Sun, 7th September 2008   INDIA VISIT IS THE TIME FOR SMITH TO BACK DOWN ON AUSTRALIAN  URANIUM EXPORTS

The Hon Andrew Robb AO MP   Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (to 22 September 2008)

Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, should use his visit to India next week to announce  that the Rudd Government will be reversing their policy of not exporting Australian  uranium to India.

“One of the first foreign policy acts of the Rudd Government was to renege on a  decision by the Howard Government to help India supply greenhouse gas free  electricity to its growing population, by providing uranium to India, under a  agreement being negotiated between the US and India,” said the Shadow Minister  for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Andrew Robb AO MP.

“Since that time the Rudd Government has been humiliated into supporting the US -  India agreement at meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and  the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) which effectively condoned the sale of uranium  to India by other countries around the world for peaceful power generation.

“Mr Rudd and his Government now need to go one step further and reverse the  other half of their decision which reneged on the Howard government agreement to  supply India with Australian uranium.

“As the Coalition has been saying, the Government has no choice but to reverse  their opposition to these sales if they were serious about climate change and  reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

“As India grows, it will rank third behind the US and China in terms of global energy  usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

“The removal of the existing restrictions on the import of nuclear technology and  uranium for peaceful power sources could see as much as 35 per cent of India's total  energy needs being met by clean nuclear power plants by 2050.

“This would have a much bigger impact on global greenhouse gas reductions than  any domestic policy Mr Rudd could propose.

“The Rudd Government's decision to overturn this policy was wrong and by the  Foreign Minister telling India it was because of ‘party politics’ the offence was  compounded,” Mr Robb said.

“India is understood to be deeply offended by the Rudd Government decisions, and  the manner in which it was conveyed.

“India’s energy security and needs are the major issue in the relationship between  our two countries.

“This issue can strategically make Australia a very important partner to India. It is the  thing India really wants from us. It is the big issue.

“While Mr Smith has in the past rightly referred to India’s incredible economic growth,  the fact of the matter is that for this growth to continue, India needs access to reliable  energy supplies.

“It is hypocritical in the extreme for Australia to refuse to sell our uranium to India, yet  plausibly support the rest of the world supplying uranium.

“As well, it makes no sense for Australia to sell uranium to China and Russia, but not  India.

“The US-India nuclear agreement is good for India, good for Australia, good for the  region, good for climate change and good for nuclear non-proliferation.

“To block Australian uranium sales to India while supporting the sale by other  countries makes no sense and is an affront to India.

“The Foreign Minister needs to use his visit to India next week to announce a  reversal of this bad policy. It is disastrous politics. It is a position that is  unsustainable. It can and must be reversed.

