Calls for tighter regulation on Australian miners in PNG

Photo: An aerial view of the Ramu Nickel mine in Papua New Guinea. [Mining Journal]

Australian mining companies should not be allowed to engage in environmental practices overseas that would be illegal in Australia, an Australian politician says.

The call follows a recent legal decision in Papua New Guinea that allows the Chinese owned Ramu Nickel Mine to dump up to 5 million tonnes of toxic waste into the Astrolabe and Basamuk bays off Madang.

Greens Party leader Bob Brown has visited Madang to see the area which would be affected.

He says the legal decision is not just an internal matter for PNG and Australia needs to take action.

"It's an appalling indictment of modern technology being brought to Papua New Guinea without the safeguards that you'd get in the home country against this sort of destruction of marine ecosystems," he said.

The Greens Party holds the balance of power in Australia's Senate at the moment.

source: http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/