[Greens-Media] MEDIA RELEASE - SENATOR CHRISTINE MILNE - HOWARD GOES 'ALL THE WAY WITH THE USA', THREATENING GLOBAL SECURITY

[Willis, Katrina (Sen C. Milne)]

MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday, 17 August 2006

Howard goes 'all the way with the USA', threatening global security

Prime Minister John Howard has firmly entrenched Australia as a US
Deputy Sheriff by deciding to be part of President George Bush's global
vision of American Empire in a move which will foster regional and
global insecurity, the Australian Greens said today.

"The charade of the Prime Minister's full blown debate and nuclear
taskforce has been exposed for what it is - the rubber stamping of the
Prime Minister's May decision in Washington to be part of the Bush
Administration's Global Nuclear Energy Plan by enriching uranium,
leasing fuel rods and developing a high-level nuclear waste dump,"
greens energy spokesperson Senator Christine Milne said in Canberra. 

"At the same time as he was establishing his taskforce the Prime
Minister was declaring that 'we would be seen as a totally reliable and
trustworthy country' to enrich uranium. Now we have the US Assistant
Secretary for nuclear power saying: 'I think Australia is viewed as a
totally reliable and trustworthy country...' 

"Prime Minister Howard should admit that the investigation of nuclear
power for Australia was nothing more than an excuse to put enrichment
and a waste dump on the agenda. He should disband the taskforce and come
clean about the government's real intentions.

"Nuclear power is not economically viable in Australia but uranium
enrichment and a waste dump will fill the coffers of the big end of town
at the expense of global security and future generations burdened by the
waste.

"The Howard government's legacy is to position Australia in the
international community as a global pariah undermining international
law, suitable for nothing better than a global nuclear waste dump.

"Being party to the Bush Administration's undermining of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and picking winners and losers in the
enrichment stakes is a dangerous path.

"Enrichment of uranium means that Australia has the capacity to produce
nuclear weapons at short notice. This will not go unnoticed in the Asia
Pacific region where Australia's covert nuclear weapons plan of the
1950s remains a sore point."

Contact: Katrina Willis 03 6234 4566 or 0437 587 562


Katrina Willis
Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
Phone 03 6234 4566
Fax 03 6234 2144
Mobile 0437 587 562
www.christinemilne.org.au