Australian MPs lend support to anti-Lynas movement
While Himpunan Hijau is having its 300km march from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur to protest against the Lynas rare earth plant, another anti-Lynas group is in Australia, the country where Lynas is based, to lobby Australian lawmakers and people to support its cause.
While Himpunan Hijau is having its 300km march from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur to protest against the Lynas rare earth plant, another anti-Lynas group is in Australia, the country where Lynas is based, to lobby Australian lawmakers and people to support its cause.
In a statement issued yesterday, Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) said the 19-member self-funded delegation, led by SMSL spokesperson Tan Bun Teet, reached Sydney on Sunday, and it was their third visit Down Under.
Yesterday they met three senators at the Australian parliament - Scott Ludlam and Lee Rhiannon from the Green Party and Chris Back from the Liberal Party - who expressed their support to the anti-Lynas movement.
Both Ludlam and Rhiannon had met SMSL when the group first visited Australia last July. The duo has been following up the issue and raising related questions in the Australian parliament.
“Thousands of Malaysians have taken a loud stance against the Lynas rare earth refinery and the radioactive legacy the plant would dump on local communities.
“The refinery would create 320,000 tonnes of dry soil waste every year but Lynas has skimped on a full environmental impact assessment and local consultation has been sketchy at best. There is no social licence for the controversial processing plant to go ahead.
“The Australian Greens are adding our voice to the Stop Lynas campaign. When Australian mining companies abuse local communities and the environment in other countries, we have a responsibility to speak out,” said Rhiannon during a joint press conference at the senate courtyard yesterday.
Bid to import radioactive waste from Malaysia
Ludlam revealed that in September Lynas has submitted an application to the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa) to import radioactive waste from Malaysia.
“The company intends to ship radioactive ores through Fremantle Port to export them to their plant in Malaysia, and are now pushing for the right to import the wastes of those ores back onto Australian soil. I know the people of Fremantle won’t stand for it.
“Malaysia’s nuclear regulator, the Atomic Energy Licensing Board, said Lynas is legally obliged to remove radioactive waste from its advanced materials plant and return the residue to Australia - under the conditions of the temporary operating licence.
“This defies Australian government policy, and indeed Western Australian law, which asserts that Australia does not accept or import radioactive waste from other countries,” he said.
He claimed that Lynas knows that it will not get permission to dump the waste in Australia, hence it should come clean about its real intentions.
“The people of Malaysia have a right to know,” he stressed.
Tan added that SMSL demands that the Australian government take immediate proactive action or pass legislation to regulate its companies, stopping them from exporting hazardous industry to developing countries.
Today SMSL will make their presence felt at Lynas’ annual general meeting in Sydney.
“We will be there to convey our messages to all the shareholders, Australians and the world,” the statement added.
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