PETER Beattie has backed a push for the ALP conference to endorse gay marriage but he warned this could damage Julia Gillard’s leadership.

Mr Beattie also urged the Labor Party to do more to encourage clean coal technology, saying Ms Gillard made a “mistake” to strike a deal with the Greens to scrap clean coal funds from the carbon tax package.

He said she was right to push for uranium exports to India but he felt Anna Bligh would not need to lift the ban on uranium mining in Queensland in the near future because there was plenty of uranium in other states.