Flinders Ranges traditional owners lodge Human Rights Commission complaint over nuclear waste dump search

Flinders Ranges traditional owners will on Tuesday lodge a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission over the search for a national nuclear waste facility.

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Flinders Ranges traditional owners will on Tuesday lodge a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission over the search for a national nuclear waste facility.

The complaint will allege a flawed process in the consideration of Wallerberdina Station, near Hawker, for a low-level and intermediate-level waste repository.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers have prepared the complaint — to also be given to the Federal Government — pro-bono for the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (ATLA).

It alleges the ballot to assess community support for the facility, which excludes some traditional owners, and the damage to cultural heritage sites by Commonwealth contractors constitutes unlawful discrimination.

“From day one this process has shown a complete lack of regard for the traditional owners and for the significance of this site to the Adnyamathanha people,” lawyer Nicki Lees said.

ATLA chief executive Vince Coulthard said the complaint was important in seeking a “fair hearing for our deep concerns”.

Aboriginal Elder Vince Coulthard. Picture: Dean Martin

Wallerberdina Station and two sites near Kimba, on the Eyre Peninsula, were short-listed by the Federal Government for the national nuclear waste facility.

But the process has been halted by a challenge by the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation in the Federal Court on the lawfulness of the Kimba ballot.

The case is to be heard on January 30 next year.

A spokesman for the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has previously said the department would continue to consult the local communities until the matter was resolved.

Federal Labor has previously said scientific advice showed a national facility was required for Australia to meet its international obligations to manage our own nuclear waste.

While in Adelaide for the ALP National Conference this week, The Advertiser asked Opposition leader Bill Shorten about his stance on the issue.

An artist impression of the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.

Mr Shorten said he would be guided by legal proceedings if he was elected.

The search for a national waste dump has been an ongoing issue for 30 years.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers had also acted pro-bono on behalf of traditional owners to overturn the nomination of Muckaty Station for the dump in the NT, in 2014.

Radioactive waste is managed at 100 locations around Australia including hospitals, industrial sites, mines and at ANSTO in suburban Sydney.