Sunday 18 June 2006
The Australian
by Steve Lewis

PUBLIC opinion on nuclear matters had shifted and Labor's current scare campaign would not be nearly as successful as it might expect, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

That was demonstrated by the ever-increasing number of voters backing New South Wales Liberal Danna Vale, whose electorate of Hughes includes the Lucas Heights nuclear research reactor, Mr Howard said.

The reactor was the scene of two incidents last week, both involving release of small amounts of nuclear material.

The accidents came as the Government and community embarked on a broader debate about the merits of nuclear power, expansion of uranium mining or even enrichment of uranium in Australia.

The Government also is considering whether the proposed nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory will house waste from nuclear fuel rods reprocessed in France.

Mr Howard said he believed the Australian public was ready for a mature nuclear debate.

"My very strong view is that public opinion has shifted on this issue and the Labor Party will not be nearly as successful in running a fear campaign that they are running on this issue as they think they might be," he told the Nine network.

"Younger Australians in particular are saying, let's sit down and have a look at this issue. Let's see whether nuclear power might in time be a clean alternative to fossil fuels.

"I am not saying that this will happen in the next couple of years, but let's at least have a discussion and let's not have such a stupidly emotional debate about it."

The Government gave the go-ahead for construction of the new OPAL reactor at Lucas Heights in 1997, prompting strong opposition from Labor and green groups.

Mr Howard said despite that opposition, local people continued to vote in ever increasing numbers for local member Danna Vale, who fended off a ferocious challenge in 1998 from Labor candidate David Hill, who specifically campaigned against the reactor.

Opposition science spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said Mr Howard still needed to come clean on plans to dump nuclear waste in the NT.

She said Mr Howard could not have it both ways.

"The Prime Minister is obsessed with secrecy on nuclear issues, yet he keeps claiming that he wants an open public debate on nuclear power and nuclear waste disposal," she said.

"John Howard is forcing a nuclear waste dump on the people of the Northern Territory but won't tell the community what is going to be dumped there." Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said uranium mining was one thing but going down the road of nuclear power was another entirely.

"It's not economic, it's not environmentally sensible, not strategically sensible," he told the Ten network.

"We're in this debate, but we want to see enter into the debate a serious discussion of the renewable energy needs and possibilities of this nation."