Senator Lidia Thorpe has said the government’s move to ram through two pieces of AUKUS legislation today further demonstrates that the submarine deal is being pursued without adequate consultation or scrutiny, and that dangers of nuclear waste remain unaddressed.
This afternoon the government disallowed debate on The Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Bills, after securing eleventh-hour support from the Coalition to pass the controversial legislation, sidelining crossbenchers they had been negotiating with.
The Bills establish a nuclear safety framework for the AUKUS submarines, including a new Naval Nuclear Safety Regulator and transitional arrangements.
But Thorpe says the legislation does not fully address concerns that high level radioactive waste from UK and US submarines will be allowed to be stored in Australia.
A Senate Inquiry into the Bills recommended amendments to prevent high level nuclear waste from other countries from being stored in Australia. While government amendments partially addressed this by preventing storage of spent nuclear fuel, storage of reprocessed fuel from submarines, as well as any irradiated reactor parts, are still allowed under the legislation that passed today.
Thorpe says this means Australia could still become ‘the world's nuclear waste dump’ and also expressed concerns that the legislation lacks emergency preparedness mechanisms, and sufficient transparency and accountability mechanisms.
Quotes attributable to Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Victorian Senator:
"AUKUS is a disaster waiting to happen. These Bills pave the way for more dumping of nuclear waste in this country, including nuclear waste from the UK and US.
"Nuclear is never safe. The only safe thing to do is to stay away from nuclear technologies altogether.
"Voters have never endorsed AUKUS. Labor has no mandate and has not obtained Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
"Shame on Labor for teaming up with the Coalition to ram through this dangerous legislation without proper scrutiny or considering crossbench amendments. Labor will do all they can to force AUKUS on this country with no accountability or consultation.
"AUKUS will cost us hundreds of billions of dollars, and the nuclear waste created will remain dangerous for tens of thousands of years. The government has no clear plan to manage this waste, and they refuse to say how much it will cost.
"These Bills are apparently about with nuclear safety, but don’t provide for any emergency management arrangements. A nuclear emergency is one of the worst things that can happen, yet Labor has failed to even mention the word ‘emergency’ in these Bills.
"While these submarines are sold to the public as state of the art technology, in reality, by the time we receive the first set of submarines from the US in the 2030s, they will be outdated technology.
"The government must commit to the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, which specifically speaks to the management and disposal of hazardous substances such as nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. Labor must not force nuclear waste on any community without consent.
"The government must ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a matter of urgency. Without ratifying this Treaty, we can have no confidence in AUKUS or any commitment to nuclear safety."