Analysis commissioned by independent senator found national science agency’s funding is at its lowest since 1978

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The Albanese government will boost funding to CSIRO by $387.4m in a bid to meet the long-term costs of the national science agency.

It follows months of advocacy by scientists and staff after hundreds of job cuts and cost-cutting measures.

Water minister Rose Jackson calls drying in Gwydir region ‘devastating’ as bill passes upper house

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Water flows to parched New South Wales wetlands where an urgent rescue mission to save dying wildlife unfolded are a step closer to resuming after legislation passed the state parliament’s upper house.

The water minister, Rose Jackson, told the parliament on Thursday night the impact of a halt to environmental flows in the internationally significant Gwydir region had been “devastating” as she introduced legislative amendments she said would allow flows to resume.

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NSW and Queensland governments ‘severely underdelivered’ on promised infrastructure to improve water flows, independent review finds

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Two state governments have drastically underdelivered more than $160m in infrastructure measures to improve river health in the northern Murray-Darling basin eight years since they were promised, a major independent review has found.

This includes failure by the New South Wales government to secure any of the private land access needed to improve water flows over floodplains in the state’s Gwydir region, where scientists had to scramble to rescue turtles in dried up wetlands last week.

River ecologist says ‘classic bureaucratic tangle’ led to government agency stopping flows to Gwydir wetlands region in March

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A leading scientist has criticised an “appalling” New South Wales government agency decision to stop water flowing to wetlands in the state’s north-west, saying it was “absolutely crazy” that researchers had to scramble to save animals buried in drying mud.

Guardian Australia reported on Saturday that turtles, waterbirds, frogs and sheep had died after Water NSW abruptly stopped flows to the Gwydir wetlands region near Moree in March.