New Save Science Coalition aims to head off future spending cuts
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister of Finance Nicola Willis prepare to present Parliament with the government’s budget on 30 May.The words “science” and “research” were notably absent when New Zealand’s finance minister, Nicola Willis, last week presented the firstfrom the nation’s center-right government, which took power late last year. Instead, the NZ$3.2 billion spending blueprint released on 30 May calls for shrinking or canceling a number of science-related programs.
Still, many scientists had hoped the budget would offer some reprieve for the research community. But it includes no new funding for science and technology. Instead, the government says it placed a priority on delivering tax cuts promised during last year’s election campaign, and ensuring that spending is “targeted, effective, and affordable.” Overall, the budget calls for government spending to drop, when adjusted for inflation, to its lowest level since 2017.
Overall, the budget calls for a “net decrease” in funding awarded through competitive grants, says Frédérique Vanholsbeeck, a physicist at the University of Auckland. And given the “galloping inflation” that New Zealand is experiencing, the budget is likely to mean fewer research grants, she says, as well as awards that don’t stretch as far when it comes to covering salaries and expenses.
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