Don't dump on the Territory:
No national radioactive waste dump at Muckaty
Community Rally
June 14, 2011
...12 midday at Parliament House
Canberra
Speakers include:
* Dianne Stokes and Mark Chungaloo, Muckaty Traditional Owners
* Scott Ludlam, Australian Greens Senator
* Peter Simpson , ETU Queensland Secretary
* Dave Sweeney, Australian Conservation Foundation
* Dr Sue Wareham, Medical Association for Prevention of War
We demand:
* Repeal of all NT sites under assessment for a national nuclear
dump
* An independent inquiry into radioactive waste management in
Australia
* Responsible long term management - not short term dumping
Supported by:
Beyond Nuclear Initiative
Conservation Council of WA
Environment Centre of the Northern Territory
Friends of the Earth Australia
Japanese for Peace
Medical Association for Prevention of War
Public Health Association Australia
Western Australian Nuclear Free Alliance
Unions NT
www.beyondnuclearinitiative.com
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Keep the Poison out of Muckaty
Kurlalu yarnmi Majju Majju Manu Wangku ka
Wangangka yama nyirrinjji mana Manu Wangku Kuna
In the June sittings of Parliament the Senate is set to debate the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill (NRWMB). This draconian piece of legislation would be used to impose a radioactive waste dump on contested Aboriginal Land at Muckaty, north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.
The planned law breaks Labor's clear election and policy commitments to manage radioactive waste in a transparent, accountable and fair way.
The Bill continues to override the Aboriginal Heritage Act and Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act during the site selection process. Minister Ferguson claims that procedural fairness and judicial review will be reinstated, but this is not the case for the current Muckaty nomination, the only site under active consideration.
The dump is proposed to be a 400 year "temporary" facility that would house the most radioactive waste produced in Australia- spent nuclear fuel from the Lucas Heights reactor- as well as the components of the decommissioned HIFAR nuclear reactor. In exchange, Traditional Owners were offered a mere $12 million in the form of roads, housing and education scholarships.
You can't close the gap by opening a dump.
Remote communities should have access to funds for basic infrastructure as citizenship entitlements. They should not have to relinquish land for long term, high impact projects. It is essential that we stand up and support the many Traditional Owners at Muckaty and other communities who are resisting this toxic trade off.
Converge on Canberra on June 14 and join Traditional Owners, trade unions, faith groups, health organisations, environment groups, students and the NT government in opposing this irresponsible radioactive waste dump plan.