Jon Lamb, Darwin
The announcement on October 13 by the federal government that it will pass special legislation to override Northern Territory laws that may obstruct the location of a nuclear waste dump in the NT has hardened local opposition to the dump proposal.
Peter Barker, spokesperson for the anti-nuke dump group Alice Action, told ABC radio on October 15: "We're going to keep fighting in the streets, if need be, but this campaign hasn't ended with this [legislation] ...We're going to continue to pressure this government to make sure that they listen to Territorians and they listen to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are clearly saying that they don't want this facility in their backyard."
The proposed federal legislation will close legal avenues that the NT government or any other organisation might pursue to stop the dump from being located in the NT. It will also allow the government to extinguish native title and interests, and override laws relating to the environment and heritage values. Central Land Council director David Ross has labelled the legislation "contemptuous" and "disgraceful".
In contrast to the position of the Central Land Council and anti-nuclear waste dump campaign groups, the Northern Land Council revealed on October 21 that it does not oppose a nuclear waste dump and is seeking input into the legislation so that an additional site can be considered (along with the three sites proposed already).
The announcement of the new legislation was coupled with an inducement from the federal government in the form of promised funding for an oncology ward at Royal Darwin Hospital. This was presented as a win for people living in the NT, particularly by the Country Liberal Party member for Solomon, Dave Tollner, and CLP senator Nigel Scullion. The two have argued that the nuclear waste dump is needed for radiopharmaceuticals to be produced in Australia.
The vice-president of the Medical Association for Prevention of War, Dr Bill Williams, has condemned Tollner and Scullion for appealing to people's emotions by claiming that cancer patients and others will suffer if the dump isn't built. "They're peddling a lie, basically", Williams said, calling on Scullion and Tollner to retract their statements.
In an October 13 media release, the coordinator of the Environment Centre of the NT, Peter Robertson, also condemned Scullion and Tollner's attempts at blackmail, adding, "the federal government has blatantly lied about the waste dump and is now resorting to one of the most draconian, anti-democratic pieces of legislation ever introduced into federal parliament".
A full-page open letter in the October 15 NT News addressed to PM John Howard from NT Chief Minister Clare Martin titled "Territory rights trampled by Canberra", described the proposed legislation as the "strongest attack on Territory rights since self-government". Then a letter on October 19 called upon Scullion to cross the floor and vote against the legislation. Scullion told ABC radio in August that if there was an attempt to introduce legislation to expedite the process of establishing a waste dump in the NT, he would vote against it.
"In the short time that groups have been campaigning on this issue in the NT, it is clear that a large number of people across the Territory are staunchly opposed to the nuclear waste dump ... the announcement of this new legislation has strengthened that opposition", Justin Tutty from the Darwin-based No Radioactive Waste Alliance (NRWA) told Green Left Weekly. Tutty added that these groups, which include a wide range of people, are preparing for a long fight with the Howard government. "Just as they did in South Australia, we will keep campaigning until we win."
The NRWA is planning actions in the lead-up to November 7, when the new legislation is expected to be passed. For further information, email <no-waste@eco-logical.info> or phone (08) 8948 3339.
From Green Left Weekly, October 26, 2005.
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