Re: No -- there are other reasons . . .
Many other reason.
But does it really matter? I mean, getting there for any reason is more than half the battle. Once there, setting up an NEO observatory would become extremely justifiable. Right now, it's not. That is the basic economics of the beast. People will pay whatever they have to detect that one in a quadrillion killer impactor -- provided it's not too much.
Suggestion:
Support a far-side SETI station, which would double as an NEO observatory. People like SETI. they don't really understand it, but that's not important. They like it, so they'll support it.
Dan