Prosser Richard: Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Prosser Richard: Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 27 June 2012. Volume:681;Page:3465. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
RICHARD PROSSER (NZ First) 
: 
 I am pleased to rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak to the first reading of this thoroughly commendable member’s bill the Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill. New Zealand First supports the broad aims of this bill and we are happy to support it going to select committee. We do have some concerns about certain of the provisions of this bill notably the extraterritorial application outlined in clause 6. We are very unhappy about that particular aspect of this bill. It is not the view of New Zealand First that New Zealand should seek as a general rule to extend the reach of our laws beyond the limits of our own territorial jurisdiction. There is some justification we think for extending the application of New Zealand law in certain circumstances for example to those who organise or participate in child sex tours to countries whose laws do not in our view offer adequate protections to the young and the vulnerable. But we do not see the implications of depleted uranium falling into the same category as those types of acts. 
Depleted uranium as a metal has properties that make it of great value in military applications. It is a very heavy dense metal heavier than lead and also very hard second in hardness only to tungsten. In a previous incarnation I was involved in the manufacture of anti-tank missiles and in those days depleted uranium was regarded as being as near to the mythical material unobtainium as it was possible to get. Armour made from depleted uranium could not be pierced by anything other than depleted uranium and penetrators made from depleted uranium could slice their way through any armour made from any other material. Depleted uranium penetrator rounds sharpen themselves as they cut through armour and the metal ignites on impact at the relatively low temperature of 500 to 600 degrees Celsius created by the heat of friction from the impact itself. Thus depleted uranium rounds self-ignite and do not require an additional incendiary charge. 
Playing devil’s advocate then from the point of view of the manufacturer or indeed the user of armour and anti-armour weapons depleted uranium is a very useful and desirable material indeed and that is why it is used militarily. But depleted uranium does have civilian applications and in assessing these uses it is important to remember that depleted uranium is not regarded as a particularly radioactive material. Depleted uranium is utilised amongst other things in radiation shields for the transport and storage of nuclear waste in industrial X-ray applications as a counterweight and ballast in ships and aircraft as other members have mentioned and as an ingredient in some white and fluorescent pigments including those used in dentistry. 
Depleted uranium is created as a by-product of either the enrichment of uranium for nuclear reactor fuel or the production of nuclear weapons— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: How does the member know all this? 
RICHARD PROSSER 
: —or as a by-product of the consumption of nuclear fuel in naval and power-generating reactors. If the member had been listening he would understand that I have been involved in the manufacture of anti-tank missiles so that is how I know. 
In either case the resultant metal contains a lower proportion of highly fissile isotopes and a higher proportion of less fissile isotopes meaning that depleted uranium is a heavier more dense and actually less radioactive material than natural uranium or yellowcake as it was referred to earlier. In medical terms it is regarded as a toxin rather than a radiation risk. However when it is burnt or otherwise destroyed as part of military munitions depleted uranium produces a very fine dust sometimes mistaken for smoke by the way it behaves. This dust because of the way it accumulates in the body and living tissue is radioactive and does create a radiation risk. This dust is a known carcinogen and the author of this bill is quite correct in identifying it as such. 
We share the concern that depleted uranium may contain the risk of becoming the agent orange of the next generation of returned servicemen and we agree with the adoption of the precautionary principle as far as its use in New Zealand is concerned but we are also concerned that the only New Zealanders or agents of the New Zealand Government who may be involved in the development use sale manufacture transit or testing of depleted uranium munitions in overseas jurisdictions will be military personnel or scientists on exercise transfer or secondment to the Governments or military forces of the United States or Great Britain. Depleted uranium munitions are manufactured in nearly 20 countries but it is only Great Britain and the US that will admit to their use and it is only those two countries with which we are likely to be associated that will be using them. Neither is likely to be swayed from using depleted uranium because of the position taken by New Zealand but any attempt to extend the reach of domestic legislation beyond our jurisdiction is likely to have the potential to interfere with our defence and diplomatic relationships. 
That said we do feel that the point has to be made and that New Zealand does need to stamp our mark on the moral high ground with regard to the military use of depleted uranium. It is a horrible toxic substance when used in this way and oxymoronic though it may sound it has no more a rightful place on the modern civilised battlefield than did poison gas a century ago. In any case there is far more devilish weaponry I can tell this House under development today that will render ballistic and even kinetic weapons and physical armour obsolete within a few decades and any efforts we can make to hasten the demise of the military use of depleted uranium can only be to the greater good. 
In closing I reiterate that New Zealand First agrees with the broad aims of this bill and we are happy to support it going to a select committee where the concerns that we do have may be addressed. Thank you.