The axing of the Climate Commission should be no surprise. Environment Minister Greg Hunt has long flagged that it would go if the Coalition was elected.
Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.
The concern is whether the move is symbolic of a government that does not care about climate change.
After all, there are a lot of other climate bodies in its sights – the Climate Change Authority, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation – not to mention the carbon price. It is tearing down more than it is putting up.
In a week, the world's leading climate science body – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – will hand down perhaps the most important document on global warming. The six-year assessment of the status of climate change – how fast it is occurring and what threat it poses – will be long and technical. It will be almost impossible for the average person to navigate.
Having institutions such as a Climate Commission to distil such complex and confusing information is critical for a functioning democracy. To quote Thomas Jefferson: ''Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.''