RSV Nuyina is a game changer

A new $1.9bn research vessel arriving in Hobart today will change the way science is done in Antarctica, says Sussan Ley

THE RSV Nuyina arrives at Macquarie Wharf today as the most advanced polar research vessel in the world … and she’s ours.

Given the challenges faced by so many Australians over the past year, the sight of the Australian flag flying on a vessel that is this significant to the world scientific community is something we can all celebrate.

Berthing just a stone’s throw away from the replica of Mawson’s hut and its tribute to the harsh endurance of the nation’s pioneering Antarctic explorers, the RSV Nuyina is much more than a new icebreaker. It signals a whole new a new era for Australia in Antarctic research and exploration.

Her presence in Hobart sends a clear message to the world about Australia’s Antarctic commitment.

The Morrison government remains determined to uphold the principles supported 60 years ago by Sir Robert Menzies when the treaty was signed, and we will continue to press our leadership within the Antarctic Treaty System to ensure that peace, protection of the environment and science remain at the centre of all decision-making.

Amid the geopolitics of the world today, the Nuyina’s arrival demonstrates a $1.9 billion investment in international co-operation through science, one that will help conserve and protect the world’s last untouched wilderness, and which will add significantly to our understanding of the world’s changing climates.

Already the Nuyina is shining a new spotlight on Tasmania as the scientific gateway to the southern continent.

Countries from around the globe have begun knocking on the door of the Australian Antarctic Division to discuss future collaborations.

The presence of a vessel that can drive deeper into icefloes than any Australian ship has done before, explore the depths of the Southern Ocean while probing polar weather systems in the upper atmosphere, and one that can deploy medium-range helicopters further into the continent than we have ever been able to in the past is an attractive lure to Hobart for many nations.

It is 40 years since the Australian Antarctic Division first moved to Hobart, and the Morrison government is committed to growing its future and the value that it brings to the Tasmanian economy.

More than $23 million has been generated for local business through the AAD for this season constructing traverse vehicles that can withstand temperatures of minus-40C, Antarctic landing barges, steel sleds, tractors, and emergency food ration kits.

As we look to undertake major work at Macquarie Island in the future, and as tradies in Hobart construct modular accommodation cells for Davis Station, Tasmanian workers remain a vibrant part of the polar economy.

We will continue to work with the Tasmanian government to identify new opportunities to support the AAD’s future operations.

Throughout its proud Antarctic history, Australia has often taken pride in punching above its weight — the old “orange roughy” itself was a symbol of that spirit.

RSV Nuyina is a game changer.

She will allow our scientists to do more science more safely, allow researchers to look beneath the ice like never before, and allow expeditioners to explore more places than ever before.

The ship gives us the platform from which to expand our knowledge of Southern Ocean ecosystems, the Antarctic continent, and the frozen history of our planet.

Thirty years since Australia’s central role within the Madrid Protocol, which places an indefinite ban on mining in Antarctica, we are bringing countries together to sponsor new marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean.

The Nuyina’s floating state-of-the-art laboratories will see the world’s scientists collaborating to protect fisheries and biodiversity in the Southern Ocean, and her ability to integrate with the science of the next 30 years means that we can’t know today the true extent of what she will achieve.

I am sure that the southern lights of the Nuyina, a name chosen by young Australians to honour the memory our oldest inhabitants, will help define the next 60 years of Antarctic Treaty exploration.