Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Australian Youth Climate Coalition condemns South Australian government’s proposal on nuclear issues

South-Australia-nuclearNuclear issues to be examined by SA royal commission, Premier Jay Weatherill announces  //www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-08/nuclear-issues-royal-commission-jay-weatherill/6078260Sun 8 Feb 2015,

A royal commission will look at the future role South Australia should play in the nuclear industry, Premier Jay Weatherill says.

The SA Premier called a news conference to make the surprise announcement, telling reporters the inquiry would be a first for Australia.

He said the inquiry would look at SA’s involvement in the mining, enrichment, energy and storage phases in the life cycle of nuclear fuel.

“We believe South Australians should be given the opportunity to explore the practical, financial and ethical issues raised by a deeper involvement in the nuclear industries,” he said.

Mr Weatherill said SA had one of the world’s biggest uranium deposits and had been involved in uranium production for more than 25 years.

“It is now the time to engage in a mature and robust conversation about SA’s future role in the nuclear industry,” he said.

He said consultation would start in the coming day on the terms of reference.

“We need to understand all these issues so that the community can make an informed judgment,” he said.

A number of independent experts would be engaged to support the royal commission’s work, Mr Weatherill said.

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition was swift to condemn the Government’s announcement.

It said the state needed to focus on its renewable energy potential rather than nuclear potential.

ABC political reporter Nick Harmsen said it put the proposition of a nuclear waste dump in South Australia back on the political agenda, after a previous Labor administration fought federal moves.

February 8, 2015 - Posted by | politics, South Australia

2 Comments »

  1. Just when South Australia was showing our children the way to a clean green independent energy future along came Tony Abbott who has done his utmost to take us back to a greater dependency on polluting fossil fuels.

    Given the closeness of Liberal and Labor policies in many areas it comes as no surprise that the Labor party is now also considering winding back the clock to return us to the bad old days of greater dependency not just on polluting energy but on the corporations and governments that control it.

    It would appear that the ability of consumers to generate their own heat and electricity from free renewable energy sources and to compete successfully with costly dirty fossil and nuclear fuels has cashed-up CEO’s and energy corporations worried, and so they should be. The Liberal-Labor duopoly response to this concern demonstrates how much is at stake.

    Recent events strongly suggest that the voters will not stand by as politicians wreak havoc on our environment, economy, and sovereignty. The Liberal-Labor duopoly has been put on notice – listen to the electors or suffer the consequences. Stop wasting tax-payers money on pandering to foreign corporations or you will go the way of Olsen, Newman and Abbott.

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    Dennis Matthews's avatar Comment by Dennis Matthews | February 8, 2015 | Reply

  2. Has a peaceful march been organised for this, to see how many SA citizens are not interested in any nuclear fuel merit?

    Like

    philipsg's avatar Comment by philipstalleygordon | February 8, 2015 | Reply


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