Monday, 5 November, 2007

by Natalie Wasley
Arid Lands Environment Centre

Dr Helen Caldicott, paediatrician and author of ‘Nuclear Power is Not the Answer’ will travel to Tennant Creek this week to speak at a public meeting about the proposed federal radioactive waste dump in the Territory.

“Storing radioactive waste at Muckaty would expose inhabitatants and surrounding people to radioactive material in water and food. This would put them at risk of developing cancer and their kids at risk of developing congenital deformities, as well as exposing future generations to high level cancers and genetic disease. Under no circumstances must Australia allow the world’s radioactive waste to be stored in this country” stated Dr Caldicott, who has been closely following the federal dump plan.

A section of Muckaty Land Trust, 100km north of Tennant Creek, is undergoing assessment for the federal dump after a nomination by the Northern Land Council was accepted by Federal Science Minister Julie Bishop in late September. The site will be compared to three Department of Defence sites in the Territory that have already been studied, with an announcement of the preferred location scheduled for early next year.

Federal Labor has promised that if elected, they will repeal the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act forcing the dump on the Northern Territory.

Meeting organiser Natalie Wasley from the Arid Lands Environment Centre in Alice Springs, said the forum is an opportunity for Tennant and district residents to discuss the proposal for the Muckaty dump site with other community members and with high profile nuclear industry researchers.

“Most people I have spoken with in Tennant have said they do not feel they were adequately consulted or informed about the federal government proposal. Traditional Owners from the Muckaty Land Trust have said that at government meetings they were told that the waste would only comprise hospital gloves and plastic bags. There has clearly not been adequate information provided by the government in its desperate attempt to secure a dump site before the election” said Ms Wasley.

Ms Wasley added, “This meeting will allow people to hear exactly what waste is proposed for the facility and also discuss with Dr Caldicott and other speakers the potential problems and dangers. The federal government has not held a public meeting for the Barkly residents affected by this proposal, so I responded to requests from people in Tennant and from the Muckaty Land Trust to organise one”.

Dr Jim Green from the Beyond Nuclear Initiative is also speaking at the meeting. Dr Green said, "In theory a nuclear dump could be safe but we don't live in theory, we live in Australia where the federal government has a disgraceful record of mismanaging nuclear projects. For example, at the Maralinga nuclear test site, the government left tonnes of plutonium-contaminated waste buried in shallow, unlined pits. The federal government cannot be trusted to tell the truth and it cannot be trusted to safely build and operate a nuclear dump in the Barkly. The federal government already has a track record of broken promises, such as the promise before the 2004 election not to build a nuclear dump in the Territory."

The meeting is being held Thursday November 8th at 5:30pm at the Tennant Creek Training Centre.

Other speakers include:
Elliot McAdam MLA, Member for Barkly and Minister for Central Australia
Dianne Stokes, Muckaty Traditional Owner