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The Director of the Central Land Council (CLC), Mr David Ross said today that there had been no approach from the Federal Government about a locating a nuclear waste dump in Central Australia.
"I think people in Canberra just looked at a map and thought it looked remote and empty.
"However, the two proposed sites in Central Australia - Mt Everard and Harts Range – are close to people's homes and communities," he said. "There must be a process for consent."
"No-one wants a nuclear waste dump in their backyard and I am sure that traditional owners will have deep concerns about their safety, risks to the environment and the transportation of the nuclear waste.
"In September last year the Australian Government assured Territorians there would be no waste dump sites in the NT.
"The next we hear about it, the sites have already been chosen. Minister Nelson's media statement today does not even acknowledge that the Territory Government has already legislated to ban the transport and disposal of federal nuclear waste in the Territory and this position is also supported by the Leader of the Opposition, Jodeen Carney.
"The views of Territorians - both black and white – do not seem to be important to this government.
"We have all watched the courageous struggle of the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjutas to stop this dump being built on their country nearby in SA, and some of those women have recently visited Alice Springs to talk about their experience. It would seem that the Australian Government has not learnt anything from the defeat of the waste dump proposal in SA.
15 July 2005
