Almost 1000 South Australians have already registered their interest in being on the first Citizens’ Jury, the start of a state-wide consultation process on South Australia’s future involvement in the nuclear industry. 

With RSVPs closing this Friday, 961 South Australians have signed up to take part so far, with strong interest expected during the final week of the registration process.

Background

A total of 25,000 invitations were sent to randomly selected South Australians earlier this month, inviting them to be part of the first jury, tasked with determining the key questions arising from the Royal Commission’s Report that South Australians should consider and discuss.

The first Citizens’ Jury marks the beginning of a comprehensive state-wide community consultation program. The Jury will meet in late June and early July and members will be remunerated for their time.

The phases of the community consultation process are:

• The first Citizens’ Jury (50 people) will determine key questions the community should consider and discuss during the consultation phase. (June 24/25 and July 9/10)
• All South Australians will then be given a chance to consider the jury’s report, and be involved via face to face forums in metropolitan, regional and remote South Australia, social media and online engagement and a free-call number. (July-October)
• A second Citizens’ Jury (350 people) will produce a report to the Government outlining the community’s position. (October)

The State Government will outline its position on South Australia’s involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle by the end of the year.

Quotes attributable to Premier Jay Weatherill

The strong response to date to this process indicated the community wants to be part of this process and to learn more.

We want the community to lead this conversation, tell us their issues and concerns, and get involved in this important decision about our State’s future.

All the feedback will contribute to informed debate and provide the Government with a clear understanding of the community’s position on this important matter.

Through this state-wide engagement program, I encourage all South Australians to have a say.

Quotes attributable to newDemocracy Foundation Executive Director Iain Walker

We recognise that people have busy lives and it is a fairly technical document to get through – that’s why the first jury process is underway, so that a group of everyday South Australians can dive deeper into the content and what it means.

I’m sure South Australians will be interested to see what 50 of their peers want to know more about after hearing from the experts and those involved in writing the report.

If you have an invitation, then take a few minutes to respond by Friday. For everyone else, when you see the results of the jury’s work – a short, independent report – take one morning when you would normally be reading the paper and instead read what this jury of people like you have found.