It's disappointing to see an opportunity to grow our scientific community lost due to the Government's decision to not commit to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope, National's Research, Science and Innovation spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar says.
"The Minister is concerned that New Zealand doesn't have a sufficiently large pool of world-class experts doing the type of work that would be advanced by using the SKA, but this merely emphasises the need for New Zealand to invest in and grow our scientific expertise.
"Innovation and technological development is central in supporting economic growth, but if we fail to attract and maintain experts we won't be able to see the full economic value.
"The Government needs to be supporting our scientific community and helping them grow, currently there is no evidence of a plan to do this.
"National believes in supporting New Zealand's wider scientific sector to develop more scientific and technological skills, which will allow us to keep up with international advances and provide opportunities to connect with the international scientific community."
