The Australian http://www.news.com.au/headlines/ Howard playing 'dirty' on Jabiluka By CHRISTOPHER DORE 17feb99 THE Howard Government was accused yesterday of using unprincipled, improper and immoral international moves in a bid to stop an embarrassing proposal to list Kakadu National Park on the World Heritage in-danger list. Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton last night said the high-level international lobbying strategy revealed in secret briefing documents was un-Australian and would diminish our reputation abroad. Mr Brereton described the attempts to influence the World Heritage committee investigating the impact of the Jabiluka uranium mine as "dirty, shabby, tawdry, backroom deals". The Government dismissed the attack, with Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer telling Parliament: "We have nothing to apologise for, nothing to be ashamed of and there is absolutely nothing unprincipled about promoting Australia's national interest." The Government has admitted spending more than $1 million as part of the strategy, which was detailed in leaked advice from Environment Australia secretary Roger Beale to Environment Minister Robert Hill. Senator Hill's office yesterday maintained Australia's lobbying was low-key. Last year, the influential World Heritage committee called for the controversial Jabiluka mine to be stopped, warning it threatened Kakadu National Park's cultural and heritage values. If the mine proceeded the park would be listed as "in danger". The Government rejected the finding and said the mine would go ahead, claiming the report was unscientific, unjustified and biased. ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
