Robertson Grant: Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill — First Reading 
Robertson Grant: Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7406] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 I fear I have an inadequate astronomical pedigree compared with my colleagues to stand up here and talk today. In fact I did not even sit School Certificate science. Mr Peachey would be appalled to hear that. But as I have gone on in years I have come to see that science plays a critical role in our world and society and I have also come to see that astronomy is indeed a fantastic part of that. 
As the MP for Wellington Central I will take a short call on the Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill in order to note that the Carter Observatory does sit within the Wellington Central electorate and will complete when it is fully renovated next year a nice picture of visitor attractions with educational value in the city. I am particularly thinking of Te Papa which most members will have visited; Zealandia which was formerly known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and I do hope members across the House will find time to visit that fantastic facility; and Otari-Wilton’s Bush. The Carter Observatory will be part of a network of those kinds of facilities in this city when it fully kicks in as a visitor attraction and educational facility and Wellingtonians are very proud of that. 
I too want to offer thanks here as other speakers have. Firstly I thank the Wellington City Council which has taken on the running of the Carter Observatory and will be moving forward with it. The council has put in a significant amount of funding in recent times in order to make sure the observatory will be able to reopen in 2010 and I think the city council deserves credit for having done that. Obviously the observatory is a facility that Wellingtonians have known from the past since its opening in 1941 and on to its becoming our national observatory in 1977. It is indeed an important asset and an important part of Wellington and I thank the council for its ongoing support. 
Secondly I want to thank the large group of volunteers who have done significant work at the observatory over recent years maintaining the telescopes and ensuring that people are able to visit the observatory and have a good experience there. As we all know volunteers are important in keeping a lot of institutions going in our country. The Carter Observatory is no different. 
It will be a grand occasion when the Carter Observatory reopens as a visitor attraction. People will be able to go there and enjoy outstanding facilities. The Thomas Cooke telescope is a historic 9¾-inch telescope at the observatory. I was reflecting on what people might see when they looked through that telescope. They would look up into the far reaches of the universe. I wondered which planets they might glimpse. They might glimpse something called “Planet Tolley”. On “Planet Tolley” life would look a little like the 19th century. Students would be sitting in rows learning their three Rs and there would be no sign of science. There would not be a sign of the kind of science we have been talking about today. 
Today we heard from Anne Tolley the Minister of Education that science advisers will go from our primary schools. These science advisers allow primary school teachers who are not subject experts to impart learning to students that is up to date relevant and cutting edge science. This allows students to apply in a practical context the literacy skills that they are learning. Literacy skills have to be used and applied in a practical way; that is basic teaching and learning yet today we heard that primary school teachers will have that resource away from them. This bill is about a very useful and important institution in our country and it is a great pity that on the day that we debate the bill we also learn that primary school students who we hope will visit this institution will no longer have the support of science advisers. 
This bill will allow a good institution a strong educational facility and a good visitor attraction to be created. I hope that when the Education and Science Committee looks at this bill it will look at the other recommendations that were part of the report about what should happen with regard to the national observatory. I hope that some discussion will happen about that and some funding will be found for it in the future. 
As the MP for Wellington Central I tell members that they can rest assured that Wellington will continue to be a centre of visitor and educational attractions and it will be proud to have the Carter Observatory here.