Kedgley Sue: Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Kedgley Sue: Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:663;Page:11355] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 Part 2 of the Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill states that on and from the day the bill comes into force the property and all rights of the Carter Observatory board vest in the Wellington City Council. We have heard a lot of people including me extolling the Carter Observatory. It is a fantastic tourism centre a fantastic education centre and a great asset to Wellington. I congratulate the Wellington City Council on stepping in and coming to the rescue of the Carter Observatory. However we have not discussed the lack of resources that essentially led to the demise of the Carter Observatory as our national observatory. 
A few years ago in 2005 an astronomer and Australian professor Mike Bessell of the Australian National University was commissioned by the Ministry of Research Science and Technology to review the Carter Observatory. It is very interesting to read some of the conclusions that he came to. He said that the main reason the Carter Observatory failed in its role as the national observatory of New Zealand was the lack of adequate financial resources. He said that there is general agreement in the astronomical community that the main reason is the lack of resourcing. He went on to compare the observatory with those in other countries. He said that unlike other observatories overseas like those of Australia and other nations we have a much smaller percentage of research and development funding available for astronomical research in New Zealand. It is tragic that the loss of our national observatory is due to a lack of funding that we are giving to astronomy and to science generally in New Zealand. 
He also pointed out that virtually no science centre or planetarium in the world is able to sustain its operation solely through gate takings and that a proportion of the running costs in every planetarium or science centre in the world is provided by local or national government. Although it is very well for us to wax eloquent about the Carter Observatory what we are doing in this part of the bill is transferring what was once a wonderful national observatory into what is now a tourism centre and an education centre. Yes it is a great planetarium a great education centre and a great tourism asset but the truth is that the demise of our national observatory is because of a lack of funding. The Wellington City Council has committed funding for the next 10 years but I ask what will happen after that. 
It is sad that we do not have a national observatory to replace this national observatory. There is speculation that possibly it could be the University of Canterbury’s Mount John Observatory or that the university’s physics and astronomy department could become a centre of excellence but basically unless we provide proper funding—and I am glad to see that the Minister of Research Science and Technology is here—we will not have a national observatory or centre of excellence for astronomy in New Zealand. That is an indictment on New Zealand and on our commitment to science. 
We need to remember as we sit here waxing eloquent about the Carter Observatory that in this bill we are presiding over the loss of our national observatory. We are probably one of the only developed nations that does not have a national observatory and according to research that has come about because we have not provided enough financial resources to fund astronomical research or a national observatory. Thank you very much.