OPEN LETTER OPPOSING THE SALE OF URANIUM TO INDIA

The Australian Labor Party has a longstanding policy, and has made repeated election commitments, not to sell uranium to countries outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This position is consistent with the Labor Government’s stated desire to play a leadership role in achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.

In this context we write to express our deep concern over recent statements by federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson suggesting that Australia should downgrade its commitment to the NPT by opening up uranium sales to India — a nuclear-armed nation that has signed neither the NPT nor the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

We fear that a decision to sell uranium to India would further erode the fragile non-proliferation regime and escalate the ongoing nuclear arms race in South Asia. India, like its neighbour Pakistan, is expanding its nuclear arsenal, is increasing its production of fissile materials for weapons, and has refused to rule out conducting further nuclear tests. Australian uranium would allow India to divert its limited domestic uranium supplies to weapons production.

As ALP Leader in 2007 Kevin Rudd informed Lateline: ‘No one in Australia wants a nuclear arms race aided by us in the Indian subcontinent or between India and China because we have failed to properly ensure the upholding of the NPT and the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards regime under it.’ He denounced the Coalition Government's proposed sale of Australian uranium to India as ‘irresponsible’.

We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Labor Government to stand by its commitment not to sell uranium to India, and to work to re-establish the global norm against nuclear trade to states outside the NPT. It should also refuse the sale of uranium to any NPT party that does not fully observe its non-proliferation or disarmament obligations — which includes all of the recognised nuclear weapon states.

Signed,