No radioactive dump in the NT!

SYDNEY — Traditional owners from areas threatened with a potential nuclear waste dump are travelling across Australia to explain how a dump would irreversibly damage their land and culture.

In addition to three Commonwealth defence sites that are under assessment, Muckaty Station has recently been nominated by the Northern Land Council as another potential site for a nuclear waste dump. This comes despite an "absolute categorical assurance" by then-environment minister Ian Campbell before the last election that the federal government would not target the Northern Territory for a federal radioactive waste dump.

Former federal science minister Brendan Nelson asked: "Why on earth can't people in the middle of nowhere have [radioactive] waste?" According to the January 30 ABC Online, current science minister Julie Bishop claimed that all the sites in the NT are well away from houses, "some from any form of civilisation".

The Indigenous owners will discuss the real impact that the dump will have in their areas at a BBQ at 2pm on June 24 at the Redfern Community Centre, 29-53 Hugo St, Redfern, and at a public meeting at the same venue on June 25 at 6pm. For more information, phone Adam Wolfenden on 0401 045 536.

From GLW issue 713