Scientist Karl Kruszelnicki regrets fronting government ads promoting a controversial new report savaged for its lack of focus on climate change.
Dr Kruszelnicki, who has been appearing in TV ads promoting the Abbott government's Intergenerational Report, now says it is a flawed document and has questioned its independence.
He says there's little on climate change in the report, which is supposed to be a 40-year outlook on Australian society and the economy.
"It was my fault for not realising the nature of the beast I was involved with," Dr Kruszelnicki, widely known as Dr Karl, has told the ABC.
"I really thought it would be an independent, bipartisan, non-political document."
He told Fairfax he only agreed to do the ads because he was assured the report would not be a political document.
"If it turns out to have been fiddled with or subject to political interference from one side of politics I would deeply regret playing any part in it whatsoever," he said.
He said that as far as he could see, it was a flawed report.
"In no way am I endorsing the government's stance on climate change. I think it is incredibly short-sighted," he said.
Dr Karl previously said he hadn't read the full report before agreeing to do the ads.
The report was savaged by the Australian Greens and climate change groups when it was released last month.
The document fails to detail any post-2020 emission reduction goals or the long-term costs of climate change.
