Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been urged to call an "emergency meeting" after the Trump administration pulled funding from seven universities there. In addition to concerns with how universities responded to questionnaires, the bigger question has been why such foreign universities are being funded in the first place.
Recently, Australian universities were sent a questionnaire of 30 questions asking Australian researchers to justify why they should continue to receive American research grants. Key questions included whether they had received funding from China, if the university recognized that there are only two sexes. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) concerns were also mentioned.
According to Sky News, the Australian National University, Monash University, University of Technology Sydney, University of NSW, Charles Darwin University, Macquarie University, and UNSW had their funding cut.
As is the case here at home in the United States with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), funding should have to be justified. This is especially the case not merely because these are foreign universities fortunate enough to receive American funds, but because there are concerns such as whether they're also receiving funding from China, and if these universities recognize that there are only two sexes, male and female. It was a Day One executive order for President Donald Trump to make clear that the federal government only acknowledges the two sexes.
The report from Sky News also highlighted a sense of hysteria as well as entitlement on behalf of the people of Australia. As it mentioned:
Australian Academy of Science chief executive Anna-Maria Arabia told the Australian Financial Review the federal government had to be quicker to respond to the cuts rather than choosing to "wait and see".
"It is incumbent on the prime minister to call an emergency meeting of the National Science and Technology Council, which he chairs, compelling all ministers to the table to share intel and comprehensively assess the extent of Australia’s exposure to a reduction in US R&D investment across portfolios,” Ms Arabia said.
"The consequences of inaction are profound with consequences for every Australian’s way of life,” she said.
"We don’t know the full extent of the pain US measures will inflict on Australia, but we do know it’s coming, and we have a chance to put in place strategies that will allow Australia to capture opportunities whilst mitigating the worst of the damage.”
The cut of funding could leave a $600 million hole in the efforts of Australian researchers, with the US the largest research partner of Australia.
The sense of entitlement continues from there, including from the National Tertiary Education Union. The union believes it is incumbent of the Australian government to still guarantee the funding:
Last week after it was revealed the universities had been asked to justify their funding, the National Tertiary Education Union called on the government to "guarantee Australian researchers would be protected".
"The federal government must push back on the Trump administration's blatant foreign interference in our independent research in the strongest possible terms," NTEU president Alison Barnes said.
The funding cut is another step in President Trump's 'America First' agenda, with "DEI, woke gender ideology and the green new deal" listed as reasons why the US had announced a "temporary pause" in grants.
A memo sent by the US office of managament and budget [sic] to an Australian university project on January 27 and retrieved by The Guardian, declared financial assistance for the researchers was a waste of taxpayer money and explained federal spending priority would go towards "the will of the American people".
In addition to the concerns to begin with about funding foreign universities, the field of academia and Australia as a country are also particularly liberal.
Reporting from The Guardian, a particularly leftist outlet, espoused even more entitlement. "Trump administration accused of ‘blatant foreign interference’ in Australian universities over questionnaire on DEI and gender," read the March 14 headline. It's a laughable accusation, considering that the funding comes thanks to American taxpayers. Americans are done tolerating DEI at home; it's not likely they'd be willing to put up with it abroad.
As The Guardian article went on to mention:
The questionnaire seeks to confirm university projects don’t work with “any party that espouses anti-American beliefs”, or whether they have received “ANY funding from the PRC”, including Confucius Institutes and Chinese state or non-state actors.
It also asks whether research is a “no DEI project” or a “climate or ‘environmental justice’ project”, as well as ensuring it takes “appropriate measures to protect women and to defend against gender ideology” and combats “Christian prosecution”.
A statement from Education Minister Jason Clare is included in both articles, and while he stressed the "long history of cooperation" between the United States and Australia, it seems that he may be respecting the United States' autonomy in this and the mission of spending American taxpayer dollars more wisely.
"Ultimately, the US will fund whatever research it wants to fund, but we will continue to make the case to the US that collaborative research benefits both US and Australia's interests," he's quoted in part as saying.
The matter has become a trending topic over X, with many users using explicit language to wonder why American taxpayers are funding Australian universities in the first place.
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