Australia follows the US (again!)

Australia set to abandon nuclear NPT under pressure from Bush

Prime Minister John Howard's desperation to keep onside with US President George Bush will lead Australia to turn its back on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Australian Greens energy spokesperson Senator Christine Milne said today.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has revealed that Australia is talking with the Indian government about arrangements for exporting uranium.

"Once the US decided to sell nuclear technology to India outside the NPT, it was only a matter of time before Australia followed suit by supplying uranium," Senator Milne said in Hobart.

"This is a further capitulation of Australia's foreign policy to US demands and will make the world less safe.

"As if it is not bad enough that Iran's nuclear ambitions are destabilising the Middle East, the Australian government is intent upon pushing as much uranium as it can into the global nuclear fuel cycle.

"The Indian government has made it clear that it has no intention of agreeing to any deals which rein in its nuclear weapons programme and ambitions.

"India has demonstrated a dangerous and cavalier attitude to the security of sensitive information about nuclear technology and has illegally tested nuclear weapons.

"It is irresponsible in the extreme for the Howard government to be undermining the nuclear NPT at this crucial time under the guise of responding to climate change.

"Exporting renewable energy and building capacity in renewable energy is a faster, safer and more globally responsible response to the twin dangers of climate change and nuclear proliferation."