Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance) (14:30): I thank Senator Ludlam for the question. I can advise the chamber that, at approximately 1 am on 7 December 2013, leach tank No. 1 at the Energy Resources of Australia Ranger uranium mine, containing ground uranium ore, water and acid, failed, spilling into the plant area. The Australian government has ordered a thorough audit of the incident, and the Minister for the Environment has ordered an immediate investigation and immediate clean-up of the site. The Office of the Supervising Scientist was ordered to attend the site to conduct an inspection, and this occurred on Saturday. The advice provided to us is that there has been no threat of damage to Kakadu National Park. The minister will consider the findings of the investigation, which will be released publicly when finished. Senator Ludlam: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. It relates to relevance. I asked about the independence of the audits and the investigation that is underway, and the minister appears to be breezing along without any regard to my question. No-one has confidence in the existing regulators. Please tell us if there will be an independent audit or not. The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order at this stage. The minister has one minute and eight seconds remaining. Senator CORMANN: I would point out to Senator Ludlam that the Supervising Scientist is an independent statutory body, and so I was actually directly answering his question, just providing appropriate context around the answer given the public interest in this matter. So I will continue. The spill was contained within the plant area and there is no threat to the surrounding environment or human health outside of the immediate area. This was confirmed by the Supervising Scientist staff on site on Saturday, 7 December, and by the Acting Supervising Scientist himself on Sunday morning, 8 December. ERA have further contained the material around the plant area with earthen bunds so as to limit its spread in the event of rain. A small amount of material made it through the stormwater system to retention point 2. Chemistry results indicate no change in retention point 2 composition at this point in time. The material in the leach tank consists of ground uranium ore, water and acid at a pH of approximately 2. The material is not a significant radiological hazard and is similar to that— (Time expired)