"Australia's re-elected conservative government has announced a U-turn in its climate change policy, reinstating climate science as the bedrock of its peak science body [CSIRO] just months after slashing its funding and axing hundreds of jobs.

'It's a new government and we're laying out a direction that climate science matters,' new Science Minister Greg Hunt told Australian radio on Thursday.

Scientists and climate change advocates cautiously welcomed the news, but remained concerned about the commitment to fight climate change, which could threaten Australia's food security and its ability to feed Asia's growing, affluent middle class."

Matt Siegel and Tom Westbrook report for Reuters August 3, 2016. [2]