BRISBANE — "We don't need nuclear power", Sam Watson, Aboriginal community leader and Socialist Alliance Senate candidate, told a picket against the proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, held outside PM Kevin Rudd's electorate office in Norman Park on April 12.
"It is a fundamental principle of Aboriginal culture that you preserve the land and the environment, to hand on to future generations. Nuclear waste means radioactive poison for hundreds of thousands of years.
"This nuclear dump would mean toxic waste would be returned to Aboriginal land, to permanently contaminate the water table. There are much cheaper and cleaner options for generating electric power.
"We need to build this campaign against the dump during the federal election period. We, the people, must hold our political leaders accountable for their actions."
Organiser Robyn Taubenfeld told the picket: "We need to tell the PM that the community is opposed to the nuclear dump at Muckaty — or anywhere else for that matter."
Protesters entered Rudd's office and delivered a letter on behalf of members of the Muckaty community and the traditional owners of the land.