As part of President Trump and DOGE's efforts to root out and end federal government waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars, foreign aid is being put under a microscope.
U.S. grants to some Australian universities are among some of the funding that has been halted, and apparently that's causing an "emergency" down under:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been urged to call an "emergency meeting" after the Trump administration cut grants to seven Australian universities.https://t.co/07ETiIE3jy
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) March 22, 2025
We're only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding out just how much the U.S. has been the ATM to the world:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has faced calls to respond after the Trump administration cut funding to seven Australian universities.
The administration's move came after US agencies asked Australian researchers to justify why they should continue receiving American research grants.
The surveys they received asked several questions including whether the researchers had received funding from China, and if their university had recognised only two sexes - male and female.
The institutions which have had their funding cut are the Australian National University, Monash University, University of Technology Sydney, University of NSW, Charles Darwin University, Macquarie University and UNSW.
They're being asked to justify why they deserve to keep getting U.S. taxpayer dollars? Where's my fainting couch!
So essentially, the American taxpayer has unwittingly been the world’s piggy bank for god knows how long, and all the while, the beneficiaries of our forced donations have been telling us how awful we are. https://t.co/YHkl5RCujI
— CCP IS ASSHOE (@CCPISASSH0E) March 22, 2025
If they hated us before, just imagine how much they'll hate us when we stop giving them all that money.
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Why do I need to pay for Australia’s universities?
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) March 22, 2025
If I wanted my money to go to authoritarian countries that jail people for free speech and beat them in public for not wearing useless masks, I’d just send a check to China. https://t.co/rhhBGR9ZgQ
In the Sky News story I ran across a quote from an Australian education official that made me spit out my coffee earlier this morning. This comes with a beverage warning.
Ready?
OK, here we go:
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.
Just when I thought Australian politics couldn't possibly get more Orwellian. That doesn't sound very "independent" to me if Australia's universities are dependent on U.S. grants.
Unfortunately I didn't think of that when I was a kid and my parents threatened to withhold my allowance. "That's blatant interference in my independence, mom!"
Keep doing your stuff, Trump and DOGE.
