BARNGARLA DETERMINATION ABORIGINAL CORPORATION
MEDIA RELEASE
TUESDAY JUNE 13, 2023
Federal Governments spend against Barngarla Traditional Owners keep climbing in the lead up to a referendum for a Voice to Parliament.
Recent Senate estimates reveal a spend of $13,834,856 in legal costs by the Federal Government against the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC) over the nuclear waste dump planned for Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.
BDAC Chairperson Jason Bilney has responded to these figures: “How can the Labor Government champion a Voice to Parliament while spending close to $14 million fighting us in court? It’s disrespectful and hypocritical. We have always said no to having a nuclear dump on our lands.”
“If the Federal Government are serious about First Nations people having a voice then they should listen to ours, the Barngarla people.”
On June 01, 2023 Sam Usher, CEO of the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency (ARWA) was asked by Senator Barbara Pocock what the overall legal spend for both the trials against the Barngarla had been. Mr Usher’s answer provided the figures of $13,083,132 on related external legal costs and $751,724 on internal department legal staff.
This question from the can be viewed from the Senate Estimates Committee at 21:59:38:06 https://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Read_Listen/ParlView/video/1221342
“We worked for over 20 years to have our Barngarla Native Title Rights recognised, and then before we knew it, we were hit with plans for a unwanted nuclear waste dump and have been given no voice to say no – in fact we were excluded from the right to vote in a community ballot on the issue in 2019 .”
In March 6, 2023 the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC) took action in the Federal Court in Adelaide to overturn the federal Ministerial declaration to select Napandee near Kimba as the proposed site for a national nuclear waste facility. The court is expected to hand down a finding before the end of the year.
Please see issue briefing paper below.
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BARNGARLA PEOPLE AND THE NATIONAL RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITY 2023 BRIEFING
Background
The federal government plans to build a facility to store intermediate level nuclear waste (ILW) and dispose of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and after a highly controversial process the Coalition Government declared Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula as the proposed site in November 2021. This facility is
The proposal for a facility at Kimba – known as the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility
(“NRWMF”) – follows previous abandoned attempts including near Woomera in SA (2004), Muckaty Station in the NT (2014) and Wallerberdina Station in the Flinders Ranges (2019). Like Kimba, all failed to secure a social and community licence. Successive federal governments have been seeking a solution for Australia’s long-lived radioactive waste for decades. South Australia has long standing legislation that makes the building of a national nuclear waste facility illegal. In 2022 SA Premier Peter Malinauskas and the Labor party support a Barngarla veto right over the nuclear waste plan.
Barngarla Position
The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC) represent the Barngarla Native Title holders. The Barngarla have a determined Native Title area of 34,481 km2 covering parts of the Eyre Peninsula, including Kimba. Barngarla people have fought against the proposal in the courts and expressed their position through rallies, protests, public meetings, and the media.
A community ballot was conducted by the Kimba District Council in November 2019. Of 734 formal votes, 452 were Yes (61.6%) and 282 No (38.4%). After being excluded from the Kimba Council ballot, the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (“BDAC”) engaged the Australian Election Company, an independent ballot agent, to conduct a confidential postal ballot of BDAC members regarding the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility. The ballot paper asked members: “Do you support the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility being located at one of the nominated sites in the community of Kimba?” Of 209 eligible voters (all of whom are Barngarla native title holders), 83 cast valid “No” votes. Zero “Yes” votes were returned. This unanimous “No” vote demonstrates that there is absolutely no support at all within the Barngarla community for the NRWMF.
The Barngarla people stand side by side with many in the Kimba and EP farming community opposing the waste dump and have support from many national and state civil society groups including Conservation SA and Unions SA.