On 15 September 2008 Senator Ludlam asked the Minister representing the Minister for Resources and Energy:

 (1) Is the Minister accurately quoted in an article on page 1 of The Age on 9 June 2008 stating ‘He said it was necessary to finalise the site well before the next election because nuclear waste from Sydney’s Lucas Heights research reactor sent overseas for reprocessing would return to Australia from 2011’.

 (2) Can the Minister confirm that the Contract for the Management of ANSTO’s [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s] Research Reactors Spent Fuel, dated 1999, between ANSTO and the French company Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires (COGEMA) for reprocessing the spent nuclear fuel from Lucas Heights, states at 5.3.1 ‘Principle’ that return ‘shall take place in 2015 at the latest’, with a reference at 5.3.2.1 under the heading ‘Performance bond’ to the date of 31 December 2015.

 (3) Can the Minister confirm that in the aforementioned agreement there is a reference to ‘any extension permitted by COGEMA’ indicating the potential for a later date to be sought by Australia.

 (4) Can the Minister confirm that while the contract provides for a potential return ‘as soon as technically possible’, there is a provision that a performance bond be paid by Australia of 1.5 million francs (approximately $397 514) to COGEMA in 2013, which may then be forfeit if return is not made by 31 December 2015.

 (5) In the absence of a radioactive waste management strategy that satisfies the ALP [Australian Labour Party] National Platform and Constitution 2007, ‘Chapter 5’, ‘scientific, transparent, accountable, fair and allows access to appeal mechanisms’, will the Minister consider negotiating an extension arrangement with COGEMA or paying the performance bond and further management costs for Australia’s waste to remain in France.

On 4 September 2008 Senator Ludlam asked the Minister representing the Minister for Housing:

(1) Has an Emergency Taskforce, as recommended in the June 2008 Senate Select Committee on Housing Affordability in Australia, been established to consult with Pilbara communities and industry to develop a coordinated response to the housing affordability crisis in the Pilbara?

(2) If so, what are the terms of reference and membership of the Task Force and when and with whom will it meet?

(3) If not, does the Minister intend to establish such a Task Force?

(4) If not, can the Minister inform the Senate of when this emergency will be recognised as such by the government, and addressed - given the conditions that people in the region are experiencing and its impact on the sustainability of the regional economy?

(5) What funds does the Commonwealth intend to invest to address the crisis in public and community housing in the Pilbara?

(6) Will the provision of units of affordable housing in the Pilbara be prioritised in the assessment of projects under the NRAS?

(7) Has the issue of 'land-banking' (that is, the speculative withholding of land release) and reform of LandCorp been discussed with the State as part of the discussions about ongoing Commonwealth housing funding?

On 4 September 2008 Senator Ludlam asked the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research:

(1) Since its opening in April 2007, what is the total number of days the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) OPAL research reactor 31 km from Sydney at Lucas Heights functioned as compared to the number of days it has been inoperative?

(2) What cost has been incurred to Australia through the closure of the reactor, the required attempted repairs and the limited function of the reactor since it was restarted?

(3) Can the Minister provide a breakdown of this total costing?

(4) How much of this cost may be expected to be recovered from INVAP?

(5) What measures is the Government pursuing in order to recover these costs?

(6) Given the ongoing problems with the reactor, does the Minister concur with the description on ANSTO's website describing the OPAL reactor as "world-class"?

(7) What was the total cost for the construction of the OPAL research reactor?

(8) What are the ongoing annual maintenance and running costs of the OPAL reactor?

(9) Can the Minister provide a breakdown of the annual revenues which were projected to be derived from the operations of the OPAL reactor?

(10) Can the Minister provide a breakdown of the annual revenues which are actually derived from the operations of the OPAL reactor?

(11) Given that the OPAL reactor has been unable to deliver what it promised – four times the amount of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine than its predecessor, and related expansion in the nation's capacity for nuclear medicine – from which countries and companies did Australia source its isotopes from during the reactors inactivity?

(12) What contingency measures is the government putting in place to provide for long-term alternatives to production of radioisotopes from the OPAL reactor?

Senator Ludlam asked the Minister representing the Minister for Resources and Energy on 23 July 2008:

(1) When is the government intending to repeal the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act 2005, a commitment made in Chapter 5 of the ALP National Platform 2007?

(2) Will the Department of Defence sites being assessed under the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act 2005 be repealed in accordance with the ALP National Platform to, “not proceed with the development of any of the current sites identified by the Howard Government in the Northern Territory, if no contracts have been entered into for those sites?”

(3) Will the Minister confirm that on repeal of the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act 2005, the Muckaty site also no longer has legal status and will therefore be repealed in accordance with the April 2008 resolution of the Northern Territory Labor Party Conference?

(4) Did the Minister meet on 16 July with Northern Land Council representatives and/or Traditional Owners of Muckaty Station.?

(5) If so, what were the matters under discussion?

(6)  Is the Minister undertaking negotiation or discussions on “transitional arrangements” regarding the Muckaty site?

(7) If yes, what was the nature of the negotiations or discussions?

(8) On repeal of the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act 2005, given that the Northern Territory legislation prohibiting Commonwealth nuclear waste facilities will come back into legal effect, will the new ALP Commonwealth government respect the right and jurisdiction of the NT government?