Could be some cracks appearing in Qld's stand on uranium as well. On Late Line last night the Opposition leader in WA virtually said mining of uranium is a distict possibility in Qld and that WA could be left out - anyone else see the interview?...... http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24290669-5013871,00.html
States 'missing out on uranium riches'
RIGHT-WING union powerbroker Bill Ludwig has cranked up pressure on the Queensland Government to allow uranium mining, slamming the existing ban as ideologically driven.
Queensland and Western Australia have consistently opposed uranium mining, despite lobbying from the industry, while South Australia has welcomed it with open arms since the federal ALP dumped its no new mines policy.
Mr Ludwig, national president and Queensland branch secretary of the Australian Workers Union, told The Australian his state was forgoing uranium mining revenue and jobs for no "good reason".
"Queensland is missing out on quite important development," he said. "There are a lot of royalties to be harnessed by the Government. The expansion that is going on in South Australia ... they are having a great time down there."
Three uranium mines are approved to operate in South Australia, with another four mining lease applications before the Rann Government.
A joint-venture headed by Chinese steelmaker Sinosteel is the latest to seek approval for uranium mining, this week applying to develop a $160 million mine at Crocker Well, 400km northeast of Adelaide.
Mr Ludwig criticised the Queensland Government's opposition to uranium mining, saying he believed "some sort of ideology" was holding it back.
Premier Anna Bligh yesterday said her Government would not be steamrolled into reviewing its ban on uranium mining. "We will not approve any uranium mine in Queensland," she said.
Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory contain the bulk of Australia's known uranium ore reserves, the world's largest. But despite the federal ALP's policy change last year, South Australia and the Territory are the only jurisdictions to allow mining.
Mr Ludwig also took aim at Premier Alan Carpenter's Government in the west, currently in the final week of a state election campaign, for shutting itself off from the benefits of uranium mining. This would especially hurt indigenous people, he said.
The absence of uranium mining has become an election campaign issue in Western Australia, with Liberal leader Colin Barnett supporting mining while Mr Carpenter has promised to enshrine the ban in legislation if re-elected.
"If there is a ban on uranium mining that continues in this state, it is not only uranium projects that we'll miss out on, it will damage the reputation of this state as the world's leading mining economy," Mr Barnett said yesterday.
Mr Carpenter -- who this week admitted to voting to overturn Labor's three uranium mines policy at last year's national party conference -- has repeatedly tried to paint uranium mining as a doorway to nuclear waste dumps.
"We do not need to go down the uranium mining path," he said yesterday. "If you pick up one end of the stick -- uranium mining -- the other end of the stick has got nuclear waste disposal written all over it."
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