10th May 2006, 3:56 PM – Senate Motions - Uranium Exports - Oppose export to China

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Christine Milne, which means that it was rejected. The motion was:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Madam Fu Ying, stated in December 2005 that China does not have sufficient uranium for both its weapons and civilian energy programs,

(ii) Australian yellowcake needs to go to conversion, enrichment and processing facilities before being allocated to declared civilian nuclear power stations,

(iii) most of the conversion, enrichment and processing facilities are not declared facilities and are therefore not covered by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, and

(iv) those facilities that are declared are only declared at the discretion of the Chinese Government, and therefore are voluntary and can at any time be removed from IAEA safeguards;

(b) recognises therefore that by exporting uranium to China, Australia will be supporting, either directly or indirectly, the Chinese nuclear weapons program in contravention of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and

(c) opposes and condemns the export of uranium to China.