Wednesday, 26 July, 2006

ABC NT Local News

The Northern Territory Chief Minister is receiving criticism from within Labor's federal ranks, for supporting changes to the party's uranium policy.

Clare Martin is backing her federal leader Kim Beazley in his push to abandon Labor's three mines policy.

But the party's environment spokesman Anthony Albanese says the no new mines policy should stay and he has rebuked Ms Martin for changing her stance.

He says a false urgency has been injected into the uranium debate.

"At any time in the last 10 years if the Howard Government had wanted to approve a mine in the Northern Territory they, of course, could have intervened to do so," he said.

"So it does say something about the reality of the demand for new mines being opened in the Northern Territory."