It’s not often that Labor’s left wing and the Institute of Public Affairs, a right-wing think tank, agree on anything, but they find common ground on why the federal government vetoed six university research grants on Christmas Eve: political dog whistling with a looming election in sight.

The research community has been up in arms since acting Education Minister Stuart Robert quietly, and two months behind schedule, approved 587 Australian Research Grants for funding under the Discovery program. He also blocked six grants on the grounds they did not demonstrate value for taxpayers’ money.