Weather ‘in the lap of the robots’ in 5 months

MARCH 2, 2016: MACKAY’S weather service will be in the lap of the robots after August, following the Bureau of Meteorology’s decision to automate the local office and cut all staff.Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, this week confirmed Mackay’s Bureau of Meteorology office would move to full automation after August and that the equipment would be monitored and serviced by staff based in the Bureau’s Cairns Activity Hub.Staff members at Mackay’s office will be given the opportunity to be sent to another office.I will continue negotiations with the minister to overturn or delay the decision to axe staff from the Mackay office and I'm asking you to lend your support by signing my online petition.Removing staff from Mackay after August (and then from Townsville as well) will leave no technicians near any BOM facility along a 1700km stretch of the Queensland coastline.That is a real concern in times of extreme weather, knowing there are no technicians to access Mackay or Townsville BOM facilities.If you want to keep jobs in Mackay and confidence in the local weather service please sign the petition.In the event of a cyclone we want to know that someone who knows the community and understands the weather has their hands of the wheel and is one the ground to ensure the we receive the best advice and assistance to deal with what is a dangerous situation.We don’t want to be coming into next cyclone season with our safety in the hands of some programmed robot.Asking Siri for advice might be entertaining but I wouldn’t trust her with my life.I have written to the Minister for the Environment, asking the Government to intervene in the Bureau’s plan to axe Mackay’s weather station jobs in the middle of this year.The last thing we want to hear about in this community is more job losses, much less the loss of weather staff that we will rely on when a cyclone is looming off the coast.