- Delivering Australian Antarctic science
- The Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) sets Antarctica aside as a preserve of peace and scientific endeavour. Science is so determinant to the legitimacy of member states’ presence on the continent, and their respective standings within the ATS, that science is often described as the currency of the ATS. The 2022 update to the Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan states that Australia will advance its national interests in Antarctica in part through ‘leadership and excellence in Antarctic Science’ and ‘leadership in environmental stewardship in Antarctica’.
Background
4.2As an original signatory to the Antarctic Treaty (AT), Australia can never lose its status as a consultative party to the treaty. This permanent status does not mean that Australia should become complacent. Adjunct Professor Dr Tony Press submits that there are two reasons for Australia to remain deeply engaged in Antarctic science:
One is that Antarctica plays a key role in the global climate system. What Antarctica does influences the whole world, and anything that changes in Antarctica will have an impact around the globe. The other reason is that Antarctica has direct influence on Australian climate and weather.
4.3A key theme of this inquiry is that Antarctic science is fundamentally necessary in itsown right and that the benefits Antarctic science delivers are consistent with and justify Australia’s large investment in the field.
4.4The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) submits that Australian scientists are ‘at the forefront of research investigating climate change, the reduction of direct human impacts in Antarctica, the conservation of Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity and the sustainable management of Southern Ocean fisheries’. DCCEEW argues that Australia’s research is pivotal to regional and global understandings of climate and conservation issues, including those matters addressed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Whaling Commission, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, and the forums of the Antarctic Treaty system.
Australian Antarctic science
Australian Antarctic Program science
4.5As noted in Chapter 2, the Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) is focused on the conduct of world-class science directed at areas of national importance and global significance. The AAP is coordinated by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) which is a division of DCCEEW. The primary source of logistical support for the AAPis the AAD.
4.6DCCEEW submits that the science program is ‘directed by the Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan and the Australian Antarctic Science Strategic plan’. The science program receives oversight from the Australian Antarctic Science Council (AASC) which provides ‘continued advice to government, including to identify priority science outcomes for the next decade’. Given the restraints on accessing and maintaining operations on the continent, the Antarctic science program ‘supports projects that have been rigorously assessed and represent scientific excellence in methodology, and alignment to the Government’s priorities’.
4.7In its submission to the inquiry DCCEEW states that the AAP is currently focused on five key themes for its Antarctic research. These key themes accord with Australia’s national priorities and are explained as follows:
- climate science—including atmospheric, sea ice, ice sheet and sea level research, and ice core past climate research;
- Southern Ocean ecosystems—including research to inform sustainable fisheries management and non-lethal whale research;
- environmental stewardship—including environmental management, area protection, biosecurity and invasive species, the assessment and remediation of legacy waste and contamination, and minimisation of human impacts in terrestrial and nearshore ecosystems;
- East-Antarctic monitoring—including baseline biodiversity and long term observational and monitoring programs critical to our understanding of change to oceans, climate and terrestrial environments, and the adaptation of key species such as penguins and flying seabirds; and
- digital integration—including data acquisition and analysis, model development and integration, synthesis and visualisation programs for Antarctic and Southern Ocean data.
- The AAP comprises a wide variety of diverse and geographically distributed capabilities from across Australia. Delivering the program depends on collaborations between several government instrumentalities and the university sector. DCCEEW notes that the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), Geoscience Australia, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), theAustralian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), theAustralian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO), and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) are among the science program participants.
- The university sector and research institutions contribute substantially to the AAP. While many researchers participate in the AAP through their university affiliations or occasional employment within the AAD, Australian Antarctic science is defined in part by the contributions of research centres and initiatives. These include the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), andthe University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). Funding arrangements for these research centres and institutes are discussed later in this Chapter.
Other Government science
4.10Australian Government science in Antarctica is not limited to science undertaken inthe name of the AAP. Observations collected in Antarctica variously assist government agencies to fulfill their statutory mandates and meet Australia’s obligations under treaties not part of the ATS.
4.11The BoM operated observation sites at Casey, Davis, and Mawson Stations in Antarctica and Macquarie Island in the sub-Antarctic are ‘critical’ to the organisation’s ability to ‘issue timely and accurate forecasts for Australia’. On the importance of its Antarctic observations to its capacity to deliver quality forecasts, the BoM states that:
Out of 34 Australian upper air sonde stations (that launch weather balloons) in 2018, research ranked Casey, Davis, Mawson and Macquarie Island Stations, respectively, first-to-fourth for making the most significant contribution to forecast quality.
4.12The BoM’s operations out of Macquarie Island Station, which are also supported by AAD logistics, are especially important to global ozone measurement due to the station’s unique location between 50° and 60° south, and the length over which records have been taken. The BoM notes that operations on Macquarie Island ‘contribute to the scientific understanding of the long-term evolution of the global ozone layer and enable Australia to meet its obligations under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer’.
4.13An ancillary benefit of the BoM’s observations in Antarctica is that the data it collects may be used for other climate science and to develop specialist forecasts to inform AAD planning, decision making, and campaigns.
4.14Geoscience Australia submits that data from its geodetic and geophysical observatories in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic are distributed to warning services and global initiatives in near real-time, including to the:
- Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre;
- National Earthquake Alerts Centre;
- BOM’s Space Weather Forecasting Centre;
- International Data Centre of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty;
- International Real-Time Magnetic Observatory System; and
- International Global Navigation Satellite System Service.
Million Year Ice Core Project and Denman Campaigns
4.15In recent years, the AAP has worked to plan and execute three large and complex multidisciplinary campaigns focused on analysing the impacts of climate change. These programs are the Million Year Ice Core (MYIC) project, the Denman Terrestrial Campaign, and the Denman Marine Voyage.
4.16As part of the MYIC project the AAD plans to support a 1,200 kilometre overland traverse to drill and retrieve an ice core. DCCEEW describes the project as among ‘the most ambitious and challenging scientific projects yet undertaken in Antarctica’, which it believes will ‘allow scientists to study a million-year record of the Earth’s climate, to determine the cause of changes in ice age cycles and understand future climate change’. MsEmma Campbell, Head of Division, AAD, DCCEEW, has even raised the possibility that the project could retrieve an ice core capable of supporting ‘understanding of climate over a million and potentially up to two million years’.
4.17The Denman Terrestrial Campaign and Denman Marine Voyage seek to improve our understanding of the large Denman Glacier in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). The AASC states that the campaigns ‘are examples of the multi-agency, inter-disciplinary approach that is needed for high-impact climate science in Antarctica’. Asan example of the projects scales, the AASC states the Denman Terrestrial Campaign involves as many as 12specific projects, at least 27 scientists from a range of universities and government organisations, and research funding from four different sources.
4.18While the East Antarctic was previously considered to be relatively resistant to the immediate effects of climate change, newer data sets have demonstrated that there are regions of East Antarctica which are losing ice and contributing to sea-level rise. Professor Nerilie Abram, Professor of Climate Science, Australian National University, explained the need for the Denman Campaign and Marine Voyage by reference to this new information:
Denman Glacier is one of these regions that's of particular concern, and that's why we've focused our scientific efforts on trying to gather the data to understand this system better. We had a large field campaign, one of the largest field campaigns that the Australian program has ever run as a deep field campaign, which saw up to 45 scientists out at Denman Glacier last summer. There'll be another terrestrial campaign happening in that region this coming summer, and also the Denman Marine Voyage will take scientists aboard Australia's icebreaker, Nuyina, to the front of Denman Glacier to study the oceanographic properties of that region as well. All of that work is designed to put together all of the pieces—the atmospheric processes, the ice processes, the ocean processes and the subglacial environment—so that we have the information to understand how vulnerable this area could be. This is an area that's holding 1.5 metres of sea level, and so we need to know how vulnerable that is and how quickly we could destabilise that and add that to the sea level challenges that we're going to face as a nation.
4.19In order to support the Denman Marine Voyage the Australian Government announced it would fund an additional 60 dedicated shipping days for Australia’s icebreaker the RSV Nuyina. The Denman Marine Voyage will be the icebreaker’s first ever dedicated marine science voyage. Commissioning of the vessel to undertake the voyage was not completed until July 2024. On top of the additional shipping days, the Australian Government has also provided ‘significant investment to increase the capability of Nuyina with additional crewing to allow that to happen’.
Funding arrangements
Australian Antarctic Division
4.20As the coordinator of the AAP, the AAD contributes overwhelmingly to the total expenditure on Antarctic science undertaken by Australia. This is in part due to the AAD carrying the logistical burden of facilitating transport to and life on the continent, while also directly employing scientists, technologists, medical practitioners, tradespeople, administrators, and many others.
4.21AAD funding was the subject of a recent inquiry by the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications (References), which tabled its report in the Senate on 9 May 2024. A snapshot of the current AAD funding and expenses can be found in DCCEEW’s Portfolio Budget Statements 2024–25, extracted in Figure 4.1 below. Budget statements show the AAD is funded for approximately $350.5 million of expenditure in the 2024–25 financial year, with an additional $5 million in administered expenses for the Antarctic Science Collaboration Initiative which funds the AAPP.
Figure 4.1AAD Expenses—Portfolio Budget Statements 2024–25
Source: DCCEEW, Portfolio Budget Statements 2024–25, 14 May 2024, p. 68.
4.22In addition, on 16 October 2024, the Australian Government announced a further $188 million over four years to construct a new wharf to berth the RSV Nuyina in Hobart.
Institutional funding arrangements
Terminating measures
4.23University-based research programs substantially contribute to the scientific work of the AAP. Some stakeholders expressed concern about the funding arrangements for these programs, particularly relating to the AAPP, the ACEAS, and SAEF programs which are the subject of terminating measures. While each of these research programs is based at an Australian university, they receive funding for a fixed term via an Australian Government department. Table 4.1 provides key details relating to each program. In a field requiring substantial long-term planning and logistical lead times, the relatively short lives of these programs present an obvious impediment.
Table 4.1University-based programs
| AAPP | ACEAS | SAEF |
| DCCEEW | Education | Education |
| Antarctic Science Collaboration Initiative | Australian Research Council—Special Research Initiative | Australian Research Council—Special Research Initiative |
| 10 years (2019–29) | 4 years (2021–25) | 7 years (2021–28) |
| University of Tasmania | University of Tasmania | Monash University |
Source: Chief Investigators of the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Submission 14, p. [5].
4.24For example, without intervention by the Australian Government, ACEAS will reach its termination date in December 2025, followed by SAEF in 2028, and the AAPP in 2029.
4.25The University of Tasmania submits that ‘Australia’s capacity to successfully deliver on its interests’ in Antarctica ‘is at risk due to disconnected and disjointed funding and governance models’. This issue is exacerbated by ‘an operational environment that does not provide certainty for long-term planning and delivery’ of Antarctic science.
4.26The University of Tasmania contends that ‘ensuring an appropriate and connected funding allocation for Antarctic and Southern Ocean research is critically important for Australia’s ability to achieve its stated interests through national interest research’.
4.27Professor Steven Chown, Director, SAEF, Monash University (Monash), described the effect of the current funding model in terms of its consequences to scientists, institutional knowledge, and to Australia’s national interests, explaining that:
…we essentially have a set of terminating funding measures that has everybody trying to figure out what will be next and where they will go, we lose capacity, we lose critical mass, and we lose experience. That is not in our national interest in this particular area. In other areas of competitive science, the competition is important. Here, I think having a look at the quality regularly is important, but having a sustained model is absolutely essential, and that's one that might work really well.
Review and reform
4.28In February 2023, the Minister for the Environment and Water, The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, requested that the AASC undertake a review into Australia’s Antarctic science funding model. In April 2023, the AASC delivered its review and in doing so made three recommendations to the Minister.
4.29The AASC review evaluated the current funding model alongside two possible alternatives, measuring each against a framework aimed at optimising coherence, certainty, excellence, and impact in Australians Antarctic science program. TheAASC found that the current model, inclusive of terminating measures for funding, ‘performs poorly for coherence and certainty’.
4.30The two alternative funding models explored by the AASC were:
- Option 1 – Funding consolidation: All funding from terminating research institutions is appropriated through DCCEEW, pooling all current Antarctic science funding within a single department. The AAD Science Branch would continue to deliver science, and terminating institutions would be made ongoing with a funding baseline set at current levels to be indexed moving forward. Baseline funding levels could be raised or alternatively additional tied funding given for specific projects.
- Option 2 – Structural alignment: All funding for AAD Science Branch and terminating research institutions rolled into a new Commonwealth agency focused on Antarctic science. The AAD Science Branch and AAPP staff would be transitioned to agency employment and SAEF and ACEAS made ongoing with contracts amended to reflect affiliate status with the new agency. AASC and ARC would variously hold oversight positions over the new agency and its efforts.
- As part of its review the AASC conducted consultations with stakeholders to measure their support for the two proposed options relative to the status quo. Consultations revealed no support for the status quo remaining, stronger support for ‘Option 1’, and relatively weak support for ‘Option 2’.
- The three recommendations set out by the AASC in its review include:
1Funding certainty: The current terminating measures (ARC Antarctic SRIs and DISR AAPP) be made ongoing at their current annual levels (indexed).Any future additional funding for Australian Antarctic science should be either ongoing or tied to specific program outcomes.
2Funding consolidation: The annual appropriation for Antarctic science be consolidated into DCCEEW at the current level, with an explicit reference in the Budget Papers.The AAD Chief Scientist should be the designated manager of these funds within the Department.The AASC should approve the allocation of funds between AAD Science Branch and universities, with the ARC administering the selection of universities to deliver designated programs.Transition arrangements should be managed by the Chief Scientist, with Council oversight.
3Institutional model: Consideration be given over the next three years to establishing the AAD as a Commonwealth agency (corporate or non-corporate entity), in parallel with implementing the new science funding arrangements (Recommendations 1 and 2), implementation of the recent O’Kane and Russell review recommendations, and consolidation of the new logistics capabilities.
4.33In its submission to the inquiry the Australian Academy of Science stated that it ‘supports the three recommendations put to Minister Plibersek by the Australian Antarctic Science Council for a more secure Australian Antarctic science funding model’.
Southern Ocean Observing System
4.34The Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) is an international initiative of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research. Launched in 2011, the SOOS’s International Project Office (IPO) is hosted in Australia by the University of Tasmania. The SOOS works to facilitate the sustained collection and delivery of essential observations of the Southern Ocean to its stakeholders, through design and implementation of cost-effective observing and data delivery systems. The SOOS states that it has more than 800 members spanning 50 countries and 434 institutions, with its membership including universities research centres, government departments, national facilities, fisheries managers, and private industry.
4.35Dr Alyce Hancock, Executive Director, SOOS, advised the Committee that the organisation is experiencing many challenges with its hosting and sponsorship in Australia. While acknowledging that Australian partners have provided the majority of funding for SOOS operational costs since its inception, Dr Hancock raised concerns over the organisations funding stability, stating that:
…over the last two years and next year, we have received only a single year's funding bid, which came through only at the last minute and was an emergency pulled-together bid for the ongoing hosting and sponsorship of SOOS in Australia. Both those commitments and the projection of forward commitments mean that the ongoing viability to sustain the SOOS international project in Australia is really under threat.
4.36The SOOS cites having an operational cost of approximately $480,000, and notes Australian contributions to its operational budget average approximately $300,000. With the Australian funds it has received to date, the SOOS notes that it has been able to leverage $12 million in international direct and in-kind services and access to facilities to support its activities.
4.37The SOOS states that it delivers measurable benefits to Australia through the location of its IPO in Hobart, including the organisation’s Symposium 2023, which it states ‘has been valued as being worth $1,026,250 to the Tasmanian economy’ by Business Events Tasmania.
Logistical arrangements
Dual role of RSV Nuyina
4.38The RSV Nuyina is the single biggest investment by the Australian Government in the history of Australia’s Antarctic program. The vessel was built to deliver a world-leading scientific capability to conduct multi-disciplinary science and to deliver personnel, cargo, and equipment to and from Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations.
4.39Despite the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities aboard the RSV Nuyina, the Committee heard considerable concerns from researchers about the vessel’s operational model used by the AAD. Professor Nicole Webster, Executive Director, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, told the Committee that:
We have probably one of the most sophisticated science platforms in the world in RSV Nuyina, yet we spend over two-thirds of her time carrying cargo and refuelling stations. It doesn't make sense to use the asset in that way.
4.40The issue of the RSV Nuyina being presently underutilised for scientific research is exacerbated by the long period of time during which Australia lacked a sovereign icebreaking capacity between the retirement of the RSV Aurora Australis and the late delivery of its replacement vessel. Chief Investigators of the ACEAS highlight that between the AAP’s last substantive marine science voyage in 2017, aboard the RSV Aurora Australis, and its next marine science voyage planned for 2024–25 to the Denman Glacier, seven years will have elapsed. Seven years during which Antarctic change is known to have been accelerating.
4.41Professor Rufus Black, Vice-Chancellor, University of Tasmania, has described the fundamental issue with the present shipping model as ‘science and logistics in constant tension with each other’. Professor Black told the Committee that:
The difficulty will be that logistics in the Antarctic will have to trump science because people's lives depend on it and their safety depends on it. When the Division has a very large logistics task of upgrading and maintaining our bases, the sheer demands on the logistics requirement, in our view, are exceeding right now the capacity to reliably—key word reliably—deliver the science program.
4.42Ms Campbell, Head of Division, AAD, DCCEEW, acknowledged that one of the challenges the science program is facing is ‘a huge demand for work in Antarctica and some pent-up demand’. Ms Campbell attributed this demand partly to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and partly to the one-year delay in delivery of the RSV Nuyina. Noting the long lead times necessitated by the difficulty of operating in Antarctica, Ms Campbell indicated that long-term planning was required in accordance with the forthcoming Decadal Plan to address the present demand on the science program.
4.43In the short term the Australian Government has provided funding to the AAD for a further 60 shipping days to allow the RSV Nuyina to undertake the Denman Marine Voyage. While this provides the science program with some certainty for now, Ms Campbell acknowledges that the AAD still needs to ‘do the work about what are the next 10 or 20 years of science voyages and science work in Antarctica looking forward’.
4.44While increasing the operating season of the RSV Nuyina does allow the vessel to prioritise resupply, and in turn makes room for marine science voyages, this solution does not address the fundamental concern of scientists that the state-of-the-art vessel would be better put to work by undertaking the world leading science it was uniquely equipped for.
4.45The University of Tasmania has joined several institutions and stakeholders in calling for Australia to adopt a two-ship model in Antarctica. Professor Black put to the Committee that ‘we do need a vessel that manages the logistics so that the science doesn't get compromised’, and that ‘we cannot achieve Australia's objectives with one ship’.
4.46Monash describes improving Australia’s ability to undertake marine science voyages as critical to maintaining Australia’s scientific leadership in Antarctica and to delivering on the forthcoming Decadal Plan. Monash states that:
This includes greater deployment of the RSV Nuyina for marine science. Limiting the full utility of one of the world’s most capable research vessels by dedicating much of its time to station resupply is not an optimal outcome for Australia’s National Interest. Consideration of a two-ship option is essential to help effectively deliver the information needed to advance Australia’s interest in the region.
Science–logistics disconnect
4.47A key issue in delivering Australia’s Antarctic science program is ensuring there is an alignment between scientific research funding and the logistical capability to undertake that science. Dr Amelie Meyer, Chief Investigator, Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, told the Committee that:
With the fact that all of the logistics for Antarctica rest at the moment with the Antarctic Division, there is a disconnect: you can get funding, but you're not guaranteed that the logistics will go along with it. It makes planning incredibly difficult. It does mean that we probably restrict ourselves when we make our plans for some of the work we want to do, and we try and go to some safer options with overseas collaborators. There's a lot more that Australia could do if we were to better coordinate logistics for Antarctica with our research funding system, the ARC.
4.48Dr Nicholas Gales, Chair, AASC, stated that the ‘integration of Antarctic science, policy and logistics is fundamental to achieving our aims’ in Antarctica. The present disconnect between funding and logistics is, in Dr Gales view, partly attributable to an:
…historic element that has led to funding streams being quite separate and being funnelled through ‘several departments…working differently with different governance rules.
4.49The‘historic element’ referred to in this context is the as yet unresolved institutional funding issue which was the subject of the AASC review discussed earlier.
4.50Dr Gales advocates for a whole-of-government approach to planning Antarctic science, arguing that engagement with the scientific community is also critical. Hestates that existing funding arrangements have come ‘along with perceptions of undue competition for limited resources’ and ‘have led to inefficient and disrupted science efforts’. He considers that the consolidation of programmatic funding within AAD, under a future funding model aligned with the long-term planning envisaged in the forthcoming Decadal Plan, ‘would go a long way towards overcoming’ the existing challenges.
4.51Professor Abram agreed with the view that long-term planning is required to alleviate the present disconnect between scientific and logistical resources, stating that:
One of the biggest challenges facing Australian Antarctic research is our ability to plan long term. If we knew that the Nuyina was going to be available for science expeditions to the Antarctic each year for a certain number of days, that would enable long-term planning as to: 'In this year, this is where the ship is going to be going, and in this year this is where it's going to be going.' To have those plans in place multiple years in advance would enable the research community to really prepare for those opportunities and make sure that we're making the best use of that resource.
Decadal Plan
4.52In 2022, the former Minister for the Environment requested that the AASC develop a Decadal Plan to direct the efforts of Australia’s Antarctic science program by identifying priority science outcomes to be achieved during the next decade. In its submission to the inquiry, dated 11 April 2024, the AASC advised that work on the Decadal Plan was ‘underway’ and had involved ‘strong engagement’ with researchers from throughout AAP.
4.53Support for long-term forward planning in the delivery of the Australian Antarctic science program was near universal among inquiry participants. As the AAD assists the AASC in undertaking consultations for the Decadal Plan, it has reported significant amounts of stakeholder engagement. Ms Rhonda Bartley, Acting Chief Scientist of the AAD and Executive Officer to the AASC, advised the Committee that:
We've had over 200 Antarctic science experts provide that input and a further 50 experts who have really focused in on prioritising those key questions. The process we're now undertaking is to formulate that into that strategic document and then undertake that further consultation, as well as working very closely with the Australian Antarctic Science Council and the new chair, Dr Gales.
4.54Dr Matthew England, Deputy Director, ACEAS, supports implementation of a ‘rolling’ decadal plan. He notes that Antarctic science is a highly evolving field. Any Decadal Plan needs to have the flexibility to be amended and to meet new and pressing demands on Antarctic science as new data and discoveries demand the immediate attention of Australia’s scientists.
4.55Dr Gales informed the Committee that AASC would soon have its first Council meeting with the latest draft Decadal Plan, which both integrates the policy overview of the science and embeds that in our logistics framework. A draft Decadal Plan was expected to be presented to the Minister by the end of 2024.
Committee comment
4.56The Committee acknowledges the important role of Antarctic science in fulfilling Australia’s national interests and in maintaining Australia’s leadership within the Antarctic Treaty System. Australia’s investment in Antarctic science is an important contribution to the global effort to stem anthropogenic climate change, and to preserve Antarctica’s pristine environment for the benefit of future generations.
4.57The immense efforts that have gone into the planning and execution of the MYIC project, as well as the Denman Terrestrial Campaign and Denman Marine Voyage are incredibly noteworthy. The Committee is of the view that these projects have thepotential to deliver substantial insights for the advancement of science. As such, adequate funding must be provided to researchers to ensure that the data and samples collected as part of these projects can be reported on by Australian researchers and published in scientific journals. This would be in keeping withDCCEEW’s commitment to deliver priority Antarctic science and to publish 75peer‑reviewed journal articles per year.
4.58The Committee has observed the negative consequences associated with the terminating measures affecting the ACEAS, SAEF, and the AAPP. Noting the considerable instability created by terminating measures in the context of Antarctic science, and broad support for the implementation of ‘Option 1’ of the Australian Antarctic Science Council’s Australian Antarctic Science Funding Model – Review 2023, the Committee supports the full implementation of Recommendation1 of the AASC’s 2023 review.
4.59However, the Committee notes its reservations as to the AASC’s 2023 review. TheCommittee does not view Recommendation 2 and Recommendation 3 as being appropriate options for the AASC. This is in light of its current composition. The AASC having a role in both determining priority science outcomes and in determining the allocation of funds to universities to deliver priority science would present an undue probity risk. TheCommittee also does not support establishing the AAD as a Commonwealth agency.
4.60While acknowledging that Australian stakeholders represent the overwhelming majority of funding given to the SOOS to meet its operational expenses, the Committee is concerned that the SOOS is reconsidering the location of its IPO. TheCommittee is of the view that the Australian Government should work with the SOOS to find a suitable arrangement to secure its hosting within Australia over the longer term.
4.61The RSV Nuyina should be recognised as is a world leading scientific vessel and a highly capable cargo ship to support the future ambitions of the AAP. However, the Committee shares the concerns of scientists regarding the current shipping model. The Committee is of the view that the RSV Nuyina should be prioritised for scientific research, and that resupply efforts should be led by a more appropriate ice-hardened or ice-breaking vessel.
4.62The incredible dedication and sacrifice of those who agree to join and undertake expeditions to Antarctica as part of the AAP is laudable. TheCommittee understands the demographics of expeditioners are shifting, and that there is a need to consider the health and wellbeing of expeditioners in Australia’s forward planning. TheCommittee considers that the upgrade of recreational and fresh food growing facilities should be included under the Antarctic Infrastructure Renewal Program to attract and retain expeditioners.
4.63The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider options to provide additional funding to Australian researchers for the development and publication of research papers based on the data and samples retrieved by the Million Year Ice Core project, the Denman Terrestrial Campaign, and the Denman Marine Voyage.
4.64The Committee recommends that the Australian Government implement Recommendation 1 of the Australian Antarctic Science Council’s Australian Antarctic Science Funding Model – Review 2023 before December 2025.
4.65The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with the Southern Ocean Observing System to secure its hosting within Australia over the long term.
4.66The Committee recommends that the Australian Government prioritise the RSV Nuyina for scientific research, and lease or acquire a second vessel to undertake the core resupply of Australia’s Antarctic stations on an ongoing basis.
4.67The Committee recommends that the Australian Government review the state of recreational facilities at Australia’s Antarctic stations and consider the upgrade of those facilities as part of the Antarctic Infrastructure Renewal program.