Antarctica : Australia ’s Pristine Frontier

An overview

The main source of funding for Australia’s Antarctic Program is through the AAD as the lead agency for the program. The AAD’s appropriation for 2004-05 was $88.04 million with expenditure divided between the Australian Government’s four stated goals for Australia’s Antarctic Program. Each of the Government’s goals constitutes an output for the AAD’s budget as detailed in Table 2.1.

The Government’s goals for the Antarctic program are achieved primarily through Australia’s policy positions in international fora within the Antarctic Treaty System, and through the conduct of science directly targeted at the Government’s goals.¹ With respect to the fourth goal (that is, ‘to undertake scientific work of practical, economic and national significance’) the Government stated that:

…the Government accepts ASAC’s cautionary advice about the potential for large-scale and high-cost international research to jeopardise the long-term viability of other research activity if funds are diverted from these areas. Accordingly, the Government agrees that such high-cost research, including research of national significance, should generally secure funding from sources beyond the Antarctic Program before it can be supported as part of the Antarctic Program. In doing so, the Government notes that its direct funding support for the Antarctic Program is only a relatively small component of the total support available for Australian scientific research.²

Table 2.1 Summary of resources for the Australian Antarctic Division, 2003-04 and 2004-05

Table 2.2 Australian Antarctic Division Budget % by Function

An analysis of the AAD revenue since the introduction of accrual financial management in 1999 (see Table 2.3 below) reveals that prior to the announcement of the 2005-06 Budget, the AAD’s appropriation had been maintained at a generally static level. In informal discussions with the Committee, the Division reported that there had been no new money invested in the AAD for many years.⁴ As a result, there has been little or no money available to fund infrastructure for new science initiatives or new logistical projects. In particular, the AAD had been unable to proceed with its plans to introduce an inter-continental air link between the Australian mainland and the AAT.

Table 2.3 Australian Antarctic Division revenue since 1999-2000

* This appropriation is adjusted to reflect the amount available to the AAD after the Government’s Capital Use Charge (which ceased in 2003-04) was applied to original funding figure.

2005-06 Federal Budget

On 10 May 2005, Treasurer the Hon Peter Costello MP, unveiled the 2005-06 Federal Budget whereby agency resourcing for the Department of the Environment and Heritage included a commitment of $46.3 million over four years (including $7 million capital funding) to establish an inter-continental air link between Australia and Antarctica. The issues regarding the air link are discussed in further detail in chapter three.

The AAD’s total appropriation for 2005-06 is $99.4 million⁵ with expenditure divided between the two outputs, ‘Antarctic policy’ and ‘Antarctic science’. Aspects of Antarctic scientific research were previously attributed to the four outputs in line with the Government’s stated goals for Australia’s Antarctic Program (see Table 2.1), but are now aggregated into the Antarctic science output. The total resources for the Department of the Environment and Heritage’s Antarctic outcome are shown in Table 2.4.

Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre

A significant component of Australia ’s Antarctic science program is the work carried out through the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). The Centre was established in Hobart in July 2003, replacing the CRC for Antarctica and Southern Oceans which ceased to exist on 30 June 2003 . The new CRC consists of approximately 100 scientists and support staff. The Centre will receive Commonwealth funding of $23.5 million over seven years, supplemented by the cash and in-kind contributions of the CRC’s partner organisations, of which the Australian Antarctic Division is the largest (with a 60 per cent stake).

The Centre’s work involves five main research programs focused on Antarctic marine ecosystems, climate variability and change, ocean control of carbon dioxide, sea level rise, and Antarctic and Southern Ocean policy.⁶ The research programs support each of the Government’s goals for Australia ’s Antarctic Program, in particular the goal of understanding the role of Antarctica in the global climate system, and are closely aligned with AAD research and policy activities.⁷

Table 2.4 Total resources for Outcome 2: Antarctic

Source Department of the Environment and Heritage, Portfolio Budget Statements 2005-2006, p 71.

Tasmanian Government contribution

During a public hearing in Hobart, the State Government of Tasmania expressed concern about the AAD scaling back its activities on Macquarie Island. As discussed in chapter one, Macquarie Island is a World Heritage listed Nature Reserve managed by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Tasmanian Government stated that ‘ any downsizing of the (Commonwealth Government’s) present financial commitment to Macquarie Island will have a devastating effect on Tasmania ’s ability to continue its current management on the island’.⁸ Table 2.5 provides a snapshot of the financial and in-kind contributions that the Tasmanian Government has made over a five year period in supporting scientific programs and undertaking management activities on Macquarie Island .

Table 2.5 Tasmanian Government Expenditure for Management of Scientific Programs on Macquarie Island

Source State Government of Tasmania , Submission no. 36, p 2.

Concerns over the adequacy of AAD funding

In 2001, an Output Pricing Review was conducted jointly by the AAD and the Department of Finance and Administration as part of the broad government financial management and market testing framework. The review included benchmarking against commercial organisations, government agencies and other national Antarctic programs to identify better practices in the delivery of government services.⁹ The AAD stated that:

…The primary conclusion of the review is that the price of outputs for the Antarctic outcome was reasonable.¹⁰

Despite the findings of the 2001 review, the evidence the Committee has received from stakeholders in Australia’s Antarctic Program has raised serious concerns about the AAD’s capacity to respond to the unique and changing nature of its operations in the Antarctic region and the possible implications this could have for the future of the program. These concerns, which are summarised below and are addressed in greater detail throughout the rest of the report, extend across a broad range of areas of the program, including:

• new initiatives such as the inter-continental air link;
• grants to support Antarctic research;
• logistical support, in particular for the marine science program, and infrastructure to support ‘new’ science projects;
• strengthening Australia’s involvement in the Antarctic Treaty system, including participation in the International Polar Year 2007-08;
• environmental protection of Antarctica, including protection of fish stocks, waste remediation, and cultural preservation; and
• maintaining Australia’s four stations in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic.

The perception that the AAD has exhausted all avenues to produce further savings was evident from a number of submissions to the Committee’s inquiry.¹¹ ASAC, for example, stated:

…It is quite clear to ASAC that the AAD has approached its maximum capacity with the resources it has available and that it may not be able to meet all the goals set for the program.¹²

ASAC Chairman, Professor Kurt Lambeck, acknowledged that the issue of funding for the Antarctic program is problematic. Professor Lambeck told the Committee:

…Throughout our evaluation of the program, we have recognised that funding is not open-ended and that, in wanting to go in new directions, some areas may have to cease. That is, in a sense, one of the challenges that ASAC have: what areas we go into and at what cost to existing programs.¹³

The Bureau of Meteorology relies on the AAD to provide logistical support in order to undertake its weather and climate observation and research at Australia’s Antarctic stations. The Bureau stated:

…We sense that the AAD, like the Bureau, has reached a point where the resources available to it are not sufficient to support the scientific activities that need to be undertaken in the Antarctic region.¹⁴

The AAD has continued to advance Australia’s Antarctic interests in spite of the funding problems it has encountered through operational efficiencies and cost-shifting measures. For example, the Division recently introduced cost-effective renewable energy sources with the installation of wind turbines at Mawson Station. The first two turbines were installed at the station in March 2003 and fuel costs were reduced by approximately 27 per cent over the first year of operation. The AAD reported that this constituted a saving of approximately 159 000 litres of fuel with a purchase price of just under $100 000.¹⁵ While this is a significant saving, there is a limit to which the AAD can continue to do this. Therefore, there is a need to increase the recurrent funding notwithstanding the $46.3 million allocated under the current budget for the inter-continental air link.

A transferral of responsibilities within the Department of the Environment and Heritage has seen the AAD assume responsibility for Australia’s Southern Ocean whale research program, including leading Australia’s input at meetings of the IWC.¹⁶ The Australian Marine Sciences Association warned that such additional activities ‘can only be effectively undertaken with additional funding unless other strategic activities are curtailed or terminated’.¹⁷

The AAD advised that new innovations such as the recent introduction of two aircraft for intra-continental flights between Australia’s Antarctic stations ($5.9 million) have had to be absorbed within the AAD’s budget, largely through a re-arrangement of the logistics budget.¹⁸ Staffing and operational increases and capital purchases have also had to be absorbed within a generally static budget.

Committee comment

The Committee is gravely concerned that there is a considerable danger that Australia’s leading work in Antarctic policy and research may erode over time, unless the Commonwealth Government is prepared to make a significant commitment to increase its support for Australia’s Antarctic program. While the Committee acknowledges that funding for the air link has been allocated under the 2005-06 Budget, it has sought to identify specific areas of the program where additional funding is required, and in some areas urgently required, and to address these areas in the following chapters of this report.

The Committee is conscious that the recommendations throughout this report call on the Government to significantly increase the level of funding attributed to Australia’s Antarctic Program. These recommendations arise from the Committee’s concern that the Government’s goals for the Antarctic program are at risk of being forfeited due to funding constraints which are restricting the AAD’s ability to respond to the variable nature of its operations. The overwhelming message from the evidence to the Committee’s inquiry is that if Australia is to maintain its high reputation as a leader in Antarctic affairs, the Government must provide additional funding.

Such a commitment should be to an extent which not only reflects Australia’s standing as the nation with the largest territorial claim in Antarctica, but also allows Australia to retain a competitive edge in the conduct of Antarctic science.

Specific areas of Australia’s Antarctic Program which the Committee has identified as requiring additional funding and are discussed later in this report include:

• supporting Australia’s role in the International Polar Year 2007-2008;
• the remediation of past work sites in the Australian Antarctic Territory; and
• increasing funding available under the Australian Antarctic Science grants scheme.