Excuse me Wallfly.....some comments in response to your rather misguided post.
1. "He has categorically stated that there will be no uranium mining in WA on his "watch"! Well Alan,there is nothing more certain that WA will succumb to demands of the international community and begin to look at the commencement of U mining very soon."
I wonder.....how was it exactly that you reached that conclusion?
2. "Carpenter seems paranoid regarding the storage of waste material in WA. Again, if we mine it, and we surely will, we have to take responsibility for the safe storage of the waste. Other responsible countries throughout the world have not been shirking their obligations. Why should WA. Carpenter will "buckle" to the demands not only of the international community but also his own Federal masters."
May I ask where it is that you live?? Do you live in WA....if you did, you would know that the MAJORITY of West Australians (in contrast to the view of one man in the editor of the West Australian) DO NOT want uranium mining PRECISELY for the reason that we DO NOT want this great state turned into a dumping ground for the world's MOST toxic and hazardous waste. And why should we be accepting the waste back even if we did supply uranium? Who made that rule??
And what 'obligation' exactly are we under by the way? Who is it that 'demands' that we mine uranium?? And frankly, why should we care if anyone did?? Have we suddenly lost our independence??. Sounds very much like you are used to being told to bend over and touch your toes, but why should WA follow your example??
3. "The typical myopic and insular vison exhibited by the Carpenter government must change and if not, Carpenter will resign to keep faith with his stated position"
Wrong.....Carpenter's 'stated position' is in line with the wishes of the people of WA....uranium mining was a major election issue in WA last time around.
4. "I expect a flip flop from Carpenter because he has already demonstrated on numerous occasions that he is not man enough to lead WA."
Wrong again.....look at ANY poll you like and you will see that Carpenter enjoys huge approval ratings, and all in the face of all that has happened with the CCC. He is CLEARLY the preferred leader of the people in this state.
Others have suggested that there are HUGE economic benefits to be had by mining uranium......sorry people, but the Federal government's own research arm, ABARE, in it's recent commodities report, gives us a figure of approximately $700 million nationally as the export value attributable to uranium for 2007/2008, increasing to approximately $1.2B by 2012/2013......and those are national figures. Even if uranium production were to increase by 500% in the next 5-10 years, which is impossible, uranium exports NATIONALLY many would come in at around $6B.....and that's in 5-10 years time.
In 2005-2006 alone, WA's exports alone totalled some $47B.....and in 2006-2007, with commodity price increases it is expected to come in near $52-$55B.
So....
Projected WA exports ALONE 2006-2007......$52-$55B
I think it's fairly apparent that WA does not need income from uranium mining, let alone that we have VERY little extra capacity to do so....ANY employer, of which I am one, will tell you that it is near on impossible to find personnel.
I would suggest that those from the east who take issue with our stance, look at their own contributions to this country....for 9.9% of the population, we, the people of WA, already contribute 33.1% of exports from this nation.
All figures compliments of ABARE Commodities Report March Quarter.
P.S I am not against uranium mining.....80% of my portfolio is invested in uranium stocks in states that curretly allow it, and one that presumably soon will in QLD.....however, as a PROUD West Australian I do not want it in this state, and we certainly have no need for it here.
