CSIRO gets $387m after a petition does the work the budget should have

Guardian Australia · Lisa Cox Environment and climate correspondent · Saturday 9 May 2026

CSIRO gets $387m after a petition does the work the budget should have

Albanese government tops up CSIRO by $387.4m after sustained advocacy and a petition exposed funding at its lowest level since 1978.

Lowest CSIRO funding since 1978 and it took a petition with tens of thousands of signatures to get the cheque book out. The science agency that gave us wifi was being run like a suburban op shop while the Treasury talked up the innovation economy. Pocock claps and the government takes the bow — handy work if you can starve the patient first and then bill yourself for the ambulance.

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