According to Professor John Holdren ((Professor of Environmental Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; Director of the Woods Hole Research Center; recent President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and President Obama’s chief scientific adviser)) key issues facing humanity are nuclear weapons, poverty and global warming. According AAAS: “SAN FRANCISCO—Challenges such as poverty, climate change and nuclear proliferation pose global risks that require scientists and engineers to join with political and business leaders in a concerted search for solutions, AAAS President John P. Holdren said Thursday” (see AAAS, “AAAS President John P. Holdren urges swift action to build a sustainable future”, 16 February 2007: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2007/0216am_holdren_address.shtml ).
Unfortunately Australian Mainstream media (MSM, like MSM in the other Western Murdochracies and Lobbyocracies), variously continue to censor out information critically required for sensible public discussion of these key issues.
The Age (arguably Australia's most "liberal" Mainstream medium) published an article by Rory Medcalf (a program director at the Lowy Institute and senior research fellow in Indian strategic affairs at the University of NSW and a former Australian diplomat in India) advocating Australian uranium oxide sales to India and entitled “Time to sell uranium to India” (The Age On-line National Times, 21 January 2011: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/time-to-sell-uranium-to-india-20110120-19xxw.html ” .
“The Age published comments from 111 readers (all but 1 anonymous) but declined to publish a carefully researched comment by Dr Gideon Polya under this name (one could reasonably assume that The Age does not want its readers to know the facts in the comment). Dr Gideon Polya has had a 5-decade scientific career, publishing over 100 scientific articles, 4 books, and numerous chapters in books. He is currently the sole academic involved in presenting a major 1-semester course (theory and laboratory classes) to second year science students at a leading Australian university. Some 40 years of his research involved use of radiochemicals and 30 years of teachin ginvoved teaching students about radiation safety.
"Sensible article but part calls for critique, specifically "The theory is that exempting India might lead Pakistan, Israel, Iran or North Korea to conclude that one day they too can have both the bomb and respectable nuclear commerce with the world".
Iran has zero (0) nuclear weapons, is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and repeatedly states that it does not want nuclear weapons, is not making nuclear weapons and wants a nuclear weapons-free Middle East (the latter being repeatedly opposed by NPT-violating US and NPT-non-signatory Israel).
In contrast, total nuclear weapons are about 9,600 (US), 12,000 (Russia), 1,979 (Israel), 225 (UK), 300 (France), 240 (China), 60-80 (India), 70-90 (Pakistan), <10 (North Korea) ("List of states with nuclear weapons", Wikipedia).
Australia's current position is highly hypocritical in (a) selectively excluding uranium sales to non-belligerent India (and no doubt to Iran), (b) selling to genocidally belligerent US Alliance countries, (UK, US, France, Germany) (c) indirectly supporting Israel's nuclear weapons program (leakage of nuclear-related materials from the US and UK; tax deductability of donations to Israel; partisan diplomatic support for Israel; and unacceptable military-related dealings with Israel).
Re nuclear weapons-free Iran one must also note that about 4,000 Iranian soldiers and police have died trying to stem the flow of opiates from US-, NATO- and Australia-occupied Afghanistan (UNODC).
About 3,000 Australians have died since 2001 linked to US Alliance restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry to over 90% of world market share. With the US facing ultimate debt-based collapse (Professor Niall Ferguson, Harvard) Australia should re-assess its dealings with all belligerent nuclear weapons states."
For more comment on this censorship see Newsvine: “The Age censors(s) of comments to this article chose not to publish the above comments by a scientist writing under his own professional name (Dr Gideon Polya) but published 111 other comments (all but 1 anonymous and uncredentialled) - a likely pointer to what the Age may not want its readers to read or know” (see: http://gpolya.newsvine.com/_news/2011/01/20/5886788-academic-ex-diplomat-time-for-australia-to-sell-uranium-to-nuke-armed-non-npt-india )