Secret document bungle puts uranium exports at risk
Mark Kenny
Adelaide Now
TOP-SECRET documents relating to sensitive international trade negotiations have been tabled in Parliament, potentially risking future South Australian uranium exports to China.
In an embarrassing bungle by Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith, the documents were tendered into the record even though a cover note specifically warns that making any details of the talks public would breach international protocols.
Among the many confidential details inadvertently released were references to negotiations with China over increased uranium exports from BHP's Olympic Dam mine.
The brief description shows that one option being discussed between the two resource partners is for China to take increased exports of uranium-rich copper concentrate.
That development could limit the number of jobs and investment in the South Australian mine. This is because the brief appears to suggest that China would undertake the extraction of uranium from the copper concentrate once it is re-ceived, rather than have the process performed at Olympic Dam before export.
The notoriously fastidious Mr Smith accidentally tabled the document, the Schedule of Bilateral Treaties under Negotiation, Consideration or Review, on Tuesday.
It contains details of the current state of play of highly sensitive country-to-country or "bi-lateral" trade talks in a range of areas. Mr Smith yesterday acknowledged the error and advised that officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were in the process of contacting relevant governments to admit the mistake and assure them it was unintentional.
A spokeswoman said Mr Smith accepted the error was his.
"The Minister has and does accept responsibility for this error," she said.
Yet despite the potential seriousness of the matter, the Opposition chose not to raise it in question time in Parliament. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop issued a statement instead.
"Australia's trading partners must now question the ability of the Rudd Government to ensure that sensitive and confidential negotiations are not made public," she said.
"Cracks are starting to show in the Rudd Government's administration and this is another sign that the Government is not coping with the pressure of running the country".
In an embarrassing bungle by Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith, the documents were tendered into the record even though a cover note specifically warns that making any details of the talks public would breach international protocols.
Among the many confidential details inadvertently released were references to negotiations with China over increased uranium exports from BHP's Olympic Dam mine.
The brief description shows that one option being discussed between the two resource partners is for China to take increased exports of uranium-rich copper concentrate.
That development could limit the number of jobs and investment in the South Australian mine. This is because the brief appears to suggest that China would undertake the extraction of uranium from the copper concentrate once it is re-ceived, rather than have the process performed at Olympic Dam before export.
The notoriously fastidious Mr Smith accidentally tabled the document, the Schedule of Bilateral Treaties under Negotiation, Consideration or Review, on Tuesday.
It contains details of the current state of play of highly sensitive country-to-country or "bi-lateral" trade talks in a range of areas. Mr Smith yesterday acknowledged the error and advised that officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were in the process of contacting relevant governments to admit the mistake and assure them it was unintentional.
A spokeswoman said Mr Smith accepted the error was his.
"The Minister has and does accept responsibility for this error," she said.
Yet despite the potential seriousness of the matter, the Opposition chose not to raise it in question time in Parliament. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop issued a statement instead.
"Australia's trading partners must now question the ability of the Rudd Government to ensure that sensitive and confidential negotiations are not made public," she said.
"Cracks are starting to show in the Rudd Government's administration and this is another sign that the Government is not coping with the pressure of running the country".