Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The purpose of this bill is to amend the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act 2005 to provide for the return of a volunteer site to its traditional owners should such a site be forthcoming and ultimately selected for the Commonwealth radioactive waste management facility.

Existing provisions of the act allow a land council to nominate Aboriginal land within the area of the land council as a potential site for the facility. Australian regulatory requirements require radioactive waste facilities not be sited where land ownership rights or control could compromise retention of long-term secure management of the facility. It is for this reason that the act allows the Commonwealth to acquire all rights and interests in a volunteer site.

However, the Australian government also recognises that Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory fought hard for the right to own their land. Honourable members will know that the original Northern Territory land rights legislation was passed in this parliament under a coalition government.

Through this bill, the Australian government seeks to ensure, should a volunteer site be selected for the facility, that there is a mechanism for the land to be returned to its original owners or successors when the site is no longer required for the facility.

We will not be returning a dirty or polluted site. The bill provides that the return may not be effected unless the independent regulator, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, has released the facility from regulatory control. Further, the traditional owners must consent to the return of the site.

However, in the extremely unlikely event that contamination occurs as the result of use of the land for the facility, the traditional owners will be indemnified by the Commonwealth against any resultant claims.

A related purpose of this bill is to amend both the act and the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 to prevent politically motivated challenges to a land council nomination.

Honourable members may have seen speculation in the media that Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory may be nominated for the facility. It is no secret that the Northern Land Council has been supportive of provisions in the current act that allow Aboriginal landholders to consider nominating their land. 

I welcome the Northern Land Council’s positive and constructive assistance in providing factual information and facilitating discussions with Aboriginal groups about the government’s plans for a Commonwealth radioactive waste management facility. It is an indication of the strength and relevance of the council that, in the face of ideologically driven opposition, it is prepared to actively support communities in their wish to improve the opportunities for themselves and their children. The bill addresses issues that the Northern Land Council has indicated are of particular sensitivity for Aboriginal groups that may be considering putting forward their land for nomination.

After claiming that the Australian government was imposing a radioactive waste facility on the Northern Territory against community wishes, I assumed that opponents of such a facility would welcome the construction of the facility on a site volunteered by the local landholders. Instead, opponents of the facility have indicated that they are prepared to oppose the facility on a volunteer site as well.

Current provisions of the act set down a number of criteria that should be met if a land council decides to make a nomination. Importantly, these criteria include that the owners of the land in question have understood the proposal and have consented to the nomination, and that other Aboriginal communities with an interest in the land have also been consulted.

I can assure the House that, should a nomination be made, I will only accept it if satisfied that these criteria have been met. What the government will not accept is speculative legal challenges against the land council or me, as minister, that are designed not to ensure that Aboriginal people have given informed consent to a land nomination but to frustrate and delay establishment of the facility.

Those members who are in favour of safe and responsible management of radioactive waste, and those members who are in favour of Aboriginal people being able to make their own decisions about infrastructure developments on their own land, should support these amendments. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Bevis) adjourned.

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