Image: Monica Napper

After much wrangling, yesterday the federal government agreed not to continue with its original plans for a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, a win for the local Aboriginal community. But another fight could be coming.

The Northern Land Council and federal government yesterday announced their acceptance of a settlement offer made by Warlmanpa people challenging the acquisition of their land for a nuclear waste dump in the Federal Court. The NLC nomination, made in June 2007, will not be acted upon by the Commonwealth, and in return the Warlmanpa agree not pursue costs or seek compensation for their treatment.

It is a welcome decision. New NLC chief executive Joe Morrison, whose statement was published on Crikey blog Northern Myth, inherited a nightmare and has played a crucial role in brokering this fantastic outcome. He is to be commended for this.

Unfortunately, Morrison has tried to blame the litigation itself for “divisions” in the community. He has also blamed “special interest groups” for “whipping up” opposition to the dump proposal, allegedly frustrating the rights of Aboriginal people to deal with their land.

But the nuclear waste dump plan was designed to dispossess Aboriginal people, as government strategy for dealing with disposal of some of the most toxic industrial waste produced in Australia.

If the Commonwealth had acted on the NLC nomination, this would have triggered powers in the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act (CRWMA) that handed all rights in the land to the Commonwealth, potentially forever. It would have also allowed for compulsory acquisition of surrounding lands without anyone’s consent.

Among a number of explosive allegations that will now never be tested, evidence appeared to show that the deal was presented to traditional owners by NLC principal lawyer Ron Levy as “as good as a lease”, because of Commonwealth assurances that the government was only planning to store “intermediate-level waste” (spent nuclear fuel rods from Lucas Heights) for the short term. But while it discusses the possibility of return, no actual requirement to return land by a fixed date appears in the deed of agreement, and the legislation is clear such repatriation would be entirely at the relevant minister’s discretion.

Evidence presented by all parties demonstrates that the Commonwealth and NLC officials placed a heavy emphasis on the “low-level” radioactive waste — hospital gloves and the like — throughout the consultation process. Information about the most pressing source of anxiety — the spent nuclear fuel rods — was scant and came with consistent reassurances that it could be handled in a way that was perfectly safe.

However, provisions in the CRWMA itself foreshadowed possibility for radioactive contamination of the nominated land, indemnifying the Land Trust from liability. Such contamination would also affect the prospects of any potential return to Aboriginal hands. None of this was ever explained to Traditional Owners.

Compensation came not in the form of direct royalty payments but into an as yet non-existent charitable trust. Warlmanpa people opposed to the dump have expressed their outrage that the money would be used to provide what they consider basic services, such as roads and housing maintenance. The Commonwealth Department of Education offered $1 million in scholarships.

In an interview on NT ABC news last night, Joe Morrison was asked what would be done differently if the process were  repeated. He said more effort would be made to properly inform people in detail about the nature of the facility and to ensure wider consultation and support. These are very welcome comments.

Sadly, the Commonwealth is showing no such signs of change, issuing a thinly veiled threat to the NLC that it has “three months” to find a new site on Muckaty. The strategy of attacking the land rights of impoverished communities to deal with radioactive waste looks set to continue. But the Warlmanpa have proved they can be defeated.

* Paddy Gibson has collaborated with Warlmanpa opposed to the dump since 2007.