{"id":6287,"date":"2013-05-14T12:30:17","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=6287"},"modified":"2013-05-20T20:09:26","modified_gmt":"2013-05-20T10:09:26","slug":"antarctic-logistics-in-for-the-long-haul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/antarctic-logistics-in-for-the-long-haul\/","title":{"rendered":"Antarctic logistics\u2014in for the long haul?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest editor Anthony Bergin<\/strong>\"Researchers<\/a>Australia made its last significant new investment in Antarctic logistic capability during the Howard government years, when we funded an intercontinental air capability in the form of a commercial Airbus A319 flying from Hobart to an ice runway in Antarctica.<\/p>\n

This was the first time a commercial wheeled jet aircraft had been licensed to fly to and land in Antarctica. The construction of Australia\u2019s research and resupply icebreaker Aurora Australis in Newcastle (Australia) and a station rebuilding program in the 1980s were the previous major investments in Antarctic logistics.<\/p>\n

Almost a decade after funding the Antarctic airlink, two fundamental budget issues are combining to potentially cripple Australia\u2019s Antarctic efforts. The first is that Aurora Australis is reaching the end of its life. It will need to be replaced within a few years. And a replacement vessel(s) for Aurora Australis won\u2019t be cheap.<\/p>\n

The second budget issue is the steady erosion of base funding through the imposition of efficiency dividends and other budget savings. When the budget is tight, keeping the people safe and the stations resupplied and operating will always trump a marine research project or a deep-field ice core drilling program, no matter how important they might be. This year, for example, the internationally significant sea-ice research expedition to Antarctica, SIPEX 2<\/a>, was only able to proceed with additional funds from the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.<\/p>\n

The relentless erosion of core capacity, in the absence of a fundamental rebasing, runs the risk of re-creating a ‘Sir Humphrey Appleby\u2019s hospital<\/a>‘ in Antarctica: three research stations and a marine science capability, but no means to fund and support real or relevant scientific activity in the Australian Antarctic Territory.<\/p>\n

But Australia\u2019s Antarctic efforts should be supported to a level that matches Australia\u2019s interest as a claimant of 42% of the continent, and as a leading nation in Antarctic and southern ocean science.<\/p>\n

So what should Australia\u2019s Antarctic logistic capabilities look like in the years to come?<\/p>\n