Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Labor Party is out to scare and misinform the public about nuclear energy and the coalition’s position—its centrepiece being a cheap, pledge-signing stunt and misleading television advertising. It is politics of the worst kind. You do not achieve an informed public or offer any real policy positions running around with corflute pledges and felt pens. It is the old Beazley Telstra pledge rehashed, and it has about as much credibility.

It is also plainly hypocritical, because the same party flip-flopped on its uranium mining policy at its recent conference. It is now prepared to allow more than three mines, and it says that it is okay for Australia to increase its uranium mining capacity. If you are running around trying to scare people about the dangers of nuclear power and stifling any real debate on the issue, why would you actively promote Australian uranium? If it were such a dangerous commodity, why would you be selling it around the rest of the world? Unlike Labor, I actually want to have a factual debate about nuclear power where the community can exercise its voice. I have never wavered in my stance on what I have said. Australia should not run headlong into nuclear power, but nor should we close off options that could benefit this nation in years to come.

In controlling oil, the Arab and South American countries have done very well for their economic futures, and we should be doing something similar. We have 40 per cent of the world’s uranium, as has Canada, and we should be seen to be utilising that to this country’s advantage. The debate we need to have is: do 21 million people scattered around the coastline of Australia need nuclear power? Is it economical? Could it benefit the environment? Is it safe? Will the use of pebble bed technology in nuclear power generation make it appreciably safer? We need to look at all these things. Then we need to have that debate about whether or not we should enrich uranium in Australia—value-add to the product in this country—and sell it only to non-proliferating countries.

Finally, if you are sincere in having this debate we must find where we are going to deposit our nuclear waste. I am not advocating nuclear power plants in my electorate. I am not advocating that we have a headlong rush into nuclear energy; I am saying that, as an intelligent country, we should be having the debate and positioning Australia for years to come, and not this pious hypocrisy that Labor has been going on with while it opens up more mines. (Time expired)

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193 the time for members’ statements has concluded.