Tuesday, 15 May, 2007

ABC NT Local News

A uranium conference in Darwin has heard the Labor Party's policy change on uranium mining will lead to broader acceptance of it in Australia.

Energy Resources of Australia chief executive Chris Salisbury says there is a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication about uranium that a better public voice from the industry will address.

Mr Salisbury has welcomed Labor's abandonment of its "no new mines" policy.

He has told about 300 delegates at the conference it paves the way to open new deposits in Australia.

But he says the approval process for new mines is still lengthy.

Australian Uranium Association spokesman Michael Angwin says a new survey of 1,000 people across all states and territories shows increasing support for the uranium mining industry.

"Fifty per cent of Australians support the industry, 75 per cent of Australians believe that it will make a big contribution to Australia's economy in the future," he said.

"All of that's driven by people's understanding of the economic benefits of Australia's uranium mining and the contribution it can make to the world's climate change challenge."

Mr Angwin says the political consensus will lead uranium mining to the mainstream.

He says strengthening the non-proliferation treaty would give Australians greater confidence to export uranium.

"Our industry and our association will take every opportunity we can to contribute to continuing improvement in that non-proliferation regime," he said.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin says having the international uranium conference held in Darwin shows the territory is a good place to invest.

"We are a growing economy," she said.

"A lot of that is based on the strength of the price of minerals and obviously, the organisers think we're a good place to be in and I think in terms of economic development, we certainly are."