Nuclear Waste Dump

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (14:42): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government, representing the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, a question about nuclear waste dumps.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: I received last week a letter from Grain Producers SA, addressed to the Hon. Josh Frydenberg, MP, Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, concerning the possibility of a radioactive waste dump in grain growing areas of South Australia. The letter commences by setting out the multi-billion dollar nature of the grains industry, and the huge contribution it makes to our economy and to employment. The letter says:

Climate change and global population growth make it even more vital to protect our premium food producing areas. There are 98.4 million hectares of land within South Australia. Of this, 4.2 million hectares is used for growing agriculture. Why would a radioactive waste dump need to be placed in the middle of prime grain growing areas?

The potential threat of the development of this facility within South Australia and in particular at Kimba has created a lot of angst and tension within the local community. While an individual farm may benefit will that outweigh the potential losses to the rest of Eyre Peninsula? The EP prides itself on its clean, green image. The major industry on the EP is agriculture. Food produced from the EP is marketed to the world as food coming from a pristine, rugged frontier environment...What will the impact be on these markets when consumers realise that this 'so-called' premium clean food is being produced next to a radioactive waste dump? What will happen to the frontier image that industry has worked so hard to develop in its premium markets? How can a radioactive waste dump and this clean, green image co-exist?

The letter goes on:

By endorsing such land-use conflicts, the state is not only creating a division within communities it is also doing irreparable damage to one of the State's Seven Strategic Priorities—Premium Food and Wine from our Clean Environment.

The letter is signed by Garry Hansen, Chairman of Grain Producers SA Limited, and he poses the question, after having set out the previous history of this government in opposing nuclear waste dumps in South Australia:

Why is this same government not going in to fight against having such a dump here now?

Mr President, that is my first question to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries or, to put it another way: will the minister stand up for South Australian grain growers and tell the federal government that a nuclear waste dump in farming land is completely inappropriate?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his questions and will be happy to refer those to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries in the other place and bring back a response. But I just remind honourable members that here on North Terrace we are sitting around considerable waste. I know that people in this chamber and family and friends have very much benefitted from nuclear medicine, particularly in the way that isotopes and radioactive dyes are used for imaging. Many lives have been saved and much suffering overcome. Of course, all of that technology results in nuclear waste that has to be stored somewhere. Obviously, looking for long term, safe solutions to that is a difficult issue but one that we must wrestle with, as that sort of technology is used more and more, particularly in medicine.