One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson has criticised the Albanese Government’s decision to expand uranium exports to India, arguing it is inconsistent to support nuclear energy overseas while maintaining Australia’s domestic ban on nuclear power.
Responding to the recent announcement, Senator Hanson said the agreement exposed what she described as Labor’s “energy hypocrisy”. “India plans to produce three or four times Australia’s entire electricity output from nuclear technology alone, splitting Australian uranium atoms to achieve this goal,” Senator Hanson said.
“Labor’s energy hypocrisy knows no bounds. They ban nuclear energy in Australia but happily export uranium for this purpose overseas.”
The criticism follows the signing of a new Australia–India Joint Statement on Energy Security during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Melbourne, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation on energy security, resilient supply chains and the clean energy transition.
As part of the agreement, the two leaders welcomed the signing of the administrative arrangement enabling Australian uranium exports to India for peaceful purposes under the 2015 Australia–India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.
The arrangement is expected to support India’s growing non-fossil fuel electricity generation while creating additional opportunities for Australia’s resources sector.
The joint statement also commits both countries to closer cooperation on renewable energy, critical minerals, energy supply chains and the continued trade of coal, natural gas, diesel and other fuels.
It also welcomed progress under the India–Australia Renewable Energy Partnership, including the opening of the Rooftop Solar Training Academy in Gujarat, and a refreshed Memorandum of Understanding between Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of India to support critical minerals exploration.
Prime Minister Albanese said Australia and India were working together to build resilient and sustainable energy systems.
“India is an important and reliable energy partner for Australia, and we look forward to continuing to enjoy a mutually beneficial energy trading relationship.”
He added that Australia’s natural resources were vital to global energy security and said the country looked forward to becoming “a reliable, trusted supplier of uranium to India.”
Senator Hanson argued that while India plans to significantly expand its nuclear power capacity over the coming decades, Australia continues to prohibit nuclear energy despite holding more than a quarter of the world’s known uranium reserves.
She also criticised the government’s broader energy policies, claiming Australia was shutting down coal-fired power stations while continuing to export coal and natural gas overseas. “It makes no sense for Australia, with more than a quarter of the planet’s proven uranium reserves, to ban uranium mining in three states and ban nuclear energy altogether,” she said.
“We’re even supposed to be buying nuclear-powered submarines, but we can’t have nuclear-powered cities, towns and critical industries.”
The One Nation leader reiterated her party’s commitment to lifting Australia’s ban on nuclear power and proposed constructing a 1,400-megawatt advanced pressurised water reactor in New South Wales, arguing nuclear energy would provide reliable, low-emissions baseload power alongside Australia’s existing resources sector.
The Australia–India energy agreement forms part of a broader package of initiatives announced during Prime Minister Modi’s visit, aimed at deepening cooperation in energy, critical minerals, infrastructure, trade and investment as both nations seek to strengthen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
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