Peter Dutton ramps up WA uranium mining campaign and jeers Labor over looming Browse decision

The Federal Opposition leader says overturning a ban on uranium mining would take WA “to the next level” and blamed Labor “throwing sand in the gears” of resources projects for a looming decision on Woodside’s massive Browse project. Peter Dutton, speaking at the Diggers & Dealers forum in Kalgoorlie on Monday, lashed the WA Labor government for its continued ban on uranium mining, saying it could shield WA from losing thousands of jobs. “Why would we be stopping ourselves from earning additional income for our country, creating extra jobs? We could help take WA to the next level,” he said. “I just don’t understand the government’s reluctance here. It’s ideologically based, and we’re going to do ourselves out of thousands of jobs.” He pointed to the demise of nickel and the general volatility across mineral commodities as a reason why Australia should spread its risk. “And you do that in part by taking up opportunities with other commodities, and uranium is an obvious one, where there will be significant demand, and Australia has a natural advantage, and we should take advantage of it,” he said. “We don’t pay for schools and hospitals and the NDIS and the aged care system our intelligence agencies, without mining royalties and taxes, that’s something we should remind ourselves about.” Mr Dutton in June revealed he would build nuclear power plants at seven locations across the country — including Collie in WA — as he laid out an alternative path to net zero. The first of the Commonwealth-owned reactors would be up and running as soon as 2035, with all seven finished before 2050. The Opposition leader on Monday also accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being afraid of the Greens, which was flowing down to deliberations about major resources projects. It was revealed on Monday that WA’s Environmental Protection Authority had sent a letter to Woodside Energy in February saying the organisation had formed the preliminary view the oil and gas giant’s multibillion-dollar Browse LNG project off WA’s North West was “unacceptable”. But that decision is not set in stone — it is understood “preliminary views” are often issued during the approvals process for big projects and Woodside will be able to adjust the $30 billion project’s development approach in response. While the WA EPA makes recommendations to the WA State government, Mr Dutton believes there is pressure coming from a federal level. “I just think that the Labor government, at the moment, under Anthony Albanese, is using the environmental laws to throw the sand in the gears of many (resources) projects,” he said. “Now, why would he do that? Because he wants to stop haemorrhaging votes to the Greens in inner city Sydney and Melbourne. “A government that I lead will make sure that we have sensible approval processes that don’t go on for years and years, we want to condense the timelines, we want to be responsible environmentally, but we want to create the growth, the jobs, the economic success.” Mr Dutton is on a blitz across WA, starting a five-day tour of the State on Friday at an Innaloo IGA as he looks to boost his popularity and claw back key swing seats at the Federal election in September next year.