The WA Greens have praised the Kimberley community for its engagement on a range of important regional issues at the Kimberley Green Future Forum, hosted in Broome over the weekend.
Australian Greens Deputy Leader Senator Scott Ludlam and Senator Rachel Siewert joined WA Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC for the public forum.
Threats from fracking and large scale uranium mining, the closure of remote indigenous communities, uncertainty around the rollout of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, renewable energy uptake in the Kimberley and changes to the Aboriginal Heritage Act, amongst other issues, were all brought to the table.
Mr Chapple said it was fantastic to be able to have a conversation with the community about issues that were genuinely important to them; regional areas, particularly the far North of WA, are too often ignored by politicians.
“For us, the Greens, it was about getting up there and showing that we care about Kimberley issues and are willing to fight for them at a state and federal level,” he said.
“As a member representing the Mining and Pastoral region it was also exciting to be able to give my electorate the opportunity to engage face-to-face with my federal colleagues just as I know they were excited to be there.
“I was personally humbled that we had such a great turnout, especially members of the East Kimberley Greens who had travelled from Kununurra and some who had come in from the desert, and such a high level of intelligent engagement; Kimberley people are passionate about protecting this beautiful and unique region and I applaud them for it.”
For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.
WA Greens spokesperson on uranium issues Robin Chapple MLC has expressed dismay at the willingness of several goldfields shires to host a nuclear waste dump.
Local governments and private landowners have until May 5 to voluntarily nominate sites for the Federal Government’s proposed nuclear waste dump facility.
Mr Chapple said local governments should seriously reconsider voluntarily nominating sites for a nuclear waste dump as it will set a dangerous precedent for Western Australia.
“There is significant public opposition to the uptake of anything nuclear-related in the state of Western Australia,” he said.
“A nuclear waste dump, along with the recent approval of several uranium mines throughout the state, will only contribute to the impression that WA is a nuclear-friendly state.
“We do not want to see these types of industries normalised here in WA; they are unsafe, they are toxic, and they are unnecessary.”
Mr Chapple said federal politicians and international groups had been lobbying for an international nuclear waste dump since the 1980s.
“If this proposal is successful it will put our state one step closer to hosting the nuclear garbage of the rest of the world,” he said.
“Short term economic benefits are not a good enough reason for Western Australia to become a dumping ground for the rest of the world’s nuclear waste.”
For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.
After yesterday flying over Lake Way to see the extent of flooding in the area, WA Greens spokesperson on uranium Robin Chapple MLC has expressed deep concern about the future of proposed uranium mining on the lake bed.
Toro Energy Ltd plans to store radioactive tailings from the proposed Wiluna uranium mine – up to 100 million tonnes – in the mined-out Centipede and Millipede pits, which will also reside on the lake bed and are currently underwater.
The company has previously cited flooding as a non-issue claiming the lake to be a natural drainage point however photographs taken by the Hon Robin Chapple MLC reveal this to be untrue.
Mr Chapple said the extensive flooding at Lake Way raised very serious concerns about the ability of Toro Energy Ltd to effectively manage water whilst mining such a volatile mineral on a lake bed.
“I do not believe this company has properly accounted, nor planned, for potential flooding to the extent we have seen this week at Lake Way,” he said.
“Not only would flood waters of this magnitude carry radioactive material to other parts of the ecosystem but upon drying out, could potentially release large quantities of oxidised uranium – radioactive dust – into the atmosphere.
“Had this been an active mine site we would now be dealing with an environmental disaster on a large scale.”
For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.
Media liaison: Tim Oliver
Mobile: 0431 9696 25
Extent of flooding - Lake Way
Proposed Centipede pit site completely submerged, service road visible
Drainage occuring outside of lake boundaries
Proposed Millipede Pit site - Cleared ground and service roads visible on banks, test pit is fully submerged
Environment Minister Albert Jacob’s overnight approval of the Kintyre Uranium mine proposal was wrong on every level and should be immediately rescinded, according to WA Greens Uranium Spokesperson Robin Chapple MLC.
Mr Chapple said it was an inappropriate given the Office of Regional Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) was still investigating allegations of corruption into the Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation’s (WDLAC).
“The Minister should not have made any decision until the position of the Martu people, with regards to a Uranium mine on their lands, had been absolutely clarified,” he said.
“Instead what Mr Jacob has done is slip this through quietly overnight with complete disregard for the investigation, or the mountain of appeals he has received in opposition.”
Mr Chapple said aside from potential legal ramifications the Kintyre proposal was a major environmental threat to the region’s unique desert environment and lacked the bipartisan political or broader public support necessary to validate its approval.
“This is yet another example of our government’s throwing its weight behind a rapidly ageing industry that will lock WA into an unsustainable future,” he said.
“This proposal will directly threaten the Karlamilyi National Park, the Karlamilyi River water catchment and the many threatened native flora and fauna species that inhabit this unique desert environment.
“To top it off the minister has recommended there should be no rehabilitation bonds, a move that could see liability for the clean-up of this mine fall on the taxpayer and not the company behind the proposal.
“Cameco have an appalling environmental record and are soon to face court in the USA and Canada over allegations of tax avoidance, yet we want to trust them to mine this dangerous mineral in such a fragile part of our state.”
Mr Chapple said issues raised by environmental and Indigenous groups had fallen on deaf ears.
“Appeals submitted on the basis of threats to groundwater, radiological uptake by native flora, the lack of baseline studies and commitments to monitoring in key areas have been dismissed,” he said.
“If this proposal ever wants to see the light of day it needs to be taken right back to step one and properly assessed.”
For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.
Whilst it is positive to see climate change becoming a more visible issue of late it is alarming to see fossil fuel and nuclear lobbyists leading the rhetoric on how best to tackle it, according to WA Greens Spokesperson on Energy and Climate Change Robin Chapple MLC.
The Business Council of Australia and the Australia Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) have been vocal this week about the benefits, and necessity of, energy reform that includes primarily a greater reliance on gas.
Similarly, the World Nuclear Association has used the International Energy Agency’s world energy outlook report to preach the benefits of nuclear energy as a low-carbon, cost-effective means of producing electricity.
Mr Chapple said these big lobbying groups were jumping on the bandwagon to push for reform that benefitted their industry, but was not in any way a solution.
“These big lobbying groups, who exist purely for the benefit of their industries, have suddenly adopted climate change into their rhetoric,” he said.
“It’s frightening because what they are saying is very misleading, but attempts to be convincing.
Mr Chapple said repeated claims about gas as a clean energy alternative were polluting the information around climate change in Australian politics.
“I just fail to see the logic that these are ‘solutions’ to increasing emissions in Australia,” he said.
“These lobbyists have somehow managed to normalise the idea that replacing finite fossil fuel resources with different, but equally finite, fossil fuel resources is a sustainable and beneficial solution.
“The idea that renewable energy investment is not economically viable needs to be trashed; it is absolute rubbish.
“Why are we, as a nation, so determined not to be a world leader when we have so much potential to be so.”
Mr Chapple said he continued to be amazed by the general indifference, and even open resistance, towards renewable energy by both State and Federal Governments.
“I urge politicians to shake off this attitude of ‘ignorance is bliss’ and really make some noise so that those in power have no choice but to change,” he said.
‘Dialogue on the issue is completely under the spell of industry and lobbyists at the moment when the last thing we need in this country is more gas or worse, an uptake of nuclear power especially given the amazing potential we have for renewable energy generation in this country.”
