Leader of xl-ie Oj">])0.siiion -  Ã¢ÂÂ   '  !  '  .  :

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.EMBARGO : 6.ÃÂ0 pm B.S.T

Sunday 4.9 Â«77

X have sought this .time with you tonight to discuss one of the ;

most important matters v;e Australians have had to consider ~ what

to do with/ our uranium. . . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .....: .  .  . . . . .  .

Xn July a 9.75/ X appointed an inquiry under the Chairmanship or .  ;'

Hr. Justice Fox to report on the mining and export of

Australia's uranium. The Reports of the Fox Commission'arc .

recognised around the world as the. most c-ompxOhensive examination

of one of the most serious questions now before the world _

community, Â·  .  Â·  r Ã¢ÂÂ   .Â·Â·.Â·. . .  .

There should be no doubt about the gravity of. the decision taken

by the present Government.  It commits Australia to the export o.t

uranium regardless of the lack of international controls to.prevent

the spread of. nuclear weapons and to reduce the risks of nuclear war

Xt commits Australia to a decision which would increase the amount

of man-made nuclear waste Ã¢ÂÂ¢ waste which remains poisonous for a

quarter of a million years - regardless of the fact that there is

so far no technology, no system of -  controlsÃ¢ÂÂ <  for its safe storage <

disposal.  .  v

These are the two main reasons why the Australian Labor Party and

growing numbers of the community, the Australian community,  the

world community, oppose the decision which Hr, Fraser spoke to .

you about last Sunday, ,

It adds to the risk of nuclear w a r Â»  Xt adds to the danger of damage-^

deformity and d e ath, in this generation and for generations to

c o m e ,  This is' the wrong decision at. the wrong time.

Fnrlmmctnt 1 louse.. Cimlu-no. AC T.  i d o o

-  2 -

It should be thoroughly understood that the Gov e r n m e n t ’s ;-Â·:

announcement conflicts with the findings of the Fox Commission,

The Commissi on identified the spread of nuclear weapons as the ' Â· . Â· ' Â· Ã¢ÂÂ  Ã¢ÂÂ

fundamental problem - a problem that, must be solved before, not

after, any decision .to renew the export oÂ£ uranium, -  / . ÃÂ,.Â·Â·,ÃÂ½ÃÂ^. -

This problem has not been solved. Xt is not near to solution,

Ã¢ÂÂ¢Safeguards to prevent peaceful nuclear activities being diverted to

military purposes - safeguards to prevent the by-products of

nuclear energy being used to make nuclear weapons - are completely

inadequate. Only last June, the International Atomic Energy Agency

reported serious deficiencies in the safeguards system'applied by

the member-states. Further, the European safeguards system - .

Euratom - does not apply international safeguards to the 200 >

nuclear facilities in Western Europe. The United .States herself -

cannot account for some S,000 lbs. of nuclear material, enough .  Ã¢ÂÂ

to make 200 atom bombs. The plain fact is that there are no -

effective, verifiable safeguards agreements in force anywhere in  <  Â· Â·  Â·  .

the world, .  -

When 1 was in Vienna and Brussels last June, at the headquarters

of the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency and Euratom, X took par t

in discussions which brought this matter to the forefront of mv

concern in a way" which, X fully acknowledge, had not previously,

been brought home to me.

Mr. Fraser claims t h a t Â·uranium exports would provide an incentive

for customer-countries to join the Non-Proliferation. Treaty and

to apply more stringent safeguards, Yet the Australian Government

has committed itself to supply uranium before any of the

custom.er-coimtr.ies have committed themselves to safeguards. The

incentive tov/ards safeguards comes not by supplying, but by

withholding. Xt simply does not make sense to play the game before

the other side has agreed to stick to the rules, or even agreed

what the rules are to be.

T he Fox Commission also urged that there .should be no export of. Â· Â· . . Â·

'Australia's uranium until there .is .a.safe way of storing and v Â· :.v

disposing of nuclear waste. .  Ã¢ÂÂ   .  .  =  .

Let roe quote something Mr..Fraser told you last Sunday; it was a

very serious misrepresentation. Speaking about waste disposal ~

said :  .  .  .

he

"Let me emphasise as. forcefully as 1 can that here the

scientific knowledge does exist, .  T’ he technology does -  .

exist. The scientific knowledge and technology''have been

ztpplied to the problem of waste. The technology is known.’1

This is just not true. Let me. emphasise that as' forcefully as 1

can; at roost, there are disposal processes which have only *- and

X quote the words of the Minister fox' Environment in Parliament *

"proved to be technically feasible at pilot plants." -Â· Ã¢ÂÂ  Â·  Ã¢ÂÂ Â·..Â·-Â·.-Ã¢ÂÂ

And that same Minister, Mr. Newman, went on to say that the Ã¢ÂÂ   /

responsibility for waste disposal was solely a matter for other

countries. We take the money - and run. '

Ã¢ÂÂ   '  '  .  .  V"

Safe methods or waste disposal at a  commercial level are a long,

long way off. -  v Â·  Â· .  Ã¢ÂÂ   Â·..Â· .  .  .

Contrast Mr, Fraser’s assertion' with the finding of the Fox

Commission. Its Report states : .  .  :  .  . .  - -  . .

“There is. at present no generally accepted means by which

high level waste can be permanently isolated from the

environment and remain safe for very long periods.”

Mr. Fraser stressed that Australia herself would not store the

poisonous waste produced by the. uranium we sell, Fair enough ~

but you are entitled to ask ;  why shouldn’t we accept the waste

from which we profit if this waste is completely safe? .  .  .

- 4 ~

And t h a t 1  s the sort of question other nations ax'e entitled to ask

Australia. There '.is a .parallel t four years ago, .when our Â·Â·Â·Â·Ã¢ÂÂ Â·Â·

Australia)! Government was .leading the fight against French nuclear

tests in the South Pacific, the Prime Minister.of Fiji bluntly Â·

asked the French t -  Â· .  .  - . Â· Â·  :

"If your bombs arc so safe, why don't, you explode them off

Corsica?1  "  . . .

An d  of course A u s tralia’s refusal to receive nuclear waste is

itself a confession t h a t 1  there is no safe method of storing it.

'the most remarkable thing about Mr, F r a s e r ’s statement last Sunday

was what it did not say. He just d i d n ’t mention the real reason

for the decision Â·- the money! ,4 There is the unspoken basis of the

whole thing.

There is no need to be coy about it.. Â·  Â· -  Â·.>->Â·Â·:Â·Â·Â·

8

W e  are entitled, to weigh carefully the economic advantages to be

obtained from the export of our uranium, ,.Â·Â·Â·Â·Â·.

Such economic advantages Ã¢ÂÂ¢ export income, royalties , jobs. - will

not begin for five years, even ten years. The decision is v

irrelevant to Australia's current economic problems. :

ft

The decision makes no contribution, at all to solving Australia's

present economic ills, unless one assumes that our record .

unemployment and prolonged.recession will continue well into the

1980's.

Go why the rush to judgement? The weight of argument, of advice,

of expert opinion is against this decision. And, just as

important - there is no need for this decision n o w , when there are

so many unsolved problems, fearful problems. Rather,- there is

an emphatic need not to take a decision until those problems have

been solved.

US to

J 1

~  5

The Fox Commission provided'the Government with a second option. .

It favoured this second option ~ to delay making a decision about

supplying Australia’s uranium for several y e a r s .

That is the least that should have been done —  Â·  to delay n .

decision for several years - until fhe.re arc effective controls: .

against the spread of nuclear weapons, until there is a safe

w a y .ofÂ· 'storing.nuclear -waste# until the export of uranium could

make" some significant contribution to Au s t r a l i a ’s economic and

social well-being. .  .

And until these things occur, my Party a n d , 1 a m  convinced, a

growing number of Australians, a majority of Australians, will

continue to oppose n decision which shows a disregard for the

truth, a disregard for Australia’s national and international

responsibilities, a disregard for the safety of the world

community and a disregard for future generations of mankind.

Goodnight.

