Kicking off its six-day trip to Australia, the Kuantan-based ‘Save Malaysia' has taken the battle against the RM700 million installation in Gebeng to the mining giant's headquarters in Sydney.

NONE The 12-member team, led by chairperson Tan Bun Teet ( right ), is scheduled to hold a picket in front of the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (Lamp) builder's headquarters at 1pm local time today.

They flew to Sydney on Sunday night and are scheduled to return on Saturday.

In an email to the press, the group said a forum was held in Sydney yesterday, at which team members spoke about their fight to stop the project and called for support from the Australian people.

They will visit the Australian Parliament in Canberra tomorrow.

Tan had earlier told Malaysiakini that the objective of the trip was to alert Australians to the plight of Kuantan residents and to urge them to pressure their government to stop Lynas from setting up shop in Malaysia.

Protesters unrelenting

The Australian journey is the latest move by the 'Save Malaysia' panel against the Australian mining giant's plan to set up the world's first rare earth processing plant outside China.

NONE Lynas has repeatedly given its assurance that Malaysians will face "zero radiation" from Lamp, which is scheduled for trial runs by September.

However, detractors are having none of this and have organised a string of small- to large-scale protests over the past few months, including rallies in front of the Malaysian Parliament and the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

A panel to review the Lynas Gebeng plant, set up by the government under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has declared the plant 'safe'.

It, however, listed 11 conditions for compliance by the government, the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and Lynas, before the pre-operating licence is granted.

Lynas is confident of completing and commissioning Lamp before the end of the year.