Extract from Hansard [COUNCIL - Thursday, 13 October 2005] p6322b-6323a Hon Norman Moore; Deputy President

URANIUM MINING MR ROBERT KUCERA, RESIGNATION FROM MINISTRY Statement HON NORMAN MOORE (Mining and Pastoral - Leader of the ) [6.01 pm]: I want to make some comments as a result of a statement made by Hon Sally Talbot yesterday on uranium mining. I am now totally and absolutely confused about the Labor Party’s decision on this matter. Having listened to Hon Vincent Catania tell us that he believes there should be a public debate on uranium mining, the same views from Hon Shelley Archer and other members allegedly holding the same views, I get the impression that they believe that a public debate is necessary to decide whether Western should mine uranium. It is quite a different scenario from that portrayed by the Premier, who has said that under no circumstances will he tolerate uranium mining in - full stop, no argument, no question, no nothing; just a simple statement that there will be no uranium mining in Western Australia. Therefore, when government members call for a public debate on it, I get the impression that they want the Premier to reassess and reconsider his position. Yesterday, Hon Sally Talbot told us that she supported the views of her colleague Hon Vincent Catania on this issue and that she also supported the Premier’s position. Then she went on to tell us about the Labor Party having a conference in November - which must be a unique event, as they happen about once every generation - and that there will be 700 pages of platform that will serve as the Labor Party’s policy. Hon Simon O’Brien: It will all be unanimous too! Hon NORMAN MOORE: That is right. Hon Sally Talbot also talked about how proud she is of the process the Labor Party goes through to develop policy. I am currently reading ’s book. It is the most fascinating book I have read in years. If what he says in his book about how the Labor Party operates is true, I must say that what Hon Sally Talbot said yesterday is a figment of her imagination, as the Labor Party does not work like that. However - and I hope she was not referring to the Liberal Party - she also said - We do not rely on faceless men and women issuing directives from secret negotiations. Hon Jon Ford: I think she was referring to comments made about our party. Hon NORMAN MOORE: I have no idea, but I hope Hon Sally Talbot was not referring to the Liberal Party, because we have just held a state conference. Ours is a public conference at which the media is present and in which we debate issues. We debated the issue of uranium mining, and the conference made its views known to the parliamentary party, which has taken a position on uranium mining. We announced that this week. Fundamentally, we have made the decision to support the mining of uranium in Western Australia subject to the necessary international safeguards being in place, subject to proper environmental assessments of the mining process and subject, obviously, to the proper occupational safety and health issues being addressed at the mine site and during the transportation of uranium oxide to the ports and so on. That is our position on uranium mining. We also made the decision that we would not support a nuclear waste dump in Western Australia for interstate or overseas nuclear waste. That is consistent with the position that we have held over a long time. We have made our position very clear. Everybody now knows what the Liberal Party stands for. My plea to the Labor Party is for it to tell us what it stands for now, because we are getting all these different points of view from within the state Parliamentary Labor Party and, interestingly, from the federal Labor Party. The other day the federal spokesman on resources, Martin Ferguson - referred to by Mark Latham and everybody else as Marn because that is how he pronounces his name - said that not only does he support uranium mining but also he believes that we have an obligation to take nuclear waste in Australia. This is the federal Labor Party shadow Minister for Resources. Just a few weeks ago a former Labor Prime Minister of Australia, , said that we should build a nuclear waste dump in Australia to take the world’s nuclear waste. Hon Jon Ford: There is the key - former. Hon NORMAN MOORE: I know he is. I find the Latham book fascinating because it reminds me of the history of the Labor Party. When the Labor Party got into serious trouble, who did it get to solve all its problems? Which people carried out an inquiry into the Labor Party’s problems? One was a former Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran, and the other was a former Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke. A former Prime Minister of Australia was asked to sort out the problems of the Labor Party, and now the Labor Party is trying to distance itself from him. Goodness gracious me; it cannot have it both ways. The bottom line is simply this: a former Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, who is one of the legends and great icons of the Labor Party, has said that we should not only have uranium mining, but also we should make Australia a nuclear waste dump at the same time. He is entitled to his view, as Hon Sally Talbot is entitled to her view and everybody else is

[1] Extract from Hansard [COUNCIL - Thursday, 13 October 2005] p6322b-6323a Hon Norman Moore; Deputy President entitled to their view. However, the bottom line is this: what is the collective view of the Labor Party on this and what will its policy be? Ironically, the policy of the Western Australian Liberal Party is the same policy as that of the Labor Party and the South , which is that we will allow uranium mining in our state or territory but we will not allow the dumping of nuclear waste. That is quite interesting, is it not? When I listen to the doomsday talk of members like Hon Sally Talbot who take that extreme left, green position on this matter, I wonder what they think about Mr Rann and Mrs Martin. Why do they think those politicians are subjecting the citizens of their state or territory to those dreadful outcomes that members opposite say will happen to us in Western Australia if we allow uranium mining? Why do they not get on their soapbox and start saying, “Down with the Rann government in ; down with Martin in the Northern Territory. Let’s get rid of them because they are putting their citizens at enormous risk.”? They cannot have it both ways. Let us find out once and for all where the Labor Party stands on the nuclear industry. If it is to come out of the Labor Party’s conference, that will be terrific. Hon Sally Talbot: It is at the end of November. Hon NORMAN MOORE: That is great, because at the moment the Labor Party keeps telling us that the Premier has a position and that all Labor members agree with him but they still want to have a debate on it. I bet the member London to a brick, or a good bottle of shiraz, that the conference will come out supporting the Premier’s position. It cannot do anything else. He has just hung his hat on the hook by saying that it is his position. If the Labor Party conference rolls him on this issue, he will look really dopey. That is what the outcome will be. I would bet on that, but we do not bet in this place. We all heard today of the situation in relation to the former Minister for Seniors. He has resigned as a result of an indiscretion with respect to a cabinet decision. Today I asked the Premier, via the Leader of the House, whether any minister other than Minister Kucera owned shares in Alinta or any other associated company involved in the purchase of the Dampier to Bunbury gas pipeline at the time the cabinet was assessing the decision to give government assistance to the preferred bidder. My question also stated that if so, who were they and did they declare a conflict of interest. The answer was to request me to place the question on notice. That is another sentence that means “I will not give you an answer”. Members in this place know that when they get that answer, an unqualified answer that says put the question on notice, it will be consigned to the scrap heap of history, never to be answered again. Usually if there is a problem getting the information in time they say, “We can’t get the information in time because we have to talk to every minister and check it all out, so we’ll give you the answer next Monday or put it on notice”. One can then say that there is a genuine reason why it cannot be answered immediately. When a question that is answered by “I request the member to put it on notice”, I know I will not get an answer. Why will not the Premier tell us whether any other minister had shares in Alinta or associated companies? It is important to the extent that if other ministers had shares in Alinta at that time and did not declare an interest, they should also resign. The Premier has set the bar high and said that if ministers breach the cabinet protocol they are out the door. We need to know whether there are other ministers in that category. I hope there are not, because I would hate to see half the government having to resign. I hate the situation in which ministers have to resign. It makes me feel very sad for them. The bottom line is that we are entitled to an answer to that question, and the quicker we get one the better because the people of Western Australia will then know whether any other ministers have breached the Premier’s protocol. THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Hon George Cash): We are dealing with members’ statements and I want to indicate the way in which I will allocate the opportunity to speak. We will finish these statements at 6.40 pm, as is required under the sessional orders, and it appears to me that there may be more speakers than time. Hon Giz Watson is next, followed by Hon Helen Morton, Hon Matthew Benson-Lidholm, Hon Simon O’Brien and any other members if time permits. That will ensure that Hon Giz Watson, Hon Helen Morton and Hon Matthew Benson-Lidholm will be heard. It will depend on the time whether Hon Simon O’Brien gets the call.

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