Muckaty NT

 

Muckaty Traditional Owner Dianne Stokes says: “All along we have said we don’t want this dump on our land but we have been ignored. Martin Ferguson has avoided us and ignored our letters but he knows very well how we feel. He has been arrogant and secretive and he thinks he has gotten away with his plan but in fact he has a big fight on his hands.”

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The Federal Government has finally announced that it will repeal the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act. But resources minister Martin Ferguson’s replacement legislation – the National Radiaoctive Waste Management Bill (NRWMB) – is as coercive and unfair as the bill it replaces. The NRWMB leaves Muckaty, north of Tennant Creek in the NT, as the only site that will be initially considered under he NRWMB despite widespread opposition and a flawed, secretive nomination process for the Muckaty site.

The nomination of the Muckaty site is highly contested

The nomination of the Muckaty site by the Northern Land Council was highly controversial and is strongly contested by many Traditional Owners. Resouces Minister Martin Ferguson claims that Ngapa Traditional Owners support the nomination of the Muckaty site but he knows that many Ngapa Traditional Owners oppose the dump — as well as numerous requests for meetings, he received a letter opposing the dump in May 2009 signed by 25 Ngapa Traditional Owners and 32 Traditional Owners from other Muckaty groups.

Mr Ferguson is also aware of the unanimous resolution passed by the NT Labor Conference in April 2008 which called on the Federal Government to exclude Muckaty on the grounds that the nomination “was not made with the full and informed consent of all Traditional Owners and affected people and as such does not comply with the Aboriginal Land Rights Act”. Mr Ferguson also knows that fellow Ministers Jenny Macklin, Kim Carr, Peter Garrett and Warren Snowdon among others have acknowledged the distress and opposition of many Muckaty Traditional Owners.

The case for a remote dump has never been made

Nuclear waste should be moved as little as possible, and should be stored above ground close to the point of production, close to centres of nuclear expertise and infrastructure. The Lucas Heights nuclear agency ANSTO is by far the biggest single source of the waste, and all the relevant organisations have acknowledged that ongoing waste storage at Lucas Heights is a viable option — the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, the Australian Nuclear Association and even Mr Ferguson’s own department. Additionally, requiring ANSTO to store its own waste is the best — and perhaps the only — way of focussing the Organisation’s collective mind on the importance of waste minimisation principles. 

Any site selection process ought to be based on scientific and environmental siting criteria, as well as on the principle of voluntarism. In 2005, the Howard government chose the NT, and ruled out NSW, for purely political reasons. When the federal Bureau of Resource Sciences conducted a national repository site selection study in the 1990s, informed by scientific, environmental and social criteria, the Muckaty area did not even make the short-list as a “suitable” site.

More information

Senate Report Friday (May 7) a Senate Inquiry into the controversial plan gave a green light to Resource Minister Martin Ferguson’s planned waste dump law.  This is despite Muckaty Traditional Owners, legal experts, national environment groups and Aboriginal organisations like the Central Land Council condemning the legislation.

The report can be viewed at: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/legcon_ctte/radioactivewaste/report/index.htm

Senator Scott Ludlam and The Greens wrote an excellent dissenting report, which can be downloaded from the same link as above.

Beyond Nuclear Initiative: http://beyondnuclearinitiative.wordpress.com

Friends of the Earth: http://www.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/oz/nontdump