Nuclear Waste

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (13:58): My question is for the Premier. Will the Premier still pursue the potential for South Australia to import and permanently store high-level radioactive waste regardless of whether the state Labor Party supports the proposal at its upcoming special convention?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (13:59): We just had a convention. I will just give you a bit of a short tutorial on internal Labor Party matters—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that's right, just a primer, basically—and that is that the Labor Party supported their leader. On the proposition that, if there is to be a change in policy, it should be presented to a special convention, I don't expect that that will happen anytime soon.

We are part way through a consultation process. We are presently in the citizens' jury phase of that. We are yet to see what emerges from even that process. The state government is yet to settle a position which will be in part informed by what the citizens' jury has developed as a consequence of this statewide consultation. So, we are a long way from settling a position that would then require us to approach a party conference asking us to alter our position in relation to the storage of nuclear waste. Presently, the party position doesn't present any barrier to us taking the next steps.