Astroturf foundation misses out

This is really pretty funny. A new astroturf group outrageously calling itself the Australian Environment Foundation which (also outrageously) launched itself on World Environment Day, can't get any government funds as an environment group.

Not due to the fact that it's not actually an environment group, but because the Australian federal government has cut back so severely on grants for real green organisations in its zeal to lose them off the radar.

The AEF (which has chosen a name easily confused with the truly environmental Australian Conservation Foundation) grew out of meetings of people from various industries. The website of this new no-environment lobby group doesn't tell you that its chairwoman is Dr Jennifer Marohasy, who is on staff at the right-wing no-think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs and was formerly with the Queensland Canegrowers Organisation.

What is astroturfing?