The proposed $2 billion Square Kilometre Array radio telescope site, an international project WA has spent $4 million to attract, has been moved to Boolardy Station - addressing conflicts with mining companies, Premier Alan Carpenter announced today.
The proposed $2 billion Square Kilometre Array radio telescope site, an international project WA has spent $4 million to attract, has been moved to Boolardy Station - addressing conflicts with mining companies, Premier Alan Carpenter announced today.
As revealed in WA Business News last week, trucking activity from a Murchison Metals Ltd iron ore mine was adversely affecting the radio quietness of the previous site, 90km west at Mileura Station. Both sites are situated in the state's Midwest.
"Moving the SKA site will resolve the problem that has arisen between mining activities in the Mid West and the need to maintain the radio quietness of the region," the Premier announced today.
"Still within the original protected zone, the new site offers a 70km buffer to enable both radio astronomy and mining activities to co-exist in the Mid-West," he said.
But opposition spokesman Barry House said the government had jeopardised the science community's chances of winning the bid after approving the Mileura road, a move he attributed to the lobbying of former Premier Brian Burke and former minister Julian Grill, and called for an investigation.
He also called for a government assurance that a planned railway line, to be operated by Murchison Metals Ltd and Midwest Corporation Ltd, which could run within 70km of Boolardy, would be shifted.
Both Murchison nor Midwest declined to comment for this article.
The full text of the Premier's announcement is pasted below, followed by an announcement from Mr House
Western Australia has boosted its chances of winning the international bid for the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array radio astronomy project.
WA is one of two sites in the world short-listed by international astronomers as the possible location for the major international science project, along with South Africa.
Premier and Science and Innovation Minister Alan Carpenter said the State Government had already allocated more than $4million towards the SKA.
"This is an exciting, once in a century project, that would place WA at the world forefront of radio astronomy," Mr Carpenter said.
"The SKA will involve 16 countries, cost $2billion to build, be 50 times bigger and have 10,000 times more information-gathering power than current radio astronomy facilities such as the Very Large Array in the USA."
The Premier announced today that the site would move 90km west from Mileura Station to an adjacent site at Boolardy Station, in the State's Mid-West.
"Moving the SKA site will resolve the problem that has arisen between mining activities in the Mid West and the need to maintain the radio quietness of the region," he said.
"Still within the original protected zone, the new site offers a 70km buffer to enable both radio astronomy and mining activities to co exist in the Mid-West.
"The move represents a win-win solution for WA, the Mid-West, mining and radio astronomy."
Mr Carpenter also said the State Government would continue to work with the Commonwealth to develop appropriate mechanisms, including legislation, to protect the radio quietness of the new SKA site.
"Radio quietness is essential to the success of this project, so we need to protect the SKA site from radio frequency interference," he said.
"For example, we will look at legislation that will help us prevent unacceptable levels of radio interference from the operation of transmitters or devices, such as machines, mining equipment, trains, trucks, mobile phones and CB radios, within a 70 km radius of the centre of the core SKA zone."
WA is already a world leader in radio astronomy and two of the Premier's Research Fellows, Professor Peter Quinn and Professor Lister Staveley Smith, are working with CSIRO scientists and engineers to help ensure the SKA is built here.
"When we look to the stars there are so many unanswered questions," Professor Quinn said.
"The SKA project will help us to better understand the origin and evolution of the universe, how galaxies and planets are formed and the powers of cosmic magnetism.
"WA will become a focal point for radio astronomers and scientists from across the globe."
The Premier said the 50-year SKA project was a perfect fit with the State Government's push to position Western Australia as a world leader in science and innovation to ensure continued economic growth.
"Winning the SKA project would bring great benefits and opportunities to WA and the nation," Mr Carpenter said.
"It would generate sustainable regional employment through ongoing engineering support for the facility, improvements to roads and other infrastructure and increased tourism.
"The growth of our ICT industry would be stimulated with the SKA demanding innovations to handle huge volumes of signal processing and data handling.
"SKA would also provide WA with opportunities for expanding education and training in science and other high-tech areas and leverages off Australia's world-renowned research strength in the field of radio astronomy."
International scientists are investigating the suitability of both the WA and South African sites, with a final decision on the location of the SKA expected by the end of 2010.
A statement from Shadow Science Minister Barry House is pasted below
Science and Innovation Shadow Minister Barry House has called for an investigation into the Carpenter Government's mishandling of the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array Project.
Today, the Premier announced that WA had boosted its chances of winning the international bid for the SKA project.
"This media statement from the Premier is a classic example of the Government's spin-doctoring on this issue," Mr House said.
"The truth of the situation is that this Government jeopardised the science community's chances of winning this bid for the SKA through the approval of a mining road, which went straight through the original site at Mileura station.
"The lobbying of Brian Burke and Julian Grill, as well as the former Resources Minister John Bowler, resulted in the construction of a mining road right through this radio quiet area.
Last year in State Parliament, Mr Bowler admitted that he had been lobbied by Mr Grill to approve the road that will be carrying trucks through the site at Mileura Station.
"Murchison Metals was one of the 10 companies that I was contacted about; I was contacted by Julian Grill. It mainly involved the transport of ore past Mileura, through to Cue and into Geraldton. I am glad to say that we resolved the issue, and Murchison Metals will start mining and producing wealth and jobs for Western Australians tomorrow." - Hansard, 23rd November 2006.
"The public needs to know more about the actions and decisions of the Carpenter Government, including how the taxpayers money has been spent, or wasted, in the process.
"Already a great deal of taxpayers' money has been lost by the Government's actions so far.
"Essentially two to three years of planning with research, radio interference tests, native title negotiations as well as at least $2 million in State Government funding has been invested in the original site Mileura Station.
"I think the entire science community, both at a state, national and international level is surprised and dismayed that this Government has allowed a mining road to go straight through what was meant to be a radio quiet zone.
"I would like to see a concrete assurance from the Government that this site will be protected from any noise that could threaten this location as a radio quiet zone.
"I understand that currently there are plans to have a Murchison Metals railway line within the 70km zone of Boolardy Station. We would need assurances that the proposed location of that rail would be shifted and that the site would be protected.
"When I say a real assurance I mean promises that are different to the ones we have heard over the last three years from the Labor Government."
"This makes Mileura a perfect place to locate facilities for Australian and International astronomers at the forefront of the radio astronomy research." - former Science Minister Fran Logan, Business News 16th March 2006.
"We would also need to see guarantees from the Government to provide the necessary infrastructure as well as an assurance that the interests of the mining community will not conflict with this project this time."
