Climate of fear: are CSIRO’s sweeping job cuts a sign Australia doesn’t care about the extinction crisis?

S weeping job cuts across the nation’s science agency this week have been foreshadowed for months, but the sheer scale of them has left many researchers within laboratories and offices across the country shocked.

Up to 350 research roles are on the cutting room floor across key areas – including environment, human health and minerals – as leaders of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) attempt to steer the agency from a steep funding cliff.

The CSIRO is a household name for many Australians, a national pride for its involvement in developing technologies like the total wellbeing diet, plastic banknotes, and even Twisties.

But over the next financial year, a number of its research and development units will cease to exist as the CSIRO looks to restruc