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specialTopic: nuke threats
Joint Media Release -
Traditional Owners from NT and Ian Cohen MLC
25 June 2007
“From the bush to the harbour, we say never never” Concerns grow
over Canberra’s nuclear waste plan
After years of being ignored in the bush, Traditional Owners and
community representatives from four sites in the Northern Territory
targeted by the Federal Government for a radioactive waste dump have
brought their concerns to the heart of Australia’s biggest city.
The group is in Sydney at NSW Parliament House today, as part of a
national tour to highlight the growing issue of radioactive waste ahead
of the federal election.
“People in the NT know about this issue, now others need to hear the
story. This concerns all Australians, especially people living along the
roads leading from Sydney to the NT,” said Audrey McCormack, whose
homeland is four kilometres from the proposed Mt Everard dump site.
“Nuclear waste is to be deposited out of sight and out of mind on
Aboriginal land. Half a century of the nuclear era and still we are no
closer to effective disposal of nuclear waste”, said NSW Upper House
Greens MP Ian Cohen.
“We may find eventually that Muckaty or another region in the
Northern Territory will be a repository of global nuclear wastes. It is
a horrific scenario for those who live there, the environment, and for
small vulnerable communities along the transport corridor”, Mr Cohen
said.
In 2004 a NSW Parliamentary committee examined the transport and
storage of nuclear waste in NSW and highlighted serious and unresolved
safety concerns, particularly for NSW regional communities on the
primary transport corridors.
“The NT is not no-where and we are not no-one. There are communities
living close to all of the proposed sites. We collect bush tucker and
bush medicine and water from underground,” said Mitch, an
Arrernte/Luritja woman representing Engawala, the community closest to
the proposed Harts Range site.
“This dump plan is the thin edge of the wedge and opens the door to
an international waste dump in the NT. The federal government has lied
to us about this dump not being in the Territory, so why should we
believe it won’t become an international dump?” concluded Margie
Lynch, an Arrernte woman from Central Australia.
Contact: Natalie Wasley (speaking tour coordinator) 0429 900 774
Nic Clyde (Adviser, Greens MLC Ian Cohen) 0417 742 754
