Woomera nuclear waste dump row exposed

The Howard government was prepared to stop at nothing to establish the nuclear waste dump, threatening to seize indigenous land and sully relations with the state.

The Howard government was prepared to stop at nothing to establish a nuclear waste dump at Woomera in South Australia, threatening to seize indigenous land and sully relations with the state.

Tensions between former PM John Howard and former Labor premier Mike Rann reached a fever pitch in the mid 2000s, as the Liberals ramped up efforts to store low-level nuclear waste at Woomera in plans that were later abandoned.

Two decades later, a new nuclear dump showdown is set to be ignited, this time over a waste facility to be built on native lands near Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has thrown his support behind traditional owners attempting to stop the project, while the Albanese government is committed to “progressing the facility”.

Previously hidden cabinet documents from 2002 that were released today reveal the lengths the Howard government was prepared to go to in attempts to establish a national repository.

The John Howard government went to great lengths to build a nuclear waste facility near Woomera, but failed.

A July 2002 cabinet submission, written by former SA senator and then finance minister, Nick Minchin, advocated for the extinguishment of indigenous native titles “either by surrender or by its compulsory acquisition” to make way for the radioactive waste dump.

Under cabinet’s plan, native titles would only be compulsorily acquired “under a process agreed by the native title parties to be completed within a specific time frame”.

“Given the sensitivity of the project and the need for certainty of tenure that provides exclusive use of the site for the duration of the project, there appears to be no practical alternative to the extinguishment of native title,” said the submission, also written by then science minister Peter McGauran.

“Rather, in these circumstances, extinguishment is arguably justified … policy and legal advice obtained from the Attorney-General’s department and (Australian Government Solicitor) supports this view.”

The submission also noted the significant pushback expected from Mr Rann, who was elected just two months earlier and threatened to hold a state referendum on the issue a week before the 2004 federal election.

So bitter was the stoush between the Howard and Rann governments, the former premier even once threatened to charged Commonwealth contract workers with trespassing if they entered the proposed site to commence groundwater testing.

Former SA premier Mike Rann was fiercely opposed to the proposed Woomera nuclear dump.

In response to SA’s resistance, cabinet planned to use powers to override any state legislation that would prohibit the facility, including a bill that would have established the land as a public park.

Cabinet also agreed to launch a media campaign advocating for the nuclear waste dump, citing community fear after the September 11 terrorist attacks as justification for the facility.

“In the aftermath of 11 September 2001, there is also concern over the risk of terrorists using explosives with radioactive materials to spread radioactive contamination (a ‘dirty bomb’),” the submission stated.

“The national repository … will improve public safety, and ensure that radioactive waste is as secure as possible from accident, theft or misuse.”

The Howard government believed public fear after the September 11 terrorist attacks would justify a nuclear waste facility in South Australia.

Ultimately, the Liberals suffered a humiliating defeat in 2004 when the Federal Court ruled the Commonwealth’s seizure of land 20km east of Woomera for the site was unlawful and thus the project was never built as the plans were abandoned.

That section of land, dubbed 40a, was not the Howard government’s first choice of location for the proposed dump.

The July 2002 cabinet submission reveals the Defence Department raised “serious concerns” that a waste repository at the preferred site, on the RAAF Woomera test range complex, could have been struck by weapons with potentially catastrophic consequences.

“A principal concern is the risk of a weapon impact on the National Repository as well as the negative publicity that would result,” Defence wrote to cabinet.

“Such publicity could ultimately result in range closure and consequent significant loss to the Commonwealth’s defence capability.

“Furthermore, the risk of such an event is likely to impact negatively on public confidence in the National Repository and, more broadly, Australia’s radioactive waste management strategy.”

Defence raised no concerns with two alternative sites, including 40a, and supported general moves to establish a national nuclear waste facility.

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