Antinuclear

Muckaty is not needed for radioactive waste, and the traditional owners will fight on

Medical professionals have called for federal politicians to stop using nuclear medicine as justification for the Muckaty proposal. 

Both the NT and Commonwealth governments have systematically stripped back resources for small remote Indigenous communities, placing increased pressure on them to accept long-term and high impact projects like the waste dump.

there is a simple solution: leave the waste where it is produced at the Lucas Heights nuclear research centre .. As Dr Ron Cameron from ANSTO said: “ANSTO is capable of handling and storing wastes for long periods of time. There is no difficulty with that.” Similar views have been expressed by the Commonwealth nuclear regulator, ARPANSA, by the Australian Nuclear Association and even by Martin Ferguson’s own department. 

Ferguson’s Dumping Ground Fights Back New Matilda , 13 Feb 12,  The Gillard Government is pushing ahead with plans to host a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty in the NT, despite local opposition. Traditional Owners have vowed to fight on, writes Natalie Wasley…. The legislation names Muckaty, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, as the only site to remain under active consideration for a national nuclear waste dump.

The proposal is highly contested by the NT Government and is also being challenged in the Federal Court by Traditional Owners. Despite this, the Bill is currently being debated in the Senate — and will likely pass.

Ferguson’s law is a crude cut and paste of the Howard government’s Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act that it purports to replace. It limits the application of federal environmental protection legislation and it curtails appeal rights. The draft legislation overrides the Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act and it sidesteps the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. It allows for the imposition of a dump on Aboriginal land with no consultation with or consent from Traditional Owners. In fact, the Minister can now override any state or territory law that gets in the way of the dump plan.

Before it won government, Labor promised to address radioactive waste management issues in a manner that would “ensure full community consultation in radioactive waste decision-making processes”, and to adopt a “consensual process of site selection”. Yet despite many invitations, Martin Ferguson refuses to meet with Traditional Owners opposed the dump.

Traditional Owners are angry that they continue to be sidelined. Muckaty Traditional Owner Penny Phillips, from the Wirntiku group, told New Matilda, “How dare the government debate this legislation while we’ve got them in court challenging the nomination? They don’t know the outcome of the court case yet, it shouldn’t go ahead.”

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has called for the vote on the proposed law to be delayed, saying “It is either a complete waste of the parliament’s time to be debating a bill that targets a site which, if the applicants to the Federal Court action are successful, will be taken permanently off the table or it may prejudice or get in the way of that action itself….

Medical professionals have called for federal politicians to stop using nuclear medicine as justification for the Muckaty proposal. …..

NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson has called the deal “offensive”. Gerry McCarthy, member for the Barkly region where Muckaty is located, called it “bribery”, adding: “This debate is far too important for a short term fix with a cheap approach to try and pay somebody off to get a storage facility established quickly.”

A toxic trade-off of basic services for a nuclear waste dump has been part of this story from the start……

Both the NT and Commonwealth governments have systematically stripped backresources for small remote Indigenous communities, placing increased pressure on them to accept long-term and high impact projects like the waste dump.

While Ferguson’s legislation will inevitably pass the Senate with Coalition support, there is a broad and growing alliance that will challenge the proposal every step of the way…..

The campaign against the Muckaty dump continues to call for a comprehensive and independent inquiry into the full range of radioactive waste management options in Australia.

In the meantime, there is a simple solution: leave the waste where it is produced at the Lucas Heights nuclear research centre, run by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, which is south of Sydney. That is where the waste is produced, and that is where Australia’s nuclear expertise is concentrated.

As Dr Ron Cameron from ANSTO said: “ANSTO is capable of handling and storing wastes for long periods of time. There is no difficulty with that.” Similar views have been expressed by the Commonwealth nuclear regulator, ARPANSA, by the Australian Nuclear Association and even by Martin Ferguson’s own department. http://newmatilda.com/2012/02/13/fergusons-dumping-ground-fights-back

February 14, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Northern Territory, politics