AUSTRALIA WILL ALLOW URANIUM MINING, https://afr.com/articles/2005/09/30/1127804649648.html
Let uranium go, says Howard
Sep 30 16:33
AAP
Australia should be free to mine all its uranium reserves without restriction, the federal government believes. "I don't think there should be restrictions," the Prime Minister, John Howard, said in Perth on Friday.
Uranium was a great national resource and, as long as it was exported under stringent safeguards, it should be allowed to be mined. "The policy of the federal government is to sensibly use the resources of this nation for the benefit of this nation. Our policy is clear and it's not going to change."
The West Australian Labor government has refused to change laws banning uranium mining in the state and federal Labor's policy is to limit mining to Australia's three existing uranium mines.
"How is it that it's all right to extract the uranium from a mine in one part of the country but not in another?" Mr Howard asked.
"Is the uranium in the first mine more moral, purer and nicer [than] in the second mine? It's just a ridiculous proposition. It's an act of political weakness by the Labor Party. They can't make up their mind on this issue."
The Prime Minister also called for debate on all energy options, including nuclear energy.
"I think we should debate all of the energy options that are reasonably available," Mr Howard said.
"We have the great advantage of having the largest export capacity of any nation in the world in coal, we have large reserves of natural gas and of oil but we are not immune from world forces.
"We also have vast reserves of uranium and what we must do as a country is use all of these things in a sensible way."