Australia is accumulating more intermediate-level nuclear waste than previously thought, a new inventory has found, as the battle over a nuclear waste dump heats up.
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Report prepared by the Conservation Council SA – The Proposed National Radioactive Waste Dump – Implications and Options for SA.
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On December 10, 2021, the Wingfield Family hosted a special book launch at the Port Augusta Yacht Club to celebrate and share with the community a book called Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet, written and illustrated by Kate Pankhurst. The book features two important Aboriginal women from the Port Augusta/ Coober Pedy region, Mrs Wingfield and Mrs Brown.
The launch was attended by 80 people and over 100 books were given away, thanks to Bloomsbury and Kokatha Aboriginal Corporation. The launch heard speeches from a range of speakers and a special video from London based author and illustrator Kate Pankhurst and also Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation. The event included a showing of the Goldman prize presented by Mrs Wingfields great grand son Derrick Wingfield, showing of images from the exhibition ‘Talking Straight Out’ and a slide show of images spanning 30 years. The event MC was Glen Wingfield and speakers included Janice Wingfield, Tania Wingfield, Karina Lester, Sue Haseldine and Fiona Sutherland. The event included live music by Warren Milera and Jason Cox.
A waste stream that lasts hundreds and thousands of years is hard to get your head around, even harder when you consider it is the world’s most toxic and dangerous waste and your government has plans for it to come your way.
The SA Labor government’s plan to import 138,000 tonnes of high-level nuclear waste to South Australian shores, to stand above ground for decades pending disposal, brought a lot of people together. At first people seemed to be in shock but once that subsided, the community began to organise.
Traditional Owners and regional communities organised meetings in remote areas. People became informed and groups were established. Facebook forums grew, press conferences were held and research reports released. Posters were posted up, t-shirts hand-printed, badges made and sold.
Numerous info nights and ‘Politics in The Pub’ were hosted. Unions and churches passed resolutions opposing the plan and shared information with their members. Fact-sheets were printed and distributed.
A postcard and petition campaign saw over 35,000 signatures delivered to the Premier’s office and thousands hit the streets for a National Day of Action on October 15, 2016 ‒ a date that marked 63 years since the first British atomic bomb was tested at Emu Junction.
In offices, homes and on the street, people were doing what they could to get the word out. Members of the Citizens’ Jury took their job seriously with long days spent trawling through evidence and deliberating on such a crucial topic. Two-thirds of the 350 members of the Jury rejected “under any circumstances” the plan to import vast amounts of high-level nuclear waste from around the world as a money-making venture.
Advertiser journalist Daniel Wills wrote in response to the Jury verdict:
“This ‘bold’ idea looks to have just gone up in a giant mushroom cloud. When Premier Jay Weatherill formed the Citizens’ Jury to review the findings of a Royal Commission that recommended that SA set up a lucrative nuclear storage industry, he professed confidence that a well-informed cross-section of the state would make a wise judgment. Late Sunday, it handed down a stunning and overwhelming rejection of the proposal. Brutally, jurors cited a lack of trust even in what they had been asked to do and their concerns that consent was being manufactured. Others skewered the Government’s basic competency to get things done, doubting that it could pursue the industry safely and deliver the dump on-budget.”
Shortly after the Citizens’ Jury rejected the nuclear waste import proposal, Stephen Marshall, the Leader of the Opposition, and the head of Business SA Nigel McBride declared the proposal “dead”. The Nick Xenophon Team also announced that they would actively oppose the nuclear waste import plan. The SA Greens were opposed from the start.
The Weatherill government announced on November 15, 2016 that it would not seek to repeal or amend the SA Nuclear Waste Storage Facility (Prohibition) Act 2000; legislation which imposes major constraints on the ability of the government to move forward with the nuclear waste import proposal.
And, finally, in June 2017 the Premier declared the nuclear waste proposal “dead”, saying that there is “no foreseeable opportunity for this”, and it is “not something that will be progressed by the Labor Party in Government”.
Standing Strong
The No Dump Alliance (NDA) released a book about the campaign: ‘Standing Strong: How South Australians won the campaign against an international high-level nuclear waste dump’.
‘Standing Strong’ covers the key issues championed by Aboriginal and civil society groups opposed to the plan including the lack of Traditional Owner consent, dubious economics, the risks to people and the environment and the impact on future generations.
“This book documents how our community said no to the threat of radioactive waste,” said Yankunytjatjara woman and NDA spokesperson Karina Lester. “We know nuclear is not the answer for our lands and people, we have always said no. It is important that all politicians get the clear message that nuclear waste and nuclear risk is not wanted in SA.”
View the Standing Strong book.
More information:
* Traditional Owner Statements
* 2016 Statement by the No Dump Alliance and the Conservation Council of SA.
Joint press release by Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation and No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA group.
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Published by NITV
By Rachael Hocking – 10 FEB 2021
The daughter of anti-nuclear activist Yami Lester says we are one step closer to world peace as an international treaty banning the deadly weapons takes effect, but Australia is yet to sign on to it.
Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman Karina Lester was among those who welcomed the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which entered into force on January 22, but said more work needs to be done to ensure Australia signs on.
Ms Lester’s father was the late Yami Lester, a staunch anti-nuclear activist blinded during British weapons testing in Maralinga in South Australia in the 1950s – and someone she says was a “big inspiration” for an international Treaty.
Published by NITV
By Royce Kurmelovs-
By Royce Kurmelovs – 29 JUL 2020
Barngarla mob say they were not properly consulted by federal government for plans to store radioactive waste on Country at Kimba in SA, and that their concerns continue to be ignored.
Barngarla mob say they were not properly consulted by federal government for plans to store radioactive waste on Country at Kimba in SA, and that their concerns continue to be ignored.
Michele Madigan 28 July 2020
In the present world wide climate of Black Lives Matter when some governments/states are changing significant processes for the betterment of all, how is our own country fronting up when it comes to competing interests regarding land and culture? ‘Quite badly’ is the assessment that comes to mind in examining Barngarla Peoples’ recent reply to the Department of Resources, the federal department charged by government with the establishment of the national radioactive waste dump/facility (NRWMF).
Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation letter to the National Radioactive Waste Taskforce, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
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Results of Barngarla ballot regarding National Radioactive Waste Management Facility
After being excluded from the Kimba Council ballot, the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (“BDAC”) recently engaged Australian Election Company, an independent ballot agent, to conduct a confidential postal ballot of BDAC members regarding the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (“NRWMF”). The ballot paper asked members:
Do you support the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility being located at one of the nominated sites in the community of Kimba?
Of 209 eligible voters (all of whom are Barngarla native title holders), 83 cast valid “No” votes.
Zero “Yes” votes were returned.
This unanimous “No” vote demonstrates that there is absolutely no support at all within the Barngarla community for the NRWMF.
BDAC has written to Minister Canavan advising him of the result. BDAC has requested that given the first people for the area unanimously have voted against the proposed facility that the Minister should immediately determine that there is not broad community support for the project.
In light of this total rejection of the NRWMF by the Barngarla people, it is BDAC’s responsibility to continue to give voice to the profound concerns Barngarla traditional owners have regarding the NRWMF, and to take whatever steps are necessary to oppose the NRWMF being located on Barngarla Country.
Regards
The Board
Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC ICN 8603
