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“On delays, we appreciate that government agencies have limited resources and often are dealing with multiple requests,” Elberth says, highlighting that while the environmental non-profit agrees to nearly every extension request they receive, delays in the report “have occurred outside the extension process and more often than not come with little explanation”.
“On costs, we usually do not receive explanations for charges, other than a subjective calculation of the time spent on various parts of the process. For example, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources once advised that it would take five hours ‘search and retrieval time’ to locate four emails.”
An audit of Australia’s “dysfunctional” freedom of information system has called for an independent investigation into the way the prime minister and ministers treat requests for government documents. The Australian Conservation Foundation audited FOI outcomes for environment-related information over five years, and found the system is increasingly opaque, slow and costly. The audit’s preliminary findings, previously reported by the Guardian,.
Emails show Yeelirrie uranium mine approved a month before 2019 election after pressure from Cameco
By national science, technology and environment reporter Michael Slezak and the Specialist Reporting Team s Penny Timms
Posted
WedWednesday 13
updated
ThuThursday 14
JanJanuary 2021 at 1:19am
The Yeelirrie uranium project has a long and sordid history and a sod has not yet been turned.
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The dry red dirt around Yeelirrie station looks utterly inhospitable.
Sitting about 800 kilometres from Perth, in the far north of Western Australia s Goldfields region, the dry and remote land is dotted with spinifex, some small bushes and trees and not much else.
Key points:
Mining at the Ranger Uranium Mine wound up yesterday after more than 40 years
Traditional owners in Kakadu are now calling for an extension of the project’s rehabilitation phase
The company that runs the mine has signalled its support for the move
Production at the Ranger Uranium Mine, on the outskirts of the national park, drew to a close yesterday after more than 40 years of operation.
Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents Mirarr traditional owners, has used the closure to demand owner Energy Resources Australia (ERA) rehabilitate the site
beyond its current lease expiry in 2026.
Within that timeframe, the company is required to restore the site to its previous pristine state.
Over 40 years of high-impact uranium mining and processing at Energy Resources of Australia’s (ERA) Ranger mine in Kakadu ends today. Australia’s longest-running uranium operation was licensed to operate until January 8, 2021. “This is a very good day for Kakadu, the Northern Territory and Australia,” Australian Conservation Foundation nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney said. “The…