CHINA'S long-term involvement with Hobart's Antarctic gateway could be jeopardised if Australia's program on the icy continent is not adequately funded, supporters fear.
The Australian Antarctic Division's operating budget was cut this year by 8 per cent, according to a report last week in The Conversation by Matt King, an Antarctic scientist at the University of Tasmania.
Cuts and administrative barriers were throttling Antarctic exploration, Prof King said.
Tasmanian Polar Network chairman John Brennan said pre-election announcements, such as the Federal Government's call for tenders to replace the resupply ship Aurora Australis and the Coalition's promise to extend Hobart's airport runway so it can accommodate flights from countries such as China, were seen as a welcome start.
But Mr Brennan said the network, a group of Tasmanian businesses and scientific organisations that serve Antarctic programs, was alarmed by the Antarctic division program cuts.
"If funding for Australian Antarctic programs is not expanded in the federal Budget, with separate capital expenditure to build modern Antarctic stations and to improve access, we could jeopardise those fantastic opportunities that exist for Tasmanian business, scientific research and career opportunities," he said.
Mr Brennan, who returned last week from a trade mission to Chinese Antarctic institutes, said if Antarctic collaborations with countries such as China, South Korea, the US, Italy and France could be strengthened the opportunities for Hobart could be enormous.
Mr Brennan said Hobart, with its proximity to eastern Antarctica and its world-class ocean, atmospheric and Antarctic science cluster was viewed favourably by China, but the Federal Government needed to make sure it met Australia's side of the bargain.
Mr Brennan said his meetings with the Chinese were positive and the mission advanced Chinese thinking on collaboration with Tasmania.
He said the polar network's vision included Chinese scientists flying direct to Hobart via an upgraded airport to team up with Tasmanian scientists at the CSIRO and University of Tasmania's Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies.
Mr Brennan said an Antarctic-specific storage area at Hobart airport could accept heavy equipment and supplies from China and other nations.
Tasmania's Antarctic and Southern Ocean sector employs more than 1100 and contributes $187 million (0.7 per cent) to the gross state product.
bruce.mounster@news.com.au
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