Wong defends $500k grant for “gender diverse” climate research

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has defended a controversial decision to hand a $500,000 taxpayer-funded grant to academics to explore “gender diverse” climate action in the Pacific Islands.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong is standing by a decision to bill taxpayers half a million dollars to research “intersectionality and gender diverse climate change action” in the Pacific Islands.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) – which sits within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – handed $500,000 to the University of Canberra for a research project entitled “Intersectionality and Gender Diverse Climate Change Action in the Pacific: Elicit a Pasifika-led policy for Future Engagement”.

According to the ACIAR’s website, the research activity – which was published on the government’s AusTender website in February last year – aims to “address gender inclusivity in the design and implementation of climate adaptation programs” in Fiji, Kiribati, and the Solomon Islands.

“It is acknowledged that effective climate change adaptation recognises that women, men, and children experience climate impacts differently … to be effective and to avoid entrenching or exacerbating existing inequalities, climate adaptation programs must respond to these differences and be informed by an environmental justice framework”, ACIAR’s website reads.

“While there is an emerging consensus on the importance of a diverse and gender-inclusive approach to climate adaptation programs, there is much less insight into what works ‘on the ground’ for better and more equitable outcomes …”

“[The research] will adopt an intersectional and diverse approach to gender consistent with the ACIAR Gender Equality and Social Inclusion strategy approach in the research design and implementation phases.”

A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the research project “helps Pacific communities better respond to climate change”.

The Diversity Council of Australia defines “intersectionality” – which was first coined by American critical race scholar Kimberlee Crenshaw – as “how different aspects of a person’s identity expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination that greatly increase their marginalisation”.

A spokeswoman for Senator Wong told The Daily Telegraph climate change is “the number one issue for Pacific nations”.

“The Albanese Government has invested in rebuilding relationships and restoring trust among the Pacific family so that we can again be a partner of choice”, the spokeswoman said.

“This project helps Pacific communities better respond to climate change by understanding how different groups are affected, so support can be more practical and effective.”

Michaelia Cash, the Coalition’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, called on the government to explain how the grant “delivers tangible, practical outcomes”.

“Minister Wong must justify how this particular half-million-dollar research activity was prioritised ahead of other critical needs, and what measurable benefits it is expected to deliver”, Senator Cash told The Daily Telegraph.

The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash has called on the Foreign Minister to explain how the ACIAR grant delivers “tangible, practical outcomes”.

“Minister Wong should explain precisely how this expenditure advances Australia’s strategic interests in the Pacific and provide the evidence base underpinning this decision.”

Earlier this year, The Daily Telegraph revealed taxpayers were helping to foot the bill for electric vehicle charging stations in Tajikistan, “gender inclusive renewable energy activities” in the Maldives, and climate resilience programs in Mongolia through our contributions to the Asian Development Bank.

Originally published as Wong defends $500k grant for “gender diverse” climate research