The Northern Territory government and various local clan groups are opposed to the plan to build a medium-level nuclear waste dump on the aboriginal land north of Tennant Creek.
The Bill was backed by the Opposition but opposed by the Greens and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, the ABC reports.
Anti-nuclear activist Nat Wasley told the Green Left Weekly she welcomed Greens Senator Scott Ludlam's amendment that international waste cannot be stored at the facility but said the rest of the legislation 'Is neither new nor good. It builds on the mistakes of the Howard era and lacks credibility and consent. There are still many hurdles for the government before a dump is up and running, and this proposal will be challenged every step of the way.'
'This is the beginning of the campaign to stop Muckaty, not the end', the ABC reported Senator Ludlam as saying
A dispute over who owns the land in question continues to complicate affairs - a Federal court case is yet to decide if the indigenous group who signed the deal to put Muckaty station in the running to hold the waste are the true owners.
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson's reitereated the an earlier pledge not to proceeed until the court case is decided, Fairfax reported.
'In relation to litigation in the Federal Court concerning the nominated land, the Government will not act on this site until this matter is resolved by the Court', he said.
Muckaty station is 120km from the nearest town of considerable population, Tennant Creek, and was first named as a possible location in 2007.
After South Australia rejected earlier plans, Muckaty is the only site nominated under the current proceedings.
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