E&OE
12 September 2008
Interview - Sky News Australia
Subjects: Federal Government's position on uranium sales to India
COMPERE: The Australian Government says it's not considering selling uranium to India despite its support for the US to do exactly that. Indian Government officials have raised the issue with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith who is on a five-day tour to the country. Sky News political reporter Ashleigh Gillon spoke with him from New Delhi a short time ago.
ASHLEIGH GILLON: Stephen Smith, good afternoon. Senior Indian officials have been quoted as saying that uranium is the number one issue between India and Australia. Do you agree with that, and is this an issue that's been raised in any of the meetings you've held there so far?
STEPHEN SMITH: Well I certainly don't agree it's the number one issue. I've come to India, I had a very successful meeting with the Prime Minister last night. I'm looking forward to a meeting with Foreign Minister Mukherjee later today India time. That follows on from a very successful visit to Australia by Minister Mukherjee and also a very successful meeting between our two prime ministers, Prime Minister Rudd and Prime Minister Singh at the margins of the G8 meeting in Japan. And there's agreement between Australia and India that we take our relationship to a new level, to an enhanced partnership.
Uranium and energy is one aspect of that but it's not the only issue. And the Prime Minister last night thanked me very much for Australia's support of the decision in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to enable India's civil nuclear industry to be brought under the purview of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Prime Minister told me that he understood and respected Australia's decision about uranium, which is Australia does not export uranium to a country that is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
I told the Prime Minister that we understood and respected India's decision not to join the NPT. These are both longstanding positons and policy positions of India and of the Australian Government. They're understood and respected.
There's no doubt, of course, that India would prefer that Australia had a different position on uranium, but there's more than one country that India can source its uranium from. And it's just one aspect of a much broader and deeper relationship: economic, trade, investment, people to people - between Australia and India.
GILLON: There are reports that the Indian Government is concerned that Australia is allowing China to influence the Government's policy of not selling uranium to India. Is that a concern that's been expressed to you, and is there any basis for it?
SMITH: Well there's certainly no basis for it. It hasn't been expressed to me by the Indian Government or Indian officials. I have had that question raised of me at a public speech that I gave at one of the Indian think tanks. And I made this point: people should not assume just because the Prime Minister can speak Mandarin, that that in any way influences our foreign policy approach. And I made the point that the time the international community most appreciated that the Australian Prime Minister spoke Mandarin was when he went to Beijing University, and in Mandarin articulated to the Chinese Government and the Chinese people Australia's position on human rights in Tibet.
Our decision about uranium is as a result of a longstanding party policy position of the Labor Party that we don't export uranium to a country that's not a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It's not aimed at India, it's just a longstanding decision which underpins and underlines our support of non-proliferation.
What we've done in recent times of course which, as I indicated, the Prime Minister was warmly appreciative of, was to take a positive and constructive role about India's nuclear civil industry before the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the Prime Minister was warmly appreciative of that.
GILLON: Isn't it hypocritical though to support the US-backed decision of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to sell uranium to India, but refuse to do so from Australia's end? Forty-four other uranium suppliers seem to think it's OK. What exactly is the Government concerned about? Are you worried that India could use Australian uranium to produce weapons?
SMITH: No. It's a result of our longstanding party policy position so far as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is concerned. What other Nuclear Suppliers Group countries do, whether they export uranium to India or not, is a matter for them. The reason Australia supported the decision before the Nuclear Suppliers Group was two-fold.
Firstly, we understood and appreciated the non-proliferation benefits, bringing as it does large slabs of India's civil nuclear industry under the purview of the international regulator, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Secondly, we understood the strategic importance of the decision to India and also to the United States. And one of the points I've made here is that I think that the Nuclear Suppliers Group approved the decision in India's case because there's a growing appreciation now that India is a rising power, that India is a giant emerging. And it's one of the reasons why economic and strategic influence is now shifting to the Asia-Pacific region. It's not just the rise of China, it's the rise of India and the rise of the combined ASEAN economies and nations as well.
So our approach is based on getting benefits, non-proliferation benefits, by bringing India under the purview of the international atomic energy regulator, but we're not proposing to export our uranium because we have a longstanding party policy and party political attachment to the non-proliferation treaty.
GILLON: OK. Well turning to developments in Zimbabwe, does the Government welcome the news today that the President Robert Mugabe has reached a power sharing deal with the Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai?
SMITH: Well I've seen those reports. I'd prefer to wait until I see the detail of the agreement. The reports are coming out that an agreement has been made between Morgan Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe. I'd like to see the agreement to make sure that it goes some way towards reflecting the will of the Zimbabwe people. Australia's position, of course, which I've articulated on many occasions, is that we would prefer to see Mr Mugabe go. But we hope when we see the detail of the agreement that it goes some way towards reflecting the will of the Zimbabwe people. Mr Tsvangirai and his party won the first round of the Zimbabwe elections and Mr Mugabe tried to rort those and then tried to stymie further democratic processes. We hope that it goes some way towards reflecting the will of the Zimbabwe people and gives Mr Tsvangirai an appropriate role in the Government of Zimbabwe and enables Zimbabwe to start to address some of the very serious economic and social and law and order difficulties that it has. But I'd prefer to wait to see the agreement of the detail, and the reports after that will be formally announced on Monday of next week.
GILLON: Well even closer to home, the New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark today has called an election. The polls have Labour on track to lose. Would that worry you at all?
SMITH: No. It's a matter for the democratic processes of New Zealand. Australia and New Zealand of course, very close neighbours and friends. We work together very closely in the Pacific. One of our closest partners. And Australia will deal with whoever the New Zealand democratic process throws up. We've of course been working very closely with the Clark Government. I've been working very closely with Winston Peters, the Foreign Minister. But I've also had contact with the Opposition spokesperson on foreign affairs, so if there's a change of government in New Zealand, that's a matter for the New Zealand people, but we
will work closely with whoever the New Zealand democratic process throws up and it won't disturb the very close relationship that we have with New Zealand, both an economic one. But it also won't disturb the close way in which we work with New Zealand throughout the Pacific, including in the Pacific Island Forum.
GILLON: Foreign Minister Stephen Smith thanks for your time.
SMITH: Thank you.
[Ends]
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