Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson says that the last-minute-to-midnight decision to close of the Macquarie Island Station just before the Antarctic Summer season is a worrying sign of the budget pressure facing the Australian Antarctic Division.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Successive budget cuts, year after year, to the Australian Antarctic Division has clearly led to some bases like Macquarie Island falling into disrepair and this will have contributed to them making a snap decision to close the base.

Greens spokesperson for Antarctica, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has today released the most comprehensive Antarctic science funding package ever put forward by a political party.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “The work of Australia’s Antarctic scientists is pivotal in understand the risk of climate change. Nothing shows this more than the recent discovery that the East Antarctic ice-sheet giant isn’t as stable as we thought and is now starting to collapse. This alone could potentially add several metres to catastrophic sea-level rise.

Greens Senator for Tasmania, and Chair of recent Senate Inquiry into CSIRO budget cuts, offers the following comments on redundancy notice issued to renowned sea-level rise scientist John Church while at sea south of Hobart on the RV Investigator.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “John Church is a giant of sea-level rise research and to treat him in this way is abominable, there is a real palpable anger in Tasmania's science community following this decision.

Greens spokesperson for Fisheries, Whaling and Antarctica, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, welcomes the unveiling of a toy icebreaker model by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Environment Minister Greg Hunt in Hobart today.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “It is a positive move that the Government has provided a scale-model of the new icebreaker that they intend to purchase. Unfortunately the Government hasn’t provided any update on how the tender is advancing since 13 January 2015 and no contract has been issued for its construction.

China's commitment to using Australia as an Antarctic gateway is welcome news for Tasmanians working in the science, research and shipping sectors, Greens senators said today.

"The Antarctic and Southern Ocean research sector is worth millions to the Tasmanian economy. China's commitment will help ensure it continues to play a strong role for years to come," Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne said.

Tony Abbott's so-called "government of no surprises" has been turned on its head again by revelations that savage cuts will be made to the Hobart-based Australian Antarctic Division, as part of an Environment Department budget contraction worth $100 million and 480 jobs .

"During the election campaign, Mr Abbott flew into Hobart and announced $38 million to expand the airport's capacity for Antarctic flights and another $24 million for Antarctic research," said Australian Greens Leader and Tasmanian Senator Christine Milne.

The Australian Greens have welcomed news that both Labor and the Coalition have now joined the Greens in supporting the continuation of Antarctic climate and ecosystems research but say the promises still fall short of what is required.

"In a race for votes in Tasmania, it is not surprising they are making a last minute pitch by announcing they will increase support for Antarctica," said Australian Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne.

Subjects: Greens Antarctic and marine research funding launch, rorts in forest contractor grants

CHRISTINE MILNE: We are here today to launch the Australian Greens' policy on support for Antarctic science and a big injection into the future prosperity, not only of Tasmania but in terms of global science, a major injection into a better understanding of the role of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans in the global climate system.