The outcome of elections in the state of Western Australia is in limbo after the incumbent Labor Party and the pro-uranium mining Liberal Party both failed to claim enough seats to form a majority government...
A Liberal win would break a political stranglehold in Australia, where Labor holds power at federal level and in all states and territories. The Liberals want to open the state, which holds as much as 10 percent of the world's known uranium reserves, to miners of the nuclear reactor fuel such as Cameco Corp., the world's biggest producer, and BHP Billiton Ltd.
"Given the swing against Labor, it looks like the Liberals may eventually come out on top,'' said David Black, an unaligned professor emeritus in history and politics at Perth's Curtin University of Technology. "Some sort of bargain, possibly a Liberal coalition with the Nationals, is the most likely scenario, and that means the state will have a change of nuclear policy.''..
"A Liberal government in Western Australia would certainly be more positive for uranium explorers than the current situation,'' said Gavin Wendt, senior resources analyst at Fat Prophets Funds Management in Sydney. "But uranium projects are really tough to get off the ground and West Australian juniors have been hard hit by shrinking operating margins, so this doesn't mean there's suddenly going to be a flood of new mines.''
A Liberal win would break a political stranglehold in Australia, where Labor holds power at federal level and in all states and territories. The Liberals want to open the state, which holds as much as 10 percent of the world's known uranium reserves, to miners of the nuclear reactor fuel such as Cameco Corp., the world's biggest producer, and BHP Billiton Ltd.
"Given the swing against Labor, it looks like the Liberals may eventually come out on top,'' said David Black, an unaligned professor emeritus in history and politics at Perth's Curtin University of Technology. "Some sort of bargain, possibly a Liberal coalition with the Nationals, is the most likely scenario, and that means the state will have a change of nuclear policy.''..
"A Liberal government in Western Australia would certainly be more positive for uranium explorers than the current situation,'' said Gavin Wendt, senior resources analyst at Fat Prophets Funds Management in Sydney. "But uranium projects are really tough to get off the ground and West Australian juniors have been hard hit by shrinking operating margins, so this doesn't mean there's suddenly going to be a flood of new mines.''
