Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the recent 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in the Ukraine,

(ii)

the observation of the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev who said recently ‘Chernobyl opened my eyes like nothing else: it showed the horrible consequences of nuclear power, even when it is used for non-military purposes’,

(iii)

that the sarcophagus that encases the reactor site remains in a dangerous state of disrepair and, if it were to collapse, it would send a second plume of radioactive dust across Europe, and

(iv)

that although the exact number of people who have died or are dying as a result of the Chernobyl accident will never be known with accuracy, the latest reports from the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences cite a figure of 212 000;

(b)

rejects the construction of any nuclear power stations in Australia; and

(c)

calls on the Government to abandon its support for nuclear power and instead to invest in energy efficiency, demand management and renewable energy.

Question negatived.

I ask that it be noted that only the Greens supported that motion.

John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That will be noted, Senator Milne.