Australia's new conservative Coalition government has announced changes in its science policy arrangements following the general election at the beginning of this month. The Liberal and National Parties, linked in a coalition led by John Howard, won a resounding 46-seat majority over the 13-year-old Labor administration of the former prime minister, Paul Keating. The new science and technology minister is Peter McGauran, a member of the National Party, which captured the rural vote. Unlike his predecessor, Peter Cook, who had a seat in the cabinet as a full Minister for Science, McGauran will be a junior minister in the large Department of Industry, Science and Tourism (DIST), and will attend cabinet meetings only when invited.
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