Interesting Article!Uranium bandwagon rolls on
01May07
IF 'Uranium' was a starter in the Prime Minister's Cup at the Gold Coast on Saturday, the quote from bookies would be tight.
Uranium's previous Queensland form around Mary Kathleen in the northwest of the state may be 25 years old.
But all the smart money says that uranium will be set for a first-up killing despite long-standing warnings from race starter Peter Beattie.
The proven and respected rule in racing and down the stock market is that money speaks all languages. Beattie's defiance is at odds with the boom in uranium shares, ore prices and uranium takeover manoeuvres.
'Uranium mining one day, radioactive the next', is all very well from the Premier.
Mr Beattie has a backflip pedigree which would shame an Olympic high board gold medallist.
It lags behind the new federal Labor policy sanctioning the expansion of uranium mining in Australia.
It also is in direct contrast to the Howard Government policy on uranium and the potential for nuclear power in Australia.
But there is little evidence that Backflip Beattie's 59-strong caucus is committed long-term to continuing the uranium mining ban in Queensland.
There are at least a dozen Labor MPs in Queensland who owe their careers to the Premier.
The minute he officially backflips on uranium mining in Queensland these MPs will be in lockstep.
The Australian Workers Union MPs also support uranium mining.
AWU bosses Bill Ludwig and Bill Shorten have made this clear.
Former Parliamentary Speaker and AWU blowhard Tony McGrady hit the airwaves last week in a sweetly timed message of support for reopening of uranium mining in Queensland.
It is not any coincidence that McGrady is the former member for Mt Isa. The mining stronghold should prove a bonanza for new AWU memberships if extraction started on identified uranium deposits. Some estimates point to 400 jobs if the Premier gave the uranium mining go-ahead.
The Left faction in the Queensland Parliament would be expected to provide the uranium mining backlash. But this group is wary of antagonising the AWU and Old Guard factions in the Beattie Labor Government while their star Anna Bligh is officially premier-in-waiting. State Cabinet also toes any line from the Premier.
A Left-wing revolt also is unlikely with some faction members privately supporting the motion at Labor's federal conference which sank the no-new-mines policy.
All that is needed is a convenient and a none-too embarrassing time for Mr Beattie to perform his reverse somersault. The Premier actually supports federal party policy to open up new uranium mines in Australia.
Mr Beattie is off to Hong Kong, the United States and others to bang the Queensland drum. Every time he jets off somewhere overseas where the serious investment cash is stashed it seems to spark another rush on uranium shares.
Perth-based uranium producer and Queensland mining investor Paladin was not deterred from making a hostile bid for Summit Resources which part-owns a rich Queensland uranium deposit.
Paladin's $1 billion-plus offer for Summit is based on the company's substantial deposits close to Mt Isa. There are other uranium explorations around Mt Isa to keep the Premier on his policy toes.
Uranium stronghold South Australia and Queensland are identified as the states most likely to scoop any bonanza from increased production of uranium ore. The Labor SA Government already does nicely from the world's largest uranium mine at Olympic Dam. Mary Kathleen, between Mt Isa and Cloncurry, was a source of uranium for the British Atomic Energy Authority from 1958.
Production at the old mine is unlikely to resume but some mining explorers believe there are substantial nearby deposits to be exploited.
Queensland's uranium mining competitors are not confined to Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. The Chinese quickly circled uranium licences in Niger -- the world's third-largest uranium producer. New nuclear reactors are expected to be in operation in the northern hemisphere in the next five years. Somewhere during his travels, Premier Beattie's hotel lights are likely to be powered by nuclear energy.