Bjørn Lomborg consensus centre could be set up at Flinders University

The federal government has held talks with Flinders University over the possibility of establishing a research centre headed by controversial academic Bjørn Lomborg.

Flinders University said it had asked the department of education for information about Lomborg’s consensus centre but insisted it had not made a firm decision over whether it wanted to host the academic’s work.

The federal education minister, Christopher Pyne, has vowed to find another university to take on Lomborg’s centre after the University of Western Australia decided in May to hand back $4m in federal government funding for it.

The UWA opted to take the funding for the centre, only to reverse course following a backlash from its academics. Pyne said the university had shouted down Lomborg, with the Danish academic complaining that the issue had become a political football.

Lomborg’s venture would be linked to his Copenhagen consensus centre, with a focus on aid spending and international development.

Lomborg is a controversial figure among academics, particularly in the field of climate science due to his contrarian stance on the issue. While he accepts that the world’s climate is changing, he has argued that these changes can be dealt with by technological improvements and that other issues are of more pressing concern.

It’s understood that Flinders University is gauging the opinion of its staff before committing itself to the centre, in an attempt to avoid the UWA’s situation. Academics are thought to be split on the merits of hosting Lomborg.

A spokeswoman for the university said: “Discussions have been held among groups of Flinders academics regarding the possibility of any future collaboration with the Copenhagen Consensus Centre in addressing a number of major research questions of our time.

“Similar discussions have most likely occurred in other universities around the country.

“Flinders University has approached the department of education for information but the university has yet to form a position on the matter.”

Despite the offer of federal funding for the centre, many leading universities have been reluctant to put themselves forward due to the controversy over the initiative.

Labor has attacked the government for providing a $4m grant for the centre, and actively attempting to find a university to accept it, at a time when universities were facing funding cuts.

Greens senator Senator Lee Rhiannon, the party’s higher education spokesman, said it would be “extraordinary” if Flinders hosted Lomborg.

“Chancellor Stephen Gerlach, a former chairman of oil company Santos, would be wise to take note of the successful community campaign run by students, staff and the community in Western Australia and reject the Bjørn Lomborg vanity project,” she said.

“With the Abbott government still offering $4m to host Mr Lomborg, it’s clear their budget emergency doesn’t apply to their climate sceptic mates.”