Australia : Country Update : July 2018

News from Australia throughout July is dominated by the federal Senate hearings into the planned low-level repository in Southern Australia, with views from both sides of the debate covered, which includes:

• aboriginal people divided, with some seeing proposal as an attack on spirits of the land, and others focused on the job and economic benefits (see coverage between 3 to 7 July 2018)
• local people complaining that those opposed don’t live in the area, and that it should be local people who decide what’s best for their community (see coverage on 5 & 6 July)
• a Western Australian politician claiming the site selection is ‘rigged’ because his constituency not being allowed to participate (see article of 6 July 2018)

During the hearings the Federal government announced that the benefits package associated with hosting the facility has been increased from Aus$10m to Aus$31m (24 July).

Local businesses also attended a workshop to identify and discuss how they might benefit from being involved in building the facility, or might benefit from associated investment (16 July).