In Whyalla, at the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Community Consultation session, Jon Bok told the audience that the Commission would consider receiving late submissions (on application for an extension) until late August.
Contact details for deadline extensions are here.
Friends of the Earth Adelaide are working on submissions for each of the four issues papers.
MEDIA RELEASE
13th July 2015
SCARCELY ACCURATE: NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ROYAL COMMISSION ‘ISSUES PAPER’ INACCURATE
Friends of the Earth have informed Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission of a significant inaccuracy in Issues Paper 1, regarding the current and future legal framework for the nuclear industry in South Australia. According to the Royal Commission, the Issues Papers are intended to provide factual information and background to assist the public in making submissions.
Issues Paper 1, which deals with the exploration, extraction and milling of uranium, states that Aboriginal sites of significance are protected by the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.
“This is not the case for BHP Billiton, South Australia’s biggest miner,” explained Nectaria Calan of Friends of the Earth Adelaide. “Under the Indenture Act, which applies solely to BHP Billiton, the company’s Olympic Dam mine and some 15, 000 square kilometres of the surrounding Stuart Shelf, are exempt from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988. This exemption would also apply to any future expansion of uranium mining by BHP Billiton at Olympic Dam or in the surrounding area.”
“This inaccuracy is significant as it misrepresents existing regulatory and legal arrangements and potential arrangements in the future, issues on which the Issue Paper invites public comment,” said Ms Calan. “The largest of the two operating uranium mines in the state is exempt from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988, alongside a further 15, 000 square kilometres of South Australia. BHP Billiton is also the most likely candidate for the expansion of uranium mining, also the subject of Issues Paper 1. It is negligent to omit that this company is subject to a different legal framework than other companies operating in the state.”
“We have requested that the Royal Commission address this mistake, adequately publicise the required corrections, and extend the upcoming deadline for submissions to allow people to consider the new information that the Royal Commission should provide.… Read more >>
Join Sentor Glenn Lazarus, independent Senator for Queensland in the Australian Senate to assist rural and regional communities, farmers and landowners across Australia being impacted by Coal Seam Gas (CSG) mining. He would like your support to call on the Abbott Government to establish a Royal Commission into the Human Impact of CSG mining.
If we can have a nuclear Royal Commission surely we can have a Coal Seam Gas one too.
Sign the petition here.
Fair Food Adelaide’s Kim Hill is delivering two workshops at next week’s Students of Sustainability conference at Flinders University – “The End of Agriculture” on Thursday 10th and “Edible Weed Walk” on Satuday 11th. Clean Future Collective’s Dr Philip Smith is delivering a nuke free workshop on Friday with FoE Australia’s Dr Jim Green.
Come and say hi at our FOE stall on Saturday – incorporating Fair Food Adelaide, March Against Monsanto and the Clean Futures Collective with a focus on the nuclear royal commission.
Details here.
The Radioactive Exposure tour left Melbourne today for its tour up the east coast of NSW before turning west to SA.
You can keep in touch with their exploits here.
The tour is expected to arrive in Adelaide on Tues 7th July in time for the Students of Sustainability conference.