Abstract
As a taxonomist who has spent her entire working life in one institution and is continuing taxonomic research in retirement, supervising students, and acting as an editor of Zootaxa for polychaetes, obviously, I have strong views on the role of taxonomy and its importance. While there are many issues confronting taxonomy and its role as a science in the 21st Century, I have selected the three issues I consider most important. I should also like to stress this is an opinion piece based on my perceptions of the current issues facing taxonomists in Australia and in the future I hope to prepare a more detailed manuscript with data to support my comments.
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