Damned if you do ...

"First they say it is OK to mine uranium from three sites but not from others. Then they say it is OK to sell uranium, but not to enrich it. And then they say, well, maybe it is OK to enrich it, but we shouldn't use it to power our towns and cities. It is policy anachronism piled on contradiction, capped by inertia."

Read John Howard's full nuclear argument in The Age.

If there's one thing Howard should be recognised for - and this is a quality I haven't yet seen anywhere in the Opposition - it's that he's confident enough in his decisions that he doesn't mind when the public is against him.

Even when some members of the public hate him, and he's speaking on an issue like nuclear energy or free trade, in his mind and to his knowledge he is acting in the best interests of a progressive Australia.