The federal government has withdrawn an offer to provide $4 million to any Australian university willing to host climate sceptic Bjorn Lomborg and his “Consensus Centre”.
Staff at Flinders University in Adelaide, where management had been considering the proposal, welcomed the news.
National Tertiary Education Union Flinders University branch president Ron Slee said, “Today's decision is a welcome relief for a university community that has been relentless in its campaign to protect against the reputational damage that would inevitably travel with the Lomborg money.”
Bjorn Lomberg
Bjorn again?
Flinders University is in talks with climate “inactivist” Bjørn Lomborg about hosting his unique brand of climate action denial.
Since being ejected from the University of Western Australia by outraged students and staff in May, Lomborg and the Department of Education have been searching for a university to host his Australian Consensus Centre.
In a period of so-called “budget emergency” when deep funding cuts are being imposed on universities and scientific research, the federal government has managed to find $4 million for a “consensus centre” headed by advocate for climate inaction Bjørn Lomborg.
The $13 million centre will form part of the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) business school, with the Commonwealth contributing $4 million over four years.