Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson might have been surprised yesterday to find a 7m-tall nuclear waste barrel sitting on the lawns of Parliament House.

The giant barrel was erected by more than 50 protesters who criticised Federal Government plans to build a radioactive waste dump at Muckaty, in the Northern Territory.

Aboriginal elders condemned Ferguson's lack of consultation, medical representatives warned of health effects and others travelled from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Wollongong and Byron Bay to ensure they weren't on the transport route for the waste.

A toxic issue indeed.