Saturday, 25 August, 2007

by Paul Austin and Liz Minchin
The Age

PREMIER John Brumby has seized on Prime Minister John Howard's promise to give communities the right to veto any proposal to build nuclear power stations, using it to attack Victorian Liberal leader Ted Baillieu, who voted against a similar plan in April.

Mr Brumby suggested there was a split between Mr Howard and Mr Baillieu, and accused the Opposition Leader and Greens of trying to "gag Victorians on this deeply concerning issue".

The Greens, who also voted against the Labor plebiscite plan, are Labor's main opponents in next month's byelections for Williamstown and Albert Park.

In April, the Greens voted with the Liberals, Nationals and the DLP to kill a State Government bill designed to give Victorians a say on whether nuclear reactors could be built here.

Under the bill, rushed into Parliament in February as Mr Howard stepped up his support for nuclear power in Australia, the State Government could call a plebiscite of Victorian voters if the Federal Government tried to override state laws and establish a nuclear reactor in this state.

The Greens said they supported the thrust of the bill, but voted it down because they wanted to go further and enshrine Victoria's nuclear-free status in the state's constitution. The Liberals dismissed the Labor bill as a political stunt.

But on Thursday Mr Howard promised that binding plebiscites would be held in areas where nuclear plants were proposed.

Mr Baillieu said he was "comfortable with a binding plebiscite that is a genuine attempt to reflect community views, rather than the disgraceful stunt put forward by Labor earlier this year".

Leading Greens MP Greg Barber also hit back, saying Labor MPs had voted against Greens proposals for a permanent anti-corruption watchdog and to slash the number of poker machines in Victoria.

Meanwhile, indigenous and environment groups called on Mr Howard to extend his offer to people living in the Northern Territory near sites short-listed for a nuclear waste repository.

The Arrernte Nations indigenous group and the Arid Land Environment Council asked yesterday why people living near short-listed sites for a Commonwealth nuclear waste repository were not being offered a vote on whether they wanted a dump in their backyard.