International News

SYDNEY, Oct 14, (APP/AFP) – Australia’s permanent sub-Antarctic research base at Macquarie Island has won a reprieve from closure and will instead get a multi-million dollar revamp, the government said Friday. The Australian Antarctic Division announced in September the station on the island — which lies between Australia and Antarctica — would shut after almost seven decades due to environmental contamination concerns and ageing infrastructure. But after pressure from researchers and climate scientists, Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said it will instead get a new state-of-the-art facility with the government announcing a Aus$50 million (US$37.8 million) funding boost. “The new station will be the most advanced of its type in the Southern Ocean, capable of supporting the full range of priority activities we have conducted in the past and to ensure a permanent and recurring year round presence,” he said. “The new modern station will be significantly more efficient than the existing station and be designed to have minimal environmental impact, lower operating and maintenance costs.”