Acting Director of the Bureau of Meteorology, Dr. Neville Smith said the time is right for a new supercomputer capable of further improving weather prediction as well as providing Australian climate researchers with the processing power needed to undertake more demanding climate forecasts.

"Together the new supercomputers will provide the computer power needed to develop the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator - a new project to tie together weather forecasting as well as climate and ocean forecasts."

ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb said that building capacity for the future research needs of the nation is critically important and that he was pleased the climate and earth systems sciences research community would be better able to rise to national challenges with the new supercomputers. He also remarked that working with the Bureau, CSIRO and others to this end had been very constructive.

"For more than two decades ANU has supported computationally intensive research across national research communities. The new acquisition will ensure that Australia becomes internationally competitive again in this important area, lifting capability by a factor of 10. In addition to climate modelling and weather prediction, the renewed capability will serve a wide range of other cutting edge research for the nation."