Australia’s Major Political Parties fail their Nuclear Test
Major Parties fail their nuclear test, Beyond nuclear, 19 Aug 13, The federal Liberal and Labor parties have scored poorly on a nuclear policy assessment released today by national environment, disarmament and medical groups.Beyond Nuclear Initiative, Friends of the Earth, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and Medical Association for Prevention of War have collaborated to produce an election policy scorecard and website (see attached) to help inform voters about party positions on a range of nuclear issues ahead of the September 7 federal election.Issues canvassed included uranium mining and export, support for nuclear weapons and nuclear power and radioactive waste management.The Coalition received one tick and Labor two while Australian Greens policies scored ten out of ten.“The major parties are out of step with many Australians and failing badly when it comes to responsible and evidence based nuclear policies. Many Australians have considered and continuing concerns and opposition that are not being recognised or reflected in policy,” said Dr Jenny Grounds from the Medical Association for Prevention of War.“Against the backdrop of Fukushima, continuing international nuclear insecurity and the need to grow clean and sustainable energy sources the major parties simply fail the nuclear test,” said Gem Romuld from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.Beyond Nuclear Initiative coordinator Natalie Wasley said “While the major parties do not openly supports an international radioactive waste dump, they both actively support the controversial plan for a national dump at Muckaty in the NT. The Muckaty plan is inconsistent with industry best practice and Australia’s international treaty obligations and is being challenged in the Federal Court. Radioactive waste lasts longer than any politicians promise and it is time for Canberra to do things differently and better”.Dr Jim Green from Friends of the Earth added, “It is a disgrace and an outrage that the major parties support selling uranium to countries that have not even signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It is a disgrace and an outrage that both major parties support uranium sales to Russia when they know that safeguards inspections are very nearly non-existent.”Further information and comment:Dr Jenny Grounds 0407 287 684Gem Romuld 0421 955 066Natalie Wasley 0429 900 774Dr Jim Green 0417 318 386
Australian right wing ideas about Climate Change
In Queensland, the state party’s rank and file members voted last year in favour of a motion to ban the teaching of climate science in schools.
Australia’s One Nation under climate science denial, The Guardian, by Graham Readfearn Friday 16 August 2013 Fringe and extremist political groups in Australia are pushing climate science denial soundbites……. One Nation appears to have gone shopping to the Climate Science Denial Mart and come back with the whole deli counter of debunked talking points.
“What’s really behind all the global warming hoopla,” One Nation’s website asks.
“Power. It’s the same old Marxist/Communist/Fascist collectivist shtick, dressed up in new clothes. Global warming is all about a power grab by a wealthy elite and their collectivist sycophants — using the (United Nations) as a cover and tool.”
Elsewhere, One Nation accuses the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO of engaging in the corruption of science. Continue reading
American right wing ideas about Radiation and Climate Change
Oregon’s GOP Chair Wants to Sprinkle Nuclear Waste From Airplanes Mother jones, —By Tim Murphy Fri Aug. 16, 2013 After months of in-fighting, the beleaguered Oregon Republican Party elected a new chairman last weekend. His name is Art Robinson, and he wants to sprinkle radioactive waste from airplanes to build up our resistance to degenerative illnesses. …. Robinson, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, has marketed himself for the last three decades as an expert on everything from nuclear fallout to AIDS to climate science in the pages of a monthly newsletter, Access to Energy, which he published from his compound in the small town of Cave Junction……
AUDIO: Queensland ‘s surf coast worried about delays to renewable energy
Kirra Groyne, renewable energy Radio 612 ABC Brisbane 16 August 2013 , by Rebecca Armstrong
Only two weeks ago the surfing community was celebrating the start of work to restore Kirra Groyne which aims to replace 30 metres of rock wall to return the iconic surf spot to it’s former glory.
Construction has now been delayed because Gold Coast City Council failed to get the necessary approvals from the State Government before it commenced the $800,000 project.
Steve Austin spoke to Queensland’s Environment Minister Andrew Powell about this issue. He also asked him about a World Wildlife Fund report that found that energy prices would go up if the carbon price was scrapped. http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2013/08/kirra-groyne-renewable-energy.html
Coalition government would mean $4 billion lost from renewable energy funding
Clean energy faces $4b hit, The Age, 19 Aug 13, About $4 billion in private funding would be sucked from Australia’s solar power and renewable energy industries over the next three years if the Coalition wins government, confidential data obtained from banks and financial analysts shows.
The Coalition’s climate change plan is also about $4 billion short of the funding required to meet its pledge for a 5 per cent cut in greenhouse emissions by 2020, and is instead on track for a 9 per cent increase by then, according to analysis commissioned by the independent think tank The Climate Institute.
Although the Coalition rejects that analysis, major investors are planning for the impact if Opposition Leader Tony Abbott wins power and axes the carbon price and dismantles the clean energy finance system. They expect about $4.1 billion in private funding would be directed away from large-scale renewable power – starving the sector of capital – due to regulatory uncertainty and a lack of solid returns……
The renewables sector, which now employs more people than the car industry, is nervously awaiting the election result.
Clean Energy Council chief executive David Green said: ”Australia’s significant clean energy potential is being held back by seemingly endless rounds of review … our main need is for policy stability to drive investment.”
A major survey of businesses has found uncertainty about the future of the carbon price has had a negative impact on over half the responding firms. The survey by consultants AECOM found 65 per cent of businesses supported an emissions trading scheme, 29 per cent backed a carbon tax and just 7 per cent supported the Coalition’s direct action. http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/clean-energy-faces-4b-hit-20130818-2s5b9.html#ixzz2cSGq1933
Soaring amounts of radioactive caesium in Fukushima underground water
Cesium levels in Fukushima water 8 times higher than after disaster Asahi Shimbun By SHUNSUKE KIMURA/ Staff Writer 16 Aug 13 Tokyo Electric Power Co. has reported finding radioactive cesium levels in underground water at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant that is eight times greater than what it recorded right after the accident.
TEPCO, which operates the facility, said Aug. 15 that it detected 11,600 becquerels of radioactive cesium per liter of contaminated water in a tunnel near the No. 1 reactor building on the side facing the ocean.
That compares with 1,490 becquerels per liter it recorded at the site shortly after the accident in March 2011.
TEPCO said it believes the readings have soared due to rainwater containing cesium flowing into the tunnel. But the amount detected is roughly one-100,000th of that found in radioactive water in a tunnel near the No. 2 reactor building……http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201308160041
Solar power opportunity for Tasmanians – extra good before August 30
NEWSFLASH: Tasmania Solar Feed In Tariff Deadline August 30 http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3894, 19 Aug 13, Tasmanian households considering going solar should make a move right now if they wish to secure the current feed in tariff incentive.
Deputy Premier Bryan Green announced yesterday all existing households under the scheme and those submitting feed in tariff applications before August 30 will continue to receive the feed-in tariff at the current 1:1 rate until 1 January, 2019.
“This will ensure existing customers are treated fairly in light of the capital investments they have made under the current system.”
For those submitting an application after August 30, a transitional feed-in tariff rate of 8 cents per KWh will be introduced from August 31 until December 2013. The feed in tariff rate from the beginning of next year is yet to be determined.
According to solar power provider Energy Matters, a 5.5 kW solar panel systemthe company is currently offering on special installed in Hobart or Launceston can return a financial benefit of approximately $1,600 annually under the current feed in tariff rate. Even a small system can put a sizeable dent in a household’s power bills.
To help more Tasmanian households go solar, the company is also offering a zero-deposit, Save As You Go payment plan option on many systems, whereby electricity bill savings can be more than the repayments. The deadline announcement is likely to generate a rush on systems, so Energy Matters encourages households to not leave organising a system until the last minute as application preparation requires some lead-up time.
Film “Nuclear Nation” shows the lives of Fukushima’s radiation refugees
Film shows Japan’s nuclear nation http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54786 August 17, 2013 By Alexander Brown, Sydney
This new documentary by Atsushi Funahashi explores the lives of refugees from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The film explores the lives of the residents of Futaba, a small town located next to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Following the explosion at the plant, the entire town was designated as an exclusion zone and 1400 residents were forced to evacuate to an abandoned high school about 250 kilometres from their hometown. The residents cannot legally return to their homes. The film shows the residents living in classrooms in the school as they struggle to rebuild their lives and wrestle with what they have lost.
In Japan, a Nagasaki Day commemoration was held in the south-western city to commemorate the victims of the second atomic bomb, dropped two days after the first atomic bomb at Hiroshima.
In his speech at the ceremony, Nagasaki’s mayor condemned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for failing to endorse a statement during April negotiations for the next round of Nuclear Non-Proliferation talks, which rejected the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances.
One atomic bomb survivor also criticised the government over its plan to restart Japan’s nuclear power plants which have been shut down after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Shohei Tsuiki, 86, said “it is obvious that nuclear power and human beings cannot coexist” and asked the government “to take action sincerely and proactively toward the elimination of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants,” the Japan Times reported. The Sydney screening was organised by Uranium Free NSW and the Beyond Nuclear Initiative as a fundraiser for the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance.
Uranium Free NSW is a new group organised in response to NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell’s decision last year to overturn a 26-year moratorium on uranium exploration in NSW.
Australian uranium was used in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
[Uranium Free NSW meets fortnightly at the University of Technology Sydney at 6pm. The next meeting will be held on August 28. For more information contact hollycreenaune@gmail.com]
Australia good customer for USA weapons firms
This Week in Defense – Investor Center 18 Aug 13, “…………contracts that may not yet be incorporated into defense contractors’ stock prices.
Early in the week, we learned of one such potential contract, when the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress that Australia has asked for permission to buy up to 4,002 M1156 Precision Guidance Kits from munitions maker Alliant Techsystems . These kits are used to convert basic “dumb” howitzer rounds into “smart munitions” — projectiles that can change their trajectory in-flight, and use GPS signals to guide them to within 50 meters of their intended target.
If approved by Congress, or indeed, even if Congress simply fails to deny approval of the sale within 15 days of notification, this sale should go through, and result in $54 million in incremental revenues for ATK. ……..http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/08/18/this-week-in-defense-italys-1st-f-35-and-rockets-f/
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 