The Australian government’s scientific agency has joined more than a dozen universities in being sent a questionnaire from the Trump administration asking to confirm whether it aligns with US government interests.
On Tuesday, the CSIRO revealed it had received the correspondence from the US. A spokesperson at the CSIRO said it was aware of a “small number” of researchers who had received the questionnaire in recent weeks and was “determining an appropriate response”.
I can’t help but wonder if this is a prelude to some kind of tariff diplomacy like “de-fund your sciency stuff and we will reduce your tariff’s”.
Our present PM would tell them to fuck off but we have an election soon and I suspect the new guy will be more likely to fall in line. He will talk some tough guy talk but will ultimately capitulate.
