Antinuclear

Federal government spent $100 million on now abandoned nuclear waste dump near Kimba

ABC News, By Ethan Rix, 12Sept 23,

Key points:

• The Federal Resources Minister said the government had spent $108.6 million
• The Commonwealth abandoned plans to build the facility after a Federal Court ruling
• Former SA senator Rex Patrick said the “waste” of taxpayer money could have been avoided

………………………. Senator Rennick also questioned whether the government would find a new location for the NRWMF before May 17, 2025 and if the government would consider placing the facility within the Woomera Prohibited Area. 

Ms King said that information about a future site and any further spending would be available once the government had “considered options and made decisions in due course”……………………………………………………………

Former resources minister had ‘foreclosed mind’

Federal Court Justice Natalie Charlesworth found there had been apprehended bias in the decision-making process under then-resources minister Keith Pitt.

Justice Charlesworth found that Mr Pitt — who formally declared the site in 2021 — could be seen to have had a “foreclosed mind” on the issue “simply because his statements strongly conveyed the impression that his mind was made up”.

The court set aside the declaration from 2021 that the site at Napandee, a 211-hectare property, be used for the facility.

Following the Federal Court ruling, Ms King told federal parliament in August that Australia still needed a nuclear storage facility and that the government remained committed to finding a solution that did not involve the Napandee site.

………………………………Mr Patrick said he was concerned that the current Labor government had not learnt any lessons from the recent Federal Court ruling.

“The lesson that needs to be learned, in relation to this, is you need to properly engage [with] a community to get a social licence,” he said.

He said it was clear the government “has their eye on” the Woomera Prohibited Area as a potential location for the facility, which is a military testing range more than 400 kilometres north of Adelaide.

“They are simply not being transparent — they’re not talking about it and that’s going to end up in tears in several years’ time.”

A spokesperson for Ms King said she has instructed her department to develop “policy options” for managing Commonwealth radioactive waste into the future. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-11/commonwealth-kimba-napandee-nuclear-waste-dump-100-million/102840994

September 12, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics