Tim Ayres

And competitive rounds of funding for programs are very challenging.

It is a great thing to have a secure job at an Australian university or an Australian science agency.

They are really good places to work.

But when your job's contingent upon rotating rounds of funding, that is tougher.

I absolutely recognise that.

Well, of course, I understand that'll be a source of real disappointment for scientists and research and development workers more broadly who would be looking for access to that facility beyond the end of 2027 when our current partnership runs out.

And we'll keep working with them.

I've, of course, met with representatives of that community and we're looking, of course, at future opportunities, but we declined that round.

It's one of the things that I will be working through with the optical astronomy community, but also our science institutions and public science agencies.

We have a range of scientific facilities around Australia that are coming to the point where they will require future investment.

We won't be making decisions or public announcements about where we're getting to until we've reached a conclusion.

But that facility is very high on my list.