Australias PM, known to be cozy with climate change deniers, is finally getting his policies in place:

Australian science base eroded by budget cuts

Australia’s research community is reeling from what have been described as short sighted and politically motivated cuts, outlined in the new conservative government’s first budget.

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CSIRO - the largest government research laboratory - faces cuts of A$111.4 million. It will lose 420-500 staff in the next year. Coming on top of 300 previously announced redundancies, this means the organisation will shrink by around 20% in just two years.

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Environment, climate change and renewable energy are all big casualties of the budget - most notably the intended abolition of the Renewable Energy Agency that will save A$1.3 billion, and the A$10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation. A$162.9 million will be cut from the Carbon Capture and Storage flagship, and a commitment to 1 million solar roofs has been withdrawn.

Abandoning carbon pricing will cost the Australian treasury A$20 billion, while the mining corporations will get A$13 billion in subsidies through diesel fuel rebates, asset depreciation rules and offsetting the costs of exploration says Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, climate campaign manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation.

From 2016, the university funding model is changing so that universities will be able to decide their own course fees. Universities will have to cover an 8.5% drop in funding compared with what was promised in last year’s budget - and one which already included stringent cutbacks. Changes to the higher education loan programme mean interest rates payable by students taking out the loans will be set at the higher 10 year bond rate, rather than inflation.

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