Friday, 28 September, 2007

Sydney Morning Herald

THE Federal Government has shelved two more controversial decisions until after the election - the final site of a nuclear waste dump, and whether to extend to gay couples the financial and legal rights afforded to heterosexual de facto couples.

The Government is determined to establish a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory and has already carried out environmental and heritage studies on three Commonwealth sites.

The Science Minister, Julie Bishop, announced yesterday that a fourth site was now under active consideration and would undergo the same assessments as the other three, ruling out a final decision before the election.

The fourth site is on Aboriginal land at Muckaty Station, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek. The Northern Land Council has offered the Government the site in return for $12 million.

Ms Bishop said that offer had been accepted and "detailed assessment of the nominated sites' physical and biological environment will now be conducted".

This assessment would take several months. Once a site was chosen, it would undergo further environmental assessment.

The Commonwealth has already legislated to override objections by the Northern Territory Government to a waste dump. The Government focused on the Territory after its efforts to establish a dump in outback South Australia were countered by years of public backlash and legal moves by the Rann Labor Government.

The Herald revealed on Wednesday that the Government had also shelved until beyond the election legislation to facilitate the eventual establishment of a nuclear industry in Australia.

Meanwhile, a Coalition source said it was highly unlikely that cabinet would revisit the issue of legal and financial rights for homosexual couples before the election, let alone draft and pass the necessary legislation.

The Christian lobby opposes any moves to legally classify gay couples as de facto.