Protestors block a bridge near the Muckaty nuclear waste proposed site near Tennant Creek. Photo: Angela Wylie

A nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land should go ahead even if the land’s traditional owners have been incorrectly identified to government, the Commonwealth has told the Federal Court.

If it was found that a land council gave the federal government incorrect information about the traditional owners of Muckaty Station, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek, it would not invalidate the government’s 2007 approval for a dump there, Commonwealth lawyer Dr Stephen Donaghue SC said in Melbourne yesterday.

He said the government’s new radioactive waste law requires only that a land council present evidence of who the traditional owners are — not that the evidence be true.

A group of elders, including Ngapa elders Mark Lane Jangala, claim that they are among the traditional owners of the station. The Northern Land Council had excluded the group, identifying the family of Amy Lauder (who has since died) as owners instead. Counsel for the groups, Ron Merkel QC, told Justice Tony North that the land council was a commercial body, that Ms Lauder was a member of the council, and that his clients’ exclusion had involved ‘‘misleading and deceptive’’ conduct. Misconduct was denied by the council, represented by Sturt Glacken SC.

Mr Merkel sought a full trial of the case and accused the Commonwealth of delaying proceedings.

‘‘People are elderly and dying and already the most important person in the case has died,’’ he said.

Mr Merkel said the government would only need to give 10 days notice to declare the site a dump and there was ‘‘only a shortlist of one’’ possible site: Muckaty Station.

The radioactive waste law, which passed Senate this month, has been opposed by environmental and indigenous groups who say the powers it grants to Resources Minister Martin Ferguson are too broad.

Dr Donaghue said the law, which was expected to receive the Governor General’s approval within days, included new requirements that owners be consulted before a final declaration was made.

‘‘Why would an injunction be issued before any of that process has been gone through?,’’ he said.

He said it was a misuse of resources to embark on a trial to identify the traditional owners.

He said payments to traditional owners — which could reach as much as $12 million — were compensation rather than commercial in nature and therefore were not subject to the prohibitions against misleading and deceptive conduct in the Trade Practices Act.

The La Nina event that has been impacting eastern Australia has ended, allowing a return to near-average conditions in coming months, Weatherzone says.

La Nina events generally bring above average rainfall to eastern parts of Australia, including Sydney.

The most recent La Nina event occurred predominantly across the spring and summer months and was a contributor to the above average rainfall and floods through many parts of the eastern states.

The key indicators of ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) are now at neutral levels, Weatherzone meteorologist Rob Sharpe said.

This includes the SOI (Southern Oscillation Index), which is a measure of the pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin, and the Nino 3.4 Index, which is a measure of sea surface temperatures over the central Pacific.

The neutral phase of ENSO will allow rainfall values to tend closer to normal as we move further into autumn and winter.

However, the country is still surrounded by above average sea surface temperatures and the tropical wet season will continue through the end of April, so there is still the risk for above average rainfall and cyclone activity during the next month.

Also, autumn is the wettest season for Sydney, due to an increased frequency of east coast lows over coming months, so the decay of La Nina does not necessarily mean drier times for Sydney.

Weatherzone.com.au is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website.

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Advocate … asbestos victim campaigner Bernie Banton. Photo: Adam Hollingworth

A PROPOSAL to build a huge waste treatment plant on a seven-hectare site in western Sydney once used to manufacture asbestos has outraged residents who say it threatens their safety.

When the extent of the deadly legacy of asbestos was realised in the late 1990s, the owner of the site, James Hardie, demolished its buildings and laid a concrete slab on the Grand Avenue site in Camellia, five kilometres east of Parramatta’s business district.

Now, five years after the death of Bernie Banton, the former James Hardie employee who worked at the plant and died from the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma, residents are angry about a development proposal before the state government which they say will require parts of the contaminated site to be dug up.

The German waste management and recycling company Remondis plans to build a commercial and industrial waste treatment facility, which is across the road from a childcare centre and Rosehill Racecourse, over the river from the University of Western Sydney’s Parramatta campus and near residential areas.

Community concerns centre on the danger of disturbing the soil under the concrete cap, soil Remondis concedes is still heavily laced with asbestos particles.

Residents’ letters protesting against the development have accused the government of putting business before public safety and parents who use the childcare centre have threatened to remove their children if the project goes ahead.

Remondis’s national technical manager, Mohan Selvaraj, said the land had been cleaned up by Sydney Water but conceded asbestos was still in the ground.

He said the proposal did not involve disturbing the concrete cap but building on top of it, although sections would have to be dug up for sewerage.

”This will be monitored by Work Cover,” he said. ”This is a standard procedure. It is not a difficult thing to do.”

Mr Selvaraj said objections were ”par for the course” and the company was prepared to address concerns.

But the president of the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, Barry Robson, said the proposal was outrageous, particularly as heavy vehicles associated with the waste operation could fracture the concrete over time.

”There is a reason why the concrete cap is there and that’s because the bloody land is contaminated, that’s why it’s so cheap. Nobody else wants a bar of it,” he said. ”To go around disturbing it is crazy. Do they want to create a fifth wave of victims?”

Plans for the development are on exhibition for public comment until April 10 and the fate of the project, classified as a state-significant, is expected to be decided by the NSW Planning Assessment Commission.

Residents have been lobbying Parramatta City Council and their MP, Geoff Lee, to oppose the development.

But Dr Lee told the Herald he had wanted the council to rezone the site from heavy industrial to residential to cater for an additional 10,000 people living and working there.

”A waste disposal centre in the middle of the capital of western Sydney is a sad outcome,” he said. ”The asbestos problem can be remediated … but this is prime waterfront. It makes me cry talking about it.”

A council spokesman said yesterday a position had not yet been reached. ”Council officers are reviewing the application for Camellia,” he said.

”Key issues to be addressed will include traffic, dust, noise and odours.”