Davis Kelvin: Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Davis Kelvin: Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:663;Page:11368] 
KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 I agree with the previous speaker Louise Upston that the Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill is a simple bill. Everyone in the House basically agrees with it. But I also take Sue Kedgley’s point that this is a sad day because we are losing a scientific and research asset after it has served New Zealand for 70-odd years. Since 1977 the Carter Observatory has been our national observatory and this is a sad day because we are losing that aspect of it. 
Sue Kedgley is also correct to say that astronomy is one of the subjects in a class that really grabs students’ imaginations. If we go into any class in any school it does not take us long to see the planets lined up in order from Mercury through to Pluto. We can hear people talking about the moon and how the moon moves around Earth about the relationship of the gravity of the sun to all the planets and about how those things all interrelate. We hear kids talking about black holes sunspots and Saturn’s rings. In fact today there was a news report that astronomers have seen a planet that is travelling so close to a particular sun that it will be eaten up over the next 10000000 years. Those are the types of learning situations that children really enjoy. They motivate them and get them into science. It is unfortunate that the observatory is being closed because as Dr Bessell reported there is a lack of resourcing for it. 
A number of people today have brought up the issue of the lack of resourcing for science advisers. As a former principal I can say that in Tai Tokerau in the far north there was a lack of advisers full stop. Science advisers were as scarce as hens’ teeth. Even if when we did find a science adviser that person would have unfortunately a huge geographic area to cover in Tai Tokerau. Advisers had over 100 schools to cover which made it almost impossible for any one school to get a science adviser—and that was when there were more advisers than there are now; before their number was halved. So partly as a result of the lack of advisers science is not a subject that is particularly well taught in schools. 
As a result of that we have students going through into secondary school who are not particularly motivated about science. When they have been taught science it is normally about electronics—putting batteries and bits of wire together—water-based science and those sorts of things. Because students are not learning science well it means that they do not go on to take up science courses at university in the numbers that we would expect. Kaitaia College mentioned to me when I was the principal of Kaitaia Intermediate School that pupils were coming through who were lacking in science skills. Also the focus—and this is moving a bit off the point—of national standards on numeracy and literacy is a disincentive for teachers to teach science because if teachers’ performance is to be measured on the basis of how well their students do in numeracy and literacy then they are best suited to focus on those areas not on teaching science and not on taking their students to the observatory. Instead students should be sitting in classrooms and learning about numeracy and literacy. That is a great disincentive to broadening the curriculum; it does narrow it down. 
It is great though that the observatory has a big focus on supporting teachers. Teachers are able to come in before they bring their classes to the observatory and get a bunch of resources that will help them to plan their units. Science such as astronomy appeals to gifted students. People tend to think that gifted students are the students who achieve really well when in fact gifted students tend to underachieve because their needs are not being met by the school curriculum. Science and astronomy are among the subjects that really help gifted students to get involved in the curriculum. It is the gifted students who will make a big difference in the world. They will become the scientists they will go into the technological courses and they will make the big changes that are really important to the world. 
So we do have to thank Charles Carter who back in the 1930s decided to set up this observatory for astronomy. The observatory has over the years been the basis of research. Amateur astronomers have been able to conduct their own research. I believe it was amateur astronomers who first spotted the Shoemaker-Levy 9 asteroid which people followed through the Internet eventually tracking its path. I think it was the Shoemaker-Levy 9 asteroid that ended up crashing into Jupiter. These are the sorts of experiences that the observatory would get kids to be motivated by and to observe. That is how education outside the classroom really does engage and motivate students into learning. 
As other members have said it is very disappointing that the $750 million research and development Fast Forward Fund was cut. As I have said it is the people who engage in science and technology who will make the breakthrough developments for the world. They are the people who will develop the cures for ailments and diseases. Also as we have heard from Stuart Nash the way to grow the productive economy is through investing in research and development. It is not just through having tax cuts as the only way forward for the country. 
The other aspect of the observatory is the tourism side of things. Tourism is really important to New Zealand’s economy; over $20 billion was brought in through tourism last year. It is great that the observatory complements the tourism scene in Wellington and in fact in all of New Zealand. The observatory adds to Wellington’s attractions such as Te Papa and Zealandia: The Karori Sanctuary Experience. With that I thank you very much.