The Australian Labor Party has overturned its ban on the sale of uranium to India in a fiery and emotional debate which Prime Minister Julia Gillard said was a sign of a "vibrant political party".
The third and final day of the ALP's national conference in Sydney was met with protesters angry over the carbon tax, offshore processing of asylum seekers and the party's move to sell uranium to India, which has nuclear weapons.
Former prime minister and now foreign minister Kevin Rudd also made his first and only foray into the conference, praising Ms Gillard twice in a broad-ranging speech which also criticised the world view of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Ms Gillard said after the conference backed her resolution on uranium sales by a vote of 206 to 185 - to the jeers of anti-nuclear protesters and some delegates - that the ALP was alive and well.
"There's always emotion and passion at Labor Party conferences, I think that's a good thing," she said.
"It's a sign of a vibrant political party."
Ms Gillard said it was illogical that Australia sold uranium to China and not to India, and any exports would be covered by a safeguards agreement and global checks that were better than those of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The industry says a safeguards agreement was likely to take several years but could yield export earnings of $300 million a year within two decades.
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson told the conference Australia couldn't lecture the world about the importance of climate change action while denying them sources of clean energy.
But fellow frontbencher Peter Garrett spoke out against the motion, saying it weakened the party's commitment to nuclear disarmament.
"What we are now saying is that we will make a one-off exception to a policy that has been held by Australian governments of both political persuasions for nearly four decades," Mr Garrett said.
Speaking after the debate, Mr Garrett said he was disappointed but would be arguing strongly in caucus for "stringent safeguards".
Left faction co-convenor Doug Cameron told the conference he didn't want Labor's light on the hill to become "a green pulsating nuclear light".
"Prime minister, you are wrong," Senator Cameron said.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy was almost moved to tears as he spoke about his family's experiences living in England near the Windscale nuclear plant at which there was a major incident in 1957.
"I've never voted for it, and I'm not going to vote for it today," Senator Conroy said.
Greens senator Sarah-Hanson Young said outside the conference it was disappointing that Ms Gillard was lining up with former Liberal prime minister John Howard on uranium.
"This is Julia Gillard living John Howard all over again," Senator Hanson-Young said.
In a final-day pep talk to ALP members, Mr Rudd - who went unmentioned in Ms Gillard's opening address - praised the prime minister twice and criticised Mr Abbott for having a narrow world view.
"I think it's a combination of Rudyard Kipling, Biggles and the Boy's Own Annual - that's Tony's vision of the future," Mr Rudd said.
"Mr Abbott has neither the experience nor the temperament to ever be the prime minister of this great country Australia."
Mr Abbott told reporters in Brisbane the conference had been a "lot of internal navel-gazing".
"They're desperately trying to prop up Julia Gillard, at the same time to airbrush Kevin Rudd out of the Labor Party's history," he said.
Addressing a protest rally outside the conference, ACTU president Ged Kearney said unions and refugee advocates would continue to argue against the party's support for offshore processing.
"The fight is in the hearts and minds of the people of Australia," Ms Kearney said.
ALP president Jenny McAllister said at the end of the conference that delegates had delivered the "passionate policy debates" the prime minister had sought.
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