On August 18, Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin introduced a bill designed to prevent the federal government from constructing a nuclear dump in the Northern Territory. While applauding her move, candidates from the Greens and the Socialist Alliance argue that the only way to eliminate nuclear waste is to stop producing it. Green Left Weekly's Kathy Newnam spoke to Ray Hayes, the lead Socialist Alliance candidate for the Senate in the Territory about the issue.
"What we really should be discussing is the end of the whole dangerous and dirty industry", Hayes said. "It is the nuclear industry that should be dumped."
"The Howard government is looking for somewhere to dump waste from the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor [in Sydney]. The Socialist Alliance believes that waste producers should manage their own waste in secure, monitored facilities at their own expense.
"The official justification for the Lucas Heights reactor is to produce medicinal radio-isotopes, but according to the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, one small reactor in Canada provides 60% of the world's needs for medical radio-isotopes and cyclotrons produce shorter-lived, safer alternatives.
"The reasoning for the Lucas Heights reactor and for the nuclear waste dump is just another lie amongst a litany of lies from the Howard government."
Hayes pointed out that a dump in the Northern Territory, or anywhere else for that matter, could be just the beginning. "Will Australia be the destination for international nuclear waste?", he asked, referring to the recently scrapped proposal to construct a dump in South Australia that would have accepted overseas waste. "Will the recently signed free trade agreement with the US force us to accept waste from the US? These are questions that need answers, but the one thing we can very safely say is that we won't get the truth from Howard".
Hayes also said that Labor's opposition to the nuclear waste dump is hypocritical given its support for uranium mining.
"Just this March, workers at the Ranger mine were poisoned after their drinking and showering water was contaminated with uranium at 400 times the legal level. This incident was serious enough to force the temporary closure of Ranger after a lengthy inquiry."
The Labor Party's environment spokesman Kelvin Thomson claims that "It's a question of making sure that [Lucas Heights] complies with appropriate safety and environmental protection requirements".
"The only 'safe' solution is to leave uranium in the ground", said Hayes, pointing out that "there is nothing safe about uranium".
The Socialist Alliance is standing on a platform of total and complete opposition to the nuclear industry. It calls for the closure of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor and for the closure of operating uranium mines — Ranger, Roxby Downs and Beverly.
"We are also opposed to the Australian government support for the US government missile 'defence' program and we call for renewed, active support for non-proliferation agreements", Hayes explained. "We also call for a ban on the visits of nuclear powered warships anywhere in Australia."
"The Socialist Alliance will use the resources of a parliamentary position to build the campaign against the planned joint military training centres with the US military, which Defense Minister Robert Hill recently stated could expect visits from nuclear-powered warships", he added.
From Green Left Weekly, September 8, 2004.
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