Environment

Protestor speaking at a picket outside the Australian Nuclear Association Conference.

Protesters slam nuclear energy scheme

By Natalie Christ

A small group of protesters gathered outside the Australian Nuclear Association in Sydney on Friday to oppose nuclear energy and uranium mining in the Northern Territory. The protest was led by Greens Senator for NSW, Kerry Nettle, who outlined the plan to make Australia nuclear free and protect indigenous communities from uranium mines.

“Every stage of the nuclear industry poses enormous risks to people and the environment,” Senator Kerry Nettle said.

“The Greens aim to redirect the nuclear energy revenue to fund a clean up of the legacy of radiation created by this industry in Australia and further to end all uranium mining and plans for uranium enrichment.”

An agreement signed between Australia and Russia during APEC declares that Australian uranium within the nuclear industry “can only be used for peaceful, non-military purposes”.

But the increased export of Australian uranium has generated fear amongst anti-nuclear lobbyists who believe it will free up other uranium for use in weapons overseas.
Jessica Morrison, Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, says that the increase in nuclear weapons threatens Australia’s own security.

“We’ve seen that with India, Pakistan and Israel. There are close to 27,000 nuclear weapons already existing in our world and more appear to be built.”

Darren Bloomfield, spokesperson from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, says uranium mining and the Northern territory Intervention Bill will force indigenous communities off their land.

“Another issue arising from uranium mining is diminished Aboriginal sovereignty as we will be forced off our land … and this repeat of history will continuously happen until there is no more [Aboriginal] culture,” he said.

“The Northern Territory Intervention Bill concerns an industry that will affect everyone in the country, not only Aboriginal people.”

The Greens party also announced that it would support international moves for a new treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons and encourage other nations to support a nuclear war proliferation treaty.