back to Organic Consumers Assn. Food Irradiation page

October 2000

News on Irradiation in Queensland, Australia

from our sources

Health ministers are meeting early November to discuss new ANZFA Food
Standards.

Activists have lost their appeal in the Planning & Environment Court in Brisbane against the Nuclear Irradiation Plant for Narangba. Unfortunately, planning laws do not take into account community concerns and it seems that, if the planning application is not incorrect and the council has obliged by declaring the relevant industrial estate "Hazardous Noxious & Offensive" and the development is "appropriately situated", you end up with a huge radioactive storage facility on your doorstep. The judge also said we had failed to prove that this plant would be used for food irradiation - despite evidence to the contrary.

We have learned that Steritech have put in an application to Queensland State Health Department for a licence to irradiate food, under the new Food Standards. Steritech has applied to irradiate herbs, spices, oils, etc. - check it out on http://www.anzfa.gov.au - the links for the application or issues paper may be available later.

This is tabled and may be discussed by the Queensland Parliament in May 2001. We are contacting the Minister for Health (Wendy Edmonds) and the Speaker's Office to confirm this, ascertain the exact wording of the licence application (perhaps to obtain a copy of it) and the format of the Parliamentary discussion. Fortunately, May 2001 is very close to the projected date for the State elections. We have to make this a political issue, an election issue. We have to let THEM know we (the people of Queensland, and probably Australia) don't want a nuclear plant, a radioactive storage dump (with the potential for 3.5 million curies), or irradiated food. Please feel free to contact local media yourselves, as well.