PM - WA Govt rules out uranium mining, waste dump

PETER CAVE: The West Australian Government has ruled out any proposal for uranium mining, or a nuclear waste dump there.

The Premier believes that while the Federal Government is pressuring the State to lift its mining ban. It's also planning to force the State to accept a waste dump.

The Deputy Prime Minister wants an 'open mind' on the prospect of nuclear fuel 'leasing', whereby Australia would store the waste from uranium that it sells overseas.

But there seems to be no sign of a backdown in the State which has plenty of uranium, and plenty of space.

David Weber reports.

DAVID WEBER: Nuclear fuel leasing is being discussed, but it appears to be a long way off from becoming a reality in Australia.

The General Manager of the Uranium Information Centre, Ian Hore-Lacy, on this morning's AM program.

IAN HORE-LACY: You'd need a lot of capital to set it up, but yes, it would make sense, and I'm sure that's why people are starting to think about it and talk about it. But I wouldn't see any sort of full-fledged fuel leasing getting underway here within 20-years.

DAVID WEBER: WA has often been identified as the best state for nuclear waste.

The WA Premier Alan Carpenter.

ALAN CARPENTER: Do ordinary West Australian people want our Government – State government – to allow WA to be a nuclear waste dump? And do they understand what the Commonwealth Government is doing?

The Commonwealth Government is crashing in over the top of our State Government to try to impose all sorts of things on us, one of which was to force us to allow mining of uranium, if they succeed in that, they will force us to become a nuclear waste dump.

DAVID WEBER: The Premier's reason for knocking back uranium mining is that it was an issue during the last election.

The then premier Geoff Gallop did raise it in several forums, and he linked it to the storage of waste. But the U-word was never really at the forefront. The campaign was dominated by the Liberals proposal for a water canal from the Kimberley.

Yet, Alan Carpenter is confident that WA residents don't want to know about a nuclear dump.

ALAN CARPENTER: Find me a person who wants that to happen and see if that person can get majority support out of the community, I guarantee that they won't.

DAVID WEBER: Uranium issues are being raised in political circles nearly every day, but the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies says there needs to be better standard of debate.

The Chief Executive Justin Walawski says no one is pushing for immediate change to State policy.

JUSTIN WALAWSKI: It's fairly clear that for anything to change in Western Australia, it probably needs to change at the national level first.

DAVID WEBER: The Federal Government wants Western Australia to make some changes, and Federal Labor seems to be going down that path as well, looking at changes to its three mines policy, but any changes in Western Australia would be a long way off?

JUSTIN WALAWSKI: I think they would be. I think you'd be very hard pressed to look at even 2007.

I think what mineral explorers in WA, and nationally in fact, are looking for is just a reasoned, rational debate to begin the process and to make sure that the general public are comfortable with what's being discussed, and what it would mean for Australia if mining outside the three mines policy, or an extension of that policy, were to occur.

DAVID WEBER: Do you think that that reasoned debate that you've referred to is happening now?

JUSTIN WALAWSKI: Oh, I would say not.

I think it's still very emotional, and it's still being conducted largely in the media – and I'm not discouraging or critical of the media. I just think that for this to take place properly and in a reasoned way, it needs to be in other forums.

And that would be through meetings with ministers, through conferences and events and seminars, and through media that's already playing a part. So those three things are needed.

PETER CAVE: The Chief Executive of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, Justin Walawski, speaking there to David Weber.