IfD

M E D IA  RELEASE M t

Canberra   21 Uctober  1986   SYM 2

S I N I S T E R  YES M I N I S T E R  Se r i e s  No-2

ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ'Ã‘'^ÃÂÃÂ)Ã’^ÃÂÃ‘ÃÂ07ÃÂÃÂ^!ÃÂÃÂ$ÃÂÃÂÃÂ¡0ÃÂ¤ÃÂÃÂ^ÃÂ¡ÃÂ Ã¢ÂÂ¢ ^Â·Â» Ã¢ÂÂ   *-Â«  -ÃÂ²  ,

" HOW F I T T I N G  I T  I S  FOR A NOT HER MUSHROOM CASE TO TURN UP D UR I N G

THE WEEK WHERE T HE G O V E R N M E N T . HAS BEEN BUSY T R Y I N G  TO TURN F r e e d o m  o f  I n f o r m a t i o n  i n t o  f r e e d o m  f r o m  i n f o r m a t i o n ,  w i t h  s o m e

HEL P FROM THE O P P O S I T I O N ' S  B UDGET  B I L L  S T R A T E G Y ! "  S A I D  SENATOR

D a v i d  Vigor ( A D , S A ) .

"Ob v io u s l y  some departments  such as Resources  and Energy have BEEN TRAINING FOR AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THEY WILL BE ABLE TO  MAKE ASSERTIONS WITHOUT TOO MUCH FEAR OF THE FACTS GETTING OUT  QUICKLYÂ· "

Senator Vigor was commenting  on the response  to h i s Qu e s t io n  on

No t i c e  number 1087 asked on 27 May and answered  only last week

The q uestio n  was framed as f o l l o w s : "Does the Department  of Resources  and Energy m a i n t a i n  records  of NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS AND REPORTS ABOUT THEM? I f SO, ON HOW MANY  OCCASIONS DOES IT BELIEVE THAT ACCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED WITHOUT

A PROMPT PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT BEING MADE? WHERE HAVE THESE   INCIDENTS TAKEN PLACE?"

Senator Vigor s a i d  that i t was extremely  important  for a l l

Au s t r a l ia n s  to know j u s t how these c r is e s  had been handled

OVERSEAS AND WHAT LESSONS THE GOVERNMENT HAD DRAWN FROM THOSE  EVENTS-

"Chernobyl  is not the only e p is o d e  where people  d i d n ' t f i n d  out

WHAT HAPPENED UNTIL MUCH LATERÂ· W e ' ve JUST RECENTLY WITNESSED A So v i e t  nuclear  s ubm arine  j o i n  several  others  at the bottom of the

At l a n t i c Â· At the same t i m e , w e' ve had nu clea r - armed and

NUCLEAR-POWERED WARSHIPS SWANNING AROUND OUR PORTS WITHOUT THE  SLIGHTEST HINT THAT THE AUTHORITIES HAVE ANY EMERGENCY  CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR COPING WITH A MAJOR NUCLEAR ACCIDENTÂ·"

Senator Vigor was staggered  to f i n d  out that n e it h e r  the

Department  of Resources  and Energy nor the Au s t r a l ia n  Atomic  Energy Co m m is s io n  makes any s p e c i a l  efforts  to collect

in f o r m a tio n  about nuclear  a c c i d e n t s Â· Senator Ev a n s ' answer to h i s

q u e s t io n s  r e a d :

" A s  Au s t r a l i a  does not have a nuclear  industry  n e it he r  my

... Department  nor the Au s t r a l i a n  Atom ic  Energy Co m m is s io n  ( A A E C ) 'MAINT/UNS COMPREHENSIVE RECORDS OF NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS- ÃÂªÃÂÃÂ ONLY  NUCLEAR REACTORS IN AUSTRALIA ARE THE SMALL RESEARCH REACTORS o s e , Ã¢ÂÂ  w  w r s r - .

CONTACT, INCLUDING THE EXCHANGE OF OPERATING INFORMATION, WITH  THE OPERATORS OF THE SAME REACTOR TYPES ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLDÂ· R eports  are  h e l d  i n  r e s p e c t  of  some  nucle a r  a c c i d e n t s , n o t a b l y

the  R eport  by  the  P r e s i d e n t i a l  C o m m i s s i o n  of  I n q u i r y  i n t o  the

A c c i d e n t  at  T hree  M i l e  I s l a n d , H a r r i s b u r g , U S A ;  and the Report

on the Ac c id e n t  at the Chernobyl  Nuclear  Power Plant and it s

Consequences  by the US S R St a te Co m m itte e  on the Ut i l i s a t i o n  of  Atom ic  EnergyÂ· "

"AS THE HOLDINGS OF THE DEPARTMENT AND THE COMMISSION ARE QUITE  SCANTY, NO INFORMATION WAS GIVEN ABOUT THE NUMBER OF NUCLEAR  ACCIDENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED WITHOUT A PROMPT PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT  BEING MADE," NOTED SENATOR VIGOR-

"Nor was there any information on what has happened when nuclear SHIPS AND SUBMARINES HAVE GOT INTO TROUBLE- THAT CERTAINLY  EXPLAINS ALL THE BUCKPASSING ABOUT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WHEN THESE  VESSELS V I S I T  OUR PORTS- I t IS A DANGEROUSLY UNSATISFACTORY STATE  OF AFFAIRS WHICH CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE UNCHALLENGED-"

"This absence of v i t a l information is incredible in the lig h t of  the Fraser government's attempts to get into the nuclear cycle in A BIG WAY, AND THE HAWKE GOVERNMENT'S RECENT RENEGE ON PARTY  POL ICY-NOT TO SELL URANIUM TO THE FRENCH-"

" Time after t i m e, we get bland assurances that these a c t i v i t i e s HOLD NO R I S K ,  AND NOW WE FIND OUT THAT NOT EVEN THE MOST BASIC  INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE TO THE GOVERNMENT-"

"Who is pulling the strings in the background? Un what authority  do Min is t e r s and their public servants rely when they make their SOOTHING STATEMENTS? CAN WE TAKE THEM AT THEIR WORD OVER THE  V I S I T S  BY NUCLEAR VESSELS WHEN THEY HAVEN'T EVEN BOTHERED TO  EXAMINE OVERSEAS EXPERIENCE PROPERLY?"

"Neither the government nor many of the mandarins in the public SERVICE WANT TO CONSIDER THE FACTS BEFORE THEY MAKE DECISIONS ON  THE RUN- Th at i s why we a re SEEING a FULL-SCALE a t t a c k on t ho se

BODIES CAPABLE OF PROVIDING INDEPENDENT INFORMATION ON THEIR  PARTICULAR AREAS-"

"The attempts to close down both the Australian Institute of  Multicultural Affairs and the Advisory Council for  Inter-government Relations have closely followed major  improvements in both bodies which even the government has ACKNOWLEDGED-"'

"Min is t e r s and some departments have become used to bluffing THEIR WAY THROUGH. THEY VIEW WITH HORROR THE PROSPECT OF BEING  TRIPPED UP BECAUSE RELEVANT INFORMATION GETS OUT TO THE MEDIA OR  THE GENERAL PUBLIC- THEIR SOLUTION IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS  NO RELEVANT INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN A U S T R A L I A - "

For further information: Senator Dav id Vigor 72 6595

