Construction of SABRE, Australia's first full-scale dark matter detector

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This project aims to complete the SABRE South dark matter detector with the most radio-pure sodium-iodide crystals installed in the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. Existing evidence for dark matter is indirect, but the southern hemisphere location and operation, in conjunction with a similar detector in Italy, provides crucial advantages for resolving a dark matter signal from seasonal backgrounds. The expected outcome is to search for dark matter from 2019-2022 and, in doing so, resolve whether one of the most persistent and enigmatic signals for dark matter is real. The benefits will include scientific understanding of the universe, Australian leadership in big science, and significant technological advances. The discovery of dark matter would have an immense impact, similar to that involving the detection of the Higgs boson and gravitational waves.