People power wins the day on dump site

PEOPLE power was the key to South Australia's victory in the battle to stop a nuclear dump.

The people of this state stood up for themselves, despite the cause appearing hopeless against the might of the Commonwealth.

The Federal Government appeared to hold all the aces. It could compulsorily acquire land and overrule state laws.

Thousands of hectares of land near Woomera were already under Commonwealth control, a legacy of the area's history as a rocket range.

But another legacy from the same era and a similar area made South Australians wary of nuclear waste. Radioactive contamination from the Maralinga nuclear tests had made our state distrustful.

There was a strong risk of jeopardising SA's international renown as a wine and food producer. Interstate tourism campaigns highlighting SA's pristine environment would have been tarnished by a nuclear dump.

Instead of the Festival State, SA would have been the nuclear state.

South Australians believed the dump was being imposed on them by an inconsiderate Federal Government, without adequate consultation.

This imposition made people suspicious of scientific arguments that the so-called repository would be completely safe.

But the Federal Government persisted, with SA's four Cabinet ministers failing to listen to the will of the people.

Finance Minister Nick Minchin became the face of this campaign and aggressively made the case for a dump.

Still the Government bungled, mounting a botched public relations drive to try to convince South Australians that a nuclear dump would be okay.

Claims of parochialism

PREMIER Mike Rann tapped into the public resentment. He won the battle for public opinion by doing his job ­ representing the people of SA.

Now the Federal Government has abandoned plans for the dump but is still accusing Mr Rann of waging a "parochial" and "destructive" campaign against the national interest.

Mr Rann must consider the national interest but his obligation is to South Australians. He must do his job.

Prime Minister John Howard has said the decision to abandon the plans was influenced strongly by the 50-50 chance of a successful appeal against a Federal Court ruling that the Government's land acquisition process was flawed.

Mr Howard also argued SA had already been ruled out of contention for an intermediate-level waste dump, so the decision to co-locate this with the low-level one meant SA was excluded.

But the prospect of people power speaking loudly at this year's federal election was a major factor.

Mr Howard wants to hold on to three marginal seats in Adelaide and is trying to pick up two more. He does not want to risk his government on the dump issue.

In the end, people power won the day.

Editorial-The Advertiser-15/7/04

Sth Aust environmentalists welcome nuclear waste decision

ABC Radio: The World Today Wednesday, 14 July , 2004 12:23:45

ELEANOR HALL: Well to reaction in South Australia now. And the State Government which has fought for years to stop the national radioactive waste repository from being sited there, says it's been surprised by the decision. Local environmental campaigners are also apparently stunned at their victory, while senior Aboriginal women at Coober Pedy who fought against the dump for nearly a decade are also in celebration mode, as Nance Haxton reports from Adelaide.

NANCE HAXTON: South Australia's Environment Minister, John Hill, has been taken aback by the definitive nature of the Federal Government's decision. He says the State Government was braced to continue fighting against the national radioactive waste repository proposal for years to come.

JOHN HILL: Well I guess over the last few days it had been anticipated by the public statements of the Prime Minister, but the complete and utter backflip nature of this decision has astounded me. We have won absolutely on every front in relation to the Commonwealth Government. They've effectively adopted the South Australian position, which is that each state ought to look after its own waste. They've also confirmed that the 10,000 barrels of waste that was put into South Australia in the early 90s will be removed as well. So we're very pleased with the victory we've had.

NANCE HAXTON: Minchin has put the blame for this backflip firmly with the Rann Government saying that is because of the legal action that you took. Is that something that you wear with a badge of honour?

JOHN HILL: Well, absolutely. It's a badge of pride and honour for us. He can blame us if he likes, but that's really just saying that we've been successful and he's been unsuccessful. He's trying to say that the legal action has stopped the Federal Government obtaining this land ­ well that's just a nonsense. What we stopped them doing was using a particular provision in the compulsory acquisition legislation ­ that is the urgency provision. But they could have gone through the normal processes and given us natural justice and gone through consultation processes. They've chosen not to do that, but they're using that legal action as an excuse. They have made this decision based purely on political necessity. They were afraid of losing seats in South Australia. They can dress it up anyway they like, they can spin it anyway they like, but this is all about politics and they've lost.

NANCE HAXTON: While Trish Worth's relief at cabinet's decision is transparent. The federal member for Adelaide holds onto her seat by only 0.6 per cent, and South Australian fervour against the dump proposal has long been apparent.

TRISH WORTH: And I think it was good that the Prime Minister was in Adelaide. He was able to gauge the feeling about it. It provided us with some small bits of time to discuss these issues, and I thought at the time that he was going to go away and make a very sensible decision and I think he has, and I commend him for it. And he's taken a calm, rational approach for which I'm grateful.

NANCE HAXTON: The Australian Conservation Foundation's local campaigner, David Noonan, says the decision to abandon the dump is a win for South Australia.

DAVID NOONAN: It's a big win for communities right to decide their own future, a recognition that community have the right to reject the imposition of nuclear projects. We have to take this problem back to the source and deal with that now, that the Prime Minister still essentially has the same plan to facilitate a new reactor risk in Sydney, he's willing to impose nuclear waste transport and dumping against some communities in Australia. As yet he's unwilling to nominate who he's targeting now. He's looking for a Commonwealth owned site ­ but that will only help him in the legal sense ­ it won't help in any political, public or media sense, in terms of the communities' right to decide their own future, somewhere else in Australia against this nuclear imposition.

NANCE HAXTON: The most heartfelt celebrations however came from the senior Aboriginal women of Coober Pedy, the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta.

(Sound of cheering)

The women campaigned for years against the dump being sited on their traditional lands, arguing that it continued the nuclear legacy they carried from the Maralinga tests carried out nearby in the 1950s. Coordinator Nina Brown says the news has still not sunk in.

NINA BROWN: Honestly, I mean it's dragged out for so long now, it was really hard to have any concept of how it was going to be stopped, but very much a willingness to keep going. And so this has come as a surprise. You know, we're not sort of ­ yeah, it is. It is very much something that we didn't expect it to come this way. We did not expect ­ maybe through a Labor government being elected and that would have almost been by default. So to actually have the Federal Government cave in, back down, is very much like the number one scenario that could have unfolded.

ELEANOR HALL: Nina Brown, an anti-nuclear campaigner, ending that report from Nance Haxton in Adelaide.

Prime Minister John Howard
Media Release
14 July 2004
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

The Government has decided to abandon the establishment of a national low level waste repository at site 40a near Woomera in South Australia.

This decision has been taken in light of the recent Federal Court decision and the effective failure of the states and territories to cooperate with the Australian Government in finding a national solution for the safe and secure disposal of low level radioactive waste.

All states and territories accepted the need for the safe and secure disposal, in one place, of low level waste. But no-one wants it in their back yard.

The Australian Government is committed to taking responsibility for the safe and secure disposal of its low level waste.

The states and territories now have a responsibility to do the same in relation to their waste and as a matter of priority.

To ensure that this happens, the Australian Government will seek a commitment from all states and territories that they will adopt world's best practice in the management of radioactive waste materials in their jurisdictions. This should include:

1. undertaking an immediate and comprehensive inventory of all low level waste within their jurisdictions;

2. establishing safe and secure storage facilities for low level waste held within their jurisdictions; and

3. establishing appropriate disposal arrangements.

So that this happens to an acceptable standard, the Australian Government will consider various options to ensure that state and territory arrangements are transparent, accord with world's best practice, and are consistent with our international obligations for safe radioactive waste management.

The independent Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) will work cooperatively with relevant state and territory regulators to establish nationally consistent operating principles and guidelines.

The Australian Government fully accepts responsibility for its own low level waste. The Australian Government will be examining sites on Commonwealth land, both onshore and off shore, for the establishment of a suitable facility.

In examining possible sites, it is the intention of the Australian Government to co-locate the low level waste facility with the national store for intermediate waste. Last year the Australian Government ruled out a national store for intermediate level waste in South Australia on advice from a group of scientific experts. Given the Australian Government's commitment not to locate the national store for intermediate waste in South Australia, co-location will mean that neither a low level waste repository nor a national store for intermediate waste would be located in South Australia.

The examination of possible sites will commence immediately and will be completed as a matter of priority.



Note from John Loy, CEO of ARPANSA - assesment of applications to build and operate the dump has been terminated:

"I certainly regarded the PM's statement ... as a de facto withdrawal of the application and I have terminated all assessment processes. I expect DEST [Dept of Education, Science and Training] will tidy up any legal formalities in due course."



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