Quote:
Originally Posted by TrevorW
don't get me started on barney we have an election in May so hopefully we will see the ass end of him
oops politics can't be discusted
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It won't make any difference Trevor, it was Labor who wanted to completely close the Observatory in the late 80's. A friend of mine and I lobbied strongly for it to remain open and in some small way, I hope, we contributed to its savoir then. This has been on the cards for a long time, sadly. At least it is staying open for night tours, for now.
And furthermore, no pollie is going to stop spending money on his pet projects to the exclusion of more important things, like science. It just won't happen. Changing pollies will only change their particular pet projects, so, unless the new pollie is a strong advocate for astronomy, nothing will change, at least, for the better.
Having worked on science projects at Perth Observatory in the nineties, it is personally very sad indeed to see it all come to this, but I think inevitable. You only have to look to the United States to see the state of optical astronomy is under extreme budgetary pressure. Pretty much everywhere in the world has lived beyond its means. It is always the fringes that first bare the brunt of funding cuts.
But, look at the bright side, if they do shut the observatory, there will be a lot of neat stuff that will be auctioned off. Mind you, I hope it doesn't actually come to this. Furthermore, on the bright side, amateurs will have to play an increasing role to fill the gaps.
I think, from what we have seen around the world, optical astronomy has seen its heyday, it is now radio astronomy's time to shine!