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Jay Weatherill and people from Oak Valley community
Maralinga handover ceremony: Jay Weatherill and members of the Oak
Valley community (ABC News)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/18/2775350.htm
* Audio: Jason Om reports from Maralinga on the return of the
former nuclear test site to Indigenous people. (ABC News)
A ceremony in the South Australian outback has marked the formal
handover of the former nuclear test site at Maralinga to Indigenous
people.
The British Government tested weapons at Maralinga in the state's far
west in the 1950s and 1960s, including seven full-scale nuclear tests.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nuclear_tests_at_Maralinga
The South Australian Government says the land has been decontaminated
but some will be fenced off because it remains unsafe.
A parcel of land known as Section 400 has been handed back to the
Maralinga Tjarutja people.
SA's Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Jay Weatherill says it is the
final chapter of a 50-year struggle for justice.
"For them this is an incredibly important day, the taking away of the
land for them was an enormous loss," he said.
"Insufficient care was taken to ensure that all of the Aboriginal
people were clear from the area.
"The restoring of the land makes them whole and is very important for
their wellbeing."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/18/2775350.htm