Nova Cannabis Inc Com V.ALZ.RT

Another article re NT Govt.

[westaussie]

Here is another article on the Northern Territory Uranium policy from Mining News.net. NT GOVERNMENT ADMITS IT ALWAYS INTENDED TO RELINQUISH CONTROL OF URANIUM Clare Martin’s government has this week traded the rights of Northern Territorians for allegiance to a political platform and the Labor Party’s ideological opposition to new uranium mines. On ABC radio yesterday afternoon Ms Martin admitted that she knew, presumably even while announcing her election policy of ‘no new uranium mines’, all responsibility could be handed to the Federal government. In the Australian Financial Review today, her Mines Minister admitted the no new mines policy was not in fact a policy but “was only ever meant to indicate the party’s preferred point of view”. (AFR, 05/08/05, p. 8) “The Chief Minister depends on the royalties, jobs and exports uranium mining presents to the NT. There was never any intention to stop further development of uranium, she was always going to defer responsibility to the Federal government.” “To that end, her ‘no new uranium mines’ election promise must have been announced with a lot of crossed fingers in the room because the Labor party knew it was an outright lie to the people of the Northern Territory,” said Mr Macfarlane. The Commonwealth was not proposing any seizure of power, there was no throwing down of legal briefs, no threats or bulldozing in Darwin yesterday. In the first five minutes of the Ministers meeting, the NT government simply handed over all responsibility for future uranium mining to the Federal government. “In my meeting with the Territory’s Mines Minister, Kon Vatskalis, the NT government dealt itself out of what has been a co-operative decision making process on uranium mining.” “It was an easy political cop-out for the Martin government which has chosen to be bound by the Federal Labor’s outdated three mine policy. Ms Martin is obviously abandoning a government responsibility on a political whim,” said Mr Macfarlane. “Under the Howard government, uranium will remain the most closely scrutinised and regulated mineral or ore mined in Australia. No new mines will be approved without the consent of the traditional owners and full satisfaction of all environmental and safety legislation,” he said.