The Federal Government has finally announced it will repeal the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act. But it has left Muckaty Station outside Tenant Creek in the NT as the most likely target for the national radioactive waste dump.

The repeal legislation is, if anything, more coercive and predatory than the bill it replaces. For more information click here.

The attached fact sheet provides some background about the Bill and provides information about how to make a submission to the inquiry. Submissions are still being accepted (just include a cover note requesting that it be accepted late).

Make a submission to the Senate Inquiry...

There are many ways to work for a more democratic and respectful approach to radioactive waste management. In the short term, we have an opportunity to communicate directly with policymakers through the Senate inquiry into the bill.
The deadline is 15 March 2010.

What is a Senate Inquiry?
The job of the Senate is to critically review the government's proposed laws. By holding inquiries into complex laws the Senate gives everybody a chance - experts, individuals, organisations, State and Territory governments -to suggest changes or to register support or protest.
Whether your submission is short or long, every contribution tells the government that people care about this issue enough to put their opinion on the public record.

The process goes something like this:
1. The Committee negotiates the timeframe - This inquiry will go for 8 weeks

2. The Committee sets a deadline for submissions - The deadline for this Inquiry is 15 March

3. The committee advertises the deadline and inviting people to have input: Underway

4. Public hearings to receive evidence & clarify information: Dates and location not yet set

5. A report is drafted with recommendations and amendments: Usually a week before tabling

6. The report is submitted to the Senate: This report will be tabled on 30 April 2010

After that, it is up to the Government to pay attention to the evidence taken. They may choose to ignore it, in which case the campaign will swing into the next phase. But they won't be able to say they weren't warned.

The best thing is to make a submission in your own words. If you keep the language reasonably respectful and avoid making personal accusations, the submission may be accepted as evidence and placed on the committee's website.

What?

Some points you might like to include:
1. The Committee must travel to Muckaty
It is essential that the Senate Committee pay due respects to the Traditional Owners on the front line, by travelling to Tennant Creek to take evidence from them directly.
2. The case for a remote dump has never been made
The radioactive waste management debate in Australia has never looked at options other than remote waste dumps on Aboriginal land. The industry has never made the case that a remote shed is the best place for this material.
3. This bill is highly coercive
In choosing a site, the proposed bill overrides all relevant state and territory legislation as well as overriding commonwealth environmental and Aboriginal heritage protections. It also overrides private property rights of affected individuals with regards the dump site or its access route. Once a site is chosen, it will be assessed under commonwealth environmental legislation which has almost no mechanisms for preventing the project from going ahead.
4. All discretion in the hands of the Minster
The Bill places enormous power in the hands of the Minister to assess whether or not the Muckaty site should go ahead. No information is given to how this assessment will be carried out, and the bill makes it clear that local people have no right of appeal.
5. We must do better than this
Nuclear waste should be moved as little as possible, and should be stored above ground close to the point of production, close to centres of nuclear expertise and infrastructure.

Who?

This Bill has been sent to the Legal and Constitutional Committee.

Chair: Senator Trish Crossin (ALP, Northern Territory)

Members: Senator Guy Barnett (Liberal, Tasmania),
Senator David Feeney (ALP, Victoria),
Senator Mary Jo Fisher (Liberal, South Australia)
Senator Scott Ludlam (Greens, Western Australia),
Senator Gavin Marshall (ALP Victoria)

Send in your submission:
By email: legcon.sen@aph.gov.au
By fax: 02 6277 5794
By post: Julie Dennett, Committee Secretary, Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee - PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

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waste dump fact sheet.pdf	02/03/10 1:37 pm	335.58 KB