Media Release  Jenny Macklin MP  Deputy Leader of the Opposition  Shadow Minister for Education, Training, Science & Research

Federal Member for Jagajaga

HOWARD GAG FORCES NUKE DUMP ON NT

The Howard Government today gagged debate in the Senate, forcing a nuclear waste  dump on the Northern Territory.

This Government has done everything it can to avoid hearing from Northern Territorians  on their concerns about the nuclear dump.

The people of the Northern Territory were repeatedly misled in the lead up to the 2004  election by the Howard Government promising there would not be a nuclear waste dump  in the Northern Territory.

Now the Howard Government’s betrayal of the people of the Northern Territory is  complete.

To add insult to injury the Coalition’s parliamentary representatives from the Northern  Territory, David Tollner and Nigel Scullion, did not speak up on behalf of residents  concerned about the nuclear waste dump.



This Government is so out of touch with the views of Territory residents that it is  prepared to trash community consultation and over-ride legal protections for the  community and the environment, including the Native Title Act 1993 and the  Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.



Science Minister Brendan Nelson has refused to listen to the people who live near his  proposed dump sites including Central Land Council.

International best practice for nuclear dumps, as outlined by the International Atomic  Energy Agency, says that:

“In order to build confidence in the process [of establishing a waste dump] it is  important that it can be explained and, even more important, that it can be  understood as being open, transparent, fair and broadly participatory.”

Instead of following world’s best practice the Howard Government has been heavy-handed and undemocratic.

The transport and disposal of nuclear waste is an issue of serious public concern and local  communities should be involved in any decision-making that affects them.



More info: Nick Talbot 02 6277 4277 / 0408 473 278

8 December 2005



