Voters Reject A Nuclear Australia

A whole month has passed since my last entry on this blog. The last four weeks have been incredibly busy, with Wilderness Society workers and volunteers traveling around the east coast of Australia, meeting people in shopping malls, spring fairs, agricultural shows, at the beach, along the roadside, anywhere really - talking to people about the dangers of John Howard’s nuclear plans for Australia.

The talk of me-tooism during the election campaign failed to acknowledge the big differences that existed between the two major parties on the nuclear front.

The Howard government backed the building of 25 nuclear reactors up and down the east coast of Australia. The ALP didn’t.

The Howard government wanted to build a uranium enrichment plant in Australia. The ALP didn’t.

The Howard government wanted to build an international nuclear waste dump in Australia. The ALP didn’t.

The Howard government wanted to impose a national nuclear waste dump on the Northern Territory, using draconian legislation that removed people’s basic democratic rights. The ALP opposed the legislation and promised to repeal it.

The Howard government joined President Bush’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. The ALP opposed this.

The Howard government wanted to export uranium to India, a nation that hasn’t ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The ALP didn’t.

Finally, the Howard government was in the process of severely weakening our former strand stand against nuclear weapons. The ALP promised to restore Australia’s strong support for nuclear disarmament.

These add up to huge differences. But there is one major point of me-tooism: unrestricted uranium mining. This will become the future battlefront for environmental groups and indigenous people who oppose mining this toxic material and want to see it kept well underground.

The Wilderness Society’s nuclear free campaign was established to overturn John Howard’s nuclear plans for Australia and to promote the real solutions to climate change: energy efficiency and domestic renewable energy. With the crushing victory of the Labor Party on Sat 24^th November, the campaign is no longer needed in its current form. This is a huge relief!

The Wilderness Society is starting up a campaign against a uranium mining proposal in South Australia in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. Our Adelaide office is taking the lead on this. I wish them every success in their campaign.

As our Say Yes! To a Nuclear Free Australia campaign closes down, I want to thank all those people who supported the campaign, whether through signing our online petition, signing our pamphlet, texting us, or simply casting a vote against a nuclear future.

I would particularly like to thank Robin Taubenfeld, Amelia Young and Peter Cooper (TWS nuclear free campaigners), volunteers who helped with our White Elephant tour, Dr Helen Caldicott for her indefatigable opposition to the nuclear industry and her active support for this campaign and other anti-nuclear environment groups who have worked tirelessly for years against a nuclear Australia.

This is my final entry to this blog, which will shortly be closing down. Yours for a nuclear free Australia!