Rudd pushes uranium bosses' agenda

Zoe Kenny
21 April 2007

It now appears certain that the ALP’s national conference, to be held in Sydney from April 27-29, will drop the party’s “no new uranium mines” policy, adopted in 1998. This will satisfy the big mining companies’ desire to expand uranium mining. Labor leader Kevin Rudd and his “left-wing” deputy, Julia Gillard, are leading the push to scrap the policy.

A decision to scrap the current policy would fly in the face of public opinion — a May 2006 Newspoll showed that 66% of Australians, and 78% of ALP voters, are opposed to any new uranium mines or want uranium mining to stop altogether.

But with the market price for uranium at record highs, major mining companies are falling over themselves to make big profits from Australia’s vast, low-cost uranium deposits — 40% of the world’s total. Labor’s uranium push is driven by its need to prove itself a loyal servant to the interests of big business in order to get corporate backing in this year’s federal election.

The widely expected latest Labor “U-turn" on uranium will not be as big a betrayal of ALP voters’ wishes as its backflip in the early 1980s.

Full:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/707/36712