Stem cell opponents shocked by funding decision

Opponents of stem cell research taking part in consultative processes on draft legislation were shocked and surprised by the announcement that the Stem Cells and Tissue Repair consortium had won the Federal government's $46.5 million Centre of Excellence funding.

The timing of the decision has left some feeling they have been ambushed by a fait accompli.

"Mr Howard has taken a lot of people by surprise with this announcement... I am very disappointed," said ethicist Ray Campbell, director of the Catholic Church-affiliated Queensland Bioethics Centre.

An opponent of destructive embryonic research, Campbell was participating in consultative meetings as recently as two days before the announcement but had no warning about it.

Critics of last month's national policy decision to allow destructive research on human embryos have focused recently on ensuring the upcoming legislation contained practical controls to prevent abuses.

They believe the proposed legislation could be interpreted as going beyond the use of unneeded embryos to supply cells dedicated only to stem cell research.. It might allow embryos to be harvested in support of wider research in areas such as toxicology and drug testing, Campbell said.

Considering a conscience vote has been promised when the legislation comes up for debate, "Mr Howard seems to be pre-empting his own Parliament with this decision," Campbell said.

Compounding critics' dissatisfaction is the selection of Dr Alan Trounson to oversee the new centre.

"I think lot of people are disappointed in that the Prime Minister has chosen to head this centre with the most public proponent of destructive research on embryos and one who has a huge (financial) vested interest in it," Campbell said.