

Joint Media Release  The Hon Greg Hunt MP  Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage  Federal Member for Flinders  &  Mr Barry Haase  Federal Member for Kalgoorlie

2 August 2006

GH103/06

Legendary Giles weather station  celebrates 50 years  The Hon Greg Hunt MP, Parliamentary Secretary with ministerial responsibility for  the Bureau of Meteorology announced today that Western Australia's Giles weather  station, famed among Bureau staff for its extreme isolation, and popular with  thousands of Central Australia 4WD tourists, is celebrating its 50th birthday.

"Established in 1956 by the Weapons Research Establishment, initially to provide  data for the British atomic weapon tests and later the rocket trials from Woomera,  Giles has been a Bureau responsibility since 1972, administered from the South  Australian Regional Office in Adelaide," said Mr Hunt.

"Meteorological observations have continued since then thanks to close cooperation  between the Bureau and the Ngaanyatjarra people of the Central Lands.

"Four weather observers coordinate the release of weather balloons, monitor  temperature, rainfall, humidity, pressure, evaporation, sunshine and other elements.

'Keeping these systems running 24 hours a day, each day of the year is testimony to  the staff's dedication,' Mr Hunt said.

Mr Barry Haase MP, Federal Member for Kalgoorlie said the long-term data from  such a remote site, little affected by outside influences, is valuable baseline  information in helping to improve our understanding of the atmosphere, including  studies of climate change.

"Continuing the record of unbroken observations is just as important as safeguarding  the past 50 years of observations," said Mr Haase, who will today unveil a plaque at  Giles to commemorate the 50th birthday of the Giles Meteorological Office.

Giles is located on the Gunbarrel Highway, 330km west of Uluru, making it a popular  stopover for between 2000-3000 tourists a year.

Weather observers spend six months at a time at the Giles site, which ranks in Bureau  folklore with tiny Willis Island in the Coral Sea as one of the most isolated weather  observation points in Australia.

Media contact:  Kristy McSweeney (Mr Hunt's office) 0412 360 987  Sam Dalton (Mr Haase's office) 08 9021 2035 or 0407 379 622



