MAPW has told an Australian government enquiry that nuclear warfare threats should end plans to sell Australian uranium to Russia. MAPW President Dr Sue Wareham was invited to address the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties this week in Canberra.

In a joint media release, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) say the current conflict in Georgia provides another reason why Australia should scrap plans to sell uranium to Russia.

 “In the face of Russian military action in Georgia and threats of a possible nuclear strike against Poland, Australia should immediately discontinue plans to sell uranium to Russia. We cannot turn a blind eye to the threat of nuclear war,” said Dr Sue Wareham, President of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.

•  Public debate on the links between nuclear weapons and the rest of the nuclear chain is heating up, with US-India nuclear cooperation being knocked back at the Nuclear Suppliers Group. (See news and analysis in The Australian, 25 August 2008.