Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia and Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (15:07):
I thank Senator Antic for his question. He would know, coming from South Australia, that the government is considering a number of sites in South Australia for the location of a national radioactive waste facility to store our waste. We've been trying to find a long-term place to store this waste for about 40 years. It's extremely important, because the waste that it will store comes primarily from the production of nuclear medicines that we make at Lucas Heights near Sydney. Nuclear medicine has allowed us to control and, in some cases, cure conditions like cancer, related thyroid conditions, bone pain caused by cancer and many other medical conditions. In fact, on average, around one in two Australians will require the use of nuclear medicines during their lifetime, so it's very important that we manage and store this waste appropriately.

Currently, our radioactive waste is spread across about 100 storage facilities. It is envisaged that a national radioactive waste management facility will consolidate this waste into a single, safe location. As I said, we are looking at three different proposed sites in South Australia—two near the town of Kimba and one near the town of Hawker. Just last week, a ballot was finalised in the community of Kimba on whether they would like their community to host such a facility. It's welcome news to report that over 90 per cent of people in that community voted—it was a voluntary vote—and around 61½ per cent of residents supported a facility located in their community. This is just one piece of information the government will consider before making a decision on any facility. There is another ballot due to occur in the Hawker region. That will open this week and it will be concluded before the end of Christmas. I welcome that level of support. I particularly thank the entire community of Kimba and also those in the Hawker region for their patience and resilience through this process as we try to find a place to store the waste from the production of life-saving medicines for all Australians.

The PRESIDENT: 
Order, Senator Canavan. Senator Antic, a supplementary question?

Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia and Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (15:09):
Can I say up-front that it's been a privilege for me to visit these communities multiple times through this process. Both Kimba and Hawker are fantastic towns. It's been great to get to know the leaders of those communities and many others in the communities. We have tried to support these towns through the process. As I said, it has gone on a while. Through that period, we have already invested $5.76 million across 57 projects across Kimba and the Flinders Ranges region to help their community grow, develop and meet their broader goals. The government has announced a further $4 million to provide additional community support because the vote took a little bit longer to get to because of the court case. If we are to proceed with the facility, we will invest $31 million in that community to help them upskill to take the best advantage of this facility which will provide 45 local jobs and lots of benefits to small businesses. We very much hope to partner with the community and help them grow and develop as well as help solve a national issue for our country.

The PRESIDENT: 
Senator Antic, a final supplementary question?

Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia and Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (15:10):
Again, as I said before to the question earlier, there are some direct benefits for the community. It will be a facility that will require 45 jobs. About 20 to 25 of those jobs will not require any skills. There'll be on-the-job training. So that will be open to most people in any town or community. We are also putting on the table $8 million to help upskill people in the community to train ahead of any construction or operation of the facility to fill the more skilled jobs. So it will bring skilled jobs to a local rural town.

One thing I'm very excited about is that, if we are to proceed with a facility in one of these communities, it will link a small country town in South Australia with our world-class nuclear medicine supply chain. We have already hosted students and community members at Lucas Heights from both of these communities. If we maintain that relationship over a long period of time, that will help young people in these towns be exposed to a world-class industry and maybe pique their interest in going on to contribute to what is an amazing industry that we are lucky to have in this country.