Pressure mounts for Queensland to sell its uranium
By Steven Wardill September 20, 2008 12:00am
JUST like the byproduct of the substance itself, it seems, the debate on uranium never really goes away.
Labor is already bracing itself for the return of this long-running dispute about whether we should be mining Queensland's vast uranium reserves.
Battle lines are being drawn.
And this time around it will be very difficult for the Government to argue against, not least of which is the teetering economic position of the State Budget.
Anna Bligh has effectively reopened this can of glow-in-the-dark worms with her new Towards Q2 targets.
The Premier has committed her Government to ensuring Queensland has Australia's strongest economy, and to cutting the state's carbon footprint by a third. Lofty ideals indeed, but can the Government realistically expect to achieve either without uranium and nuclear energy?
There are many people, including Labor Party members, who say no.
On the economy, the election of the Liberals in Western Australia will all but ensure uranium mining will go ahead there.
That means Western Australia will have plenty of extra cash for health and infrastructure that Queensland doesn't because of Labor's ideological bias.
But Labor stalwart Bill Ludwig is already out there arguing to anyone who will listen that, without uranium, the State's economy is going to suffer.
No amount of Government rhetoric about diversifying Queensland's workforce into industries like biotechnology will ensure we catch a West Australian economy fuelled by uranium royalties.
Even harder will be slashing emissions by a third without an alternative fuel source to coal-fired power stations.
Bligh's Towards Q2 mentions cutting car and electricity use to achieve this, but this seems implausible.
The Government can't afford the public transport we need now, let alone what we need in the future when hundreds of thousands more people live in the southeast.
And it can subsidise all the energy-efficient light bulbs it likes, and this still won't make a real difference.
Those arguing against nuclear power are also arguing against the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which recommended it be part of the mix.
Peter Beattie produced the silly argument that uranium would just compete with our coal exports, ordered a report which contradicted him, and then introduced a ban anyway.
Bligh seems likely to try to continue this logic, but with growing concern about climate change and the State Budget, it could just blow up in her face.
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