Friday 7 July 2006
Herald Sun

AUSTRALIA won't import nuclear waste, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday.

An issues paper, released by taskforce head Ziggy Switkowski on Tuesday, said the inquiry would see if there was a business case for taking radioactive waste.

But the Prime Minister said yesterday: "We don't have that sort of thing in mind."

In May, Mr Howard met US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman in Washington to discuss the idea of nuclear leasing -- which would see Australia take back nuclear waste from countries to which it exported uranium.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jenny Macklin accused the PM of interfering in his inquiry on nuclear energy.

Australian Democrats leader Lyn Allison accused Mr Howard of trickery. She said he had kicked off the nuclear debate by floating a range of radical proposals only to pull back on the most contentious, leaving his original plan intact.