No nuclear waste dump for Muckaty

Plans to develop Australia’s first nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory have been shelved.

After a long running, defiant campaign led by traditional owners and backed by environment groups, the ACTU and the Public Health Association, the federal government yesterday committed not to act on the Northern Land Council’s contested nomination of Muckaty as the dump site.

The decision is a significant victory for traditional owners and serves as a powerful demonstration that communities who stand united and strong, can fight back and win.

Kylie Sambo, Muckaty traditional owner and participant a Federal Court case against the dump said: “[This victory] means that we don't have to worry about a nuclear dump coming to Muckaty ... I'm very happy for our win and I will be partying for whole week

“Also I would like to say that if anyone thinks that something is going wrong in their country they should stand up fight because if we can do it then so can you."

“Muckaty is the latest in a series of failed attempts to impose a dump on unwilling communities in both South Australia and the NT,” said Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation. “It was a secretive and ill-considered deal that has properly failed the test.”

Law firm Maurice Blackburn has been acting on a pro bono basis for traditional owners opposed to the dump in a four-year legal fight that was two weeks into a Federal Court trial when it was resolved.

Lizzie O’Shea, lawyer for the traditional owners, said of the case: “The community is thrilled. The traditional owners of Muckaty are hugely relieved that their efforts to resist the dump over seven years have been rewarded.

“The next steps for nuclear waste management are really up to the Commonwealth but we are just pleased we have avoided it going on Aboriginal land without consent of traditional owners.”