Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Grossly inadequate Senate report on National Radioactive Waste Management Amendment Bill

The report released on 14 September 2020 by the majority of the Senate committee inquiring into the National Radioactive Waste Management Amendment Site Specification,Community Fund and Other Measures) Bill  is  both grossly deficient and biased and does no credit to the members of the committee.

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I can only put this down to a combination of lack of knowledge and possibly even ignorance on the part of both the committee members and the researchers from the committee secretariat of the subject of the inquiry which is of major and lasting importance to all of Australia and needs more than truck driving experience for its proper consideration.
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While I do not intend to comment on all of the report in detail I will refer to some aspects of the introduction being chapter 1 including the conduct of the inquiry but more extensively to the second part of the report dealing with support for the legislative changes and the evidence of the witnesses who appeared before the committee.

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……… In describing the background for the inquiry the committee has relied on rather older information which is surprising considering the very recent developments in the field of nuclear waste management which have been completely ignored in the report.
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……. it seems that the committee has heavily relied on the explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill and the subsequent ministerial statements and responses having blithely accepted them with little or no proper scrutiny of their content and accuracy.
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This also applies to the submissions by ANSTO and the Department of Industry Science Energy and Resources which did not elicit any questioning or testing of the accuracy of their content.
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……….. the heart of the intended legislative changes  will remove various fundamental rights including seeking judicial and administrative reviews.
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……….. It should have been obvious to the committee that the Barngarla will under no circumstances permit the storage and disposal of nuclear waste in any part of their lands within South Australia irrespective of what discussions and negotiations may take place even with an independent mediator.
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………. The conduct of the inquiry also leaves a lot to be desired since the committee failed – and seemingly deliberately – to call any experts on nuclear waste from overseas to provide proper advice and suggestions to the committee instead of relying exclusively on the technical evidence by or on behalf of the government.
This makes the majority report even less credible which is already the view of some overseas experts who are surprised at the deficiencies in the evidence to justify the main recommendation of the report.
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……. many of the supporting views are said to be based on general scientific or technical reasons but  some of these are made in sheer and blind acceptance of the government’s information without any testing or examination of their veracity..
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………… The concept of the local agricultural industry coexisting with the nuclear facility is completely disingenuous as is amply demonstrated by recent situations overseas including in particular in France and to suggest that the facility will not affect the agricultural environment and produce of Kimba is nonsensical.
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What is more the report has completely ignored the provisions of the Disposal Facilities Code (2018) of ARPANSA which provides at section 3.1.22 as to the criteria for the selection of a non-radiological site that “the immediate vicinity of the facility has no known significant natural resources   ………… and has little or no potential for agriculture or outdoor recreational use”
It follows that these two factors significantly displace the perceived economic benefits which should be a major consideration as to the facility’s proposed establishment..
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………..from surveys a large percentage of up to 80% of the South Australian population is against the facility which is also the stated position of the state’s parliamentary opposition.
The submissions in support of the facility by the three presumably knowledgeable bodies being the Nuclear Association and Academy of Science together with the local Chamber of Mines and Energy failed to provide any really technical or scientific information and seemed to more of a political nature judging by their brevity which I understood in the case of the Nuclear Association and probably the Chamber was to enable the start of a nuclear energy industry in this country.
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Again it has surprised me that the committee did not seek any meaningful explanations from these groups as presumably they would hold themselves out as having some expertise with regard to nuclear waste.
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The evidence and submissions in support of the facility by the local community including the District Council are self servicing and appear to swayed by the perceived financial grants and benefits provided by the government which surely must be understood to be creating a false economy doomed to ultimate failure……….
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Perhaps the most glaring examples of the insular and ignorant conduct of the community  supporters of the facility are their contentions that its establishment and the voting for its acceptance are applicable and relevant only to Kimba. Considering the importance of this issue to the whole nation and that it is to intended to be a central national facility it should and must extend well beyond their unrealistic and quite selfish attitude by is seen by their rather ludicrous contentions.
What is even more critical is that the inquiry made no attempt to ascertain the accuracy of these claims despite their national significance………..
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What really makes the majority report so unconvincing is that none of the evidence has been questioned or tested as to its competence and accuracy and the committee as chosen not to call evidence from international experts who would very quickly show the incompetence of the government as to the underlying technical issues of the inquiry to justify the legislative changes.
This becomes even worse when a principal witness on behalf of the government is accused of lying which in a court of law would have lead to a preferment for perjury……….
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………. the government has rejected many requests for detailed information of the radionuclides inventories and funding for an independent assessment and scrutiny of the government’s proposals which will no doubt be a consideration for ARPANSA in dealing with the licence applications
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Unlike the committee stating “that the issue of radioactive material is an emotive one” it is in fact very important and scientifically technical especially as it concerns present and long term safety of the whole population.
The committee has badly failed in its inquiry in both testing the credibility of the claims by the government and other supporters of the facility proposal and in neglecting any examination of the lack of expected and prescribed requirements including among other things the safety case and the radionuclides counts.

October 2, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Kimba mayor Dean Johnson shows his ignorance on nuclear wastes

Kazzi Jai  Fight to Stop ma Nuclear Waste Dump in South Australia
Note to Mayor Dean Johnson……Comparing Leigh Creek coal mine and Port Pirie Lead Smelter to this proposed dump in Kimba is RIDICULOUS!
Both Leigh Creek coal mine and Port Pirie Lead Smelter were endorsed and wanted BY ALL SOUTH AUSTRALIANS AT THAT TIME when they were established – Leigh Creek coal mine in 1941 and Port Pirie Lead Smelter in 1915!

The Federal Government had NOTHING to do with either of them!

And….BOTH produce waste ON SITE – which is NOT SENT SUBSEQUENTLY INTERSTATE!

We take care of our own waste produced in our own state – not try and SHAFT it onto another state so that it becomes THAT RECEIVING state’s problem and responsibility AS THE CURRENT PROPOSAL FOR KIMBA STANDS!

Kapeesh!

September 28, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump | Leave a comment

Kimba nuclear waste dump: The government failed to show overwhelming support and the proposal to site the facility in Kimba can’t proceed.

22 November 2019
Mr Dean Johnson
Mayor
District Council of Kimba

Dear Mayor Johnson
I refer to the recent ballot at Kimba to determine the level of support
for the siting of the radioactive waste facility.

The results of the Kimba ballot were:
Voting papers issued 824
Formal votes accepted 735
Yes vote 452
Did not vote ~ 283
The government are saying that the result is the percentage of yes votes of the formal votes accepted and they say this is 61.50/0.

This not a vote between two political opponents who are both free to campaign and present alternatives political views for consideration.

This is a simple yes / no vote on a proposal to establish a radioactive waste facility in a wheat field.
It is the government who are the proponent. It is they who have to get people to vote yes. They have to get 413 vote to get a simple majority.

For an overwhelming show of support they need at least a 2/3 yes vote.

You have to remember that this poll was not a genuine contest of ideas. There was only one view put and paid for by the government. There was not a no vote argument presented to voters. This places an unfair bias in any result obtained.

As if this were not bad enough the government offered a $31 million cash handout to the voters and 45 permanent jobs, manned a permanent office in the town of Kimba advocating a yes vote.

The way in which this ballot has to be interpreted is this: How many people voted yes as against how many people did not vote yes.
As a famous South Australian Mick Young the former Special Minister of State in the Hawke Government correctly put it  if they don’t say yes they mean no.”

The government has been dishonest in that their figure of 61.49% as it neglects the people who didn’t vote.
The correct methodology is the ratio of people who wanted the facility (voted yes) as against those who didn’t vote yes. This is the ratio of yes votes to the people who didn’t vote yes.

The actual number supporting the facility is then 54.850/0. To achieve an overwhelming result the Yes vote would have to be 536 votes.

The government failed to show overwhelming support and the proposal to site the facility in Kimba can’t proceed.
This view is based on my experience as a federal government minister and also in local government where I am currently the Mayor of the City of Melville in Western Australia.

Yours sincerely

George Gear

September 26, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics | Leave a comment

Kimba nuclear waste dump – not just a local issue, but only locals were consulted

Kimba waste site consultation debate returns, Stock Journal,  Elizabeth Anderson @eliz_andersonsj 25 Sep 2020  AS THE process moves a step closer to the establishment of a radioactive waste facility near Kimba, criticisms have re-emerged about the consultation process.

Last week, a Senate Inquiry report was released advising federal parliament to pass legislation on the establishment of the site, including the location at Napandee, 30 kilometres from Kimba.

There were three dissenters from the Senate Economics Committee – The Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young, independent SA senator Rex Patrick and NSW Labor’s Jenny McAllister.

In the same week, SA Labor MPs Eddie Hughes – in whose Giles electorate the site sits – and Opposition spokesperson for the environment Susan Close issued a joint call for the federal government to halt the process, saying not enough was done to include the views of the Barngarla people.

Late last year, the results of a ballot of Kimba District Council was released, showing 61.58 per cent of residents were in support of the site.

There were three dissenters from the Senate Economics Committee – The Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young, independent SA senator Rex Patrick and NSW Labor’s Jenny McAllister.

In the same week, SA Labor MPs Eddie Hughes – in whose Giles electorate the site sits – and Opposition spokesperson for the environment Susan Close issued a joint call for the federal government to halt the process, saying not enough was done to include the views of the Barngarla people.

Late last year, the results of a ballot of Kimba District Council was released, showing 61.58 per cent of residents were in support of the site.

“Instead of rushing this quick fix by dumping in SA, the federal government should do the work on a long-term plan for the management of nuclear waste in Australia,” Mr Hughes said.

“We clearly have an obligation to manage our domestic nuclear waste in a responsible way for the long-term. This proposal falls far short of meeting that obligation.”

The same week, a survey from the Australia Institute showed 60pc of its respondents believed consultation should include all of SA and not just Kimba residents, while 50pc opposed the transport of nuclear waste on SA roads and ports.

Australia Institute SA director Noah Schultz-Byard said the survey was initiated to gauge the public’s feelings about a site in SA. He said the 510 respondents were made up of a proportional representation of urban and regional residents.

Kimba District Council mayor Dean Johnson says consultation on the proposal had been ongoing for the past five years.

“It’s been completely open and well-publicised and anyone in SA could have come along,” he said………

He said the notion of statewide consultation proposed by some was not a solution.

“Kimba residents are really well-informed on this topic,” he said. “The idea that everyone is the state should get a vote is ridiculous. Does Kimba get a vote on the smelter at Port Pirie or a mine at Leigh Creek?

“This is locals making a decision on the town and the community’s future.”

No Radioactive Waste Facility for Kimba District group secretary Toni Scott said the group had long held the position the entire state should vote on this issue.

She said the release of the Senate Inquiry had again raised the opportunity for the public to share their thoughts about the site and its future.

Ms Scott said there were many parts to the legislation that needed to be approved, not just the location, and she was hopeful dissenters in parliament would continue to push for amendments.

“It’s important to get this right,” she said. “This decision is a permanent one for our state and community.”

September 26, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump | Leave a comment

From October 6, the Australian Senate will discuss the NATIONAL ISSUE of the Napandee nuclear waste dump plan

The Senate returns on October 6th. At some time there will be a vote on what is indeed this national issue. The stakes remain high.

The federal nuclear dump is a national issue,  https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/the-federal-nuclear-dump-is-a-national-issue?fbclid=IwAR0zfICU9GSIJmfVdU30x9jCx847PF8ztvozbQNq0q57QCiWnhlKVtBHdJY  Michele Madigan, 22 September 2020

It may have taken five years but in the last session of the recently completed Senate Inquiry, finally a government department bureaucrat has used the phrase — ‘…it is a national issue.
Well certainly — ‘When it suits,’ one might respond. This is because the federal nuclear dump has never been a national issue from a government perspective when it has come to the right to have a say about it. In fact it has never been even a South Australian issue. One evening on a radio talkback session earlier this year, the federal member for Grey which includes the Kimba site, was shocked to hear any objection from a person like myself who didn’t live within the Kimba council voting zone. Pure shock. Astonishment. What could I be thinking of that I could have a say or even an opinion!
In other words I was not one of the just 824 (less than 300th of one per cent) of South Australians who were decreed eligible to speak about the storage of radioactive waste which will remain toxic for every South Australian generation.

Moreover, despite the former responsible Minister Matt Canavan’s repeated assertions that submissions from others outside the extraordinary narrow designated voting zone was a possible way to influence proceedings — there seems to have been no recorded mention of any of the 2789 submissions. With some of extraordinary length and scholarship, 94.5 per cent were against the federal nuclear waste proposal. They were seemingly ignored; one wonders were they even read?

From July 28th to August 28th, there have been four Senate Inquiry sessions concerning the Radioactive Waste Management Amendment Bill 2020, all by video link. During the Inquiry sessions it became obvious which three Senators had done their careful homework with penetrating questions to witnesses on either side of the debate.

 

Extreme concern about the issue was expressed by the Chair of the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation, Jason Bilney and by other Barngarla people; by Peter Woolford, farmer President of the No Radioactive waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA group; by Dave Sweeney of the Australian Conservation Foundation, the single environmentalist invited to be a witness. On the other hand, there was spirited defence of the project, including every aspect of the process by the two senior government officials; by the landholder of the chosen site and by Kimba council representatives. There was an eager willingness by some Senators to positively enable these latter presentations.

On Monday 13th of September, the Senate report was released. Predictably in a Coalition led Inquiry, the report recommends the Senate proceed to vote yes to the plan on the Minister designated site on Barngarla country in agricultural land at the Kimba region Eyre Peninsula site.

However three Senators contributed separate dissenting reports released concurrently with the main report. Labor’s Jenny McAllister, formerly Centre Alliance and now Independent South Australian Rex Patrick, and the Green’s Sarah Hanson-Young SA all recommended that the legislation not go ahead. There were a number of reasons cited by the dissenting Senators.

The context of this ‘national issue’ declaration cited above by the Department was a defence of the strategy to take the Napandee (Kimba region) site to the Parliamentary vote — ensuring that if the proposed legislation is passed by the Senate, there will be no opportunity to take any aspect of the decision making to court. In the words of Labor Senator Jenny McAllister in her dissenting report: ‘In evidence to the committee, the Department confirmed that the effect of the change proposed in the legislation is to remove the requirements for procedural fairness in the selection of the site.’

As well, Senator Rex Patrick’s dissenting report included an emphasis on the heavily redacted nature of the government officials’ documentation: ‘The Department has, through its interaction with the committee, demonstrated a predisposition to secrecy—undue secrecy—in relation to provision of process information to the very people who pay them and who they are supposed to serve.’

The Greens’ summary was included in their final recommendation: ‘The Australian Greens believe the Federal Government has no mandate to situate a radioactive waste management facility in South Australia. It has mismanaged the site selection process, fallen short of international best practice and failed to secure the consent of traditional owners. For these reasons the Australian Greens recommend that this bill not be passed.’

No Dump Alliance is a group of organisations including First Nations, public health, trade union, faith and environment groups, academics and concerned individuals concerned about this matter. Revered SA theologian and international author Denis Edwards was an identified member.

On the release of the Senate report, NDA released their own media statement in which spokesperson Karina Lester (pictured), daughter of late former NDA Patron Yami Lester was clear: ‘In the 21st Century it is unacceptable to try and airbrush away Aboriginal peoples concern over nuclear risks. The Barngarla Native Title holders were excluded from the Kimba community ballot about the waste plan and now the federal government is trying to deny them the right to contest the plan in court. This is not only unfair to the Barngarla people but a clear insult to the concerns expressed by Aboriginal people from right across South Australia to any dumping and storage of radioactive waste on our traditional lands from outside the state’.

The Senate returns on October 6th. At some time there will be a vote on what is indeed this national issue. The stakes remain high.

September 24, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics | Leave a comment

Australian Nuclear and Science Organisation distancing itself from the Napandee nuclear waste dump?

September 21, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump | Leave a comment

The process for selecting Napandee nuclear waste site – flawed and divisive

No Radioactive Waste Facility for Kimba District 19 Sep 20,The No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA group has always maintained that the current process the Federal Government have devised to site the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility is both fundamentally flawed and inherently divisive.It is clear that the Senate Economics Committee also find themselves divided on this issue, as can be witnessed in the three dissenting statements handed down within the report.
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Over 5 years, one constant in a revolving line up of Ministers and Department staff has been their continual trivialisation of our concerns and opinions. That the federal government and their new Minister now consciously attempt to eliminate the fundamental right of Australians to judicial review and procedural fairness epitomises the lack of integrity and transparency with which this process had been conducted. It is exceedingly clear that if this proposal was openly and broadly supported, the current legislation to select a site by Ministerial decree would suffice.
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We have always upheld that this issue is, and should be, bigger than just Kimba and that our community is much wider than just our geographical local government area. Meaningful engagement with others within proximity to the sites, regardless of council boundaries is the responsibility of the Minister, and has not occurred. Controlling boundaries and continually sampling the same people is manipulative, provides no assurance of broad community support and remains contested.
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The proposed double handling and temporary storing of intermediate level waste above ground for decades and on agricultural land makes no sense for our nation’s long term responsibility to safely manage our most dangerous waste. The fact that the Senate Committee is as divided over this as ourcommunity proves that this proposed amendment, and in fact this whole process is fundamentally wrong.

September 21, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump | Leave a comment

Did she lie to the Senate? – Samantha Chard, Chief of National Radioactive Waste Management Facility Taskforce

Public servant accused of lying to Senate committee, https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6924556/public-servant-accused-of-lying-to-senate-committee/?cspt=1600158583%7Ca2920fcb04aa4958cf14b2620c12b694&fbclid=IwAR3EMfP9v-kMIxcJzlrv-HHktxqroc8-m94YWj3FXIoZaZWTfY7mlkfULrw  Sally Whyte  15 Sep 20

A senior public servant has been accused of lying to a Senate committee and only correcting the evidence given when a Freedom of Information request was set to expose her.

Independent senator Rex Patrick made the accusation under parliamentary privilege in a dissenting report on a government bill on radioactive waste management.

In a hearing for the inquiry in June, general manager of the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility Taskforce Samantha Chard was asked whether she had been involved in discussions around judicial review of decisions made under section 14 of the bill.

Ms Chard said she didn’t recall talking about it in her personal discussions, but Senator Patrick said he would use Freedom of Information to see if that was the case.

The Freedom of Information request was sent three days after the hearing, and Ms Chard clarified her evidence to the inquiry after it was sent, saying she had been involved in policy discussions about the proposed legislation’s effects on judicial review, including having the effect of reducing or avoiding the risk of potential legal challenges.

“It is completely implausible that Ms Chard was unable to recollect being involved in discussions on the new bill about the bill’s effect of removing judicial review of the site selection decision,” Senator Patrick said in the report.

“She was dishonest. She lied to the committee.”

Senator Patrick accused Ms Chard of only updating her evidence because of the FOI request.

A spokesman for the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said Ms Chard answered all questions truthfully to the best of her ability.

“The committee has already reached out to the government and asked if it would like to respond to any aspects of the report including minority or dissenting reports, which the department will,” he said.

“All members of the department who appear at proceedings in Parliament are aware of their obligations to answer all questions truthfully and to the best of their ability, which Ms Chard did.

In a further exchange between Ms Chard and Senator Patrick at a hearing in August, Ms Chard again said she had been truthful.

“In my clarification of the evidence I make it really clear that I have been involved in policy discussions related to the proposed legislation having the effect of reducing the risk of potential legal challenges, including through judicial review,” she said.

“At the time, the questioning was specifically related to section 14 of the act and whether this bill was designed to remove judicial review, and I maintained that it was not the intention of the bill to remove scrutiny under section 14 of the act.”

It is not the first time Senator Patrick has used parliamentary procedures to call out what he believes is a growing tendency for public servants to choose protecting their ministers over being open and transparent.

“I am absolutely determined to protect the integrity of the Senate’s oversight processes,” he said to The Canberra Times.

Senator Patrick said he would be calling ministers who make “erroneous public interest immunity claims” to the Senate chamber to explain themselves.

“I will be not be tolerating officials who are evasive, misleading or untruthful in their answers.”

He also threatened to publicly name FOI officials who make “blatantly cavalier” exemption claims that are then overturned by the Information Commissioner.

“Ministers and officials who meet their public service obligations and are fulsome and truthful in their responses to the Senate need not fear anything,” he said.

“FOI officers who make decisions consistent with the objectives of FOI act need not fear anything.”

September 17, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump | Leave a comment

Words Before Waste: South Australians Call for More Consultation on Federal Radioactive Waste Plan

New research shows that, while South Australians are divided on the issue of a nuclear waste dump, a clear majority believe more consultation should be undertaken before any final decision is made regarding a proposed disposal and storage facility near Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula.

The Australia Institute recently surveyed 510 South Australians about the proposed nuclear waste facility.

Key Findings:

  • Two in three South Australians (66%) say the traditional custodians of the land, the Barngarla people, should be formally consulted via a ballot before any proposal is advanced.
  • Three in five South Australians (60%) believe the whole SA population should be formally consulted via a ballot before any proposal is allowed to go ahead.
  • Two in five South Australians (40%) oppose the nuclear waste dump, while the same share of respondents (40%) support the plan.
  • One in two South Australians (51%) oppose the potential use of the South Australian ports and roads to transport nuclear waste.

“This issue is dividing the state and there is a strong appetite for more consultation with both the Barngarla people and the general South Australian public,” said Noah Schultz-Byard, South Australian Director at The Australia Institute.

“Our research has shown that a significant number of people hold concerns about the transportation of nuclear waste on South Australian roads and through South Australian ports.

“In 2016 the current Premier Steven Marshall said he had much greater ambitions for South Australia than for it to become a nuclear waste dump. If that is still the case, the Premier should support a state Parliamentary inquiry and a far broader community conversation regarding the proposed federal facility.”

“This is a highly controversial proposal, with many questions unanswered and a lot of misinformation flying around.  It’s little wonder the community is divided,” said Craig Wilkins, Chief Executive of Conservation SA.

“However, one thing is crystal clear: the Barngarla people, who are the formal native title owners of the area, have consistently said they have not been properly consulted. The South Australian people clearly believe further consultation, particularly with Barngarla Traditional Owners, must take place before this proposal progresses.

“There is no hurry: federal authorities have confirmed that there is safe and secure storage at Lucas Heights in Sydney for decades.  So, let’s get the process and the consultation right – starting with genuine and respectful engagement with the Barngarla people,” he said.

September 17, 2020 Posted by | Federal nuclear waste dump, politics, South Australia | Leave a comment

Call to Australian Labor Party to state its position on Napandee nuclear waste dump plan

Labor split on nuclear waste dump,  https://www.miragenews.com/labor-split-on-nuclear-waste-dump/    The Greens are calling on the Labor Leader in the Senate, Penny Wong to declare where her party stands on the proposed Nuclear Waste Dump in SA, after a clear division within the Labor Party was revealed in a Senate Inquiry Report released late yesterday.

NSW Labor Senator Jenny McAllister delivered a dissenting report, independent of her Labor colleagues including SA Senator Alex Gallacher who supports the majority report that SA should be a dumping ground for nuclear waste.

Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“Penny Wong needs to come out today and tell South Australians where the Labor Party stands.

“Does it stand with Senator McAllister who has stated the process for selecting a site has been flawed and no meaningful community consent obtained? Or does it stand with SA Senator Alex Gallacher and the Liberal Party who want to dump on SA?

“The decision to set up a nuclear waste dump in SA will affect our state for generations to come. All South Australians should have the right to have their say on this important issue and they should know very clearly where the ‘opposition party’ stands both at a federal and state level.”

 

September 17, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics | Leave a comment

Broad support for nuclear waste dump at Napandee? Senate report shows that is a lie

September 17, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics | Leave a comment

South Australian Labor calls on the Federal Government to halt its plans to dump nuclear waste at Kimba.

SUSAN CLOSE MP Shadow Minister for Environment and Water EDDIE HUGHES MP Member for Giles 15 Sept 20, 
Kimba site selection process flawed, waste dump plans must be scrapped
South Australian Labor is calling on the Federal Government to halt its plans to dump nuclear waste at Kimba. The  The decision follows the release of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee report on the National Radioactive Waste Management Amendment (Site Specification Community Fund and Other Measures) Bill 2020.
The report found there was a deliberate attempt to remove judicial review rights from the Barngarla people and the farming community of the Kimba area.
In June this year, the Federal Opposition voted against this legislation in the House of Representatives.

SA Labor has consistently expressed its concerns about the site selection process and the lack of consultation with native title holders. Quotes attributable to Shadow Minister for Environment Susan Close

This was a dreadful process from start to finish, resulting in fractures within the local community over the dump.
The SA ALP has committed to traditional owners having a right of veto over any nuclear waste sites, yet the federal government has shown no respect to the local Aboriginal people.
Quotes attributable to Member for Giles Eddie Hughes

This report clearly reflects that any mediation undertaken with the Barngarla people did not have any legal or political weight.
This has been a very divisive process from the beginning due to individual land owners nominating the sites.
Instead of rushing this quick fix by dumping in SA, the federal government should do the work on a long-term plan for the management of nuclear waste in Australia.
We clearly have an obligation to manage our domestic nuclear waste in a responsible way for the long term. This proposal falls far short of meeting that obligation.

September 15, 2020 Posted by | Federal nuclear waste dump, politics, South Australia | Leave a comment

Observations on the Senate Radioactive Waste Inquiry Report

Key messages:

  • Report has failed to provide a compelling case for the need for the proposed changes and the legal override
  • The fact that there are multiple responses and findings highlights there is no broad political consensus – this mirrors that there is no broad community support
  • This report does not provide certainty for the project – it remains unproven, unwelcome and this unfinished business will remain the focus of active contest.

The majority report – Coalition (and I presume but am not certain, some Labor members) predictably recommend the legislation be advanced.

Jenny McAllister – (Labor) has an individual dissenting report that changing the process ‘should not proceed at this time’

Rex Patrick – Independent – has a dissenting report stating the process has been flawed and improper and the waste should go to Woomera

The Greens – have a dissenting report that the legislation should not be advanced and that an inquiry into alternative management options and a consultation with transport corridor communities take place.

The majority reports recommends that the legislation be advanced – with the sop that the department and Barngarla ‘discuss issues and find a pathway for on-going consultation’, including through an independent mediator. These folks are graduates in the school that no doesn’t mean no – it means not yet.

September 15, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics | Leave a comment

Not welcome, not needed: Community alliance united in response to divided Senate report on Kimba radioactive waste plan

  September 15, 2020 ‒ www.nodumpalliance.org.au/senate_nuclear_waste_report   Federal government plans to transport, dump and store radioactive waste in South Australia are not needed, not welcome and will be actively contested says the South Australian community based No Dump Alliance.

This statement comes in response to a new Senate report into plans to change the federal radioactive waste laws by removing the community’s right of legal review.

The government controlled Senate Committee report had multiple conflicting findings which highlights the lack of political consensus. The report does not present a compelling case for the proposed changes including the legal override. In the three minority reports Committee members have raised serious concerns and opposition including over the heavy handed legal exclusion, the denial of Aboriginal and wider community rights and protections and the lack of proven need for the planned national facility.

“In the 21st Century it is unacceptable to try and airbrush away Aboriginal peoples concern over nuclear risks”, said NDA spokesperson Karina Lester. “The Barngarla Native Title holders were excluded from the Kimba community ballot about the waste plan and now the federal government is trying to deny them the right to contest the plan in court. This is not only unfair to the Barngarla people but a clear insult to the concerns expressed by Aboriginal people from right across South Australia to any dumping and storage of radioactive waste on our traditional lands from outside the state”.

The federal plan has attracted many critics as the government has failed to demonstrate that moving waste to Kimba is either necessary or responsible.

“This plan is a clear example of government overreach,” said NDA spokesperson and state secretary of the Maritime Union Jamie Newlyn. “South Australian communities have not had any say in the controversial plan but would face increased radioactive transport risks. The plan is deeply deficient and the process is fatally flawed”.

NDA member groups have committed to escalate their efforts around the Kimba waste push and will work against the federal government’s move to reduce community and environment protections in the Senate.

“We have a long, proud and united history of overturning radioactive waste plans in SA,” said Karina Lester. “From the senior desert law women the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta challenging Federal waste dump plans in the late 90’s and early 2000’s to the Scarce Royal Commission (2015-2017) our community has taken action to protect and stand up for our state. The federal government – and the Marshall government – should be under no illusions – this will be opposed”.

September 15, 2020 Posted by | aboriginal issues, Federal nuclear waste dump, South Australia | Leave a comment

Critical mass in Canberra puts nuclear dump in doubt

September 15, 2020 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump, politics | Leave a comment