Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Madam Fu Ying, stated in December 2005 that China does not have sufficient uranium for both its weapons and civilian energy programs,

(ii)

Australian yellowcake needs to go to conversion, enrichment and processing facilities before being allocated to declared civilian nuclear power stations,

(iii)

most of the conversion, enrichment and processing facilities are not declared facilities and are therefore not covered by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, and

(iv)

those facilities that are declared are only declared at the discretion of the Chinese Government, and therefore are voluntary and can at any time be removed from IAEA safeguards;

(b)

recognises therefore that by exporting uranium to China, Australia will be supporting, either directly or indirectly, the Chinese nuclear weapons program in contravention of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and

(c)

opposes and condemns the export of uranium to China.

Question put.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the statement by the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, on 28 March 2006 that ‘whilst India is not a signatory to the [Nuclear Non-Proliferation] treaty,  everybody knows that, her behaviour since exploding a device in 1974 has been impeccable’,

(ii)

that India conducted nuclear tests in 1998, prompting the Australian Government to sever defence links with India,

(iii)

that India resumed missile testing in 2001, using an intermediate range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead,

(iv)

that India has still not become a party to either the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and

(v)

India has a well-developed, active and secret program to outfit its uranium enrichment program and circumvent other countries’ technology export control efforts, according to a recently-released report by the United States of America-based Institute of Science and International Security; and

(b)

calls on the Prime Minister to rule out any change to the Government’s policy of refusing to permit the sale of uranium to India.

Question negatived.