Argentine Antarctica the first on the continent. On 18 December 2012, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom announced that the southern part of British Antarctic Territory (and Argentine Antarctica) has been named "Queen Elizabeth Land" in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. Argentina, which lays claim to part of the area, criticised the naming. In 2013 the Argentine Defense Ministry announced that Petrel Base will become a permanent base by 2015. The base will have an airport and logistics for transfer of passengers and cargo. The geographic structure of the Argentine Antarctica continues some features of the Patagonia, located to
Antarctica New Zealand permanent base in Antarctica. From 1965 to 1988 the person responsible for much of Scott Base development as head of the Antarctic Division of the DSIR was Bob Thornton. A 1994 review recognised Antarctica as strategically important to New Zealand as a Southern Hemisphere nation. This resulted in the establishment of the New Zealand Antarctic Institute, known as Antarctica New Zealand, on 1 July 1996. The Institute reports to the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Antarctic Policy Unit. It is a Crown entity, and has a CEO and a Board. Members of the Board are appointed for three