PERTH, Australia: Voters in Western Australia went to the polls on Saturday in a ballot that could see a formal ban slapped on uranium mining in the mineral-rich state that drives the whole nation's economy.

Premier Alan Carpenter has vowed to enshrine a ban on mining yellowcake in law if he is re-elected, a move that industry lobby groups say could cost Australia the chance to become the world's biggest uranium producer.

But a poll published on Saturday showed that Carpenter's troubled centre-left government could become the first Labor Party state administration to lose power in a decade following a late swing against it that has left it neck and neck in the polls with the conservative Liberal Party opposition.

A Labor defeat would shatter an absolute grip on power across Australia by Labor, which is led nationally by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, which controls the federal administration as well as all eight state and territory governments.

Carpenter late Friday urged voters not to risk the Liberals, insisting Labor had a plan to ensure a prosperous future for the state.

"Don't put our future at risk with (state opposition leader) Colin Barnett and the Liberals," Carpenter said. "They've got no policies, they've got no team and they're not ready for government."

A survey by Newspoll published in The Weekend Australian indicated that Barnett, who has said he would support a policy to mine uranium could win the nine additional seats his party needs.

The survey showed that Carpenter's tactic of turning uranium mining into a core issue in the election may have failed to rally voters who are increasingly dissatisfied with his job performance.

The poll of 1,802 voters conducted from Tuesday to Thursday night shows a collapse in the state government's primary support and significant swings against it in key marginal seats, enough to bring down the administration.

Primary support for Labor has dropped by seven points during the four-week campaign to just 35 percent, while support for the Liberals was unchanged over the period at 37 percent.

The Newspoll survey also forecast a 50-50 vote on a two-party preferred basis.

Carpenter turned uranium mining into a key issue by saying he wanted to formally ban it in Western Australia which has huge supplies of the nuclear fuel in order to bring a new clean and green image to the state.

The move has alarmed some mining groups who say a ban would deprive Australia's economy of up to 3.2 billion dollars in additional revenue and prevent it from becoming the world's biggest yellowcake producer.

Australia boasts the world's largest uranium reserves – 24 percent of the planet's known resources – and was the world's second largest miner of yellowcake after Canada in 2007, producing 21 percent of the world's supply.

But there are currently only three uranium mines operating in the country, although several more have been proposed, including in Western Australia.

Australia's economy has benefited from an international demand, particularly from China, for natural resources from the mineral-rich country.


- AFP/so