Minister backs uranium mining
9th April 2009, 14:30 WST
Australia should be a bigger supplier of the fuel, Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said today.
“We are a major uranium supplier and we should be an even bigger supplier of uranium,” Mr Ferguson said today at a resources industry briefing in Melbourne.
“We need to guarantee that we mine uranium here in Australia with safe hands and export to countries who are prepared to use it with safe hands.”
Australia could add $17 billion to gross domestic product by 2030 by maximizing suppliers to meet rising global demand for nuclear energy, the Uranium Association said last month
WA last year scrapped a six- year ban on uranium mining, though Queensland last month ruled out lifting its ban.
I take the view that over time the position in Queensland will change, Mr Ferguson said.
Uranium mining is a fact of life and I am a big supporter of the industry.
Australia has three producing mines in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
MELBOURNE
BLOOMBERG