Nuclear waste dump for Kimba? Residents to vote soon
This is supported by the reality that the Palmer/federal Liberal agreement on preferences at the last federal election saw a overwhelming victory for the Liberals.
Importantly, the Palmer policy was strong advocacy for nuclear power in Australia, which saw the strong Liberal victory, so to me the wheels are rolling and the only impediment ironically is the large and increasing investment in South Australia in renewable energy.
As far as Kimba accepting the international nuclear waste the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming, once the decision to accept the higher level waste was made and confirmed prior to the last federal election.
After 60 years of nuclear reactors at Lucas Heights, Kimba is political heaven for our national Parliament.
A yes vote at Kimba means a $300 million investment by the federal government almost immediately, or they could have their ‘facility’ at Leonora in Western Australia for no cost to taxpayers and in a much more isolated area without the risks and without breaching their own guidelines.
So next week Kimba may well be going in to the history books for different reasons to their up-to annual $80 million export agriculture.
Good luck with whatever their decision.. I don’t have a vote even though I am a partner in a farming business of almost 100 years, near a preferred site.
Nuclear waste dump ballot to go ahead in Kimba, South Australia
Robyn Wood Note the end with a quote from the Kimba pro nuker who will profit by selling his land. No quote from nuclear opponents. Have a read of the comments, most of them are opposed to the nuclear waste dump plan. The Barngarla people’s request for an injunction to stop the Kimba vote has been denied. The Kimba ballot is happening now. The Flinders Ranges council has agreed to do a risk assessment, but Canavan is not going to wait for the results before doing the Flinders ballot in November.
It plans to post out ballot papers on Thursday, asking locals if they back locating the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility at one of two nominated sites in the region.
The vote comes after the Federal Court on Friday rejected another bid by the Barngarla people to stop it going ahead, pending more court action next year.
The Barngarla, who possess rights over much of the region around Kimba, have argued the poll is unlawful because it excludes native title holders.
Two sites near Kimba have been short-listed as potential locations for a low-level radioactive waste storage facility, while a third is near the Flinders Ranges town of Hawker.
The federal government is yet to reveal its preferred location but said recently it was mindful of the need to reach a decision.
On Friday the government said as well as the Kimba ballot and one to be conducted in the Hawker region in November, business owners and residents within a five-kilometre radius of the three nominated sites would also be surveyed.
The Barngarla had claimed their exclusion from the Kimba ballot was based on their Aboriginality and would impair their human rights or fundamental freedoms as native title owners.
Rejecting that argument in July, Justice Richard White ruled the council’s actions did not contravene racial discrimination laws.
On Friday, Justice Craig Colvin rejected the Barngarla’s argument that its chances of winning on appeal were strong and said the basis for an immediate injunction had not been made out.
National Radioactive Waste Management Taskforce general manager Sam Chard said the decision confirmed the community ballots could proceed.
“What this means is that after more than two years of consultation, communities will have multiple ways in which they can have their say on the proposal,” Ms Chard said.
‘”Whether individuals are for or against the facility, we’re confident the communities at the centre of the process are well informed.”
The Kimba council said it intended pushing ahead with the ballot as there was “no legal impediment” to it going ahead.
“Council’s position has always been to facilitate the ballot on behalf of the minister for resources and northern Australia so our community could have its voice heard,” Mayor Dean Johnson said.
The council plans to post out the voting papers on October 3, with the ballot to close on November 7.
Support for the nuclear waste facility is thought to be mixed across the local community.
Jeff Baldock, who has nominated his Kimba farm as a possible site, is backing the project as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure Kimba’s future”.
Potential impact of radioactive wastes on water activities in the Spencer Gulf
Groups in the state’s far north are urging the federal government to consider a report on the impact of a potential nuclear waste facility on the Hookina Floodplain.
Australia’s radioactive waste is currently stored at a purpose-built ‘Interim Waste Store’ at Lucas Heights in new South Wales and has been since 2015.
Flinders Local Action Group member Greg Bannon said a facility on Wallerberdina Station in Hawker could cause major implications for water activities in the Spencer Gulf. Continue reading
Kimba or the Flinders Ranges – nuclear sacrifice zone?
Yet the Federal Government plan to store this nuclear waste indefinitely, above ground, on earthquake prone land, on floodplains in a canister that has a design life of 40 years, with no plans for a permanent facility and hope that future generations will come up with new ideas for a permanent disposal and the financial resources to implement them. This is an unethical neglect of responsibility and dangerous for the people of South Australia.
The Federal Government admits that Australia does not have enough nuclear waste to justify a safe, permanent facility for Intermediate Level Nuclear Waste and they have NO PLANS to build one.
This can only mean one of two outcomes. Leave it indefinitely in Kimba or The Flinders Ranges and expect our children to deal with it. Or, they will offer South Australia to become the International Sacrifice Zone to dispose of the world’s nuclear waste, enabling us to financially deal with our own.
Quote from the office of Kim Carr. “We have to get the nuclear waste out of Lucas Heights, because it’s too dangerous to have it in densely populated metropolitan Sydney.” Well if it’s too dangerous for Sydney, it’s too dangerous for South Australia. Both Steven Marshall and Peter Malinauskashave been asleep at the wheel on this and we need to wake up South Australia now before it’s too late. There is a nuclear waste site ballot taking place in Kimba next month which will likely decide the fate of our state. Only people within those precincts are allowed to vote, 99% of South Australian’s cannot vote on this. Call Steven Marshalll and Peter Malinauskas or your local MP and demand they stop the ballot process and engage with the people of South Australia. We cannot be a Sacrifice Zone
Minister Canavan and Department of Industry Innovation and science ready to spoil beautiful, sacred, and arable land – for nuclear trash
Goodes abuse mirrors SA nuclear fight, Eureka Street, Michele Madigan, 03 September 2019 On 21 August I came out of an Adelaide preview of The Australian Dream, Stan Grant’s documentary about the racialised mistreatment of the former AFL footballer Adam Goodes, for a brief interview on our local ABC’s Evening Show. The topic: the resumption of federal government visibility and determination to both deposit and dump nuclear waste in either the Flinders Ranges or Kimba regions.
There is at best exasperation, and at worst, genuine anger shown to many Australians seeking to defend country: to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander defenders certainly. In regard to non-Aboriginal people, the word ‘greenie’ has become largely a term of derision………
On 13 August, DIIS, in meeting with the Barndioota Consultative Committee in the Flinders, confirmed that the size of the proposed site would now be 60 per cent larger. On 21 and 22 August Minister Canavan visited both areas for brief ‘consultative’ meetings, declaring the site decision is likely before the end of this year, and acknowledging that this may take place before the Flinders ballot. While again refusing to give a named acceptable percentage on such a ballot, Senator Canavan stressed the ballot was just one component in the decision making. Other evidence will include the 1000 submissions in this still open process.
On his 26 August Evening Show, Peter Goers interviewed an enthusiastic proponent — the Member for the vast federal seat of Grey. Rowan Ramsey was indignant that ‘outsiders’ were daring to protest the project. As well as ignoring his companion interviewee, local Greg Bannon, Ramsay revealed his misconception that other South Australians and indeed other Australians have no right to object. In claiming no knowledge of nuclear transport accidents, clearly he had not heard of the 1994 spill near Port Augusta, to name just one example; nor that transporting and simply ‘storing’ the spent fuel rods from the Lucas Heights reactor is exponentially more dangerous than Olympic Dam yellowcake transport…… https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/goodes-abuse-mirrors-sa-nuclear-fight?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Eureka%20Street%20Daily%20-%20Wednesday%204%20September%202019&utm_content=Eureka%20Street%20Daily%20-%20Wednesday%204%20September%202019+CID_df4eff5733a50d6914ba873c7e09aea7&utm_source=Jescom%20Newsletters&utm_term=Goodes%20abuse%20mirrors%20SA%20nuclear%20fightIs Australian govt’s plan for “temporary” nuclear waste dump really part of drive to IMPORT NUCLEAR WASTES?
The Australian government is not being up front with the public. The plan to set up a supposedly “temporary” nuclear waste dump in South Australia must be involved with some idea of what to do with these wastes permanently.
Is this plan in fact the precursor to a secret plan to set up a dump for the importation of nuclear wastes?
FlindersRanges Council delays nuclear waste dump ballot
Kimba council set a date while Hawker faces further delays, Transcontinental Amy Green 23 Aug19,
Following a week of meetings and debates surrounding the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, both the Kimba and Flinders Ranges council have reached separate decisions moving forward.
The Kimba community will have its say on the proposal through a long-awaited ballot, which has been delayed for more than 12-months by litigation from native title holders.
While the decision to move forward with the ballot has been appealed by native title holders, District Council of Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson said their was no legal impediment to the ballot proceeding.
“Council’s position has always been to facilitate the ballot on behalf of the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia so our community could have its voice heard, and we reaffirmed that position at our ordinary meeting last week,” he explained.
“We were advised … that the Minister no longer requests that the Kimba and Hawker ballots to be run concurrently, so Council has commenced planning with a view to ballot papers being posted out on 3 October.”…….
Two independent reports have already been commissioned by the federal government, both the Cadence Economic Report and Professor Peta Ashworth’s University of Queensland Socio-Economic Study.
The Flinders Ranges Council is seeking government funding to commission further research.
Mr Slattery said the subsequent report will not be used as a decision making tool for the council…….
It is unclear if running the ballots non-concurrently will have any impact on the decision of where to place the national facility. https://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/6345929/waste-dump-ballot-to-run-non-concurrently-for-hawker-and-kimba/?fbclid=IwAR0o4bAGp7-RiD24rEhX5voZeaEx6QzfPwEHJ2iON20rOc0z5uSaeIVYumA
Resources Minister Matt Canavan in Kimba : pressing for a ‘Yes” vote in nuclear waste dump ballot?
The man on the right liberal politician member for Grey tendered his own property for a nuclear waste dump in his own town with out consulting any one not even his neighbor.
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Ballot date set as Resources Minister visits Kimba, Eyre Tribune, Rachel McDonald -22 Aug 19, A date has been set for the Kimba community ballot on the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF) project, opening the door for one of the two proposed Kimba sites to be selected before consultation is complete on a third site near Hawker.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan was in town this week as the Kimba District Council announced the timing of the ballot. Ballots will be posted to voters in the Kimba district from October 3, with voting set to close on November 7.
Over 80 community members gathered to speak to Mr Canavan at the Kimba Gateway Hotel on Thursday, with the process for determining whether the project had broad community support and the financial support budgeted for the district both major topics of conversation. Several locals were concerned that no money is currently budgeted to provide support for the community should the project not go ahead.
Mr Canavan said he was committed to providing support for the non host community to transition out of the site selection process. “I want to do something on that, we just haven’t formally made a decision,” he said. The process for determining whether the project had broad community support faced criticism from some community members, with several making the point that nearby communities that would not have the chance to vote in the ballot would be impacted by the eventual decision, including some residents in the Wudinna district that live closer to the proposed sites than some in the Kimba district. Mr Canavan said he would be looking at the possibility of directing some of the financial support available to assist the Kimba community through the site selection process to surrounding communities. He encouraged anyone affected to make a submission, and said the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science had already received over 1000 submissions to consider in conjunction with the ballot which he would be looking at with their location in mind. He reiterated that in regards to the community ballot result, he would not be giving a specific percentage figure ahead of time as to what the department would consider broad community support, instead weighing up the result alongside the submissions….. Mr Canavan indicated the government would be looking for a result “a lot more” than a simple majority in favour. The Kimba District Council’s decision to proceed with the ballot was not mirrored by the Flinders Ranges Council, which has requested an independent analysis be conducted before their ballot. Mr Canavan said the Kimba ballot would not be delayed to run concurrently with the Flinders Ranges ballot. He said it was possible a Kimba site could be chosen before consultation was completed in Hawker. “That’s a consequence of the Flinders Ranges Council asking for that information,” he said. Those residing within the Kimba District Council area who are enrolled to vote in federal, state and council elections will be issued a ballot, and out of town ratepayers who enrolled for the proposed ballot in 2018 are still eligible. The Kimba District Council will be contacting out of town ratepayers to make sure eligible voters have enrolled by the deadline at midday, September 13. https://www.eyretribune.com.au/story/6343998/ballot-date-set-as-resources-minister-visits-kimba/?fbclid=IwAR2MYYzVhvWQe5ep7Ul9nyKV1hgoFWkxpehaII3P5vF_tNqOxl |
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The Kimba nuclear waste dump ballot – breaching South Australian law?
ENuFF[SA], 21 Aug 19, Today Kimba Council announced a date for a community ballot on the radioactive suppository ~ October 3rd.
http://www.kimba.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=408&c=10102
The legality of conducting such a ballot needs to be tested in the courts, since s.13 of the Radioactive Waste Storage Facility (Prohibition) Act SA 2000 prohibits public monies being spent “…. encouraging or financing any activity associated with the construction or operation of a nuclear waste storage facility in this State.”
http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/sa/consol_act/nwsfa2000430/s13.html
This concerns & will affect ALL South Australians, not just Kimba. We should start a fund for a court injunction based upon s.13 “… any activity …” of the Radioactive Waste Facility [Prohibition] Act ~ & then engage Maurice Blackburn Lawyers [eg] to mount a case against the ballot.
Council announces dates for Kimba radioactive waste ballot
Council announces dates for Kimba radioactive waste ballot, Kimba District Council, 21 Aug 19, The Kimba community will have its say on the of the Commonwealth Government’s proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility at one of two nominated sites in the district from October 3.
The District Council of Kimba today announced the dates for the long-awaited ballot, which has been delayed for more than 12 months due to litigation.
While the favourable judgment received by Council in the Federal Court of Australia on 12 July has been appealed, Mayor Dean Johnson said that there was no legal impediment to the ballot proceeding to determine the level of community support as part of the overall site selection process.
“Council’s position has always been to facilitate the ballot on behalf of the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia so our community could have its voice heard, and we reaffirmed that position at our ordinary meeting last week,” he explained.
“We were advised this morning that the Minister no longer requests that the Kimba and Hawker ballots to be run concurrently, so Council has commenced planning with a view to ballot papers being posted out on 3 October.”
The ballot will be run in a manner identical to that scheduled to be held in 2018, and applications from eligible ratepayers and residents for inclusion on the voters roll will be open for a period of three weeks from 23 August 2019 until midday on 13 September 2019…..http://www.kimba.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=408&c=10102&fbclid=IwAR1y2ZfiGYV6gFpnvtTkWYWNs1_LcelO3cQ1iLG3RaC22tVRoHy0NHQ2igg
Secrecy in Sinister Matt Canavan’s meeting with nuclear waste dump organisations in Hawker, South Australia
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Last week the Barndioota Consultative Committee (BCC) held its first meeting in over a year since the process was stalled by a federal court injunction lodged by the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation. The scheduled meeting had preemptively caused a stir when a new code conduct restricted observers from note taking or recording the meeting without prior agreement from the department, independent convener and all representative members of the committee.
The issue was resolved and protocol was amended to allow note-taking, provided privacy of the speaker was respected. However a closed meeting scheduled between the Minister for Resources Matt Canavan, the Economic Working Group and the BCC has reignited accusations of secrecy.
Mr Canavan is scheduled to meet with the groups behind closed doors during a visit to Hawker this week, before opening the session up to the public…… https://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/6335519/community-tensions-simmer-over-waste-dump-closed-meeting-plans/?fbclid=IwAR0c6Dzo8ZuCMX78A29wUaFmSvsigcZR8AViGXSBE0ykoru3YU4WkEofEnM |
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Some caustic comments on Minister Canavan’s closed nuclear waste dump meeting in Hawker S.A.
These comments refer to both the article above and to the one discussed at https://antinuclear.net/2019/08/17/nuclear-waste-kimba-committee-even-discussed-transitioning-out-of-the-site-selection-process/
Raised eyebrows amongst anti-nuclear campaigners ….only? How about maybe the rest of the communities as well??
Also, last time I looked Kimba and Hawker were not islands!! Nope – they are DEFINITELY part of South Australia too!!! And ALL of South Australia will be affected by this National Nuclear Dump!
This is MEANT TO BE “AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROCESS” so we have been told….When will we HAVE THAT???
Shan’t hold my breath!!…….DISGRACEFUL!!
Noel Wauchope Jeff Baldock’s Kimba property is allegedly the frontrunner for a future nuclear waste dump. No wonder this man is prominent at this meeting, happy with the progress and his financial prospects. Better than farming, hey?
Doug Potts The man who offered land owns both sites. I’m not sure if it’s free hold or lease. But why are they pushing, showing, brainwashing for these site especially when one is in a known sciesmic active area with floods as well. Also a West Australian site has said yes we would like this no interest is shown. Sadly the whole thing stinks like yesterday’s nappies!
Sinister for Resources, Matt Canavan, avoids Quorn community in his nuclear waste dump promotion visit
Katrina Bohr, no nuclear waste dump anywhere in south australia, 20 Aug 19,
Have heard it through the Grapevine, we are expecting theMinister’s presence. Hawker and Kimba, the apple of his eye. Quorn has a voting population far greater than Hawker, yet we are overlooked. A 30 min. meeting on Wednesday at 12:30 with the Flinders Ranges Council in Quorn, is the limit of the Minister’s ‘time’ here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/
Nuclear waste: Kimba committee even discussed transitioning out of the site selection process
Life after nuclear decision discussed, Eyre Tribune, Rachel McDonald 16 Aug 19,
Assisting the Kimba community in transitioning out of the site selection process should it not be chosen for the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF) was among issues discussed at a consultative committee meeting on Wednesday.
The committee, made up of Kimba community members both for and against hosting the facility near Kimba met with NRWMF taskforce general manager Sam Chard.
Despite the BDAC appealing the decision, the Kimba District Council this week announced its intentions to move forward with the ballot.
“We’re open to their suggestions about how we might do this,” she said.
Jeff Baldock, who sits on the committee and volunteered the Napandee site, said he was pleased to resume discussion and see movement in the ballot process…… [Ed. Note: Mr Baldock’s property is said to be the Government’s favoured site for the waste dump – a useful little additional money-spinner for a farmer]
Another topic discussed at the meeting was the decision to increase the footprint of the site to allow a larger buffer zone between the facility and its neighbours …..
After community members wishing to observe the meetings expressed concern about restrictions on note taking during meetings, reviewing the observer code of conduct was on the agenda…..
Minutes of the committee meetings are released on the department website. https://www.eyretribune.com.au/story/6331281/life-after-nuclear-decision-discussed/?fbclid=IwAR2ODEstxlVCJUe64cS9huIKT3AV98Jyxy5r9WEfM7n-SMhJGarPzuZUlhU
Beautiful Flinders Ranges – no place for a nuclear waste dump
Beautiful Flinders, The Advertiser, MICHELE MADIGAN, 15 Aug 19
RE Susan Andersson’s letter “No nuclear move” (The Advertiser, yesterday): As I travelled south along the highway from Coober Pedy this week, the glorious Flinders Ranges to the east were an inspiring sight.
One can only wonder at a Federal Government, which proposes to build a low-level nuclear dump (toxic for 300 years) and, even more concerning, as the letter stated, to simply store intermediate nuclear waste (toxic for 10,000 years) at such an iconic Australian site.
Neither does it make sense to build and store such literally halfway across the country in the international grain farming area of the Kimba region.
Yes, surely, both for residents and we travellers, it is safer (and better for the SA economy) to store the intermediate-level waste where it is – under the eyes of the nuclear experts.
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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