AUSTRALIAN PRIME minister Julia Gillard announced yesterday she is backing a push to sell uranium to India.
But firstly the ruling Labor party must reverse its long-standing policy banning the sale of yellowcake uranium to India due to it not being a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Ms Gillard flagged the move in advance of Labor’s national conference – which decides party policy – next month.
She says selling uranium to India would be good for the Australian economy and jobs growth. “We must, of course, expect of India the same standards we do of all countries for uranium export – strict adherence to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrangements and strong bilateral and transparency measures which will provide assurances our uranium will be used only for peaceful purposes.”
India is expected to increase its use of nuclear power from its current 3 per cent of electricity generation to 40 per cent by 2050.
“[We] must be prepared to confront difficult questions about maximising prosperity and the strength of our relationships in our region of the world,” said Ms Gillard.
The proposal was backed by the opposition Liberal party, but acting opposition leader Julie Bishop said the prime minister should not wait for the Labor conference before deciding whether to sell uranium to India.
“Julia Gillard should make this decision immediately,” Ms Bishop said. “It should not be dependent upon her begging for approval from the union bosses. It is in Australia’s interest to do so.”
Pakistan’s high commissioner to Australia has warned selling uranium to India could be seen by Islamabad as boosting its neighbour’s nuclear capability.
Abdul Malik Abdullah said whatever the Australian government decides should not discriminate against Pakistan.
“Like India, Pakistan is also not a signatory of NPT, and in the past there have been some instances where in the IAEA in other matters, some decisions were taken which were totally discriminatory against Pakistan,” said Mr Abdullah.
“So we hope whatever decision is taken would be fair, based on equity and non-discriminatory.”