Saturday 5 August 2006
by Jessica Essix
indymedia

Northern Territory senator Nigel Scullion was in Alice Springs today, for a seemingly routine Green Corps graduation ceremony. That is, until concerned Alice Springs residents heard he was in town ...

Confused as to how Scullion could justify supporting both Green Corps projects, and the storage of radioactive waste in the NT, No Waste Dump activists armed with barrels of waste, rad suits and a whole lotta questions, confronted Scullion on his way out of Lhere Artepe centre, where the ceremony was taking place.

Lhere Artepe is the office for native title holders of Alice and they had decorated their window with news articles quoting traditional owners opposing the dump and a poster urging Scullion to stand up for the Territory.

The rad suit clad group, after having spoken to and garnered support from numerous passers-by, managed to grab twenty minutes of Scullions time to talk about concerns Northern Territory residents have with the waste dump being foisted upon them.

This is what he had to say:

-sometimes he accidently calls the proposed facility a dump, which he tries not to, because that implies that the radioactive material will just be dumped and not cared for

- The transporting of waste is no problem, it will be stored in 1 metre thick barrels (fattest 44 gallon drums I've ever seen)

- When the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor was built, it was decided "by the Australian people" that a "radioactive facility" (read: dump) would have to be located somewhere within Australia.

- The people he has spoken to want it within the Territory [makes you wonder who he has spoken to, when the majority of Territorians and the NT government do not want a waste dump in the Territory]

- He promised that there is a call in number for information about the waste dump being set up, following a meeting mid June in Canberra with a Warlmampa woman whose community is being targeted as one of the potential waste dump sites.

- He also promised that if a site selection for the waste dump is finalised, he would meet with community members at that site to discuss the safe management of the radioactive material. This includes disclosing fulltime staffing arrangements, but he didn't specify how long these arrangements would be valid for (tough when these materials are radioactive for at least 250,000 years)

-He did query why we thought it was necessary to have scientists with nuclear knowledge available (um - in case there is an accident perhaps?)

- He then acknowledged that water shortages will be the next problem the world will be faced with, but didn't know how the mining industry would be able to use sustainable low levels of water in its operations.

Scullion then finished up by saying that he wouldn't come along to a big public meeting in Alice Springs with ANSTO, Australian Nuclear Science and Training Organisation) if it meant that he would have potatoes thrown at him.

It is now up to everyone to keep Scullion in check on these promises, and keep throwing words his way, but be careful with the potatoes.

Scullion had once said he would "bet anyone a beer" that the waste dump would not be located at Harts Range - now there are rumours he will not be endorsed at the next CLP selection.