Labor cuts to soil strategy mailtimes.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mailtimes.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2021–22 federal budget
The Australian Government treasurer Josh Frydenberg brought down his third budget tonight, and the news for the science, technology and university sectors is… mixed.
The Australian Academy of Science points out that that the budget contains no significant new funding for fundamental discovery science and no initiatives to stem the loss of university science jobs.
On the flip side, the Academy is pleased the government has stepped towards future-proofing Australia by choosing to support development of capability to manufacture vaccines.
Academy President Professor John Shine says: “The Academy welcomes the commitment to develop an Australian mRNA manufacturing capability to fight COVID-19, the flu and future pandemics.
Statement in response to the 2021-22 Federal Budget
There is no change to appropriation funding for CSIRO, following the Government’s additional funding commitment in October’s budget of $459 million over four years, to address any reduction to CSIRO’s external revenue resulting from the impact of COVID-19.
There are, however, a number of new initiatives that CSIRO will be central to:
A Digital Economy Strategy investment of $1.2 billion covering a range of measures including:
An investment of $53.8 million over four years to create the National Artificial Intelligence Centre that will drive business adoption of AI technologies by coordinating Australia’s AI expertise and capabilities. CSIRO will be managing the Centre.
The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe, the water we drink – it’s all underpinned by healthy and productive soils. Since Europeans arrived in Australia, the continent’s soil has steadily been degraded. Yet, until now, we’ve lacked an integrated national approach to managing this valuable and finite resource.
That changed in last night’s federal budget, when Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced almost A$200 million for a National Soils Strategy. The 20-year plan recognises the vital role of soils for environmental and human health, the economy, food security, biodiversity and climate resilience.
Our soils face a range of threats, including the loss of prime agricultural land, erosion, acidification, salt accumulation, contamination and carbon loss. Climate change also puts pressure on our soils through through droughts, storms, bushfires and floods.
Environment by David Mills
Premium Content
Subscriber only The government has been accused of throwing loose change at the environment and climate, with millions of dollars for fossil fuel industries, but little for renewables and electric vehicles. Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) spokesperson Matt Rose said the government continues to shovel public money at fossil fuel projects through Budget allocations such as the $275 million set aside for five hydrogen energy hubs. Subsidies for the gas industry fly in the face of climate science and further demonstrate to the world that despite shifting global trends, Australia remains a climate laggard, Mr Rose said.