“YOU know I’m not going to Tennant Creek,” Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson snorted through the airwaves.

Speaking to the ABC’s Julia Christensen in Darwin on Wednesday, he had been asked whether he should attend a public meeting to discuss plans to investigate Muckaty Station as a site on which to construct a nuclear waste dump.

It seemed he picked up on his own sneering, sardonic tone in time to add that he was busy in Darwin, but it was too late - his slip was showing.

Ferguson’s contempt for the concerned traditional owners of the land at Muckaty appears to be well established.

He has consistently refused to meet with them or reply to their correspondence.

Instead he chose to meet briefly with a small group who may - or may not - have signed the nomination contract which offered Muckaty as a dump site.

The group of 12 was taken to Darwin to meet with Minister Ferguson with some of the people telling family members they were expecting remuneration for their efforts.

Yesterday the Minister was prancing around Alice Springs, having been unable to call into Tennant Creek to address the meeting.

The Territory’s Federal politicians, Warren Snowdon and Senator Trish Crossin, couldn’t make it either.

That wasn’t surprising given their about-turn on dumping the dump on the Territory since their party came to power at the end of 2007.

Snowdon did send a statement which proved to be nothing more than party-line rhetoric.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam travelled from Canberra, driving the return trip from Alice, and Member for Barkly Gerry McCarthy drove from Darwin to be here in time for the meeting.

Pastoralist Geoff Murrell and his family travelled in from Helen Springs Station while organisers and media also put in good miles to be here where they joined a large crowd of locals.

Organiser Nat Wasley from the Beyond Nuclear Initiative said the meeting was was well attended and lively.

“The meeting showed there will be ongoing community resistance to the imposition of a dump and ongoing pressure on the Federal Government to visit Tennant Creek and face the people who will be directly affected,” she said.