Tag Archive: anti-nuclear

Donate to help Aboriginal people fight the Flinders nuclear dump

You are invited to donate to a gofund me account set up by by Adnyamathanha woman Regina McKenzie of Yappala Station near Hawker in the Flinders Ranges – she lives right next to the nuclear waste dump proposed location.

The site is approximately 35 km from Hawker. Hawker is approximately 1.5 hours drive north of Pt Augusta on the highway to Leigh Creek. Total of 4.5 hours north of Adelaide.

Please feel invited to donate to Regina: GoFundMe

“There are old ancient stories set deep in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. In a place called Barndioota, once part of a thriving trade route across Australia, archaeological evidence brings to life ancient stories, millennia old songlines that teach us about the land and its people.

“The first one to ever be registered in the South Australian Aboriginal Heritage AARD database is the story of Punga Pudinah.

“Using modern archaeological tools the story was verified as culturally important at the specific location of Barndioota.

“The South Australian Government plans to locate a nuclear waste dump at Barndioota – this will be devastating not only to this ancient culture but also to the vastly important ground water supply in the region. A region that sits at the edge of the desert in Australia’s Outback.

“The irony is South Australia’s Tourism Commission wants you to visit! It is indeed a beautiful place – check it out.

“We need to raise funds to stop the nuclear waste dump in the Flinders Ranges. The proposed site is near the beautiful Hookina waterhole, known by Aboriginal people as Punga Pudinah.

“Water is the most precious resource out here at the edge of the desert. A spill or leakage of nuclear waste into the ground water will devastate the are area.

“Please read: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/radwaste.html

“High-level wastes are hazardous because they produce fatal radiation doses during short periods of direct exposure.… Read more >>

Frydenberg Fridays – let the Minister responsible for national nuclear waste dumps know how you feel

Frydenberg Fridays – an initiative of the ACE Collective, Friends of the Earth Melbourne

Contact the Federal Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg to oppose the dumping of Australia’s radioactive waste on the Adnyamathanha people and support the local communities in opposition to a national radioactive waste dump in the Flinders Ranges.

South Australia is at risk of being turned into the nation’s nuclear waste dump.

The Turnbull Government is advancing plans to build a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges. The announcement in April 2016 named Barndioota – Wallerbidina as the site.

We need your support to protect this region from nuclear waste.

The Wallerbidina site is of great cultural, historical and spiritual significance to Adnyamathanha Traditional Owners, who are calling this decision a desecration of their culture. Regina McKenzie, who lives at Yappala Station near the dump site, says: “The area is Adnyamathanha land. It is Arngurla Yarta (spiritual land). The proposed dump site has countless thousands of Aboriginal artifacts. Our ancestors are buried there. The nominated site is a significant women’s site. Throughout the area are registered cultural heritage sites and places of huge importance to our people.”

Friends of the Earth has been working closely with Adnyamathanha Traditional Owners who are united in their opposition to the proposed dump.

Regina McKenzie and her family are asking for support.

One way you can do this is by contacting Minister Frydenberg and expressing concern about the national dump plans. In the lead up to the final decision, your voice can be a powerful support to the Adnyamathanha people and will be appreciated for generations to come.

To contact Minister Frydenberg:

Call his Melbourne office – (03) 9882 3677

Send an email – josh.frydenberg.mp@aph.gov.au

Write a letter – 695 Burke Road, Camberwell VIC 3124

Some points to mention in your letter/email to Minister Frydenberg:

Impact on Aboriginal Traditional Owners

The Adnyamathanha community is unanimously opposed to the development of the proposed nuclear waste dump at Wallerbidina Station, and view this proposal as an attack on their cultural beliefs, history and heritage.… Read more >>

FOE Adelaide International High Level Nuclear Waste Dump flyer

The Friends of the Earth Adelaide International High Level Nuclear Waste Dump flyer is designed to be printed in Landscape format on both sides of an A4 page and folded in half. We can supply printed copies on request.

FoE International Waste Dump flyer

For printed copies contact adelaide.office@foe.org.au or Robyn on 0423 219 096

Nuclear Royal commission is a snow job

An excellent article in Renew Economy by Friends of the Earth Australia’s anti-nuclear campaigner Dr Jim Green.

SA nuclear Royal Commission is a snow job

“Nuclear Royal Commission is a Snow Job

The South Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission (RC) will release its final report on May 6. It was established to investigate opportunities for SA to expand its role in the nuclear industry beyond uranium mining.

Before his appointment as the Royal Commissioner, Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce said little about nuclear issues but what he did say should have excluded him from consideration. Speaking in November 2014 at a Flinders University guest lecture, Scarce acknowledged being an “an advocate for a nuclear industry”. Just four months later, after his appointment as the Royal Commissioner, he said the exact opposite: “I have not been an advocate and never have been an advocate of the nuclear industry.”

Other than generalisations, and his acknowledgement that he is a nuclear advocate, Scarce’s only comment of substance on nuclear issues in his 2014 lecture was to claim that work is “well underway” on a compact fusion reactor “small enough to fit in a truck”, that it “may be less than a decade away” and could produce power “without the risk of Fukushima-style meltdowns.” Had he done just a little research, Scarce would have learnt that Lockheed Martin’s claims about its proposed compact fusion reactor were met with universal scepticism and ridicule by scientists and even by nuclear industry bodies.

So the SA government appointed Scarce as Royal Commissioner despite knowing that he is a nuclear advocate who has uncritically promoted discredited claims by the nuclear industry. Scarce appointed an Expert Advisory Committee. Despite claiming that he was conducting a “balanced” RC, he appointed three nuclear advocates to the Committee and just one critic. The bias is all too apparent and Scarce’s claim to be conducting a balanced inquiry is demonstrably false.… Read more >>