Senator BROWN —My question is also to Senator Hill, the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, and Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I refer to the two huge British ships carrying highly radioactive nuclear waste from France to Japan at the moment and approaching Australian waters. Is it true that these ships will be off Hobart in the last week of this month and off Sydney on about 1 September? Is the United States government right in saying that it is important to understand that this sort of material remains material of a most sensitive category because plutonium suitable for use in weapons could be separated from it relatively easily? Does the Australian government agree with that statement? Why is the Australian government the only government in the region that is not objecting to the passage of these ships through our regional waters?

Senator HILL (Environment and Heritage) —This is not a new event. Ships have been travelling to the south of Australia and through the Tasman Sea up to Japan carrying nuclear waste for some time. Ships have been specifically designed for this purpose, constructed with all the necessary safeguards. The safeguards and the methods of transport have obviously undergone a thorough analysis by the International Atomic Energy Agency under its regulations for safe transport of radioactive material.

I understand that there are two ships carrying a load of mixed oxide—MOX. I am also told, for the benefit of Senator Brown, that the material does not contain weapons-grade plutonium.

Senator Brown —So you disagree with the United States on this?

Senator HILL —I have read the Greenpeace press release as well, Senator Brown, but I do not automatically accept everything that Greenpeace says. The point is that you should take some good scientific advice. The scientist whom I am relying upon I think is an excellent scientist. If he tells me that the material does not contain weapons-grade plutonium, I accept that advice, and I suggest that Senator Brown should accept that advice as well.

This is not an unusual event, as such. The shipments have been taking place from time to time. They have always taken place safely. That is not surprising because it is a transport that obviously has to be undertaken with great care, and it is. It is possible to develop an alarmist story and try to panic the people of Tasmania, which is the goal of Senator Brown. That is really unhelpful. What Senator Brown should say honestly to the Australian people, and Tasmanians in particular, is that nuclear waste has been transported in this way regularly for a long period of time with no incidents at all. There is no reason to believe that there is any likelihood of any incidents in this case either.

Senator BROWN —Madam President, I ask a supplementary question. I ask whether the minister is aware that the Huon Valley council—the most southerly council in Australia and the most exposed to these shipments—last night unanimously called on the Australian government to join New Zealand and other regional governments in opposing the passage of these ships making Australian offshore waters part of the plutonium highway. Why is it—I come back to this question—that Australia is not taking the objections that New Zealand and other regional countries have to this commerce? Is it because the minister is aware that Australian uranium is ending up in this reprocessed fuel which is of nuclear weapons capacity?

Senator HILL (Environment and Heritage) —The last point is wrong. In fact, I think there is no Australian waste in these shipments at all. I have spoken on the subject of proliferation. There is no issue of proliferation. The Japanese do not produce nuclear weapons in any event, Senator Brown. What I do not understand is why you seek to be alarmist when there is no circumstance to justify it. These ships travel in international waters well out of sight, well out of the way of Tasmania. Why you see it necessary to pump up the people of Huon Valley or anywhere else, I do not know, unless you feel that you can win some cheap political point out of it. But I do not think that is a helpful contribution, and I suggest that you should not either.

The PRESIDENT —Senator Hill, your remarks should be directed through the chair.