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No Nuclear Waste Dump in the NT
A snapshot of a rally held in Tennant Creek opposing the plan for a federal radioactive waste dump in the Northern Territory.
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| Video information | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Nat Wasley |
| Directed by | Muckaty mob |
| Contact | write the producer |
| Home page | more info |
| Produced | 2008/09/04 |
| Production Company | ALEC-BNI |
| Duration | 8 minutes 16 seconds |
Full description
Since 2005, communities in the Northern Territory have been fighting a federal government plan to impose a radioactive waste dump on the NT.
Three Department of Defense sites, Mt Everard, Harts Range and Fishers Ridge, were nominated by the Howard government without any consultation with Traditional Owners, affected communities or the NT government. The Science Minister at the time Brendan Nelson said "why can't people in the middle of nowhere have a ..radioactive dump".
The Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act (CRWMA) was passed in December 2005 to override NT laws that made the dump plan illegal. Amendments to this law in late 2006 allowed the Northern Land Council to nominate Muckaty as an additional site for assessment, despite strong opposition from a number of Traditional Owners of the Muckaty Land Trust.
The Rudd government gave a clear commitment before the 2007 federal election to repeal the CRWMA if elected and undertake a new process of radioactive waste management that is open, transparent and allows access to appeal mechanisms.
Almost a year later, there has been no indication this will occur and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson seems determined to plow ahead with the NT dump plan. Traditional Owners, affected community members, the NT Government and national environment groups are working together to hold the ALP accountable to its commitment and to ensure the federal government does not keep dumping on democracy like its predecessor.
This short film captures the strong sentiment at a rally in Tennant Creek (100km south of the Muckaty site) that Muckaty Traditional Owners and their supporters are determined to speak up strongly and stop the dump being pushed through.
The rally was filmed by the Tennant Creek Language Centre, Papulu Appar-Kari Aboriginal Corporation and edited by Natalie Wasley from the Beyond Nuclear Initiative in Alice Springs.
