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Senator Lyn Allison Senator for Victoria Australian Democrats spokesperson for Uranium

Press Release Dated: 7 Nov 2000

Press Release Number: 00/682

Portfolio: Uranium

Dumping on South Australia: Democrats condemn Federal Government The Australian Democrats today condemned the Commonwealth Government for washing its hands of any ongoing responsibilities for the Maralinga atomic test site in outback South Australia.

In a written response to a question from Senator Lyn Allison last week, which he initially wouldn’t answer, Senator Minchin has indicated that “…in the event of hand back of the Maralinga site to the South Australian Government, regulatory arrangements for the site would formally be the responsibility of South Australia.”

Furthermore, the Minister has indicated that his Government will not seek to amend the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (ARPANSA) legislation to ensure the licensing obligations that exist under the current licence continue to be maintained by the Commonwealth.

“We understand that Commonwealth legislation needs to be amended for the Commonwealth to retain its obligations in perpetuity once the land is handed back to the South Australian Government and the Traditional Owners,” said Senator Allison.

Last week the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) CEO, Mr John Loy, released details of a licence for the Maralinga Test site as a 'controlled facility' under the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act.

As a 'controlled facility' the Maralinga site is subject to a set of conditions for its future management under Commonwealth control and its eventual return to the Traditional Owners. The conditions include: storing for an indefinite period a map and inventory of the contaminated areas including the disposal pits and trenches; a program of environmental monitoring that involves monitoring the ground contamination over time, the state of the burial trenches and checking the water table to determine whether radioactive contamination has occurred.

“We welcome a set of conditions being established to enable the handing back of Maralinga to its Traditional Owners. What we do

not support, however, is this Government’s moves to remove itself from future obligations for Maralinga once the land is handed back.”

“We have doubts about the adequacy of the clean-up and we believe there may be a need for future remedial action. The United States has recently acknowledged that this type of atomic test site can never be cleaned up well enough for unrestricted use. Basically, the level of scientific understanding and institutional capabilities that exist today can not guarantee long-term containment of contaminated sites.

“The Commonwealth must retain its obligations to Maralinga and not foist this responsibility onto South Australian taxpayers or the Traditional Owners”, Senator Allison concluded.



Top | Email | Tell us what you think Authorised by: Jim Downey, 10 Brisbane Avenue, Barton ACT 2604. Copyright Â© 2000 Australian Democrats

http://www.democrats.org.au/media/display.htm Last modified: Thu, 18 May 2000 13:51:26 Today: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 11:59:12

