Henry BelotAustralia’s international reputation and diplomatic influence will be damaged unless the federal government intervenes to ensure crucial climate change research in Antarctica is not cancelled, international lawyers and environmentalists have warned.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is also facing political pressure from the Greens and the Coalition, which have both raised concerns about plans to cancel or heavily restrict studies of record-low sea ice, ice shelves and declining penguin populations due to a budget crunch.
On Tuesday, Guardian Australia revealed dozens of projects were on the chopping block as the Australian Antarctic Division scrambles to make $25m of savings in 12 months to meet its existing budget.