2016-02-22
The Labor and Liberal parties have voted together against a senate motion acknowledging the community opposition to each of the six locations shortlisted as a site for a nuclear waste dump.
"It's not as though this motion asked a lot of the government, but for the opposition to cower from it is disappointing and weak," Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Nuclear Issues Spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said today.
"The government is shirking their own process. After months of assurances that they would heed community concerns, they're desperately trying to downplay those concerns or ignore them altogether.
"We should be investigating all avenues to minimise waste, we should have a genuinely independent inquiry to investigate long-term stewardship options for spent fuel, reprocessing wastes, and other categories of radioactive waste. And we certainly should categorically rule out the importation of international nuclear waste," Senator Ludlam concluded.
The senate motion opposed by Labor and the Coalition can be viewed here: http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/motions/strong-local-opposition-all-6-proposed-nuclear-waste-dump-sites