It's Time to Manage Australia's Radioactive Waste - Not Dump It
For over two decades successive Australian governments have searched for a location to dump Australia's radioactive waste.
This has caused heartache in targeted remote communities and headlines in the national media. And this "out of sight, out of mind" approach has failed.
In June this year, after seven long years of protest and community resistance, the federal government abandoned plans to open a dump on Aboriginal land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory.
The buck should have stopped there.
But the government seems to have learned nothing. In November they will start another search for a dump site.
The push for a dump site needs to stop and we need to start an independent inquiry into the best way to responsibly manage Australia's radioactive waste.
The vast majority of Australia's radioactive waste is currently stored in two defined federal sites. Both sites can continue to securely store this waste for years to come so the government has both the time and opportunity to make sure Australia's waste is managed properly.
We need to do things differently and better. We don't need a quick and dirty dump, we need a responsible and lasting solution.
It's time for a new approach to radioactive waste management. One that is expert, independent and public.
Please sign our petition today and join our campaign.
Subject Line: It's time for a new approach to radioactive waste management
Dear Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane and the federal government,
In June, after 20 years of community resistance, plans for a radioactive waste dump on Aboriginal land at Muckaty were scrapped.
In the past 20 years Muckaty is the sixth community targeted with promises and pressure. And the sixth community to fight. The community said no, and we stood beside them.
We hear that you're planning a national search for another radioactive waste dump site.
What we need instead is a national inquiry into the best way to ensure the long term, responsible management of Australia's radioactive waste.
[Your comments here]
It's time to hold an expert, transparent and independent inquiry into the responsible management of Australia's radioactive waste.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
