The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) is deeply disappointed at the contents of the recently released federal government Investment Plan for national collaborative research infrastructure. Despite the 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap clearly recognising Humanities and Social Science research as a top priority, the announcement provides only very limited support for scoping work in two years’ time. CHASS is especially disheartened at the government’s claim that $43 million allocated to CSIRO, to build a facility to care for insect and plant collections, is dedicated Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) funding.