Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Well, there may be some medical purpose for the uranium that comes from Australia, but essentially it is used globally for the generation of nuclear power. It is not used for paperweights or bookends; it is used for a very clear purpose—that is, contributing to the practice and expansion of nuclear power globally. The counterposition of opposition to nuclear energy is entirely at odds (a) with the continued practice of uranium mining and (b) even more so with the proposed expansion of uranium mining which some within the federal opposition are championing. So there is a fundamental unresolved tension which is contradictory, which the members opposite know to be contradictory, but which they will persist in advancing. I note specifically the tension between the positions of the member for Batman and the member for Lingiari on precisely that front.

I specifically commend the contribution of the member for Hughes, who has within her electorate the Lucas Heights reactor. She has been a strong supporter of the new reactor, which is being used for scientific and medical purposes. The capacity to do different forms of medical imaging in nuclear medicine around Australia is dependent upon the work of that reactor and others of a similar nature around the world. It creates waste which has to be dealt with. At present, that waste is stored in hospital basements around Australia, and so we have opposition to waste management by different state governments but a willingness to allow that waste to remain within hospital basements. Again, that is a fundamental tension.

No person in Australia has strongly recognised this more than the member for Grey, who has said it would be an appropriate place in his own electorate. He has been a champion of a national repository within his own electorate but unfortunately his state government, whilst generating uranium and nuclear waste through the treatment of patients for good and proper reasons in their own hospitals, will not accept that responsibility. So we are left with the tension, which the member for Lingiari set out, that the very people who support the industry and benefit from the medical treatment in South Australia are opposing in quite a venal way the storage in their own area.

I similarly want to commend the words and work of the member for Ryan in relation to nonproliferation and North Korea. There is a long way to go but we are making promising steps. We are not as advanced with Iran and the potential for a breach in the non-proliferation regime there. We will be vigilant. There is a lot of strong international diplomacy, of which Russia plays an important part, still to be carried out.

This brings me to the second part of my speech, which is to re-emphasise very briefly the core elements of the Non-Proliferation Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. These elements can be summarised in three parts. Firstly, there is an establishment of stronger and better physical protection standards. Whilst these are legislative standards, they reflect an existing practice and international regime already in place. It is not as if there has been a lapse, but we are strengthening the legislation to back up that which is already in place.

Secondly, there are clear and precise areas where we are increasing the penalties for serious offences, which may in some way involve Australians acting against the safeguards and the regime for protecting the use of nuclear materials. Thirdly, in this bill there is a strengthening of the national counterproliferation objectives by extending the territorial jurisdiction for certain offences to include Australian residents anywhere in the world. The law currently applies to Australian citizens, but we are ensuring that it also applies to Australian residents. It is a tough recognition of the challenges we face today but it is an important one, and I am pleased that it has the support of all members of this House.

Finally, I want to thank all of those organisations, institutions and individuals who have contributed to the development of this bill, in particular the members of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but also all of the different contributors. They serve Australia well. They do a great job. On behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I thank them. I commend the Non-Proliferation Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 to the chamber.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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