Hawke drops a nuclear-tinged poll bombshell Little time to relax: The in-demand Bob Hawke and his wife, Blanche d'Alpuget, now promoting a new book, at their home in July. Photo: Tim Bauer Photo: Tim Bauer If anyone is looking for a policy to liven up the election campaign, Bob Hawke has an idea: make Australia the repository of the world's nuclear waste. "It's a no-brainer," he says. If you've got the safest geological sites in the world, why haven't you got the moral responsibility to make them available? Mr Hawke has made the argument before, and it's the one issue he raises when asked if he has achieved all he hoped for in the 22 years since he was prime minister. Bob Hawke and his wife, Blanche d'Alpuget: "If you've got the safest geological sites in the world, why haven't you got the moral responsibility to make them available?" "It could change the whole economic future of this country," he says. We have the world's safest geological sites in the Northern Territory and north-west Western Australia. We could make the world a safer place and totally change our fiscal position by creating an enormous continuing source of income, then you'd apply some of that income to environmental and Aboriginal causes. But no one's got the guts. Australia would have that responsibility even if it did not sell uranium, contends Mr Hawke. When I express doubt about his proposal, he says: "Of course, because you're not - with respect - being intelligent about it. You're just being prejudiced, nimby. Mr Hawke gave this interview in his office at 100 William Street, Sydney, last month to talk about his wife and biographer, Blanche d'Alpuget, whose new novel is about the politics of 12th-century France and England. While she's promoting The Young Lion, he has been fielding "a thousand requests to speak at functions and open campaigns." Though he may have no takers for his nuclear-waste plan, the old lion at 83 remains a player. "I'm very sad about the quality of our political life," he says. People basically hold Parliament in contempt and I put the position to Kevin [Rudd] and to Joe Hockey last night at the football [NSW-Queensland State of Origin in July] that both sides should say there are some things we don't necessarily have the answer to. So we'll put up draft legislation, there'll be no caucus, we'll go either side and abide by the decision of the Parliament. I think that would lift the quality of political life enormously. They both expressed some interest, so we'll see. The change of prime minister from Julia Gillard to Mr Rudd "had to happen," Mr Hawke says. I like Julia and I supported her but the caucus had to look at the facts.