Beyond Nuclear Initiative

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A rally and march were held today in Tennant Creek (Friday 25) to mark five years since the Northern Land Council voted to nominate Muckay as a potential site for a national nuclear waste dump. 120-150 people attended the rally and speakers included Muckaty Traditional Owners, Minister Gerry McCarthy (NTG), Barkly Shire President Barb Shaw, Larrakia activist Donna Jackson and Maurice Blackburn lawyer Lizzie O’Shea. The march went from Peko Park to outside the Northern Land Council office where Traditional Owners spoke about the lack of consultation by the NLC before the Muckaty site was nominated.

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Media Release- May 17, 2012

Trade union support strengthens NT nuclear waste dump campaign

Muckaty Traditional Owners have welcomed news that Australia’s peak trade union body, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, has today committed to actively support the campaign against a proposed radioactive waste dump at Muckaty, 120km north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

The ACTU National Congress unanimously passed a motion (full text below) expressing ‘disappointment that the highly contested Muckaty Land Trust site will continue to be pursued’ and agreeing to stand  ‘in solidarity with Traditional Owners and communities resisting federal government plans for a radioactive waste dump’.

The move comes as a further blow to plans by Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson to advance the highly contested waste dump site at Muckaty. Recent legislation, the National Radioactive Waste Management Act (NRWMA), names Muckaty as the only site to be further assessed for a national radioactive dump and allows the Minister to override any state or territory law that would hinder the dump being built, but the plan faces growing political, legal and community challenge.

Muckaty Traditional Owner and hip-hop artist Kylie Sambo attended the Congress in Sydney to share her community’s story with delegates and call on union representatives to support her family’s struggle.

“We have been saying no for a long time and the government has not been listening so we are very happy to hear the unions are supporting us to say no to the waste dump,” said Ms Sambo. “We are working hard to look after our country and need lots of support.”

“Today they passed this motion in Sydney and next week we are holding a protest in Tennant Creek to mark five years since Muckaty was nominated as the possible waste dump. It is time that the government listened to all the Traditional Owners because we are not going to stop until they stop”.

Beyond Nuclear Initiative coordinator Natalie Wasley said the ACTU position highlights the growing national opposition to the Muckaty plan.

“The proposed radioactive waste dump at Muckaty is opposed by the Northern Territory government, national health and environment organisations, residents and pastoralists across the Barkly region and the wider NT community. Senior Traditional Owners of the Muckaty Land Trust have also launched a federal court action against the site nomination”.

“As well as supporting the community’s right to say no, workers on the frontline of loading and transporting radioactive materials earmarked for Muckaty are at risk. It is important, appropriate and appreciated that the ACTU has taken a clear stand on the health and environmental risks of the Muckaty dump plan.”

“A secretive, top down decide-announce-defend approach to such an important national issue will continue to be met with resistance. Rather than spending another decade attempting to force a waste dump on an unwilling community and jurisdiction, the government must now hear and heed the call for a comprehensive commission in radioactive waste management in Australia”.

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Motion adopted at ACTU Congress 2012

Pursuant to standing policy, Congress:

1. Acknowledges that the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act has been repealed, but expresses disappointment that the highly contested Muckaty Land Trust site will continue to be pursued under the National Radioactive Waste Management Act.

2. Stands in solidarity with Traditional Owners and communities resisting federal government plans for a radioactive waste dump and commits to supporting trade unions refusing to cooperate with implementation of the policy.

3. Rejects any legislation which would continue to target a site on the Muckaty Land Trust, or any site in Australia for a nuclear waste dump that is not based on recognised scientific and international best practices.

4. Notes the recent application by ANSTO for reprocessed spent fuel waste to return to the Lucas Heights facility in Sydney and acknowledges this as an opportunity to review radioactive waste management in Australia by conducting an independent and comprehensive public commission into all aspects radioactive waste transport, storage and management in Australia.

Media Release-May 1, 2012

ANSTO radioactive waste application more responsible option than remote dump plan

The Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI) has cautiously welcomed news today that the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) will apply to build an interim storage facility at Lucas Heights for radioactive waste due to return from overseas reprocessing.

BNI coordinator Natalie Wasley says the application shows Minister Martin Ferguson’s current push for a remote dump on the Muckaty Land Trust in the NT is losing ground and that interim storage at Lucas Heights is a better option while a comprehensive and long-term management plan is considered.

“Successive federal governments have tried forcing a remote radioactive dump on unwilling Aboriginal and pastoral communities through a ‘decide-announce-defend’ approach. They have been met with fierce resistance from targeted communities and their state and territory governments,” said Ms Wasley.

“The application to store this waste at ANSTO would see it returning to a secured federal site where nuclear waste and nuclear expertise is currently concentrated. This is clearly a better interim plan than trucking waste thousands of kilometres to a remote area with a couple of security guards posted at the facility door”.

“A series of road and rail accidents in the NT over the past few years also highlight the risks of transporting radioactive waste to a remote site. The Northern Territory Chief Minister is on the record stating that the Port of Darwin ‘does not have the resource capacity (expertise or equipment) to respond to a radioactive incident’.”

Ms Wasley said “ANSTO representatives have repeatedly said the organisation has the capacity to manage the waste it produces onsite. The majority of long-lived intermediate level waste is currently at the facility and should stay there”.

“Environment and health groups, trade unions and other stakeholders have consistently called for the government to drop its search for a expendable postcode and initiate an independent national inquiry that considers all management options. The time afforded by interim storage at Lucas Heights should be spent undertaking an inclusive process rather than continuing the current divisive tactic of pursuing the contested Muckaty site.”

“Minister Martin Ferguson has remained bullish and arrogant in his contempt of Territory government opposition and his refusal to meet with Traditional Owners opposed to the waste dump. Traditional Owners have launched a federal court challenge and the NT government and supporters around the country have have pledged to oppose the Muckaty plan for as long as it takes”.

“It is time the Australian government look to examples overseas where governments are engaging with communities to discuss radioactive waste storage options.The key principles should be waste minimisation, robust science and informed community consent for management options. The current Muckaty plan fails all of these benchmarks,” Ms Wasley concluded.

The International Peace Pilgrimage was a 4500km walk undertaken from December 2003 to August 2004. The walk travelled from the Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, meeting along the way with communities affected by every stage of the nuclear chain. Participants met with workers and communities from the Fukushima region who presented grave concerns about earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear reactor safety, predictions which tragically came true last year on March 11.Events are happening around Australia and the world to commemorate the victims of the natural disasters and nuclear accident that was triggered and call for an end to sales of uranium. It is time to end the nuclear chain and ensure we stop fuelling more nuclear disasters.

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The virtual march on Canberra has begun! Please keep sending photos to add to this slideshow. You can email them to natwasley(at)gmail.com or upload them to the Beyond Nuclear Initiative facebook wall.

Legislation is due before the Australian Senate this week that would name a site in the Muckaty Land Trust, 120km north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, to be declared and assessed as a national radioactive waste management facility. As you can see on the video below, many Traditional Owners strongly oppose this plan and are calling on people around Australia to help them bury the radioactive waste dump proposal.

Four easy actions to help stop the proposed NT nuclear dump:

1- Please sign this petition (link below) against Martin Ferguson’s waste dump legislation targeting Muckaty in the NT for a national radioactive waste dump http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-nuclear-waste-dump-at-muckaty.html

2- Call a Senator (or two, or three) and tell them to vote against the legislation. Contact details can be found here:  http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/contacts/los.htm

3- Take a photo with a sign saying ‘No Muckaty nuclear dump’, ‘Don’t dump on Muckaty’, ‘No radioactive waste dump at Muckaty’ (or any words to that effect) and email it to natwasley(at)alec.org.au to join a virtual march on Canberra

4- Send this information to all of your friends and family

Below are the images from the exhibition Manuwangku, Under the Nuclear Cloud by Jagath Dheerasekara, curated by Sandy Edwards.

The exhibition opened at the Pine Street gallery in Chippendale, Sydney on January 17 and is on show until January 28. Interstate tour dates and locations are being confirmed, stay tuned for updates and a venue near you!

The exhibition catalogue is now available for sale. The catalogue contains all of the images, as well as statements (and a poem) from Muckaty Traditional Owners, Amnesty International, photographer Jagath Dheerasekara, curator Sandy Edwards and the Beyond Nuclear Initiative. The catalogue is $25 including postage and a DVD of the short film Muckaty Voices. Postage will be reduced for large orders.Please contact natwasley(at)gmail.com to order a copy, or ten.

A limited number of the exhibition prints are also available. If you would like to purchase any for your home or workplace please contact natwasley(at)gmail.com.

All money raised will go toward touring the exhibition and supporting the community campaign.

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