91av

LAST week鈥檚 Australian Budget was disastrous for science鈥攜et again.
Looking back over the eight years I have been writing this column, the Budget
has contained bad news for science in six of them, and the other two years were
mixed.

As usual, any apparent increases are a thimble-and-pea trick. A small rise in
research grant funding through the Australian Research Council, for example,
seems to have been paid for with a cut in the money allocated directly to
research institutions. The funding for the much vaunted biotechnology strategy
has been provided by taking money from the existing Technology Diffusion
Programme. The modest assistance to the higher education sector doesn鈥檛 even
restore recent cuts. And outside Academe, CSIRO is to lose A$107 million
from its asset base over the next three years, on top of previous cuts.

Not surprisingly, science lobby groups have attacked the Budget. It showed
the government had no understanding of global trends, said Sue Serjeantson,
president of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies
(FASTS). 鈥淭he rest of the world is investing in research and innovation while
Australia considers reports,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his Budget has not made the necessary
investment decisions, and we are falling behind.鈥� Serjeantson said the only
bright spot was additional funding for medical research. She concluded that the
government isn鈥檛 really interested in moving to a knowledge-driven economy.

The Academy of Science was even more blunt. It described the Budget as
continuing into a fifth year 鈥渢he government鈥檚 policy of attrition of the higher
education sector鈥檚 research capacity鈥�, and it forecast that 鈥渢he dismal trend of
inadequate grants, low success rates and uncertain career paths鈥� would drive
Australia鈥檚 best and brightest young scientists overseas.

Such condemnation didn鈥檛 come only from vested interests. In its post-Budget
editorial, the national daily, The Australian, said, 鈥淚t is disgraceful
that in education and science, both areas in which the Coalition has talked up
expectations, the Budget fails to deliver. The Government stands condemned for
its lack of commitment. It is unconscionable that a country that claims to be an
important part of the increasingly global economy puts so little into tertiary
education and fails to understand the need to stimulate scientific
谤别蝉别补谤肠丑.鈥�

One area was cheering. The funding of the Science and Technology Awareness
Program (STAP) was restored to its former level of A$3.6 million. The
STAP budget was slashed last year to just over half that figure, and there was
talk of cutting the programme completely. But a review found it to be highly
cost-effective. I can hardly complain about extra money for awareness of science
and technology. But it would be better to have more science and technology for
people to be aware of.

The government says it is waiting for recommendations from the Innovation
Summit Implementation Group and the Chief Scientist before making any strategic
decisions. A mini-Budget when that advice is received would at least鈥攁nd
at last鈥攕end a positive signal to the science community.

I WAS lucky enough to be among a group of dedicated science communicators who
recently spent a week in the Australian outback. Flying in a chartered DC3 that
was older than the most mature of the scientists, the group sparked discussion
of topics ranging from galaxies to brain biochemistry in schools, pubs and
outlying properties. About one-third of the cost was covered by a grant from the
above-mentioned STAP programme. Details of the tour can be found at
www.abc.net.au/science/outback.

The group found a high level of scientific awareness in the bush. In
Charleville, astronomers Fred Watson and David Malin found themselves face to
face with great interest in our place in the universe. Audiences in Bourke and
Longreach were well aware of issues affecting sustainable use of land and water.
And in the Birdsville pub I found myself questioned closely about coral
bleaching as a measure of global warming.

But there is still some way to go to achieve universal scientific literacy.
As we went to set up our Science Week stall at the Longreach show, I passed a
stand offering magnetic remedies for 鈥渞elief of pain in man and horse鈥�. The
example that really caught my eye was a treatment for ingrown
toenails鈥攎agnetised emu oil.