What did Jay Weatherill do wrong on the nuclear waste issue?
Dennis Matthews, 24 Nov 16 Former Cabinet Minister in the Weatherill government, Patrick Conlon, asks what did Jay Weatherill do wrong on the nuclear waste issue (The Advertiser, 17/12/16).
Firstly, Weatherill set up a Royal Commission with a highly biased terms of reference. Secondly, he appointed a Commissioner who was perceived as biased . Thirdly, the Commission was perceived as stacked in favour of getting a go-ahead for expanding the nuclear industry in SA.
The report of the Royal Commission went down like a lead balloon. Claiming that he hadn’t made up his mind on expanding the nuclear industry, Weatherill initiated a “Citizens Jury”. When the citizens failed to give him the answer he wanted he called for a referendum on the issue.
This whole process has been one of outsourcing, a well-known strategy for distancing the government from any flak that may eventuate, at a cost to the tax-payer of the order of $10 million. Conlon calls these actions “courageous”. I suggest that the average voter will see them as cowardly and reckless.
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