Fed: Rudd says Labor will back him on uranium

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-2007
Fed: Rudd says Labor will back him on uranium

By Sandra O'Malley

CANBERRA, April 23 AAP - Labor leader Kevin Rudd is confident the party's rank and
file will back his plan to change the party's 25-year-old uranium mining policy.

And while party powerbrokers believe he will succeed, they warn that failure to overturn
the uranium ban would be fatal to his leadership and the party's electoral chances.

Mr Rudd will ask the party to overturn a 25-year ban on new uranium mines at Labor's
national conference this weekend, but is facing a push from the Left to defer any decision
until more stringent safeguards are in place.

Opposition frontbenchers Anthony Albanese and Peter Garrett are leading the charge
to maintain the status quo, saying there is no mandate to increase the number of uranium
mines in Australia.

Mr Albanese will put forward an amendment at the conference, which begins on Friday,
urging the party to consider tougher non-proliferation safeguards and strategies to deal
with nuclear waste, while leaving the issue of new uranium mines for later.

Mr Garrett, who ran for the Senate on a nuclear disarmament platform in the 1980s,
argues that Labor has gone as far as it should on uranium mining.

"It's clear that there's a strong feeling amongst Labor Party members, particularly
amongst the rank and file, and also frankly, amongst the public, that they don't want
to see a change in this policy," he told ABC Radio.

But Mr Rudd believes his proposal will succeed.

"I would expect the conference to support the approach I put forward to them," he told
reporters in Brisbane.

His deputy, Julia Gillard, is confident Mr Rudd will win but concedes it will be a tough fight.

"I believe that Kevin Rudd will prevail in this debate, but I expect it to be a vigorous
debate, and that's appropriate," she told ABC Radio.

Ms Gillard expects the party will fall into line with the leader, whose other main
challenge this weekend will be industrial relations.

"(The) conference will be very much guided by Kevin's view," she said.

Advocates of a change in policy warn that a defeat for Mr Rudd could seriously damage
his leadership and the party's chances at the next election.

But they don't believe those supporting the status quo have any serious chance of getting
their position up.

"This is just about the theatre of the party, they're playing to their constituency,"

one Labor source said.

Another predicted those against an expansion of uranium mining had "not a chance in
hell" of success.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann, who is expected to second Mr Rudd's motion, is
urging members to use common sense and change a policy that clearly hadn't worked.

"I hope that common sense prevails because being in government means making hard decisions
and it means making decisions on fact, not on ideology," he said.

The government is doing its best to capitalise on divisions within Labor.

Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said Mr Rudd would need to get Western Australia
and Queensland on board if he wanted to claim success at the conference.

"He needs to have a victory whereby Peter Beattie and Alan Carpenter go back to their
states and say we are now open for business, we will begin uranium mining as of today,"

he said.

"If he doesn't achieve that outcome and all we see is a continuation of South Australia
and the Northern Territory mining uranium then the whole weekend will be a farce."

Mr Beattie opposes a change in policy and expects even if Labor backs expanded uranium
mining the states will ultimately have discretion on whether they allow new mines.

AAP so/mfh/ks/sp

KEYWORD: URANIUM NIGHTLEAD

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