New laws for nuke dump long way off
NEW laws to pave the way for a nuclear waste dump in the Territory will be months away after they were referred to a Senate inquiry yesterday.
Territorians will have the chance to have a say on the laws, which override NT legislation banning the transport and storage of nuclear waste in the Territory.
The Northern Territory News revealed yesterday how vital parts of the law were copied word for word from the previous government's legislation, which the Rudd Government had promised to repeal.
In Parliament yesterday, Chief Minister Paul Henderson attacked the federal Labor Government for overriding laws of the NT.
"I condemn the move," he said.
"This is a very important decision for this nation, and it should be based on science, not on a constitutional weak point."
Mr Henderson has also criticised the secrecy around the deal brokered by the Northern Land Council with traditional owners at Muckaty, north of Tennant Creek.
Under the deal, Ngapa people would hand over their land for at least 200 years - depending on how long it takes the waste to decay - in return for a $12 million payment.
The 2008 Labor conference passed a motion saying it should be scrapped because it "was not made with the full and informed consent of all Traditional Owners and affected people".
But Northern Land Council chief executive Kim Hill said it was negotiated with the appropriate people.
"There are a number of Ngapa clans or groups," he said.
"Only one Ngapa group comprises the traditional Aboriginal owners of the nominated land at Muckaty Station and, under the Land Rights Act and under Aboriginal tradition, only their consent is required.
"Their support for the nomination was overwhelming, and there is no dispute within that group."
More than 50 people associated with the Ngapa Land Trust have signed a letter to the Federal Government objecting to the dump.