Anti-nuclear author challenges Ros Kelly
By Frank Gollan
CANBERRA — Anti-nuclear author Greg Adamson is contesting environment minister Ros Kelly's seat of Canberra for the Green Democratic Alliance.
As in the 1990 federal election, the Green Democratic Alliance campaign is based on the four principles developed by the German Greens: ecological sustainability; social and economic equality; grassroots democracy; and disarmament and non-violence.
Adamson told Green Left Weekly that the Coalition promises in all these areas were appalling. "Nevertheless, it has been the Labor governments of the past decade which have carried out policies against these principles.
"Labor's resource legislation has focused on money. If enough money is involved, then anything from forests to rare species to land rights is up for sale. Useful legislation is watered down or delayed in implementation until after the destruction is completed."
Adamson is author of We All Live on Three Mile Island, published shortly after the United States' most publicised nuclear disaster. Labor has put nuclear issues back on the agenda, Adamson said.
"Labor's policy of limiting the number of active uranium mines is based on the slump in world uranium prices. Labor sees that existing mines can't sell all their uranium, so why allow the opening of new ones which would further depress prices?
"Yet the party pretends that the limit on mines is for environmental reasons. The truth is that under Labor, Australia is a major contributor to the world nuclear cycle. This is most recently seen in the plans to export uranium and nuclear expertise to Indonesia."
The Green Democratic Alliance campaign is also publicising the achievements of the New Zealand Alliance, which has shown that "the interests of the environment, unionists, women, Aborigines and others are not opposed.
"The question is not environment or jobs. The question is, Can we save the world and pass on to future generations a safe and clean world in which they can work and live?"