Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Katrina Bohr – an undemocratic farce – the National Radioactive Waste Management “community consultations”

Katrina Bohr – Submission to National Radioactive Waste Management Amendment (Site Specification, Community Fund and Other Measures) Bill 2020 [Provisions] Submission 84
The site selection process in South Australia has not been democratic.  From the Traditional land owners to the pastoralists and agricultural land owners, many voices that have not been heard.

There has been a flood of information cascading the communities of Kimba, Quorn and Hawker for numerous years.

In 2018, in Minister Matt Canavan’s words when questioned in Parliament on his definition of Broad Community Support, said-
1. The formal vote in the Kimba Council area and the Flinders Ranges Council area is only
one input, and a very important factor.
2. Submissions and views of people that live outside the formal regions-who also have an
interest in stake.

3. Views of indigenous communities.
4. The number is not just a simple majority.
Yet the Minister based his final decision on a ballot result.
In a meeting with Alexander Scott, the then Assistant Adviser to Matt Canavan, we were informed that the Minister would be looking at submissions after the postal vote.
However, the Minister’s decision was immediate upon ballot results.
What constituted Broad Community Support in the Minister’s statement in Parliament was not applied. Is that a fair, comprehensive and transparent process?
People were encouraged by the Department to put in submissions. Yet the submissions included in the final count (after the decision was declared) were from
Kimba only.
The state of South Australia has a valid law in place that prohibits establishing a national nuclear waste facility.
When the proposal for an International nuclear waste facility was put to a Citizen’s Jury in South Australia,the people said a resounding no.

Nuclear Waste is not what South Australia needs or wants. A National Nuclear Waste Facility should not be carried by a small remote community. The Department’s process involved imposing themselves onto small communities, and into
people’s homes. That’s personal, and it affects the health and well being of individuals in the communities,
and the community as a whole.

I’m presuming that the Hawker and surrounds are just collateral damage.

The proposal to introduce an amendment bill for the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility is untenable.
The Government’s process from the site selection right through to the final decision has not
been a consultative one .  The concerns of those who live in Kimba are very real. Were the views of indigenous people taken into account, as was stated by the Minister in Parliament?
There are many unanswered questions.

May 5, 2020 - Posted by | Federal nuclear waste dump

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