Traditional owners have vowed to continue to fight the federal government’s plans for a nuclear waste dump on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.
Members of the Barngarla community and their supporters gathered outside the Federal Court in Adelaide on Monday where their bid to quash a ministerial declaration from the former coalition government in support of the dump will be heard.
Elder Harold Dare told the gathering the Barngarla would continue to fight the proposal no matter what happened in court this week.
“If it goes against the government, they are going to appeal it. If it goes against us, we are going to appeal it,” he said.
“We are going to appeal it as long and as hard as we can.
“It’s not just about the Barngarla, it’s about all of Australia and ultimately the world.
“We’re fighting for the protection of a sacred Aboriginal women’s site. It’s about the respect we are showing to our women’s sites.”
The Barngarla launched their action in 2021. They argue they were denied the right to participate in a community ballot to gauge local support for the site because many did not live in the Kimber council area.
The corporation said the former government also refused access to the land to undertake a proper heritage survey and tried to remove their right to a judicial review.
The community ballot returned about 61 per cent in favour of the dump.
But when the Barngala conducted their own ballot among their community members, 83 voted no and none voted yes.
The coalition government’s decision to build the dump at Napandee near Kimba came in November 2021, when it announced it had acquired 211 hectares of land with the proposed facility subject to heritage, design and technical studies.
The vast majority of nuclear waste produced in Australia is associated with the production of nuclear medicine.
The Barngarla native title area covers more than 34,000 square kilometres on Eyre Peninsula, including the town of Kimba.
– AAP
