Antinuclear

Julia Gillard’s new line on uranium to India causes quite a political mess

 the discomfort in some quarters about the plan was underlined yesterday when India test-fired a long-range missile, which officials said was capable of carrying a one-tonne nuclear warhead deep inside China.

Gillard’s uranium backlash The Age, Michelle Grattan, Katharine Murphy and John Watson November 16,
2011 PRIME Minister Julia Gillard’s push to sell uranium to India has triggered a fight with her party’s Left, attracted disquiet from Pakistan and infuriated Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who was not consulted about the change. Tensions between Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd are likely to escalate after the snub, which was made worse by Mr Rudd being in India when she made the move.

India has welcomed the plan, which, despite its potential to incite Labor brawling, appears certain to be approved by next month’s party conference. The Left’s Anthony Albanese last night became the first cabinet minister to break ranks with the Prime Minister, confirming he would oppose the change. ”I’ll be supporting the existing platform,” Mr Albanese, a long time anti-uranium and anti-nuclear advocate, told The Age.

As other ministers, including Resources Minister Martin Ferguson and Defence Minister Stephen Smith, hit the airwaves to back the PM, Mr Rudd said the issue would be ”a major debate” at next month’s ALP national conference……

Although Australian uranium would be used for civil purposes only, the discomfort in some quarters about the plan was underlined yesterday when India test-fired a long-range missile, which officials said was capable of carrying a one-tonne nuclear warhead deep inside China.

Pakistan’s high commissioner to Australia, Abdul Malik Abdullah, said Pakistan had previously been discriminated against in nuclear deals, and he hoped its interests would be considered.

Labor Left convener Stephen Jones, who was in Japan during the Fukushima crisis, said Japan had amply demonstrated the nuclear industry’s risks. ”There’s no such thing as a fail-safe nuclear reactor,” he said.

Senator Doug Cameron, another Left convener, said India and Pakistan were nuclear-armed countries that had been at war. Australia should not sell to India so it could free up its other uranium for weapons.

Fellow Left convener Graham Perrett said: ”The platform should stay unchanged, especially after Fukushima.”…

Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Howes called for the party in Western Australia and Queensland to ”overturn their ideologically based and decades-old ban on uranium mining”. But Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said she would not be lifting the ban…..

Jia Qingguo, associate dean of Peking University’s Centre for International Relations, said Australia resuming uranium exports to India and establishing a US military presence in Darwin was part of an Obama administration strategy to balance perceived threats from China.

”There is a high probability that the Indians are not going to use the uranium for nuclear energy,” he said.

”This is going to be counter-productive. When you encourage nuclear proliferation to your friendly countries it is very difficult to rein in nuclear proliferation to countries you don’t like,” said Professor Jia..

http://www.theage.com.au/national/gillards-uranium-backlash-20111115-1nhdh.html#ixzz1do6zFYrT

November 16, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, uranium