Songlines

From Beyond Nuclear Initiative:

TAKE ACTION TO HELP STOP THE MUCKATY NUCLEAR DUMP

Since the NT waste dump proposal was announced in 2005, Traditional Owners and supporters have been actively opposing the plan. The ALP took office in 2007, yet due in part to community pressure, nothing has been progressed procedurally at all by the government since then. The community campaign however, has continued to build steadily. There have been rallies in Tennant Creek and across the NT, numerous letters and appeals to government, delegations making submissions and attending Parliamentary Inquiries, lobbying in Canberra, speaking tours across the country, a trade union delegation to Tennant Creek, the photo exhibition launch and much, much more.

The National Radioactive Waste Management Bill is again scheduled for debate in the Senate this Wednesday. If this Bill passes the Senate- which is likely to happen soon given the ALP and Coalition both support it- it means Muckaty can be declared as the preferred site and the environmental assessments will begin. Minister Martin Ferguson’s Bill is almost a complete cut and paste of the John Howard law it is purporting to replace and names Muckaty as the only site to be further assessed. We want all Senators to reject the Bill while it preserves the contested Muckaty nomination.

We are calling on all supporters around the country to please take four simple actions THIS WEEK:

1- A petition has been uploaded at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-nuclear-waste-dump-at-muckaty.html We are hoping to have a few thousand people sign this by the time the legislation is voted on, so please sign on and send the link as far and wide as possible.

2- After you sign the petition, please take a few minutes to call or email the Senators of your state/territory and ask them to vote against the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill. All of the contacts are at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/contacts/los.htm. Cabinet members are well aware of how contested Muckaty is but some of the other Senators may not understand the level of opposition to the plan. A call from a constituent (you!) will help put it on their radar. The main point is to ask them to not support the legislation, but you can also tell them the reasons why you are opposed to the plan. If you want to hear some more from Traditional Owners before you call the Senators, watch Muckaty Voices (you can find it on youtube), or listen to any of the audio of Muckaty mob speaking that is archived on the BNI website: www.beyondnuclearinitiative.com/audio

3- This last action is the really fun one…please take a photo of yourself holding a sign with ‘No nuclear waste dump at Muckaty’, ‘No Muckaty nuclear dump’, ‘Dont dump on Muckaty’, or any similar words, and email it to natwasley(at)alec.org.au. These will be uploaded as a slideshow onto the BNI website and updated as more and more are sent in. It will be the start of a virtual march on Canberra…

4- Send this information on to all of your family and friends

Speaking of the website…

…while you are checking out your photo and all of the others on the website, you can subscribe in the right hand column to receive an email when new posts are added, the easiest way to keep up with the BNI campaign events and initiatives.

see http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com/