Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Resources) Share this | Hansard source

There are some areas where, with the minister's indulgence, I would like to ask a series of questions in order to help inform both the House and the people of Australia on some areas of public policy of great interest. The minister is aware of our enduring interest in this place in the national radioactive waste facility first proposed for Muckaty about 10 years ago, and he will be aware of decisions made by traditional owners and a decision which was quite appropriately made by the federal government last year in the context of the next steps for the location of that radioactive waste facility.

We have heard of the funding that is available for ANSTO to deal with its waste issues in the production of medical isotopes, and we are also aware that in the third quarter of this year ANSTO will receive, or take into its own hands, custody of reprocessed material that will be stored at the ANSTO facility at Lucas Heights—appropriately, as it should be. At the other end of things, and at a much lower level of radioactive waste, there is the waste that had been earmarked for a facility such as that at Muckaty. The way in which the nation deals with the storage of this material is a matter of significant public interest. So I would like to ask the minister, if he can, to share with us the next steps in identifying a facility location. I understand that the site nomination process closed early in May, and I understand that the selection processes would now be well and truly progressed for next steps. So I would like to ask the minister if he can provide us with an update as to where that process is up to and what it is likely to look like over the course of the next few months.

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