Since there is no minister for mathematics let's begin with the minister for science. And he is ... a ghost. Yes, for the first time since 1939 the federal government of Australia has no minister for science. But it doesn't really matter if there's no science minister, just as long as scientific research is well-funded. And the CSIRO, the government's dedicated body for science research is ... having its funding slashed. But it doesn't really matter if a particular science organisation has to jettison research, just as long as someone is doing good science. And the federal government is promoting careful research into ...wind turbine syndrome. Yes, Prime Minister Abbott has arranged for the National Health and Medical Research Council to undertake a study of the health effects of wind turbines. Even though there is no scientific basis for the concerns, and even though study after study after study after study has demonstrated that wind turbines are safe. However one cannot be too careful and perhaps the National Health and Medical Research Council will discover something new. Perhaps they'll figure out how the thousands of wind turbines that have been in Denmark for decades have failed to kill everyone. Or anyone. But it doesn't really matter if the Prime Minister is distracted by a little bit of cultish nonsense, just as long as the major scientific issue of our time is being addressed with care and honesty. Which brings us to global warming. Or climate change, if you prefer. Whatever. A withered rose by any other name is just as dead.

It is clear that many Australians do not have any great respect for the scientific method or scientific practice. It seems way too common to regard science as just another belief system, nothing but boffin-based opinion. The result is that science is permitted no special claim to truth, which is a very dangerous, essentially mediaeval, state of affairs. What on Earth has happened? A little bit about school mathematics: we, as mathmeticians, have banged on and on, column after column, about the woeful presentation of mathematics in curricula and textbooks, and consequently in maths classes. We've wailed over the presentation of mathematics as a collection of facts to be religiously accepted, rather than as a beautiful, precise and incredibly powerful method of reasoning. The harm to students' opinion of mathematics is obvious and massive, but we believe the harm extends much further. The just-the-facts style of teaching mathematics promotes a warped, faith-based attitude to knowledge. It undermines the whole point of education, for students to learn to think, to value truth as the end result of reasoning rather than as a collection of God-given facts. Until there is a dramatic change in Australia's approach to education we cannot see how there will be any improvement in Australians' attitude to scientific and mathematical truth, or to truth of any sort. It's a very long bow to blame the poor teaching of mathematics for Abbott's anti-science crusade, and we have no intention of drawing it. But it is unarguable that Australian society currently places a depressingly low value on reason and truth, and so on science in particular. We believe mathematics teaching must take its fair share of the blame. But what of Tony? Will he be remembered as a liar? Probably, but probably he'll be remembered for much more. Eventually, and more likely sooner rather than later, global warming will be undeniable. Truly undeniable.

Which means Abbott should go down in history as the Australian Prime Minister, the last Australian Prime Minister, to deny physical reality. Associate Professor Burkard Polster teaches mathematics at Monash University, Clayton. Marty Ross is a mathematician. As the Maths Masters they write a weekly column for The Age’s Education pages.