Monday, 30 April, 2007

by Simon Mann
The Age

AN AGES-OLD battle over the sovereignty of an island in the Mediterranean might seem extraneous to Labor's national showcase but it almost helped steer Kevin Rudd's U-turn on uranium mining into a policy cul-de-sac.

A spat between delegates representing Greek and Turkish interests over the wording of a resolution on Cyprus spilled out, literally, of the conference auditorium on Sydney's Darling Harbour just ahead of the crucial vote that consigned Labor's three mines policy to history.

Fancy footwork by communications spokesman Stephen Conroy and union boss Bill Shorten ensured that the six or so delegates were ushered inside just as hands were being raised in favour of the so-called Rudd-Rann amendment — allowing new mines, albeit with a nod to tougher export controls.

But the numbers were tight. After 15 speakers and 77 minutes, Rudd and the party's Right won the day, though not before an attempt to stop the amendment was defeated, 205 votes to 190.

Had there been just eight more objectors, Labor's new leader would have been left to shoulder Labor's old policy.

The anguish over the votes of those bickering over Cyprus illustrated just how critical "corridor" diplomacy was. In the end, their votes were not enough to change the course of history.

The real arm-twisting, of course, had occurred elsewhere, during redraftings of the Rudd-Rann amendment (which toughened Labor's commitment to safety) and long before Shorten warned delegates that "rolling the leader" wasn't a good look six months from an election.

"At some point the head's got to kick in with the heart," he said, in reference to what supporters of the U-turn claimed was the illogicality of Labor's "no new mines" mantra.

This was the side of pragmatism — opponents branded it "expedience" — that argued that policy had been usurped by reality. During Labor's three mines cap, said South Australian Premier Mike Rann, Australia's uranium exports had trebled.

And output from the Olympic Dam mine at Roxby Downs was on the threshold of massive expansion.

"So, quite frankly, (the policy) hasn't worked," he said, adding: "Today, it's OK to have the biggest uranium mine with 30 per cent of the world's known deposits, but it's not all right to have other uranium mines with the same strict safeguards and standards." Said resources spokesman Chris Evans: "You can't say (we've) got the largest uranium mine in the world but we're not going to be further engaged in the nuclear cycle. It's a nonsense."

It was a view to which education spokesman Stephen Smith subscribed. Australia needed "to play our part as a responsible provider of uranium, as other countries use it as a fuel stock to abate greenhouse gas emissions and, secondly, we have a responsibility … to make ourselves fit and ready for government and to (do so) you can't continue with illogical policy positions."

Safety remained a moot point. The Rudd-Rann amendment advocated tougher control over who got Australian uranium, louder support for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and redoubling of efforts to sell the authority of the International Atomic Energy Agency and to promote disarmament, reduction of nuclear stockpiles and responsible use of nuclear technology.

There was no case for enrichment in Australia, argued Rudd, while the Prime Minister's paving the way for a nuclear industry was "the Montgomery Burns' solution to Australia's climate change challenge".

But the Left's Anthony Albanese, supported by environment spokesman Peter Garrett, argued for no change while issues of proliferation and safeguards, and the safe disposal of waste, remained unresolved. So long as uranium led to nuclear waste, "you can't guarantee that it won't lead to nuclear weapons", Albanese said.

Jenny McAllister, of the NSW branch, talked of a moral dilemma. "How can we export radioactive material to countries which are significantly less stable than our own, and how can we expect those countries to safely store radioactive waste that will outlast any imaginable human time frame?"

Andrew Dettmer, of the AMWU in Queensland, pointed to opinion polls that revealed Australians to be vehemently against new uranium mines. WA delegate Dave Kelly won strong applause after parodying an earlier speaker: "A policy that allows (only) some uranium mining is better than a policy that allows many more uranium mines … One tonne of nuclear waste is bad, but 10,000 tonnes of waste is worse. One bomb is bad, but 10 bombs are even worse."

In the end it was to little avail. Labor jettisoned a policy it believed to be toxic to its electoral chances. Though jeered by some in the 800-strong crowd, Shorten said: "You can have all the Labor values in the world but they're not much good if you're in opposition." It was a sentiment that former ACTU boss Martin Ferguson personalised: "I'm sick and tired of being a Labor Party front-bencher in opposition."