Tuesday 29 November 2005
ALP
Senator Trish Crossin

Today's tabling of the Senate report into the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Bill is severely critical of the government's handling of the radioactive waste issue and calls on the Department of Education, Science and Technology (DEST) 'to be more proactive in adequately informing community groups about the proposal'.

The report says DEST needs to work harder if the 'project is to gain widespread acceptance'.

Senator Trish Crossin says, "The most severe criticism of the Government is found in the statement that the process for selecting and imposing a radioactive waste dump on the NT 'which is enabled by these bills, is not the usual way of proceeding'.

The Labor Party's dissenting report recommends the Bill be defeated because:

It over rides Territory legislation to achieve the dump

There was a lack of consultation over the decision to impose the dump on the NT

It disregards the views of traditional owners and,

The justification for the haste in the site selection process lacks credibility

And the site selection process was based on availability not science.

The ALP minority report highlights that the government has ignored the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) best practice guidelines for choosing a site which emphasise the importance of a transparent and inclusive community consultation process:

"An important element in creating public acceptance is the perceived trust and credibility of the responsible organisation ……..Establishing trust can be enhanced when an inclusive approach to public involvement is adopted from the beginning of the planning process to help ensure that all those who wish to take part in the process have an opportunity to express their views, and have access to information on how public comments have been considered and addressed."
(IAEA Sept 2002)

"Instead the Commonwealth is riding rough shod over Territorians, even denying rights to procedural fairness or judicial review of Ministerial decisions in the scramble to force the radioactive dump on the NT", said Senator Crossin.

"The three potential radioactive waste dump sites in the Northern Territory identified in the bill are merely sites the Defence Department said were surplus. There was no scientific process used by the Commonwealth to select them - just political expediency.

"The Commonwealth's arrogant intention in these bills to bulldoze through a radioactive dump in the Northern Territory undercuts the democratic process and effective law making" Senator Crossin said.