Government Will Not Appeal Nuclear Waste Site Court Decision

Rows of chambers holding intermediate-level radioactive waste in shallow pits at the Bruce Power nuclear complex near Kincardine, Ontario. Critics says a public opinion survey used to bolster claims of widespread support for a proposed underground nuclear waste bunker at the complex near Lake Huron was misleading and actually found little backing for the project. (AP Photo/John Flesher)

The successful overturning of a planned nuclear waste disposal site by an Indigenous group remains standing after the Labor government said it would not appeal the decision.

The area of Napandee, near the town of Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, was chosen by previous Resources Minister Keith Pitt before it was overturned in July by the Federal Court.

The current minister, Madeleine King, said the government would look for a new location instead.

“I’m deeply sorry for the uncertainty the process has created for the Kimba community, for my own department, for the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency workers, and for the workers involved in the project,” she told Parliament on Aug. 10.

“I also acknowledge the profound distress this process has caused the Barngarla people.”

The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation lodged the lawsuit to overturn the then-government’s decision, arguing there was a sacred Indigenous site in the area. They also said they did not consent to the facility and were excluded from a “community ballot” that voted in favour of the project.

Ms. King said work on the site had stopped after the court’s decision.

“We have to get this right. This is a long-lasting, multi-generational government policy for the disposal of waste that can take thousands of years to decay,” she said.

“We must consult widely and bring stakeholders, including First Nations people, along with us. We remain bipartisan in our approach.”

Coalition Opposes Decision

Just days earlier, the federal Liberal MP for the region, Rowan Ramsey, had pushed the government to appeal the court’s decision.

“After a five- or six-year program to find a site in Australia where a farmer was prepared to sell their land to the Commonwealth to put the site on, after finding a community that was prepared to not only accept but welcome it—61.8 percent of people in Kimba voted in favour of this proposal—and after two Federal Court cases saying it was okay, a third one, with a new justice, ruled it ineligible,” Mr. Ramsay told Parliament on Aug. 7.

“My community—this is the community in which I live—is the most affected community in Australia. I believe they should have their voice heard, but at the moment, I feel as though we’re being pushed to one side, all at the altar of the government’s plan to get a Voice for Indigenous Australia up in the referendum.”

About 45 jobs were expected to be generated for the struggling town of Kimba, which has seen its population reduced over the years.

Nationals Party leader David Littleproud said it was disappointing that years of work had been abandoned.

“This is a legacy failure for Australia’s radioactive waste management, nuclear medicine industry, and the pursuit of research and development,” he told Parliament.

“After the work of successive governments and resources ministers, this government has nothing to show. It has become clear that they have no plan to manage Australia’s radioactive waste and no plan to support our nuclear medicine industry.”