Australian PM poised to allow uranium sales to India

Ms Gillard will ask the ALP’s national conference to overturn long-standing party policy that allows uranium to be sold only to nations who have signed up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

It has only been four years since the government reversed a similar coalition policy because India was not a signatory to the treaty. The PM says exporting uranium will help trade relations with India, which has suffered as a result of the ban.

Adelaide Now reports the move is bound to spark opposition from the Labor left and the Greens, but that South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has backed the proposal.

Uranium mining is prohibited in Victoria and New South Wales, while in Queensland, exploration  is permitted but extraction is illegal. South Australia and the Northern Territory are the only regions to permit uranium mining, and it was recently legalized in Western Australia.