Education minister Christopher Pyne does the ASL ice bucket challenge, and nominates fellow pollies Sarah Hanson-Young, Anthony Albanese and Steven Marshall to do the same. Courtesy: Facebook/Christopher Pyne

AMID a global frenzy over ice bucket challenges to help fund ALS research, the Government is being accused of pouring cold water on the very same work in Australia.

Just last week Education Minister Christopher Pyne last week joined the ice bucket challenge. But to some researchers this is a stark irony in the wake of Budget cuts to the CSIRO and the Australian Research Council (ARC), which could risk efforts to end the scourge of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often known in Australia as Motor Neurone Disease.

The ARC lost $75 million in a Budget “efficiency dividend”, which was criticised by MND Australia.

And there continues to be uncertainty about the scope and timing of the research which the Government hopes to fund with a $7 Medicare co-payment.

One man closely watching the funding debate is Dr Justin Yerbury of the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute attached to the University of Wollongong.

In 2012 he was given an award for his work on ALS, which he described along with other MNDs as “like a fire starting in one neurone and then spreading from cell to cell”.

Dr Yerbury told news.com.au today his current groundbreaking efforts funded by an Australian Research Council grant would not be directly affected by Budget cuts but there were concerns for the future.

“The Government is making it more and more difficult to do research,” said Dr Yerbury.

MND research is expected to get about $1.5 million next year from money raised in Australia by the ice bucket challenge.

But Dr Yerbury said of his work: “It’s very difficult to fund privately.”

MND Australia has already expressed concerns cuts to research funding was “likely to result in a decrease in the number of ARC research projects funded over the next three years.

“Proposed changes and cuts to other areas of scientific research, PhD scholarships, university infrastructure funding and education also have potential to impact negatively on MND research,” said the group of the Budget.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten today the CSIRO was shutting down its neuroscience research because of Budget measures.

“Christopher Pyne can do all the ice bucket challenges he wants — it doesn’t change the fact that his Government is ripping billions of dollars out of research,” said Mr Shorten.

He said: “If Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne really cared about science and research, they’d appoint a Minister for Science and reverse these disgraceful cuts.

“And you don’t fund the search for the cures of tomorrow by imposing a new GP Tax on the patients of today.”