Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

Labor does not support any amendment that would repeal section 10 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act. Section 10 of the ARPANS Act provides that nothing in the legislation is taken to authorise the construction or operation of a list of nuclear installations—a nuclear fuel fabrication plant, a nuclear power plant, an enrichment plant and a reprocessing facility. These issues were canvassed at the Senate inquiry and the committee's view was that:

A change of this significance is broader than the committee's inquiry into the provisions of the bill and deserves separate consideration.

Senator Day, I join with the minister in congratulating you for using this opportunity to have a debate but I say to you that this is not the place, in the Senate, on a regulatory bill to be having a debate which could result in completely change Australia's energy policy. This bill goes to the regulatory framework for the regulation of radiation sources in our country. I do not think this is the place to have that debate. We note that the inquiry is being undertaken by the South Australian government and the issues you are trying to canvass will, I am sure, be considered there. We do not support your amendment, which, as I said, would fundamentally change Australia's energy policy.