Mrs MAY (10:15 AM) —The Anglo-Australian Telescope Agreement Amendment Bill 2005 amends the Anglo-Australian Telescope Agreement Act 1970 to incorporate the supplementary agreement to the Anglo-Australian Telescope Agreement. The supplementary agreement is a treaty action between the government of the Commonwealth of Australia and the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was signed by both parties in Canberra on 3 November 2005. As acting chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I tabled report 68 in this parliament on 7 November 2005. The report noted it was in Australia’s interest for the treaty to be ratified. I advise the House today that during those deliberations and indeed the public inquiry there was certainly no dissent from the opposition with regard to the report or the ratification of that treaty.

The bill amends the original AAT Agreement which was signed on 25 September 1969 to modify arrangements for the operation of the Anglo-Australian telescope and associated facilities. The primary reason for the supplementary agreement is to provide for a gradual reduction in the UK’s involvement in the AAT, and it provides for the termination of the original agreement and the supplementary agreement on 30 June 2010 with the transfer of ownership and control of the facility to Australia.

Australia benefits from the incorporation of the supplementary agreement as it will provide for the UK’s commitment to the telescope to continue until Australia obtains sole ownership in July 2010. In other words, there will be a phase-out period over the next five years which will allow Australia extra time and a clear framework to determine its long-term policy in relation to the Anglo-Australian telescope. It will also give us time to look at funding issues. I take on board what the member for Capricornia said in her speech today, although I reject many of her comments with regard to the AAT and the transfer of ownership to Australia.

In the late 1960s, the United Kingdom and Australian governments agreed to undertake a significant collaboration in astronomy by jointly funding the construction and operation of the 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian telescope at Siding Spring in New South Wales. The Anglo-Australian telescope was at that time one of the largest and most sophisticated optical telescopes in existence. Evidence to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties indicated that over the ensuing 30 years the AAT made a significant contribution to astronomy, both in Australia and internationally, and had been a major factor in Australia’s high international standing in the field of astronomy.

In evidence to the committee, Dr Arthur, the Group Manager, Innovation and Research Systems, from the Department of Education, Science and Training, advised the committee that the AAT remains one of the most productive telescopes in the world, particularly amongst the four-metre class of telescope. Among other things, the AAT has been noted for its survey work in mapping very large scale structures in the universe.

The United Kingdom government decided in 2001 that it would reallocate astronomy funding to other facilities such as the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory in Chile, which operate next-generation eight-metre optical telescopes. Under the current AAT agreement, either government has the right to terminate the agreement with five years notice, but instead of the UK issuing a five-year termination notice, the governments agreed to amend the agreement and set the end date for collaboration in 2010, at which time the AAT and associated facilities would pass to sole Australian ownership and control, where they are likely to provide a valuable scientific and educational tool for many years to come.

The supplementary agreement benefits Australia in a number of ways and allows during the transition period for new financing and access arrangements to be negotiated. It gives us time to determine our long-term position with regard to the AAT. The transition time extends the scientific and technological collaboration with the UK and maintains UK funding, albeit at a lower level, for an additional five years. Without that transition period, we may not have had that funding. I think the UK government has been extremely fair in the negotiation process in allowing that transition period of five years.

The supplementary agreement also provides early clarity regarding what will happen with the UK’s share of the equipment and facilities built up over 35 years. Essentially, the AAT will be gifted to Australia when the agreement ends in 2010. This gift will be a unique and valuable resource for research and teaching in astronomy for the foreseeable future. The AAT is the largest optical telescope that is ever likely to be built on the Australian mainland and has a notional value of around $48 million—a wonderful gift for Australia. A recent review of Australian astronomy found that the AAT will continue to be a world leader in survey astronomy for at least the next five years. Beyond that it would continue to be the largest source of observing time for Australian astronomers for some time, assuming it continues to operate.

The Australian government has made forward estimates to support the telescope. For the current year there is an allocation of $4.594 million, with forward estimates of $4.694 million in 2006-07, $4.798 million in 2007-08 and $4.903 million in 2008-09. Also, the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Nelson, has approved a one-off grant of $2.05 million in 2005-06 to address a number of occupational health and safety issues at the Anglo-Australian telescope.

As the name suggests, the Anglo-Australian Observatory is a national facility shared predominantly with the United Kingdom, with other countries also able to use the facility. The facility is always in high demand and use of the facility is allocated based on the merit of proposed research programs. Through international collaboration during the life of the AAT, it has been involved in major surveys collecting information about tens of thousands of stars and hundreds of thousands of galaxies. These include the two-degree field galaxy red shift survey, which mapped more than 221,000 galaxies in space; the six-degree field galaxy survey of 20,000 quasars, or bright cores of distant galaxies, which will help to understand how the universe developed; and the radial velocity experiment, which will collect data on 80,000 stars to help reconstruct the history of the Milky Way.

There is no doubt the AAT is a valuable piece of equipment that has made a significant contribution to astronomy. Instead of terminating the agreement with Australia, the UK has agreed to amend the existing agreement to continue the UK’s commitment to the AAT but at a reduced level until the termination of both agreements in 2010. The new termination date and the telescope handover arrangements will ensure long-term access for Australia to a valuable scientific instrument in the lead-up to Australia’s acquisition of the Anglo-Australian telescope. I commend the bill to the House.