Antinuclear

The finish for the plan to dump nuclear waste at Muckaty

Muckaty nuclear dump scrapped  Land council abandons Muckaty dump push SMH,  June 19, 2014 Neda Vanovac”…… the Northern Land Council has decided to abandon its push to locate a national nuclear waste dump on Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory. The NLC announced on Thursday that it had settled with opponents of the dump and that Federal Court proceedings would be dismissed. Settlement talks had been going on since the trial began earlier this month, NLC CEO Joe Morrison said.

Last week, the court travelled from Melbourne to Tennant Creek to take evidence from a number of Aboriginal clans from the Muckaty Land Trust, located 120km north of the town, who said their wishes were overruled by a fifth clan and the NLC, who worked together to nominate the site.

The groups have been battling one another for seven years since Muckaty was formally nominated in 2007……..

Whether a dump would be located on Aboriginal land is up to the Commonwealth and traditional owners, Mr Morrison said…….The $12 million that had been on the table from the federal government as compensation for the community will not be paid, and a second site on Muckaty will not be put forward.

Both sides will pay their own legal costs.

Whether a dump would be located on Aboriginal land is up to the Commonwealth and traditional owners, Mr Morrison said.  The federal government has agreed to an NLC request the site no longer be considered, and it will hold discussions to find an alternative, Minister for Industry Ian MacFarlane said in a statement.

“If a suitable site is not identified through these discussions the government will commence a new tender process for nominations for another site.”

Lawyers for the traditional land owners at Muckaty Station said their clients were overjoyed with the outcome.

“Every step of the process was opposed by people on the ground, and that may be one reason why they’ve decided to no longer rely on litigation,” Maurice Blackburn lawyer Elizabeth O’Shea told reporters in Melbourne. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/muckaty-nuclear-dump-scrapped-20140619-3af4c.html

June 19, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, legal, Northern Territory