Please donate to fund an Australian film-maker’s new documentary on today’s global nuclear issue
We have never asked for donations to Antinuclear, and we’re not doing so now.
However, we’re just very keen to support Frontline Films David Bradbury is an Australian film-maker who has earned an international reputation as a film maker willing to go to extraordinary lengths for a cause, exposing political oppression and environmental vandalism.
Bradbury has won many international film festival prizes, received five Australian Film Industry awards, and two Academy Award nominations.
He is currently producing a very up to date film on the situation of nuclear power – globally. Bradbury’s Frontline Films nevertheless runs on the proverbiial shoe string – and with little encouragement from the mainstream media.
We believe that Frontline Film’s newest documentary will be a remarkable and eye-opening film. But David Bradbury needs funds to get these filmed events and interviews edited, and onto DVD and film. And then – to get this – the most up to date film about the global nuclear scene – to the 2nd International Uranium Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro 28. June – 14. July 2012.
So – we’re calling for donations. The Frontline Film Foundation is a registered charity and has tax deductible status. All you need is these banking details:
Frontline Film Foundation
Southern Cross Credit Union
BSB: 802-185
A/C #: 86527
For more information – go to http://www.frontlinefilmfoundation.org/index.htm
Northern Territory nuclear waste dump not needed for medical wastes, says Public Health Association
Misleading arguments influence nuclear waste dump debate, Public Health Association of Australia, 15 March 12, Linking access to cancer treatment with the need for a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory is shameful and misleading, reflecting the pro-nuclear ideologies of Ministers rather than facts, said Clive Rosewarne, spokesperson for the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA).
“Waste from nuclear medicine procedures, the majority of which is for diagnostic services rather than treatment, is low level and short term waste can be stored on site and safely disposed of locally. The small amount of higher level waste from nuclear medicine can also be stored locally, as it is currently,” explained Mr Rosewarne.
“Comments by senior Commonwealth Ministers upon the passing of the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill claiming that a dump is needed in order to have a nuclear medicine industry are a gross manipulation of public sentiment and an attempt to create fear in the community over access to health services. It is shameful that senior Ministers are misrepresenting the facts to foster their ideological support of the nuclear industry.
“The increased shipment of radioactive wastes across thousands of kilometres of Australia represents a far greater risk to public health than current storage practices and all of this could be further reduced if the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor was decommissioned and stopped from producing more waste. The only waste stream that requires a dedicated facility is soil waste from former CSIRO work and the ongoing waste generated at the nuclear reactor Lucas Heights.
“There is no long term solution to the highly dangerous radioactive waste produced by the nuclear industry and yet proponents of the industry hide from this fact. Transporting waste thousands of kilometres to a remote site certainly fits the Not In My Backyard syndrome, and attempts to locate the waste out of sight and out of mind.
“The anguish and suffering the passing of this Bill has caused to NT locals represents a low point in this nation’s dealing with Aboriginal people and may have long term health impacts. This does not seem to be of concern for Ministers who have refused to meet with traditional owners opposing the nomination of the Muckaty Station site. It would seem their health is of lower consideration than city folk in this appalling process,” said Mr Rosewarne.
Liberal M.P wants Australia to take in radioactive debris from Japan
Australia ‘ideal’ for Fukushima soil, THE AUSTRALIAN, BY:RICK WALLACE , March 15, 2012 A HOWARD government minister has entered the nuclear-waste debate by arguing that Australia should accept radioactive debris from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Former sports minister Andrew Thomson said the move would help break a deadlock in Japan that is jeopardising recovery efforts from last year’s March 11 tsunami and nuclear meltdown.
His comments come after the Senate’s approval of the Muckaty Station site in Northern Territory as a nuclear waste dump — and new Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s remarks backing atomic energy in Australia — reignited debate on the issue.
Because of a last-minute Greens amendment, the Muckaty site cannot accept waste from abroad, but Mr Thomson said the vast deserts of Western Australia and South Australia were perfect spots for the Fukushima waste.
In Japan, no prefecture has agreed to house the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste from the world’s second-worst nuclear tragedy and it is piling up in temporary storage sites obstructing reconstruction efforts…….. South Australia is launching a major uranium export industry. It’s only fair and reasonable if we propose to sell more uranium to Japan in future that we should offer such help now when Japan really needs it.”…. The former minister said that, in return for storing the Fukushima waste, Australia should receive more funding from Japan to ensure the construction of the troubled Oakajee port and rail project in WA, thereby unlocking the mid-west iron region.
The former minister and chairman of junior miner Athena Resources acknowledged he had a vested interest as Athena may one day use the port, which has hit problems with cost overruns but may be rescued by Mitsubishi. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/australia-ideal-for-fukushima-soil/story-fn59niix-1226299750692
Labor and Liberal in unison – but this time, to reject nuclear submarines for Australia
The Senate recommitted the vote on the nuclear submarines motion. The government requested this as they voted incorrectly, by mistake. The Liberals, in turn, changed their vote.
Greens welcome Labor and Coalition’s about-turn on nuclear subs motion Labor and the Coalition’s about-turn on their support for nuclear submarines is a welcome acknowledgment that they made a mistake yesterday in a Senate vote, Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said today.
Labor and the Coalition yesterday voted against Senator Brown’s motion: That the Senate reject the proposal, backed by the former Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Reith, for Australia to purchase nuclear submarines serviced in the United States of America (US) or at a US base established in Australia.
But today the government asked for the vote to be recommitted and both parties accepted the motion. “What a difference a day makes,” Senator Brown said.
“Australia’s stance should remain strongly against nuclear power and nuclear military hardware, and that includes housing nuclear vessels from other countries in our ports.”
Pro nuclear Labor Senator Bob Carr basks in Liberal Party approval
Australia’s Labor and Liberal parties are getting cosier and cosier, 15 March 12, It’s hard to tell them apart. Today, THE AUSTRALIAN quotes Dennis Jensen is the Liberal Party’s federal member for Tangney. ” My hope is Carr’s appointment will give new impetus to the nuclear debate. Perhaps this discussion will even turn to the potential of thorium”
Aboriginal legal fight against nuclear waste dump
VIDEO http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-13/canberra-approves-nt-nuclear-waste-dump/3887536
Parliament approves NT nuclear waste dump
VIDEO http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-14/traditional-owners-to-fight-nuke-waste-dump/3888116 Traditional owners to fight nuclear waste dump ,ABC Radio AM By Simon Santow, March 14, 2012 People who say they are traditional owners of Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory say they will not stop fighting against a nuclear waste dump on their land.
Federal Parliament has passed legislation that will allow a dump to be built on the station near Tennant Creek. The Federal Government insists it will not defy the wishes of traditional land owners in the area.
But the Federal Court is still deciding who the traditional owners of the land are. Continue reading
More heat, more rain for Australia – with global warming
VIDEO also Audio Australia getting hotter, sea levels rising: CSIRO, ABC TV Lateline, TONY JONES, PRESENTER: A snapshot of the nation’s weather 
reveals Australia is getting hotter, sea levels are rising and we can expect a lot more rain. That’s the view of the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology. They found that globally, temperatures could rise as much
as five degrees by 2070. And the greenhouse gases have hit their highest level since modern humans evolved. From Cape Grim in Tasmania, our environment reporter Conor Duffy reports…. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3453647.htm
Lynas rare earths plant has become a big political issue in Malaysia
rare earth processing facility developed in 1985 by Mitsubishi Chemical at Bukit Merah n northern Perak state near the city of Ipoh that turned into an environmental disaster. The facility was closed in 1992 amid allegations that it was causing widespread groundwater and other environmental contamination and was responsible for deaths from leukemia as well as birth defects in children living nearby.
protesters say the company still doesn’t have a credible waste and water management plan and that radioactive materials could leach into both the groundwater, as they did at Bukit Merah, as well as into the South China Sea. ...
Malaysia and the Global Rare Earth Squabble, Asia Sentinel, 14 March 12, “…..Other nations have largely ceased production of the rare earth minerals because of the detrimental effect mining and processing them has had on the environment.
China has belatedly caught up with western sentiment after realizing that substandard mining practices have resulted in environmental catastrophes and has cut back on production, driving prices through the roof….. Continue reading
Lynas Corporation chairman admits to the reality of environmental damage from rare earths processing
Lynas says US-led offensive against China unlikely to succeed, BY: BARRY FITZGERALD, The Australian March 15, 2012 “…….The executive chairman of Sydney-based Lynas, Nick Curtis, said yesterday China had “some complex and possibly legitimate argument about the environmental damage that rare earths was doing in China, and the consequent right it had to limit production through export quotas as a consequence of that”…. The key issue remained that the supply of rare earths was in structural deficit, as China was shrinking supply for environmental reasons, which were real, Mr Curtis said….
Lynas is part of the Western world’s plan to increase non-Chinese supplies of rare earths, a group of 17 elements increasingly used in magnets in hybrid car motors, compact fluorescent light bulbs, flatpanel displays, iPads and automotive catalytic converters. The $2 billion company, with the help of funding from Japan, has developed the Mt Weld rare earths mine in Western Australia and is close to completing a controversial finishing plant in Malaysia.
The Malaysian plant is dogged by local opposition because of radiation
fears…. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/lynas-says-us-led-offensive-against-china-unlikely-to-succeed/story-e6frg9df-1226299786618
Ignorance is bliss? South Australian government doesn’t know about nuke waste transport
SA left in the dark on nuclear waste, Adelaide Now, March 15, 2012 THE Federal Government is yet to reveal if nuclear waste from hospitals and laboratories will be trucked through South Australia. Greens MP Mark Parnell yesterday raised concerns in State Parliament that transporting nuclear waste to a proposed NT dump posed risks to SA farms.
But Environment Minister Paul Caica said later: “Matters of a proposed transport route are yet to be raised with the State Government.” http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/sa-left-in-the-dark-on-nuclear-waste/story-fn6bqphm-1226299807952
South Australian government does an about turn on nuclear waste transport
SA Govt selling out SA over nuke waste, 15 March 12, The SA Government appears to have abandoned its opposition to the transfer of radioactive waste from interstate through South Australia, says Greens Parliamentary Leader Mark Parnell.
In response to a question from the Greens in the SA Upper House about the implications for SA in the passing of a bill yesterday in the Federal Parliament authorising a nuclear waste facility in the NT, Minister Gail Gago said: “It is anticipated that the commonwealth would enter into discussions and keep the state fully informed of any future transport of significant quantities of radioactive waste through South Australia”
This response is in stark contrast to the vehement opposition by former Premier Mike Rann to the transport and storage of nuclear wastes into South Australia that led to a successful High Court challenge in 2003. Following the High Court victory, then Premier Rann said “Eighty per cent of South Australians were opposed to the radioactive waste dump and particularly opposed to radioactive waste from the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney being brought across our borders and along our roads.” Continue reading
Veterans of Australia’s atomic bomb tests get “sympathy”, but not justice
Veterans blame ill-health – including cancer, skin defects and fertility problems – on their involvement in British nuclear tests in
Australia, on Christmas Island and in the Pacific Ocean between 1952 and 1958.
VIDEO http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9142896/Nuclear-veterans-denied-damages-as-judge-expresses-sympathy.html Nuclear veterans denied damages as judge expresses ‘sympathy’, Telegraph UK, 14 March 12 Hundreds of ex-servicemen who say they were made ill as a result of being exposed to radiation during British nuclear weapons tests in the
1950s have lost their Supreme Court bid to be able to launch damages claims against the Ministry of Defence.
More than 1,000 veterans want compensation and have been battling for permission to launch damages claims for some two years. Although today’s judgment blocks most claims, a certain number can still proceed because of an earlier legal ruling. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 