Joint media release with Attorney General the Hon Robert McClelland
Australia’s Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope will be built in Western Australia’s mid-west following an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) signed with traditional owners, the Wajarri Yamatji people.
Announcing the agreement today Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr and Attorney General, Robert McClelland welcomed the result, saying it was a critical step towards securing the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope for Australia.
Senator Carr said: “The SKA will be the most advanced radio telescope ever built, with the capacity to see back to the dawn of time.”
“Securing a home for the ASKAP project, a critical precursor to the huge SKA project, is a real advance for the bid we are running with the New Zealand Government.”
Mr McClelland said: “Signing the ILUA with the Wajarri Yamatji people is a real advance and demonstrates the positive native title results that can be achieved through a negotiated settlement.”
“The ILUA provides a range of practical and financial benefits to the traditional owners, the Wajarri Yamatji people, including employment, education and training opportunities which can contribute to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.”
Brian Boyle, CSIRO SKA Director said: “Building the ASKAP telescope is boosting innovative Australian technology and demonstrating the quality of our site for the SKA.”
“The ASKAP telescope will be a next generation radio telescope in its own right, incorporating novel receiver technologies and leading edge ICT systems that will allow astronomers to answer fundamental questions about the creation and early evolution of our Universe,” he said.
The ILUA is a result of successful negotiations between the Commonwealth, Western Australia, CSIRO, the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation and the Wajarri Yamatji people.
The agreement covers land in Western Australia’s mid-West which will house the ASKAP and become a permanent observatory site.
The ILUA was registered by the National Native Title Tribunal on 13 November 2009.
For more information on the Square Kilometre Array project visit: www.ska.gov.au
Media Contact: Adam Siddique (Attorney General’s office) 0407 473 630
Patrick Pantano (Minister Carr’s office) 0417 181 936