Olympic Dam uranium mine- South Australia’s answer to the Hutt River Province
The Principality of Hutt River lies within the geographic territory of Western Australia, but is not part of the State of Western Australia. It seceded from the State of Western Australia in 1959, and became, legally, an independent Sovereign state in 1971.
Within a month or two, BHP Billiton is well positioned
to achieve the same status for its Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia.
This will be helped along by BHP Billiton dictating policy to its servant, (just barely hangin’ on to his job) Premier Mike Rann.
BHP Billiton will “improve” on the 1982 Indenture Act which allows BHP to override the:
· Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988
· Development Act 1993
· Environmental Protection Act 1993
· Freedom of Information Act 1991
· Mining Act 1971
· Natural Resources Act 2004 (including the Water Resources Act 1997)
It is timely for Australians to rejoice in this new political entity? Time to make South African Marius Kloppers – Prince Marius? – Christina Macpherson
BHP Billiton in control of South Australian govt policy on uranium mine expansion
nominating that deadline leaves SA in a “terrible negotiating position”.
“All BHP Billiton has to do is hold out and watch the clock ticking down, knowing the premier needs their signature on the deal before October 20,”
South Australia over a barrel on Olympic Dam, Greens say, Herald Sun, AAP, August 08, 2011 BHP BILLITON has South Australia well and truly over a barrel with Olympic Dam expansion negotiations, the Greens say. Continue reading
Pro nuclear collusion between government and industry
[the UK government] invited Westinghouse, Areva and EDF Energy, all pillars of nuclear power production, to contribute to government briefs and statements. “We need to all be working from the same material to get the message through to the media and the public,” ….Such spin and manipulation of information is likely to continue in the coming months as the industry struggles to recover.
(includes video)After Fukushima: the collusive nuclear industry fightback Independent Australia, 6 August 11, On the 66th anniversary of Hiroshima today, in a week whenrecord levels of radiation have been found at Fukushima, David McNeill looks at the way the nuclear industry has corruptly colluded with regulators in Japan and Britain to quieten valid public safety concerns about nuclear power. Continue reading
Australian govt policy grabs Aboriginal homelands, (suits uranium miners)
In its report to be released today, Amnesty International slams the federal and NT Government’s Closing the Gap policy ….More than one-third of the NT’s Aboriginal population lives in 500 remote homeland communities….
the federal government’s NT Intervention had been a “traumatising” land grab.
During the 2007 NT Intervention the federal government took over homelands under a five-year lease which is due to expire next year.
NT Aborigines driven out of homelands, Herald Sun, AAP , August 09, 2011 NORTHERN Territory Aborigines are being driven off their traditional homelands and herded into “hub towns” Continue reading
Rich countries put uranium pollution on to indigenous peoples
people of Namibia, Malawi, and many African countries were suffering from problems related to weather, water pollution and radiation as a result of uranium mining there. “The biggest problem of uranium mining is slow and constant emission of radiation which leads people to suffer from cancer, kidney problems, and other respiratory diseases. Future generations would be the worst sufferers,”
”Rich countries encourage uranium mining in poor nations”, IBN Live, Kadapa(AP), Aug 7 (PTI) Developed nations are taking up uranium mining in third world countries despite themselves being endowed with rich deposits of the mineral to avoid possible environmental pollution, a Spanish researcher said. “Despite having rich uranium mines, developed nations are focusing on mines in developing countries for fulfilling their ‘Nuclear weapons’ requirement,” Continue reading
Uranium industry benefits billionaires, damages Aboriginals
to the direct benefit of billionaire mine-owners, including the uranium mine-owners Angwin represents. These measures include attempts to shut down smaller Indigenous communities and herd Aboriginal people into “hub towns”.
Leave uranium in the ground, Green Left, 8 Aug 11, @…….. Angwin slammed the eastern states’ uranium bans as “authoritarian”. He said: “The Northern Territory and South Australia have encouraged the uranium industry for a long time. So it is not surprising that uranium development there proceeds without much fuss, despite the occasional hiccup.”
The “occasion hiccup” includes contaminating underground aquifers with radioactive tailings and the spread of radioactive dust. Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and South Australia suffer some of the worst effects of this radioactive contamination. Continue reading
Sydney-siders go solar
Solar use in Sydney soars, SYDNEY, Aug. 8 (UPI) –– Beset by rising consumer energy prices, consumers in Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, are looking to solar energy. In 2010 the city introduced a solar bonus scheme, which was very popular in Sydney’s more prosperous suburbs, with more than 14 percent of homes installing rooftop solar panels, compared with a New South Wales statewide average of about 3 percent…..
the number of private dwellings with solar panels had increased from 2,000 18 months ago to 46,000 after the former New South Wales Labor government introduced a solar bonus rebate scheme.
That plan allowed for a 60-cents-per-kilowatt-hour feed-in tariff for consumers utilizing solar panels, The Sydney Morning Herald reported….
Bowing to increasing public interest in the issue, Ausgrid has begun publishing details of solar panel installations and other data on its Web site to allow councils, consumers and other interested parties to evaluate patterns of electricity usage…http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/08/Solar-use-in-Sydney-soars/UPI-88871312819223/?spt=hs&or=er
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 