Sydney

Australian voters' re-election of the coalition of right-wing parties headed by Prime Minister John Howard has dashed hopes that the election might boost the country's research budgets.

Since the vote, Howard has appointed a new science minister and has shuffled certain responsibilities between departments. But it seems unlikely that he will sanction additional money for research.

Kim Beazley, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, had been campaigning on a 'Knowledge Nation' policy, promising to double spending on research (see Nature 414, 137; 2001). But Howard's emphasis on his leadership abilities, together with his hard-line policies on asylum-seekers, proved more attractive to voters.

During the campaign, Howard had ridiculed Beazley's policy, and commentators say Howard is unlikely to revise his opinions in favour of research.

Some Australian universities are facing severe financial difficulties, but the new minister for education and science, Brendan Nelson, who took office on 26 November, has not been given the funds to remedy the situation.

University and science leaders nonetheless welcomed the departure of Nelson's predecessor, David Kemp, who frequently clashed with the education sector.

Nelson, a former medical practitioner, honed his political negotiating skills as president of the Australian Medical Association, and has appeared to be sympathetic to the cause of research since entering parliament.

He is being assisted by a junior minister for science, Peter McGauran, who has returned to a role from which he was forced to resign four years ago over irregularities in his claims for travel costs.

Howard has also surprised many observers by moving responsibility for science and the research agencies, notably the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, from the industry portfolio to that of education.

This move has puzzled science organizations because Howard, together with the former industry minister Nick Minchin, had been pushing for research to become more commercially oriented.