Australia's lack of nuclear energy 'almost immoral'

General Peter Cosgrove, Australia's former defence force chief, has called on the country to embrace nuclear power. Speaking at a business breakfast hosted by BHP Billiton at the University of Western Australia in Perth, the former Australian of the Year said that it was "almost immoral" that Australia exports uranium to less technologically advanced and stable countries to use in nuclear power plants while refusing to have one itself. "We'll give you the stuff but won't use it ourselves. I find that difficult to comprehend," Cosgrove was quoted as saying by The Australian newspaper. He added, "We're a rich and technologically advanced nation sitting in a geologically stable continent, so surely we can expect to build and operate safely a nuclear power station." Referring to the "daily scrapping" by politicians about Australia's climate change policies, Cosgrove suggested that a national climate change commission should be set up with its own charter and statutory powers to ensure strong and continuous change. He said, "If there wasn't a climate change issue then we could burn our coal till the cows come home and we wouldn't need to consider that large step to nuclear energy. But if we continue to burn our coal prolifically, then it seems to me we haven't taken climate change seriously."