Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry and Resources investigated the development of the non-fossil fuel energy industry in Australia and considered a case study into the strategic importance of Australia’s uranium reserves. Fossil fuels are running out, while electricity demand in Australia is expected to continue growing strongly, more than doubling by 2050. We need to know how we are going to produce that additional energy. Today we have recommended that the Australian government identify and fund an authoritative scientific organisation to prepare and publish objective information relating to uranium mining, the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear power.

Australia’s uranium reserves comprise an estimated 40 per cent of the world’s known estimated uranium reserves. However, any conclusions this committee has made and any conversations about developing Australia’s uranium reserves are purely hypothetical without the cooperation of the state and territory governments. The committee has recommended that the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, through the Council of Australian Governments and other means, encourage state governments to reconsider their opposition to uranium mining and abolish legislative restrictions on uranium and thorium mining and exploration where these exist.

The majority of Australia’s uranium reserves are in Western Australia—in my electorate, to be more precise. We cannot access them because the current state government has a ban in place and will not even discuss the issue. Uranium mining would bring enormous economic benefit to the people of my electorate, to Western Australia and to this nation as a whole. The demand for uranium has never been higher and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future.

There are nearly 450 nuclear plants worldwide, with many more under construction or planned. Nuclear power fuelled by uranium now accounts for 16 per cent of the world’s power generation. The Western Australian state government is holding back this country’s development of a non-fossil fuel industry because Premier Carpenter does not think this is an important issue and he will not discuss the potential for uranium, which is considerable.

We have also recommended that the Australian government develop a communications strategy on uranium mining, uranium exports and nuclear power. This is a most significant recommendation for this committee to make. There is too much misinformation and misunderstanding of this issue. I speak to people about uranium almost daily, as everyone is aware of my staunch support for this energy source, and I have found that most people who oppose uranium mining or nuclear power have a very limited, often outdated, opinion. They talk about Chernobyl. That was 20 years ago. They talk about Three Mile Island. That was 27 years ago.

Compare that to the car industry. Seatbelts were made compulsory in Australia in 1970. From 1970 until 2002 the fatality rate dropped from 30.4 to 8.8 deaths per hundred thousand of population. This reduction was achieved in spite of a huge increase in motor vehicle use. Would you say, Mr Deputy Speaker, that driving a car is as dangerous today as it was before 1970? I think not.

Australia needs to have an open, informed discussion about the future. Short of communities giving up on energy usage, we will have to consider viable alternatives to fossil fuels. When you consider that one kilo of uranium in a fast-breeder reactor is equal to 2,700 tonnes of black coal or two million cubic metres of natural gas, it would be criminal to ignore another magnificent Western Australian resource.

Proposed also in our report is the question of creating a centre of excellence for development and service to the nuclear industry. The opportunity to value-add to our uranium resource through the creation of such a centre of excellence, the production and supply of fuel rods to the world—and the opportunity to do that on a lease basis—and attending to the transportation, the recovery, the reconfiguration and the resupply would greatly enhance our opportunities and therefore add to the wealth of this country as a result of developing our uranium resource.

There are many recommendations in this report—a report of some 700 pages. I believe it is one of the most thorough reviews of the whole issue of uranium. We received some 87 submissions on a whole range of topics—from the exploration for and the use of uranium, to the disposal of waste, the education opportunities and the employment opportunities—especially employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians. It is a tome worthy of consideration. I was speaking earlier about the need for Australians to be well informed about the issue of uranium and matters nuclear. This report is a publication that will serve many Australians well, given that they are motivated to find out some of the truths that surround uranium and nuclear waste.

The brief to investigate this question was given to us by the minister back in March 2005—and here we are in December 2006. So one can see that this was no mere glance at the issue. I am very proud to have been associated with the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry and Resources. In explaining my pride, I am also very pleased to acknowledge the hard work of our secretary, Mr Russell Chafer, the inquiry secretary, Mr Jerome Brown, and the assorted staff. They did a wonderful job in assisting us in the receipt of reports, the organisation of those reports and the field trips that we made to Beverly Springs and Olympic Dam to see the non-invasive methods of uranium extraction plus the open-cut and underground mining of uranium. It was a very worthwhile project, one that gave me great personal satisfaction and increased knowledge of the topic. I wholeheartedly commend this report.

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