Australian Politics – Secret Deals on Nuclear Waste Importing
“We would return an enormous amount of money’ – Bob Hawke
Mr Sweeney said there was a bi-partisan push for nuclear waste dumping….“We are seeing increasing amounts of back-room deals in the wake of Fukushima in Japan,” he said.
Nuclear debate heats up behind closed doors, Government News, :06/05/2011 By Lilia Guan, Additional reporting by Paul Hemsley According to Bob Hawke the greatest contribution Australia could make to the nuclear cycle would be to take the world’s nuclear waste.
The former prime minister made the statement during the ‘Reflections on the Australia-United States Alliance’ conference, held at the United States Studies Centre – University of Sydney.
Mr Hawke said the world’s safest geological locations for deposits of nuclear waste were in North West Australia and the Northern Territory.
“We would return an enormous amount of money that we could hypothecate to the whole question of climate change and dealing with environmental issues,” he said.
“The great problem for Australia is cost on how to deal with it and without whacking up the cost of living for people,” he said.
His comments have been met with mixed reactions from local governments in the region…..Not-for-profit organisation Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) was “strongly opposed” to nuclear waste dumping.
ACF’s nuclear free campaigner, Dave Sweeney said the organisation was “deeply concerned with the consistent push” on the issue “by former
politicians from both political parties”
“We don’t see nuclear power as a safe or sustainable power source,” he said.
“Rather than facilitating a quarry or dumping ground we should be leading the world on other renewable energy sources.
“Uranium and waste dumping is all directly going down the wrong path.”
Mr Sweeney said there’s been 60 years of research which has not assured one nation on has being safe from having a “single repository” of nuclear waste.
“Australia can and should do better than being a dump for toxic materials on this earth,” he said…..“[Making Australia] radio active terra nullius was profoundly disappointing.”
Mr Sweeney said there was a bi-partisan push for nuclear waste dumping.
Although with the recent situation in Fukushima in Japan, much of that push has been behind closed doors.
“We are seeing increasing amounts of back-room deals in the wake of Fukushima in Japan,” he said.
“Muckety in Northern Territory has been chosen as a nuclear waste dumping site, even though the traditional land owners don’t live to far from the area.”
Australia has had a long history with nuclear, with the British Government’s role in nuclear testing in Maralinga, South Australia still being played out in Britain’s High Courts, said Mr Sweeney.
Is nuclear procurement something your council would consider pushing through?
Nuclear debate heats up behind closed doors – Government News: Government News and Issues
May 7, 2011 -
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, secrets and lies | secrets and lies
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“We would return an enormous amount of money’ – Bob Hawke
Nuclear debate heats up behind closed doors, Government News, :06/05/2011 By Lilia Guan, Additional reporting by Paul Hemsley According to Bob Hawke the greatest contribution Australia could make to the nuclear cycle would be to take the world’s nuclear waste.
Antinuclear 
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