Now wonder the nuclear lobby targets South Australia
The USA and UK nuclear lobby has worked on gullible South Australians for decades – happily encouraging fame-seeking pretend environmentalists like Barry Brook and Ben Heard, as well as career academics like Stefan Simons and Pamela Sykes. Then there are the pack of straight out greedy business people.
But why did they pick South Australia?
Because South Australia already has the ignominious nuclear history of Maralinga, and the great white elephants of the uranium industry – Olympic Dam, Beverley, FourMile (with its military connections)
Why are they pushing nuclear power now?
Because South Australia has been, and continues to be a dazzling success in 
renewable energy.
Panic is no doubt setting in – and there are plenty of Aussie politicians glad to get on the well-funded nuclear bandwagon.
Clean energy vs nuclear: the battle intensifies http://safeenergy.org/2015/02/06/clean-energy-vs-nuclear/ Michael Mariotte February 6, 2015
“…../The war on solar, which is real, is really a war over what kind of energy system we will have in the 21st century. Will it be the 21st century model we at GreenWorld and NIRS advocate, based on clean renewable energy, distributed generation and the rest?
Or will it be a continuation of the 20th century model of large baseload power plants, whether they be coal or nuclear? That’s the fundamental issue and how it is resolved may well determine the future of our planet….”
The greedy people who want to make money out of importing radioactive trash
These are some of the people behind the push that got South Australia’s Premier Jay Weatherill to change his tune and open the door to the toxic nuclear chain in Australia. Note that I write “chain” – not “cycle”
Directors at SA Nuclear Energy Systems Pty Ltd – the list includes former Labor federal MP Bob Catley, Ian Kowalick, a former head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet during John Olsen’s Liberal Government and later an information technology consultant to the Rann Labor Government, and climate scientists Professor Stephen Lincoln and Professor Tom Wigley
The nuke lobby would have us believe in a cycle, whereby suddenly, by magic – radioactive trash is no long trash. It becomes a “valuable resource” – recycled into gee-whiz new (exiting only in blueprint) innocuous little nuclear reactors.
Apart from all the disecoomics, and health and environment aspects – the promised new reactors themselves create highly toxic radioactive wastes, and eventually themselves become highly toxic radioactive corpses.
South Australian Business and Premier want to import radioactive waste
Business groups embrace nuclear industry debate in South Australia ABC News 9 Feb 2015,The prospect of a nuclear industry in South Australia has been embraced by the state’s peak business group as a multi-million-dollar industry. Business SA chief executive Nigel McBride said it would be good for the state and could result in reduced carbon emissions.
“We’re talking about a massive, potential nuclear recycling industry,” he said.
“We’re talking about low energy costs and a huge rise in job opportunities through cheaper manufacturing, cheaper water.” SA Chamber of Mines and Energy chief executive Jason Kuchel said it was “about time” options for the future were discussed.
“One of those things that we would be hopeful for is that we might able to consider enriching uranium in South Australia,” he said.
Mr Weatherill …. indicated that he did not think the establishment of a SA nuclear power plant was on the horizon but said a nuclear waste dump and the creation of a nuclear enrichment industry should be considered……
But the Conservation Council’s chief executive Craig Wilkins described any use of nuclear energy in SA as “unwanted” and “unsafe”.
“It’s old thinking, rather than new thinking and it’s so frustrating to spend time, energy and resources investigating this when we are on the cusp of an energy revolution in renewable,” he said….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/business-lobby-embraces-nuclear-debate/6079348
A warning on greedy businessmen’s push for nuclear chain in South Australia
South Australia takes first step to nuclear power GEORGE LEKAKIS The New Daily, Financial Services Editor 9 Feb 15 “……..The setting up of the Royal Commission follows lobbying by prominent South Australian business figures for an independent evaluation of nuclear power and enrichment proposals for the state……..South Australian Nuclear Energy Systems has been discussing its business proposals with Federal and State politicians, with a view to amending laws that ban nuclear power generation.
Mr Hundertmark told The New Daily last year that the company had identified international capital sources for funding local nuclear projects and had formed connections with global players.
“The funding of the things that need to be done is not a real problem – the problem is to get the legislative changes needed,” he said at the time.
Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman David Sweeney warned that the Royal Commission could merely be a pretext for conditioning South Australians to the prospect of establishing a nuclear waste dump.
“There’s no doubt that a large part of this inquiry is to de-sensitise people to the idea of creating an international radioactive waste dump in the state,” he said.“People need to be wary of the possibility that the inquiry is just a Trojan horse for getting a waste dump built.”
Mr Sweeney said any independent inquiry would find that the economic case for nuclear power did not stack up. “As far as nuclear power is concerned, this is a fanciful exercise because of the outstanding growth of renewable alternatives,” he said.
Mr Weatherill said the government would finalise the terms of reference for the Royal Commission in consultation with experts.
In June last year, The New Daily revealed that a group of high-powered businessmen and scientists led by former News International director Bruce Hundertmark had formed a new company to prepare business proposals for nuclear power stations in South Australia.
Apart from Mr Hundertmark, the board of South Australian Nuclear Energy Systems Pty Ltd, includes Ian Kowalick, the former chief of staff to ex-Liberal premier John Olsen. http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/02/08/south-australia-takes-first-step-nuclear-power/
The Adelaide Advertiser is in the grip of the nuclear lobby
Dennis Matthews, 9 Feb 15 From its comments denigrating would-be opposition to the nuclear industry whilst at the same time paying lip service against radical pro-development forces it’s pretty obvious that The Advertiser has already made up its mind about Jay Weatherill’s opportunistic so-called independent Royal Commission into the nuclear industry (The Advertiser, 9/2/15).
With subjective comments like those from the media, business communities and pro-nuclear politicians why waste taxpayers money on window dressing a foregone conclusion?
Once again the public is being led like lambs to the slaughter in the name of development, which in truth is nothing less than a proxy for narrow-minded, regressive, vested interests.
South Australia could make “$billions” out of nuclear power – Adelaide Advertiser
DANIEL WILLS STATE POLITICAL EDITOR THE ADVERTISER FEBRUARY 09, 2015CONSTRUCTION of a uranium enrichment plant could inject billions of dollars into the South Australian economy and modern waste-treatment facilities could double as cheap power generators if the state’s nuclear capacity is expanded, industry says.
Premier Jay Weatherill has reversed decades of Labor opposition to the state taking a greater role in the uranium industry, yesterday announcing a royal commission to investigate opportunities for nuclear storage, uranium enrichment and power creation.
It has raised immediate ire from the green lobby and been dismissed by the Opposition as a backflip and tactical distraction from health controversies.
Mr Weatherill conceded the announcement was a major reversal from his previous stance on the nuclear industry. He said he now had an “open mind” amid opportunities for jobs and investment, and growing fears about climate change.
“I have in the past been opposed to nuclear power, all elements of it,” he said. “I now have an open mind. “When the facts change, people should change their minds.”
Jay Weatherill (Labor) and Julie Bishop (Liberal) in unison promoting nuclear power
South Australia calls royal commission on nuclear power, SMH February 8, 2015 David Wroe National security correspondent The South Australian government has called the nation’s first ever royal commission on nuclear fuel, raising the prospect of generating nuclear power in Australia and enriching uranium for export……..
The move is significant, as it could open the door to an expanded role for nuclear power in Australia. It follows a recent call by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for a fresh discussion about nuclear power, which she said was an “obvious direction” for any country considering how to cut its greenhouse emissions.
Mr Weatherill likewise cited climate change as a key driver of his decision to call a royal commission on the issue, saying that while he had in the past been sceptical of nuclear power, global warming meant he was taking another look………
Mr Weatherill acknowledged that large-scale nuclear energy generation might not be economically viable but said “technological changes are occurring with much smaller nuclear generation plants”……….
He said there could be “extraordinary economic opportunities” for South Australia in storing medium and high-level nuclear waste and also a potential in enriching uranium,” adding value to the ore we send overseas”.
A spokeswoman for Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said the federal government’s Energy White Paper was considering all options for Australia’s future energy needs…….http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/south-australia-calls-royal-commission-on-nuclear-power-20150208-1390sc.html
Bob Hawke and Jay Weatherill – Labor fans of nuclear power and radioactive waste dumping
Bob Hawke supports SA nuclear dump The Australian, 9 Feb15 FORMER prime minister Bob Hawke has backed siting a nuclear waste dump in South Australia after Premier Jay Weatherill revealed he would hold a royal commission into the state’s deeper involvement in the nuclear industry.
The commission’s findings could also open the door to opportunities for nuclear generation and construction of nuclear-powered submarines in the state, said nuclear physicist Ziggy Switkowski, who led the 2006 commonwealth government inquiry into the viability of a domestic nuclear 
power industry.
Consultation on terms of reference begin today, and are expected to cover the state’s further potential for mining, enrichment, energy generation and storage phases of the nuclear cycle for peaceful uses.
Mr Hawke’s decades-long lobbying for Australia to take the world’s nuclear waste had been a no-go zone with the state Labor government, despite South Australia being a prime storage candidate with a vast, geologically sound backyard. The former Labor PM called the commission a “hell of a good idea” and said the ALP, which has a platform forbidding the establishment of nuclear power plants and all other states of the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia, had previously been open to altering its nuclear policy.
“The Labor Party has shown that it has a degree of flexibility in the nuclear debate, particularly with export of uranium,’’ he said……….
Mr Weatherill said his personal anti-nuclear stance had changed and he was “well along the journey” Continue reading
Katharine Murphy dissects Tony Abbott’s motivation and agenda
Abbott for years had played the role of dysfunctional younger brother of the two Peters: Reith and Costello…….But this new precision Tony was delivering the goods, and being feted for it. The narrowness of the agenda and the breakneck speed of the daily news cycle kept things simple. The formula the firm had honed was paying daily dividends.
Team Abbott could fool themselves that they had actually conquered chaos…….
How will this all end, I asked one of the colleagues last week? “Not well for Tony.
How the Liberal party machine swallowed the real Tony Abbott alive, Guardian Katharine Murphy, deputy political editor, 8 Feb 15
The Tony Abbott I knew disappeared in 2013 as he sublimated himself to the needs of his party and its backers. Ultimately the strategy backfired..
My last recorded sighting involved Abbott romancing a constituency he thought essential to securing power. Gina Rinehart was there. So was Rupert Murdoch. Abbott obligingly went down on bended knee to secure a private tête-à-tête with the mogul, because why on earth would a multi-time zone eminence like Murdoch stand up to greet a mere politician on the cusp of the prime ministership?
The occasion was the 70th anniversary of the Institute of Public Affairs.
………..
Coal would be good for humanity, and the Coalition would develop the policies to prove it. Continue reading
Greens in South Australia must stop giving preferences to Labor-Liberal duopoly
Dennis Matthews, 9 Feb 15 Greens MP Mark Parnell has criticised Jay Weatherill’s opportunistic decision to look at ways of promoting the nuclear industry in SA (The Advertiser, 9/2/15) but it was Greens preferences in the Fisher by-election that gave Weatherill the ammunition to launch his pro-nuclear attack.
The ALP’s narrow victory in Fisher gave them the extra seat to be able to govern in their own right. If the Such-endorsed independent had been elected then the status-quo would have been maintained and Weatherill would have had to delay his pro-nuclear ambitions.
Weatherill’s about-face was preceded by the Rann back-flip on uranium mining in SA.
Thanks to SA Greens long-standing preference deals with the ALP we are now headed towards a pro-nuclear agenda that the Greens have long fought against.
It’s time for the SA Greens to distance themselves from the Labor-Liberal duopoly, to stand on their own two feet, and to not support anti-Greens policy by default.
Planned strategy to phase out coal mining in News South Wales – The Greens
Greens call for all coal mines to close in NSW http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/greens-call-for-all-coal-mines-to-close-in-nsw-20150207-138i76.html Kirsty Needham The NSW Greens will step up the attack on coal, calling for exports to end in five years and existing mines to be phased out.
The coal election policy will be outlined on Sunday by Greens upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham, just days after Premier Mike Baird faced noisy protests opening the Whitehaven Coal mine at Maules Creek, which the government says will provide 400 jobs.
Farmers have also been angered by last month’s planning approval for Chinese coal miner Shenhua near the Liverpool Plains.
Mr Buckingham said the Greens were moving beyond the party’s previous focus on “no new mines” to push for the complete phase out of coal, which would necessitate an economic plan for NSW coal producing regions to diversify into other, sustainable industries.
“It’s time to talk about how coal is over, especially with the Baird government’s rabid backing of coal,” said Mr Buckingham.
A recent article in Nature concluded that 95 per cent of Australian coal reserves needed to stay in the ground to meet global warming targets. This means only three years more production in NSW at current rates, according to the Greens.
“The question is will NSW have a planned and managed phase-out strategy for coal, or will we wait for a chaotic collapse of the industry?” said Mr Buckingham.
The Greens want coal mining royalties lifted by 2 per cent, and mining royalties by 1 per cent, to divert $250 million a year to transition coal mining communities away from coal. Mr Buckingham said food processing and sustainable agriculture were viable job creation opportunities.
“It will be a complex, long-term and difficult process, but we need to begin it now otherwise we will end up with a nasty shock.”
The Greens’ policy calls for coal mining licences to be reassessed in line with a limit of less than 600 million tonnes left to be extracted in NSW to meet the “carbon budget” of keeping within two degrees of global warming.
Existing coal mines would be reviewed and given a timeline to wind down and cease operations.Mr Buckingham said coal mining royalties were “significant but not essential to the budget of NSW”, and had plateaued.
“At the moment we have Mike Baird and the Coalition going hard on approving coal mines, and Labor in hiding on it. Labor are putting political pragmatism, and trying to win Hunter seats, ahead of what needs to be done,” said Mr Buckingham. In 2013, former Opposition Leader John Robertson backed away from comments he reportedly made at a public forum that Labor was working on a plan to phase out coal.
Antinuclear 