By Canberra, Australia correspondent Erica Quarterbee
Education Minister Christopher Pyne has flagged that the Abbott government will not provide funding for The Consternation in the budget.
“We are deeply disappointed at the total lack of federal budget allocation for this invaluable project” said the publishers and editors in a joint statement on Friday. “We cannot express the depth of our disappointment in the Minister’s decision, especially after the favourable publicity given to his other budgeted changes. We will try to continue with funding from other sources but will have to divert more of our energies to fund-raising activities such as the Sustainability Regatta in August this year.”
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop met with Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei to conclude negotiations on the repatriation of Iranians refused refugee status. Iran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear power was acknowledged by the Foreign Minister.
The Australian Minister for Education and Training, Christopher Pyne today announced that the forthcoming budget will tie Federal school funding to weapons training in schools, retargeting half a billion dollars from the defence budget every year. The objective is to address the huge market of more than 
Students in years 10 to 12 will be required to take part in weapons training starting with small-calibre rifles, shotguns and hand guns, graduating through sub-machine guns, up to 50 calibre machine guns in the final year. 
Australia’s car industry is about to get an additional injection of federal subsidies above the previously announced $100million, to develop vehicles with equal numbers of left and right hand threads, in line with similar requirements for other Australian-manufactured products.
The Consternation 