Research Site Faces Closure
The Age
Thursday May 28, 1998
Victoria's aquatic research program is in danger of collapse, with 22 scientists and staff at the Arthur Rylah Institute in Heidelberg refusing to abide by a State Government decision to relocate them to Snobs Creek, near Eildon.
The freshwater unit at Arthur Rylah is a primary source of ecological advice on the state's waterways and catchments. The protection of endangered native fish is a priority. Its clients include government agencies such as the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and industries such as forestry and rural water authorities.
The scientists say their relocation to Snobs Creek, a research facility that concentrates on commercial fisheries, has no scientific or budgetary merit.
The relocation has been mooted as part of an extensive restructure of metropolitan research institutes in which at least 50 scientists will lose their jobs and research projects will be cut in a drive to save $24 million across the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
The budget cutbacks are intended to help pay for the Government's promise to boost funding by $100 million in the troubled education and health sectors.
The Arthur Rylah scientists told The Age that no one was prepared to relocate.
© 1998 The Age
