Policy Meltdown: LNP uranium U-turn bad news for Queensland
22 Oct 12, State government plans to open the door to the uranium industry in Queensland have been condemned by the ACF as irresponsible, ill-considered and in clear breach of pre-election commitments.
Premier Newman has today dropped promises made prior to this year’s state election and clearly re-affirmed within the last fortnight – and instead announced that uranium projects will be permitted in Queensland.
The move comes despite the LNP’s formal and “crystal clear” position that it had “no plans to approve the development of uranium in Queensland”* and in a letter to ACF Executive Officer Don Henry dated October 11 2012 that “I take this opportunity to reaffirm my statements, made before the last election, that the State Government has no plans to approve the development of uranium in Queensland.”**
“If radioactive waste lasted as long as Premier Newman’s commitment then uranium mining would be less of a problem,” said ACF nuclear free campaigner Dave Sweeney. “Unfortunately the waste lasts a long time at the mine site and even longer at the reactor. This is a contaminating and controversial trade and this is an extremely poor decision.”
“The continuing Fukushima nuclear crisis was directly fuelled by Australian uranium. Rocks dug up in South Australia and Kakadu are now causing radioactive fallout in Japan and beyond. In the shadow of Fukushima we need to be examining and exiting from the uranium trade, not digging ourselves further into a radioactive hole”.
The Australian uranium sector has been rocked by the market fallout following Fukushima with major drops in the profits and share values of uranium producers. Recent months have seen BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, walk away from long held plans to massively expand the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia and Cameco, the world’s largest uranium miner, defer plans for the development of the Kintyre project in WA.
“This is not the time for Queensland to give a green light to yellowcake. There is no compelling economic case, there is no accepted social license and the lessons of Fukushima need to be addressed not ignored”, said ACF Northern Australia Acting Manager Andrew Picone.
“This industry is unsafe, unwelcome and under-performing. It is a long road from a Cabinet back-flip to a dirty mine and the Queensland uranium sector will be contested at every step”.
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