By Tom Flanagan
Four major environment organisations have called for an inquiry into uranium mining in Kakadu National Park. The Australian Conservation, the Wilderness Society, Friends of the Earth and the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory are calling on the federal government to open an inquiry under Section 11 of the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974.
According to ACF executive director Jim Downey, this is the most comprehensive form of environmental impact assessment possible under Australian legislation. The inquiry would be comparable to the original Ranger Inquiry, which produced the 1977 Fox Report into uranium mining in Australia, but would focus on the impact of new mines on Kakadu. The Fox inquiry predated the world heritage listing of Kakadu, and failed to foresee the problems Ranger has faced regarding water disposal and long-term tailings storage.
The inquiry would be broader than an environmental impact statement because it would also encompass social issues, such as the impact of the mine and associated activities on traditional owners of the land. Furthermore, as Kevin Parker of the Wilderness Society has explained, issues relating to mining in Kakadu require far greater community and government scrutiny than a company-prepared EIS can offer.
But even before he had seen Energy Resources of Australia's revised application to open Jabiluka, environment minister Senator Robert Hill rejected the inquiry proposal. The environment organisations, however, have not given up on the idea.
In response to Hill's rejection of the inquiry proposal, on April 17 the WA Greens senators released draft terms of reference for a Senate Select Committee into Uranium Mining and Milling.
Although this is quite a distinct proposal, a Senate inquiry could perform some of the same functions. According to Senator Dee Margetts, "This inquiry, which will build on the expertise already developed in the current Senate Select Committee on Radioactive Waste, will examine broader environmental, health and security implications of the decision to open up uranium mining and milling in Australia".
Both the Democrats and the ALP are indicating support for the Senate inquiry, which would be required to report on or before the last sitting day of 1996.
The ALP has told environment organisations that it will oppose new uranium mines in Kakadu and support calls for both inquiries. This shift to a less pro-nuclear stance is a familiar hallmark of Labor in opposition and is being presented by a new ALP face on environment issues, shadow environment minister Carmen Lawrence. As premier of WA, however, Lawrence prepared for the opening up of Rudall River for uranium mining.