Growing up with my family on-site at Parkes, it gave me time to learn and understand the complexity and beauty of a machine over 50 years old, yet still so modern. Spending my early childhood there, I grew up knowing not only the people who work there, but their families as well. To hear that they may lose their jobs devastates me as they are not strangers, but people I know and love living in rural areas who will lose so much by these cuts. While the national budget may be harsh, these jobs are critical to the maintenance and effective running of the site, and axing them would deal a devastating blow not only to the workers and their families, but to the town of Parkes, and ultimately, the Scientific community as a whole.