Hunt's About-Face Won't Save CSIRO, But At Least He's Not Actively Destroying It

EDIT

In fact, given Hunt's credentials, one would have thought he'd make a hell of a job of the Environment portfolio. Except that he didn't, instead releasing embarrassing climate data two days before Christmas when the least amount of people would notice, overseeing the mighty boondoggle that is Direct Action, using political pressure to scare the World Heritage Committee into not listing the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger" despite the unprecedented scope and seriousness of coral bleaching, and rubber-stamping mining approvals with such vigour as to overlook the failure of the applicants to carry out environmental impact studies. He must be very proud.

Hunt's about-face hasn't done anything to improve Australia's climate science so much as not ruin it as much: instead of more than 100 people losing their jobs from the CSIRO's climate division, 15 new jobs will be created (with about 35 still axed). He's also restored about $37 million in funding over the next 10 years, and has announced that plans for new programs and projects will emerge in the coming months.

And let's be clear: this is unambiguously a good thing. Anything that supports science (science!) and particularly climate science in Australia is a smart move and a wise use of resources. However, as climate scientists have made clear, this announcement doesn't come close to replacing what was lost, much less replace the experience and data lost via the previous tranches of cuts. It's mopped up some of the bleeding, not actually fixed the wound.

In other words, this tiny and welcome about-face is pretty much the least that the government could do. And probably the most we can expect.

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/the-csiro-aboutface-is-the-least-the-government-could-do-20160805-gqm46t.html