Government Told Not to Bowdlerize State of the Environment Reports. (January 13, 2008)

The Canberra Times' Rosslyn Beeby reports that WWF Australia president Denis Saunders and Australian Conservation Foundation president Professor Ian Lowe said the national reports, which are prepared every five years, are too important to be compromised by political influence.

The homepage of the federal government's website together with Senator Carr's departmental edict for publicly funded research initiations to clear media releases of consequence with him, and "revelations this week that a section of the 2006 State of the Environment report was rewritten because it conflicted with Howard government policies supporting commercial kangaroo harvesting" gives an indication of what may well have brought on the voiced concerns.

Professor Lowe a world recognized authority on climate change, compiled Australia's first State of Environment report in 1996 for the Keating government. He was also invited by the journal Science to author the September 21, 2007 editorial which was highly critical of the Howard Coalition government's science policies.

According to Ms Beeby's report professor Lowe said: The Howard government "air-brushed" much of the 2006 report to present a "deceptively rosy picture" of critical environmental issues, and data on greenhouse emissions and land clearing were also misrepresented, he said.
"This is a public scandal. It shows blatant political interference with a document that is meant to be an independent, accurate and rigorous scientific assessment."

Dr Saunders, a former CSIRO chief scientist and international expert on the conservation of biodiversity, told Ms Beeby the reports should present "an accurate, independent and fearless summary" of key environmental trends. They should also assess government progress in dealing with critical environmental issues. They are not government propaganda. They are an important mechanism for assessing what's been achieved and what needs to be done. It's crucial they be free of any political interference."

With Prime Minister Rudd about to resurface from his "study leave" perhaps now he will address directly the matter of censorship of scientific information and assessment when it comes to publicly funded research.