Traditional Owners from land in the Northern Territory targeted for a national radioactive waste dump will tell of their concerns at a public event in the heart of federal Resource Minister Martin Ferguson’s electorate at the Northcote Town Hall on Wednesday evening (April 21).

Martin Ferguson continues to pursue plans for Australia's first nuclear waste dump at Muckaty - 120 kms north of Tennant Creek - despite strong opposition from many traditional landowners, the NT government, Unions NT and the ACTU and national environment groups.

The approach being pushed by Minister Ferguson is in clear conflict with federal Labor’s policies and promises on radioactive waste management and is inconsistent with international industry best practice.

The repackaged Howard era legislation with sweeping powers to override state and territory laws and bypass federal environmental and Aboriginal heritage laws in relation to the siting of a nuclear waste dump is the focus of a current Senate Inquiry that is due to report by April 30.

Traditional Owners Diane Stokes and Mark Chungaloo from Muckaty will join prominent speakers from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Arid Land Environment Centre and Friends of the Earth Australia at the event which is part of a growing national campaign ahead of the 2010 federal election.