DAP division moots 'Buy Australian Last' campaign over plastic, Lynas waste

JOHOR BARU: A DAP division here is urging Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahatir Mohamad to launch a "Buy Australian Last" campaign to pressure Australia into taking back all the plastic waste it illegally dumped in Malaysia.

The Iskandar Puteri DAP division is also seeking to stop all rare earth processing operations by Lynas in Pahang and to uphold Malaysia's sovereignty.

Its parliamentary liaison committee secretary Adrian Loo Yong Ang said Malaysia should not be a “cheap dumpsite” for plastic and radioactive wastes of developed countries.

“Australia has adequate technological back-ups and the large outback as potential dumpsite for their own plastic and radioactive wastes, ” he said in a statement after the division passed seven resolutions at its Annual General Meeting here on Monday (Sept 3).

Other resolutions include asking for the whereabouts and potential dangers of radioactive wastes from the rare earth processing buried in Bukit Merah in Perak in the 1980s and urging the government to abolish the outdated educational policy of “one language, one religion, one culture”.

“We also urge the government to be more consultative with stakeholders, including the non-Muslims, in pushing controversial and religiously sensitive policies such as the introduction of khat in schools, ” he added.

The division also urged the Pakatan Harapan presidential council to thoroughly review what it claimed was "elitist" economic, political and cultural policies, and instead implement needs-based affirmative actions regardless of race.

It also urged the Education Ministry to implement reforms of depoliticisation, deracialisation and for more inclusiveness.

The last resolution was to urge the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the presidential council to list the exact timeline for the Premier to hand over his post to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim so as to gain public confidence and political stability in the country.

“This will consolidate both domestic and foreign investors' confidence in investing in Malaysia and help the country come out of its economic dilemmas, ” Loo said.

The AGM was launched by Stulang Assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng. Also present was former Skudai assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau.