Saturday, 29 July, 2006

ABC NT Local News

The Northern Territory's Labor Senator Trish Crossin says she will have no option but to switch her position on uranium mining if her party decides to dump its 'no new mines' policy.

Labor leader Kim Beazley wants an expansion of the uranium industry.

He has the support of Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin.

Senator Crossin says she will have to back the party line, if Labor's national conference decides it is time for a change

"If at the end of the day you lose a vote and you don't win the argument you have to sign up to the policy that exists at the day - that happens in all political parties," she said.

"When a democratic vote is taken if you don't win then you have to come in line with the new policy."

The Independent Member for Nelson, Gerry Wood, supports an expansion of uranium mining and the establishment of a nuclear waste facility in the Northern Territory.

But he says he would not want to be in Senator Crossin's shoes.

"I'd hate to be in that position if you really don't support something because you have moral objection to it, you'd think you'd stick with those moral objections regardless of what your party said," he said.

"But that just shows you how some of these so-called ideologies can switch, you know, at the drop of a hat."