Australia: Nuclear Fools Day NDA

Palm Sunday, April 1st has been declared "Nuclear Fools Day" by Australian Climate and Anti-Nuclear groups in an National Day of Action against the nuclear industry.

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In recent weeks both sides of politics have come out of the closet in support of uranium mining.

Recently Julia Gillard, deputy leader of the opposition, has come out in favour of uranium mining, joining the voice of opposition leader Kevin Rudd. The Howard government has rightly pointed out that it is hypocritical to support uranium mining but not nuclear power or waste dumps. On April 29th the Labor party will formalise their decision at the National Labor Conference, a date being watched keenly by uranium investors. It's looking a lot like the Labor uranium mining ban will be lifted despite the majority of Australians opposing it.

The Howard government, currently in power, has taken steps to secure it's push for nuclear power by appointing pro-nuclear knob Ziggy Switkowski (former head of the governments pro nuclear task force into nuclear power) as now head of ANSTO, the nuclear regulatory body.

Government ministers have been boosting nuclear power for many months now, like born-again-Christians, since they discovered the voters want something done about climate change after years of denial and outright subersion of renewable technologies.

Last week new Federal environment minister, Malcom Turnbull (former businessman touted a Australia's richest politician), has stated that solar power cannot deliver the energy needs of a modern economy. This flies in the face of a 2006 report by the government funded Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development that found that the future for Australia should be solar and that just 50 square kilometers of land devoted to solar thermal technology could deliver all of Australia's energy needs. The government did not allow the scientists to publish the report and have attemtped to suppress its contents.

Also recently a consortium of Australian businessmen including Hugh Morgan (former owner of the Olympic Dam uranium Mine in South Australia), have stated they will build Australia's first nuclear plant. It has become a political hot potato with accusation from the opposition that the Ziggy task force that came down in favour of nuclear power, was convened after Howard and other government members met with these very same businessmen in 2005....

In the face of all this politicking and subterfuge the Australian people still remain skeptical about uranium mining and adamantly opposed to nuclear power plants in their back yards.

So the grassroots community has called this national day of action to call on our elected representatives and the wanna-bees too, to take heed of what the public wants, not what big business wants.

The Nuclear Fools Day collective say,

"Palm Sunday has a long history across the world where people come together and mobilise for a peaceful future and nuclear disarmament.

As such a growing collaboration of groups has seized upon the opportunity to come together, in this federal election year, to demand our political representatives stop their Nuclear Foolishness, instead creating a future for Australia that is free uranium mines, nuclear waste dumps, nuclear power stations and to get out from under the American Nuclear weapons umbrella."

For info about events in your area, resources and info go to:

www.nuclearfoolsday.org/