Muckaty nuclear dump faces more hurdles

8 Feb 2012, 3:37 pm   -   By: Bill Code
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Opposition to the dump can be seen near the entrance of the land in question. (Bill Code)

Opposition to the dump can be seen near the entrance of the land in question. (Bill Code)

Indigenous people in the country surrounding the proposed Muckaty nuclear waste dump have reiterated plans to block the Stuart Highway, as the bill looked set to pass the Senate.

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Indigenous people in the country surrounding the proposed Muckaty nuclear waste dump have reiterated plans to block the Stuart Highway.

The government tabled the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010 on Wednesday, on the back of a deal from Northern Territory Nationals Senator Nigel Scullion which would see an initial $10m in federal funds for health infrastructure in the N.T., in return for Coalition support.

The Northern Territory government and various local clan groups are opposed to the plan to build a medium-level nuclear waste dump on the aboriginal land north of Tennant Creek.

Penny Philips, a member of the Wintiku clan, told SBS the federal government will have a fight on its hands if local people block the Territory’s principal road.

“We’re going to do it if they’re going ahead with it…we’ll get people to block it, get traditional owners from other countries if they can block it as well.”

BIPARTISAN SUPPORT

Despite Senator Scullion's deal, anti-nuclear activist Nat Wasley says the Coalition was always going to support the bill.  

"It’s almost a carbon copy of the current legislation that was written by the Howard government, the main difference being that it specifically names Muckaty as a site.”

Senator Scullion doesn't deny that support was forthcoming amongst the opposition.

"I guess we would have", he says. "But It’s appropriate that there should be a charge."

SENATE DEBATE

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has tabled a number of amendments to the bill in the Senate, set to be discussed over Wednesday and Thursday.

Effectively, they seek to remove the minister’s discretion over choosing a site, which would end up sidelining Muckaty.

“They go to different ways in which we think the bill will not pick on vulnerable communities”, Ludlam said.

“Procedural fairness does not seem unfair to us.”

But with bipartisan support, the bill will likely pass the Senate, if not this week, then probably by the end of the month.

OWNERSHIP IN QUESTION

But despite the focus on the Senate, the dispute over who owns the land in question continues to complicate affairs.

The NLC (Northern Land Council), which represents traditional owners in their dealings with Canberra, has deemed members of the Ngapa clan as sole owners. They nominated the land in exchange for millions of federal dollars for the area; much of which hasn’t come yet. 

But other groups who say they have incorrectly not been recognised as T.O.s (traditional owners) say the land is sacred to them, with a male initiation site on the station. Prior to a disputed NLC anthropological report, it was long agreed the land was shared amongst local groups, they say.

Despite being tight-lipped today, the NLC has previously said its consultations were ‘comprehensive.’ The Darwin-based land council is fighting its case in a federal court in Melbourne, and Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, along with the land council, has long promised to respect the outcome of the court case – which could sideline the plans for a dump at Muckaty.

Last year, the traditional owner who signed the deal with Canberra passed away. In the public arena, no other members of the Ngapa clan have stepped up to take her place and speak for the dump, bringing the importance of the court case to the fore.

Resources Minister Martin Ferguson’s office confirmed on Wednesday the government “will not progress Muckaty until the outcome of the federal court case is known.”

But his office denied the court case may nullify the importance of the bill, which, they say, is not intended as a vehicle simply to nominate Muckaty. 

“Once it becomes law, we’ll have a framework under which to pursue consultations”, a spokesperson said.

With an eye firmly on the case in Melbourne, the government’s ‘Plan B’, the spokesperson said, is a return to the nationwide voluntary nomination process – the same process by which Muckaty came to be put forward.
 

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Ruth

Ruth Forsythe - from Coffs Harbour NSW, 3 months ago

My full support the T.O.s of the Wintiku and surrounding clan groups. Enable the T.O.s to fulfil their cultural obligations to protect country. According to http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news “Worldwide Indigenous Peoples are often thought of as the primary stewards of the planet’s biological resources. It is no coincidence that when the World Wildlife Fund listed the top 200 areas with the highest and most threatened biodiversity, they found that 95 percent are on Indigenous territories.

no dump

john - from Nangiloc, 3 months ago

Let those that create Nuclear waste find somewhere in there own country to dump what they create. I'm sure the Traditional owners don't want it in exchange for anything at all. Just another money grab by our govn't. And despite it appearing to be nothing there is an active ecosystem out there and it's delicate. It needs preserving not contaminating.

Don

Don - from Darwin, 3 months ago

Paul, wouldn't have occurred to you that Aboriginal people are not mindless idiots, they can think for themselves. They are careful with forming oppinions, unlike you who seems to think it is ok to judge people you don't even know purley based on their Aboriginality.

respect these lovely people!

Trisha - from Darwin, 3 months ago

I have met traditional owners of the muckaty area and they are lovely people whose wishes should be respected. One day they woke to find their custodianship struck-out and others had been talked into accepting a deal for a very small sum of money (when you divide it by even a few centuries). It is sad to see these ladies wondering why some white folk want to rubbish & poison their beautiful bushy country when they don't rubbish theirs. It is sad to see what some people will do to get a school.

Why not ?

Wag - from Sydney, 3 months ago

Im all for the dump charge the world 100s of billions to dump there nuclear waste in outback Australia what the hell is out there to contaminate ,red dust and rocks ?...ever flown over the nothingness there in a plane? it takes about 6 hours at 900kph and as for travelling by car ..forget about it

Who cares

Lamma - from Sydney, 3 months ago

who cares.....

Looks like someone wants some more money..

Paul - from Darwin, 3 months ago

It would appear a few clan leaders (TO's) aren't happy with either the amount or their cut of the royalties. Or they've been told they aren't happy by some vested interest group. Given the clan nature of many communities in the NT it's pretty easy to forment some form of opposition by playing to local jealousies. I'm guessing that's at the core of this 'opposition' to this proposal (or almost any proposal in remote NT).

NO NUKE DUMP

Grant Donohue - from Kenthurst, 3 months ago

The best place for a nuclear dump is to leave the radioactive nuclides in the ground. This is traditional homelands for people and culture dating back 40000 years and the land is approximately 2.5 Billion years old.

Why ABORIGINAL land?

Christina Macpherson - from Sydney, 3 months ago

The 2005 scientific committee examining possible sites for nuclear waste(under contract to be returned from UK and France) recommended 3 sites - all on Commonwealth Defence Dept land - Muckaty was not one of them, nor any Aboriginal land. It looks as if Ferguson is set to bribe Aboriginals into "volunteering" their land. - and so get the amenities which the rest of us get for free.

dump

pete - from perth, 3 months ago

Best place for a nuclear dump, there's bugger all out there!.

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