Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

The government does make decisions within its ambit to ensure that Australian trade can be advanced. There has been a very long tradition and history in this country of exporting uranium under very strict safeguards. Those safeguards which govern the export of Australian uranium were first established back in the Fraser years and are some of the strictest of any in the world. A number of countries are now in receipt of Australian uranium to power, for peaceful purposes, their energy-producing nuclear reactors. With respect to the potential for flowthrough of Australian uranium, I remind Senator Allison that, as with all of our safeguards agreements, the new agreement with Russia does require that Australia’s consent be obtained before any Australian obligated nuclear material is transferred to a third country. Under our policy, consent is given only for transfers to countries with which Australia has a safeguards agreement. (Time expired)