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The
National Radioactive Waste Dump: NT campaign |
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Inspired by the success of the ‘Irati Wanti-The Poison, Leave It’ campaign which stopped a national nuclear dump on Kokatha land in South Australia, communities across the Northern Territory rallied together against Howard’s plan for a low and intermediate level Commonwealth radioactive waste dump in the Northern Territory. From June 2005, when the legislation targeting the NT for the dump was first announced, a strong, community driven, grassroots campaign of resistance developed and evolved into a national network of committed aNTi dump campaigners. The communities living nearest the proposed sites worked closely with environmentalists and social justice campaigners in the Territory and across Australia to develop a national campaign of opposition to the proposal. During the 2004 Federal Election campaign, then Commonwealth Environment Minister Ian Campbell gave an "absolute categorical assurance" that there would be no waste dump in the Territory. However, in July 2005, with the election out of the way, federal Science Minister Dr Brendan Nelson announced plans to dump the waste in the NT, with the memorable line "why on earth can't people in the middle of nowhere have low-level and intermediate level waste?" In December 2005, the Howard Government passed the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act (CRWMA), overriding NT legislation and effectively forcing a Commonwealth radioactive waste facility on the Territory. This legislation named three sites in the NT as potential dump locations:
A Government amendment in the Senate allowed for land to be nominated for assessment by the Chief Minister or a Land Council, which led to the Northern Land Council nominating a further site at Muckaty Station to the north of Tennant Creek. To rub salt into the wounds, in December 2006 the Government introduced the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Legislation Amendment Bill 2006, which allowed Land Councils to nominate dump sites even if Traditional Owners of the area were opposed, and removed all rights to procedural fairness. Despite the legislative onslaught and clear intentions of the Federal Government to ram the project through no matter what, a spirited campaign took root in the Territory, culminating in a commitment by then opposition Science spokesperson Kim Carr that a new Labor Government would repeal the dump legislation and start from scratch. Anti-nuclear campaigners criss-crossed the country in support of local Traditional Owners across the territory, building an impressive coalition of land owners, local residents and the NT Government. With the change of Federal Government in 2007, all eyes are now on the new ALP government to repeal the CRWMA and conduct and honest process of community consultation canvassing what to do with the nation's most intractable waste.
Thanks to Nat Wasley for some of the text & research on this page |
“We don’t want this stuff on our country. There is a big lawn at Parliament House. They should keep it there if it's safe”.
NT dump proposal timeline of key events 2004 - ‘Absolute categorical assurance’ no NT sites would be targeted for the dump June 2005- Three Department of Defence sites in the NT announced as potential sites December 5, 2005-Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act passed December 5, 2006- Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act Amendments passed May 2006 Muckaty formally nominated by NLC June 21, 2007- Federal Intervention into NT announced September 2007- Muckaty nomination accepted by Julie Bishop November 2007- Letter from Kim Carr committing to CRWMA repeal November 2007- Rudd government elected Dump links
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the Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western
Australia
email nfreewa@iinet.net.au |
