WGAR News: Muckaty Traditional Owners respond to proposed new nuclear waste dump nomination

Newsletter date: 9 November 2014

WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

Contents:

News & Action due November 10, 2014: Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI): It’s time to manage Australia’s radioactive waste - not dump it
News: Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI): Response to proposed new Muckaty nuclear waste nomination
Statement: Penny Phillips Napangardi & Dianne Stokes Nampin: Statement from Muckaty Traditional Owners regarding proposed new nuclear waste dump nomination on Muckaty Land Trust
Media Release: Central Land Council (CLC): No nuclear waste dump site nominated
News: Xavier La Canna, ABC: Central Land Council rules out nuclear dump in Tanami region of Central Australia
News: 7 News: 'No nuclear dump' in NT central desert
News: Zach Hope, NT News: Progress on bid for new radioactive waste dump at Muckaty Station
News: Helen Davidson, The Guardian: Muckaty Station owners propose new site for nuclear waste dump

- News & Action due November 10, 2014

Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI): It’s time to manage Australia’s radioactive waste - not dump it
http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com/its-time-to-manage-australias-radioac...
28 Oct 14: "For over two decades successive Australian governments have searched for a location to dump Australia’s radioactive waste. This has caused heartache in targeted remote communities and headlines in the national media. And this "out of sight, out of mind" approach has failed. In June this year, after seven long years of protest and community resistance, the federal government abandoned plans to open a dump on Aboriginal land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory. The buck should have stopped there. But the government seems to have learned nothing and instead of taking a look at its flawed dump plan it is planning a new national search for another dump site. The search for a dump site needs to stop and an independent inquiry into the best way to manage Australia’s radioactive waste needs to start. The majority of Australia’s radioactive waste is currently stored in two defined federal sites and both have confirmed they can securely store this waste for years to come. We have the time and opportunity to things differently and better. We don’t need a quick and dirty dump - we need a responsible and lasting solution. ...
How to help: Minister Ian Macfarlane is accepting public comments on his national dump search plan until November 10 and your small comment could help make a big difference. ... "

- News

Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI): Response to proposed new Muckaty nuclear waste nomination
http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com/response-to-proposed-new-muckaty-nucl...
7 Nov 14: "After a meeting held in Tennant Creek, the Northern Land Council has announced it is preparing an anthropological report for a new site on Muckaty to be potentially nominated for the national nuclear waste dump. Click for links to NT News story here and Guardian Australian story here. This is very disappointing for Muckaty Traditional Owners who have been seeking closure on this long, challenging and often stressful campaign since the first site nomination was announced in 2007. Attached and below is a statement written by Muckaty Traditional Owners Penny Phillips and Dianne Stokes in response to the NT news article linked above."

- Statement

Penny Phillips Napangardi & Dianne Stokes Nampin: Statement from Muckaty Traditional Owners regarding proposed new nuclear waste dump nomination on Muckaty Land Trust.
BNI: http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com/response-to-proposed-new-muckaty-nucl...
ECNT: http://www.ecnt.org/media/statement-muckaty-traditional-owners-new-waste...
5 Nov 14: "We heard in the news that people want to nominate Muckaty for the nuclear waste dump again. Minister Gray and Minister Macfarlane visited us here in Tennant Creek- they heard what we said about the nuclear waste dump-we said NO. They have seen the conflicts between us. Enough is enough- this issue will not be resolved, we want the Northern Land Council to just let it go. Leave the waste where it is and don’t dig up any more uranium. We fought hard for our people to get Land Rights. The old people that have gone, they fought hard and now people are trying to sell their soul and country- again. We were so happy the first site nomination was closed- we fought very hard to stop it. We had just relaxed after stopping the waste dump and now they came back and kicked us in the guts. ... "

- Media Release

Central Land Council (CLC): No nuclear waste dump site nominated
http://www.clc.org.au/media-releases/article/no-nuclear-waste-dump-site-...
http://www.clc.org.au/media-releases/
7 Nov 14: "A very productive Central Land Council meeting at Alpurrurulam (Lake Nash) has concluded without the nomination of a site for a nuclear waste management facility. On 5 November 85 CLC delegates considered the outcomes of the CLC’s consultations with the traditional owners of an area in the Tanami region and with affected communities about a proposed site for such a facility. The delegates heard that the CLC has received formal correspondence and public statements from the traditional owners and residents of affected communities who are opposed to a nuclear waste dump in the area. Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane’s requirement of a site "free from dispute" cannot therefore be met. ...  At the meeting traditional owners expressed their dissatisfaction with the federal government's nomination process for a proposed nuclear waste management facility and with the lack of detailed information, for example about the transport of the waste and the government’s compensation offer. During subsequent public consultations including government representatives in Lajamanu, one of the affected communities, residents and traditional owners of the proposed site expressed strong opposition against a nuclear waste facility in the Tanami. ... "

- News

ABC: Central Land Council rules out nuclear dump in Tanami region of Central Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-07/nuclear-dump-ruled-out-over-tanami...
7 Nov 14: "The Central Land Council has ruled out the possibility of a nuclear waste dump being built over a large part of central Australia due to opposition from some traditional owners. Traditional owners in the Tanami region were considering nominating land to become a dump, but at a meeting this week delegates heard of opposition to the move from traditional owners and affected communities, the CLC said. Federal Government Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has said there has to be unanimous support for the move for a site to be successful." Xavier La Canna

- News

7 News: 'No nuclear dump' in NT central desert
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/25456436/no-nuclear-dump-in-nt-central-desert/
7 Nov 14: "The Central Land Council has not put forward a site for a national nuclear waste dump in the NT."
"Traditional owners in the central desert, unhappy with the federal nomination process, have decided not to propose a site for a national nuclear waste dump. Some traditional owners opposed to the facility on Aboriginal land made formal protests to the Central Land Council (CLC), which decided it could not then meet federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane's requirement of a site "free from dispute". Traditional owners represented by the CLC believe the National Radioactive Waste Management Act of 2012 expects them to volunteer a site without being fully informed." AAP

- News

NT News: Progress on bid for new radioactive waste dump at Muckaty Station
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/progress-on-bid-for-new-radioactive-waste-...
5 Nov 14: "A NEW site for Australia’s radioactive waste dump within the Muckaty Land Trust has edged closer to realisation after a round of detailed anthropological studies last week. Northern Land Council chief executive Joe Morrison visited the site with renowned anthropologists Jeff Stead and Robert Graham, who will deliver their findings about rightful traditional owners and sacred sites before a full council meeting early next month. ... The original Muckaty nomination failed in June after a bitter dispute between clan groups and families." Zach Hope

- News

The Guardian: Muckaty Station owners propose new site for nuclear waste dump
Plan comes months after bitter seven-year dispute about Australia’s first such facility appeared to have ended
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/06/muckaty-station-owner...
6 Nov 14: "The plan to store radioactive waste north of Tennant Creek has divided the community. Photograph: Neda Vanovac/AAP"
"Traditional owners have reopened the case for siting Australia’s first nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory, just months after a bitter seven-year dispute appeared to have ended. In June the Northern Land Council abandoned its nomination to the federal government to store low and intermediate radioactive waste in the area north of Tennant Creek after a lengthy legal dispute launched by four clan groups reached the federal court. Local councils, unions and community groups opposed the dump." Helen Davidson in Darwin

- - -

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

About WGAR News:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news

http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/30/about-wgar-news-working-group-for-abo...

Subscription to 'WGAR News' is free.

'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:

* the Australian Federal government intervention into Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal communities;
* the Aboriginal sovereignty movement and the Aboriginal tent embassies;
* Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody;
* Aboriginal land rights and mining;
* Suicide and self-harm in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities;
* Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing;
* other Aboriginal rights issues; and
* upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia.

'WGAR News' gives priority to grassroots Aboriginal voices and grassroots voices in solidarity with Aboriginal peoples' rights.

The role of 'WGAR News' is to facilitate the voices of others, and as such, 'WGAR News' rarely writes its own articles.

'WGAR News' publishes information and opinions from a wide range of sources.
These opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of WGAR.

The e-newsletters include media releases, opinion pieces, news items, audio, videos and events.

Subscribers can expect to receive about 2-3 e-newsletters each week.

To subscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "subscribe WGAR News" in the message header.

To unsubscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "unsubscribe WGAR News" in the message header.

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)