It’s raining money, because the Government has so much to spend.
5.7 Billion dollars over four years to “science and universities.”
But it’s not enough to simply give the science funding lobby money up to the eyeballs, it wants to pick winners as well, through the “$1.1 billion Super Science Initiative, which will fund infrastructure to support research in astronomy, climate change, marine and life sciences, biotechnology and nanotechnology.”
These for the most part sound like areas that don’t need special treatment. bio and nano, in particular, are already well-funded by industry, and the others are luxuries.
Tony Jones was grilling Joe Hockey on Q and A last night about where he would cut from the budget. Well, there’s plenty of fat for either side to carve off in the science and technology arena.
For instance…
$4.7 billion for a national broadband network (do we really need to break the bank to channel youtube into the furthest corrners of the nation?)
$4.5 billion for a Clean Energy Initiative to help increase clean energy generation and new technologies (a silly idea – even if clean energy is a noble goal, we should purchase overseas technology, not develop it ourselves)
$31.1 million for an Australian Climate Change Science Program
I wonder what other lumps of lard are floating in the budget stew?