national conference 2007

ERO is ready to fly on this!

Lift uranium ban, EU envoy to plead
Nigel Wilson, Energy writer
April 11, 2007

WESTERN Australian Premier Alan Carpenter will be told today the state Government has an obligation to lift its ban on uranium mining so that Europe can reach its greenhouse gas emissions targets.
The message will be relayed by European Union ambassador Bruno Julien during a courtesy call to the Premier this morning.
In an interview published in Perth he said European countries were interested in long-term contracts for uranium.

"We need more uranium because we are trying to green our energy supplies, to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions and it's our view we can work with WA," he said.

The news comes as uranium prices this week rose 19 per cent to a record $US113 a pound at a US auction because of increasing demand for the fuel, used in nuclear power plants.

The percentage jump, from $US95 a pound a week earlier, was the biggest since prices were first reported in 1968, Denver-based TradeTech said in its weekly Nuclear Market Review.

Mr Carpenter will meet the ambassador, on his first official visit to Western Australia before travelling to Canberra for discussions before Friday's Council of Australian Governments meeting.

The West Australian Labor Government has long banned uranium mining on the grounds it would lead to demands that Australia become a repository for foreign nuclear waste.

Mr Carpenter affirmed last month he was opposed to lifting the ban because uranium might be needed to meet future domestic energy needs.

The ALP's national conference this month is expected to lift the party's "no new mines" policy but the West Australian ALP state conference in June is not expected to debate the issue after Mr Carpenter said there would be no uranium mined in the state while he was premier.

BHP Billiton and Rio have big uranium deposits in the state but no firm development plans.


(The National Conference is the high point of Labor’s democratic structure. An opportunity for debate and dialogue, the 44th National Conference promises to be one of the most important ever, with the Conference being held only months before the general election. Delegates will deliver to the ALP our most up-to-date National Platform, and a fighting Platform for Labor Leader Kevin Rudd.

Labor’s new leadership team will be active participants in all debates and events. Further detail on Labor’s policies such as the economy, climate change, industrial relations, health and education will be discussed. The Conference will be an opportunity for delegates and observers to see Labor’s alternative policy vision and practical policies for Australia’s future.

400 elected delegates, including all State and Territory Premiers and Chief Ministers and many hundreds of observers will take their place at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour on Friday 27 April for the opening speech of Conference by the Leader of the Labor Party, Kevin Rudd.

Chairing the 44th ALP National Conference will be the first official duty of Senator John Faulkner when he takes up his position as ALP National President.

The three-day conference will conclude on Sunday 29 April 2007).