Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week I had the privilege of visiting Tellus's state-of-the-art low-level waste storage facility at Sandy Ridge. This is near Kalgoorlie in my home state of Western Australia. Until now, it has been a well-kept secret that this operational facility is Australia's first commercial geological repository. It has a strong social licence from the local community. Tellus's facility offers the safest geological conditions in the world in which to safely store radioactive waste. Currently it is storing waste for Australian mining, oil and gas, and health industries. The Sandy Ridge facility demonstrates Australian companies are ready and capable to lead the expansion in nuclear energy safety measures, including safe storage.

So it is somewhat puzzling to me—I don't understand it—why Defence has decided to spend tens of millions, probably hundreds of millions, building a new low-level nuclear waste storage facility at HMAS Stirling when we already have an operational, state-of-the-art facility in Western Australia. In fact, it makes me wonder why they aren't planning to send all of their low-level nuclear or radiological waste to this facility instead of storing it at multiple bases around the nation.

As WA becomes the home of AUKUS nuclear powered submarines from 2027, we not only have the opportunity to lead the nation in new technologies and industries for many decades to come with nuclear power generation but can now also be the home, in the most geologically stable part of the world, in fact, to store this waste. We are already doing it. It's nothing new. I would encourage any colleague from this place who is interested in that, including Senator Shoebridge, to come to Western Australia and see this waste disposal facility.