16 Aug 2005

New Zealand Green MP advises Niue to stay away from uranium mining

9:11 pm on 16 August 2005

New Zealand Green MP Keith Locke says he would discourage Niue and any other Pacific state from having anything to do with mining uranium.

Australian exploration company Yamarna Goldfields says it has signed an agreement with Avian Mining and hopes to begin drilling for uranium on Niue, by the end of the year.

But Keith Locke says uranium is very dangerous in any form.

"I think we should discourage Niue from allowing this form of exploration because we don't want Pacific countries involved in uranium mining. And there's a big controversy in Australia right now about the export of uranium to countries like China, where it might be used to make nuclear weapons."