It might surprise many Australians to know that Foreign Minister Bob Carr is moving forward with a deal to sell Australian uranium to the United Arab Emirates – a country with an illiberal government situated in one of the most volatile and insecure regions in the world.

In Abu Dhabi last August, Carr talked up the deal which would see the UAE become Australia's first Middle Eastern uranium market as “underpinning jobs and investment in Australian uranium mines”.

A Department of Foreign Affairs briefing makes it clear that there is "strong commercial interest in the long term amongst Australian uranium producers in supplying uranium to the UAE".

The commercial interests of uranium producers have been prioritised over the wider national interest before but it is now time to test the claims of Australia's uranium sector.

The value of the employment and economic contribution made by the Australian uranium sector is consistently exaggerated while its risks and liabilities are routinely played down.