuinely new knowledge will produce any economic or applied benefit. You can only make that judgement when a very similar kind of knowledge has done so. That’s fine if your just seeking to replicate results or produce minor adjustments to established knowledge, but genuinely innovative research work is necessarily a risk in a world where funding allocation rarely takes risks.
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
A forensic takedown of the corruption at University of Wollongong has now been published. michaelwest.com.au/uni-of-wo…
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
That we import nearly everything, and manufacture almost nothing is the result of a failed multi-government experiment.
Australia’s prosperity-creating manufacturing sector has been destroyed by blindly deregulated economic policy applied by both major parties.
“Australia cannot build future prosperity on population growth, property and resource extraction alone – it must invest seriously in the scientific capability that drives innovation. “
Australia must have an ambitious research policy to underpin economic transformation pearlsandirritations.com/pos…
The greatest risk to executing a highly automatic, trained motor skill under extreme pressure is thought. Conscious decision making at the time is a recipe for failure. Thinking about who to take penalties & how to take them should be done prior to the game.
Pretty astonishing figures.
One important question is the extent to which people's votes are swayed by each seat's candidates. And whether that's the same across different segments of the electorate.
A stereotype might be that in rural areas the individual candidates matter more.
You’re unable to view this Post because this account owner limits who can view their Posts. Learn more
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
Just reviewed these #Ebola and #Marburg #PPE guidelines, dated 2026. It's shocking for those of us who advocated for better Ebola PPE in 2014. It uses the 1m rule and states "Paradoxically, wearing excessive PPE can increase a person’s risk of infection." Where is the evidence? 1/4 iris.who.int/server/api/core…
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
The Federal Courts handed every court transcript to outsourced provider VIQ Solutions. VIQ then publicly boasted their AI was trained in partnership with Australian courts, without a single litigant ever being told or asked for their consent on often intensely private material.
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
After research and teaching are cut, what is left exactly? KTP or something?
UK universities cut jobs, research and teaching amid squeeze in overseas students ft.trib.al/mRzR5kG
I was a student in four different humanist grad programs (long story.) Only one student of all of those cohorts worked 9-5. It worked great for him. The rest of us worked the way most thinkers work: in fits and starts.
Yesterday, I was giving an intro talk to our dept's new PhD students. Technical things aside, my number 1 suggestion has remained the same over the years: Treat your PhD like a job.
- Avoid 1.5h lunch and three tea breaks.
- Avoid gossiping and loitering at work.
- Lab at 9 am and leave at 6 pm. Being productive till 11 pm in the lab is a lie people till themselves when their day starts at 1 PM.
Everything worth doing can be done with high intensity focus during work hours. And having fun in life is the secret to being productive in a marathon.
Unfortunately, the case of @ourANU exposes as myth the notion that corporate appointments are needed to ensure universities are well run.
We need staff and student oversight, and @NTEUnion will stand up for it.
That will need reform of the ANU Act.
smh.com.au/national/universi…
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
The government is mortgaging our future by destroying science in the present.
We’re having huge problems as a country yet our investment in research as a % of GDP is at a record low.
We have to turn this around and invest in CSIRO and science more broadly in 🇦🇺.
region.com.au/give-csiro-sta…
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
Fat Cat Salaries: They’re supposed to be there for service, not profit, yet most of our federal departmental secretaries get paid between $900K and $1M (twice what their US equivalents get paid). 👇HAVE YOUR SAY👇 before 10 June. 1/2 #auspol remtribunal.gov.au/consultat…
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
It didn’t end there, as it’s revealed Miller is on a “$315,000 contract” with Defence
Shoebridge asks why he wasn’t upfront about the conflict
Miller says it’s “publicly available”
Shoebridge “It’s actually not my job to find out if you have conflicts of interest with Defence”💥
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
We support calls from the Centre for Public Integrity for the next Deputy Commissioner of the NACC to be appointed through an open, merit-based, independent process. No more inside deals and jobs for mates.
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
Researchers paid $1.06 billion to five academic publishers from 2015-2018 to publish their papers.
Academic publishers sold the same papers back to researchers for $2 billion.
ALT A screenshot of the abstract of a research paper titled "The oligopoly’s shift to open access: How the big five academic publishers profit from article processing charges" by Leigh-Ann Butler et al. https://direct.mit.edu/qss/article/4/4/778/118070/The-oligopoly-s-shift-to-open-access-How-the-big
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
The data in this chart is wrong, but it's repeatedly gone viral.
Am I the only person who checked the source data and compared it with official figures in various countries?
You can argue against wasteful bureaucracy without fake data.
More here:
fresheconomicthinking.com/p/…
This is crazy !
Australia has the biggest public sector workforce in the world.
You won’t believe how we compare to other countries.
Listen to the details HERE.
🎧omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-fu…🎧
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
"If your anonymous source is a Cardiff University staff member ... they should raise it through appropriate University channels" 😃
Always reassuring to know there’s a clear route for concerns — straight to top of the redundancy shortlist
nation.cymru/news/university…
Tom Johnstone BunurongCountry AU EU UK retweeted
Look: the parliamentary Inquiry into enhancing Victorian university governance has received 112 submissions. 30% are anonymous!! Can we think about this for a moment? In a democratic Australia, one third of people participating in this inquiry need to hide???!!!
@JasonClareMP
OK, Here's what Google AI says:
BHP is investing over $1 billion to expand its Pilbara iron ore operations.
Funny thing to do if "It's Over"