Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Brand for his question. I also thank him for his bipartisan approach to many of the resource issues we face together. That has been one of the hallmarks of the operation of this government, the previous government and the Howard government: in this very important area in relation to resource development in Australia, we have been able to have a position which has enabled investor confidence and certainty in regard to policy and the development of those industries, which is now entering a different and perhaps difficult phase.

I highlight the fact that Australia has around 4,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste and some 650 cubic metres of intermediate-level radioactive waste, resulting from some 60 years of medical research and industry activities. Unfortunately, much of this waste is stored in hundreds of locations around Australia. As well as that, as the shadow minister mentioned, the intermediate-level waste that has been sent overseas, totalling around 130 cubic metres, is being returned to Australia, and in the interim that waste will be stored at the ANSTO site.

In relation to his specific questions, on 2 March 2015, following the breakdown of the opportunity to progress the Muckaty site, I called for landholders across Australia to volunteer their land for consideration as a potential site for a national nuclear waste facility. The process closed, as the shadow minister mentioned, on 5 May 2015, with an encouraging number of nominations. I am afraid at this stage I cannot be specific about that number, as it is commercial-in-confidence, but certainly there was no shortage of applications from most states across Australia. I intend to identify a short list of potentially suitable sites in July 2015; that is literally next month. I look forward to being able to take those sites forward for detailed assessment during 2015-16. This process will run in parallel with the royal commission into nuclear that is being conducted in South Australia. Along with South Australia, other states that have nominated would likely require a change in some of the legislative processes, so there is quite a bit of work to be done at state level. Consultations with some states are going particularly well.

Once I have identified a short list, there will be extensive community consultation in regard to that short list and its potential suitable sites, and the consultation will continue throughout this project. A site will only be selected if it meets Australia's strict environmental and radiation protection regulatory requirements. A detailed business case for the national facility will be developed during 2016 in accordance with the government's Two Stage Capital Works Approval Process for Australian Government Construction Projects. The project will be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works prior to detailed design and construction. Under current time frames, the national facility may begin operating in the early 2020s.

Can I say, as someone who has been involved in this issue along with the current Minister for Foreign Affairs, who was at the time the Minister for Education and Science, that this has not been an easy road. Can I just say, though, that in progressing this current project we are receiving much better cooperation not only from the Labor Party in opposition but also, through consultation, from Senator Ludlam and the Greens. We intend to run a fully open and transparent process, and we intend to bring this process to a conclusion. It is simply not acceptable for a nation as technically and scientifically advanced as Australia to be storing nuclear waste in the basements of buildings in CBDs of cities around Australia or in shipping containers in carparks of hospitals. So we will fix this issue, and I hope that bipartisanship continues well into the future.

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