Planned nuclear waste facility in Hawker divides community ahead of crucial ballot weeks away
THE debate on the location of a national nuclear waste repository has reached flashpoint, with a ballot only weeks away to determine its future.
DIRT-covered four-wheel-drives roll into Hawker thirsty for a refill as their passengers peer out of dusty windows in search of a place to stretch their legs and grab a coffee.
The remote town, on the edge of the Flinders Ranges, is bustling with tourists as its handful of businesses try to capitalise on the few months that signal their busiest time of the year.
But unbeknown to most of the holidaymakers, there is a debate raging within the outpost community that could change the way the town sees itself for the next 300 years.
Flyers in a local eatery alert tourists to the Federal Government’s proposal to build a national nuclear waste repository on Wallerberdina station, about 30km northwest of Hawker, at Barndioota.
Some residents believe the nuclear plan would be “cultural genocide” while others think the job and economic opportunities it would bring to the tiny community would be a game-changer.
“I see the repository as an unexpected opportunity for both Hawker and Quorn as I look to a positive future for our community,” Denise Carpenter, a Hawker resident of 20 years, says. “We’re an ageing population and the prospects of employment – to retain children here and entice new families – would benefit the town and give it a future.”
But Flinders Food Co owner Doogal Hannagan, who bought the business six months ago, says Hawker already has enough going for it without a nuclear industry.
“If the town wasn’t thriving, I wouldn’t of considered buying a business here”, he says.
On August 20, the 1600 residents of Flinders Ranges Council will vote on whether they support a low-level and intermediate-level waste dump being built in their community.
The Federal Government is also considering two alternative dump sites near Eyre Peninsula’s small agricultural community of Kimba, which will also have a public vote on the issue next month.
The repository will take about two years to build and cost in excess of $100 million, creating 45 full-time equivalent jobs once finished, according to the Government.
Wallerberdina station owner Philip Speakman nominated 100ha of his farming property for the facility two years ago as a “community service” because “Hawker is in a bad place”.
“The town is very rundown, there are few businesses and there’s very little to employ the young indigenous generation to give them a future,” says Mr Speakman, who lives in Adelaide.
“I think this will give a huge economic boost to Hawker, Quorn and the other nearby locations that form this part of the state’s Outback.”
If successful, Mr Speakman and the station’s co-owner, retired Liberal senator and former party state president Grant Chapman, will be paid four times the value of the land – but the exact amount is not known.
Mr Chapman, a federal MP for 27 years, chaired a 1995 Senate committee into the dangers of radioactive waste and a 1996 committee on uranium mining and milling.
The community where the repository is built will also receive funding for infrastructure, upskilling and heritage protection – a figure the Government this week increased from $10 million to $31 million.
Hawker and Kimba have already received a combined $4 million from the Government to be used for community development projects.
Even some of those in favour of the nuclear project view the incentives as bribe money.
The repository’s potential development near culturally sensitive sites has divided a prominent indigenous family, most of whom live on neighbouring Yappala station.
Adnyamathanha woman Regina McKenzie says the repository would destroy registered Aboriginal storylines in the area and be “cultural genocide”. The location is just a few kilometres from Hookina Creek, an area of cultural significance known for its permanent waters and artefacts.
“I believe the Adnyamathanha people have made enough sacrifices and lost so much of our culture that I think enough is enough – it needs to stop,” Ms McKenzie says.
“The Government keeps telling Adnyamathanha people we have two uranium mines on our country, but both of those things were forced on us.”
Her sister, Heather Stuart, says the nuclear debate has divided her family “because the Government started dangling a carrot around with money on the end of it”.
“From what I gather and what I hear, the communities of Hawker and Quorn are split as well,” she says.
“We only want to stand up for our land and our culture.”
The women are part of Quorn-based Flinders Local Action Group, which has lobbied for more than two years for the Hawker site to be removed from the site selection process.
Their brother, Malcolm “Tiger” McKenzie, is in favour of the waste repository because it will create jobs and attract investment over its 300-year life.
“Aboriginal culture and any development can coexist and, from this, we can create jobs and opportunities,” says Mr McKenzie, the co-chair of the Government’s economic working group.
“As we know, it’s really difficult for young Aboriginal people, but even non-Aboriginal people, in country areas to get a job.
“When the Government drill-tested the area they had about 30 old and young Aboriginal people come out and work with them.
“Not only that, in the first round of community funding Yappala got money to do up their houses – they’re the benefits I already see from this project, and I can see more in the future.”
Many of the town’s other residents in favour of the project are in fear of speaking out.
Hawker Caravan Park owner John Hennessy says he has been subject to vitriol from anti-nuclear supporters from outside Hawker on Facebook.
“Abusing people is not a solid argument and I’ve been the victim of that, but I just try and put it behind me,” Mr Hennessy says.
He says there has been “scaremongering” that the repository will affect tourist numbers to the town – claims he believes are unfounded.
“The increased economic activity is going to make more visitors come, not less,” he says.
“The Lake District in England and Champagne district of France have similar facilities and they (nuclear sites) don’t damage the tourism, nor do they damage the agriculture.
“They coexist peacefully and I don’t see any reason why Australia should be different.”
A concern over the Wallerberdina site is the potential for seismic activity but government field surveys found any risks could be mitigated through design and structural measures.
The repository would receive radioactive waste from more than 100 locations, most of which is held at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, at Lucas Heights, in NSW.
It would be operational for 100 years and monitored for up to 300 years. But before that, the Government has just over three weeks left to convince local communities.