Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every day is glorious on the beautiful Capricorn Coast in my electorate. Today the councillors of the Livingstone Shire will be asked to support a motion to protect the unique natural heritage of our region. At today’s council meeting Councillor Brett Svendsen will move a motion to declare the shire a nuclear-free zone. Many councils around Australia have taken that step, but for the Livingstone Shire Council it is more than just a symbolic gesture, with the joint US-Australia military exercise Talisman Sabre due to start at Shoalwater Bay within weeks.

For some years now concerns have been growing amongst residents of Livingstone Shire, especially those who live adjacent to the training area. They fear that the presence of nuclear powered vessels in the bay and the possible use of weapons equipped with depleted uranium could harm the health of residents and damage the exquisite beauty of Shoalwater Bay and the surrounding area. I support Councillor Svendsen’s motion and note that the Mayor of Livingstone Shire, Bill Ludwig, has also expressed his support for the motion that will go before council today.

I have said many times in here before that the people of Central Queensland understand the vital role that the Shoalwater Bay training area plays in our national security. Shoalwater Bay is part of our backyard in Central Queensland, and all of us in Central Queensland, especially the residents of Livingstone Shire, have the right to stand up for the community’s interests as well as to make sure that the interests of the community are not ignored or taken for granted by the forces using the training area. To me, that is what Councillor Svendsen’s motion is all about. I thought that Steve Bishopric, the spokesperson for the Shoalwater Wilderness Awareness Group, put it very well when he said:

The motion symbolises the community’s desire to live in a healthy and safe environment. It is not a condemnation of the ADF but a call for the elimination of nuclear weapons, DU and a ban on nuclear power stations now being proposed in our region by the government.

The mayor has said that he is confident that the motion today will receive strong support from councillors. Once that happens and the motion is passed, I will call on the government to respect the views of the residents of Livingstone Shire as expressed through their elected representatives on the council. The government should honour the council’s decision and ensure that all future military activities in Shoalwater Bay respect the shire’s nuclear-free status. I congratulate Councillor Svendsen and Mayor Bill Ludwig on their stand and offer my total support for the people of Livingstone Shire.