Vincent debates nuclear-free zone status

by Coleen Tan

April 22, 2008

THE Town of Vincent’s nuclear-free zone status is on the line.

A staffers’ paper to the April 22 council meeting said the policy was no longer required, as there were state and federal laws covering nuclear material, making the policy redundant.

Vincent mayor Nick Catania was unwilling to speak much before the meeting. However, on a personal level, he thought the council would be better off making a declaration of “how much we respect our environment”.

“We have to make a statement, to protect and respect our environment,” Mr Catania said. “We all want to be nuclear-free, you know.

“You’ve got to have something relevant today. I think that it will be better when the pressure on our environment is going towards global warming. It’s better to make a statement that way, rather than saying ‘this is a nuclear-free zone’. “

On the other hand, Perth MLA John Hyde, a former Vincent mayor, said the council should keep the policy. He was part of Vincent council when it first decided to proclaim its nuclear free credentials on July 24, 1995.

 “I think it’s a very important policy still, that it sends a clear message which people living in the city do not want to encounter,” Mr Hyde said. “It’s not only nuclear active, more importantly, transport of nuclear waste throughout the town.”

He explained the happenings in Esperance and Fremantle, with debate about the transport of lead.

“Nuclear waste is a million times more hazardous than lead, so I think it’s really important that local communities do have the chance to express their views and people living in the city have been very strongly anti-nuclear,” Mr Hyde said. “The local council should continue to reflect that view.”

Mr. Hyde said he’d contacted Vincent councillors, and told them he “very strongly suggests they should keep it”.

“It’s all up to the council to decide but certainly a couple of them feel very strongly about the same views as me,” Mr Hyde said.