Australian Science Minister Chris Evans says his government remains committed to beating South Africa in a close tender process to host the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope.
Possibly as early as next month, a consortium of 20 countries will announce whether South Africa or a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand will be chosen to host the 15-billion-rand radio telescope, comprising 3-thousand antenna dishes.
Evans said earlier today that Australia was still absolutely committed to winning the bid.
It was reported from Sydney last week that South Africa emerged as the favourite among members of an international advisory committee to host the facility, known as the "Square Kilometre Array".
