Australia’s hospitality, largesse and loyalty to Britain were not without their costs. Moreover, the sacrifices made by Australians on behalf of the ‘motherland’ were not equally borne. Whilst low population density and remoteness from major population centres were among the criteria for the selection of the testing sites, the Emu and Maralinga sites in particular were not uninhabited. Indeed, they had been familiar to generations of Aboriginal Australians for thousands of years and had a great spiritual significance for the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people.
A variety of factors underlay the harm to public health, Aboriginal culture and the natural environment which the British tests entailed. Perhaps most significant was the secrecy surrounding the testing program.
During the entire course of the testing program, public debate on the costs and risks borne by the Australian public was discouraged through official secrecy, censorship, misinformation, and attempts to denigrate critics
Wayward governance : illegality and its control in the public sector / P N Grabosky
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1989 “……. In 1950, Labor Prime Minister Clement Atlee sent a top secret personal message to Australian Prime Minister Menzies asking if the Australian government might agree to the testing of a British nuclear weapon at the Monte Bello Islands off Western Australia. Menzies agreed in principle, immediately; there is no record of his having consulted any of his Cabinet colleagues on the matter.
The Monte Bello site was deemed suitable by British authorities, and in a message to Menzies dated 26 March 1951 Atlee sought formal agreement to conduct the test. Atlee’s letter did not discuss the nature of the proposed test in minute detail. He did, however, see fit to mention the risk of radiation hazards:
6. There is one further aspect which I should mention. The effect of exploding an atomic weapon in the Monte Bello Islands will be to contaminate with radio activity the north-east group and this contamination may spread to others of the islands. The area is not likely to be entirely free from contamination for about three years and we would hope for continuing Australian help in investigating the decay of contamination. During this time the area will be unsafe for human occupation or even for visits by e.g. pearl fishermen who, we understand, at present go there from time to time and suitable measures will need to be taken to keep them away. We should not like the Australian Government to take a decision on the matter without having this aspect of it in their minds (quoted in Australia 1985, p. 13).
Menzies was only too pleased to assist the ‘motherland’, but deferred a response until after the 195 1 federal elections. With the return of his government, preparations for the test, code-named ‘Hurricane’, proceeded. Yet it was not until 19 February 1952 that the Australian public was informed that atomic weapons were to be tested on Australian soil. On 3 October 1952 the British successfully detonated a nuclear device of about 25 kilotons in the Monte Bello Islands. Continue reading →
April 10, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, history, reference, South Australia, weapons and war |
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As noted by the Palmer Report, Trump owns stock in Raytheon, which was reported by Business Insider in 2015.
According to Trump’s financial disclosure reports filed with the FEC in 2015, his stock portfolio includes investments in technology firms, financial institutions and defense firms, including Raytheon.
On Thursday, Trump launched an attack on the al-Shayrat military airfield, used by both Syrian and Russian military forces, hitting it with 59 Tomahawk missiles manufactured by Raytheon. Trump’s attack on Syria was reportedly in response to a deadly gas attack launched by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against his own people earlier in the week.
While the Tomahawk attack did little damage to the airfield — with the Syrian air force continuing to launch assaults from the same base on Friday — investors, sensing an increasing escalation in tensions between two countries and the possibility of war , pushed Raytheon stock up.
Since taking office, Trump has refused to divulge all of his financial information — including his income taxes — and refused to place his business and financial holdings in a blind trust allowing Trump and his family to move money and investments around as they see fit.
April 10, 2017
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Nuclear proponents, especially those for “New Nuclear” e.g Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, and Thorium Nuclear Reactors, have set up a new campaign – called “Generation Atomic”. This campaign especially targets young people.
Their sophisticated campaign argues that nuclear power is necessary to combat climate change. they pretend to support renewable energy, but subtly downgrade it.
They argue that ionising radiation is not so bad, perhaps even beneficial.
They depict anti nuclear people as a”anti science”. Nuclear advocates often claim that anti nuclear people are “anti everything” – anti medicine, anti vaccination etc.
April 10, 2017
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The Fights to Protect Science, People and Planet Are Inherently Connected, Here’s how the Peoples Climate March and March for Science are working together, and how you can plug into both,
April 06, 2017 by Common Dreams, by Lucky Tran, Jamie Henn,
The election of Donald Trump has sparked an unprecedented outpouring of public mobilization across the United States and around the world. From the Women’s March to rallies against the Muslim Ban, people are demonstrating creative and powerful ways to take action, in Washington, D.C. and beyond, to resist Trump and fight for the world they want.
This April, two powerful mobilizations will take place in D.C. and around the world, one to stand up for science and truth, the next to defend our climate, jobs, and justice. Together, the
March for Science and the
Peoples Climate March provide a powerful way for all of us to take action—together……..
The March for Science is dedicated to science and truth in all its forms: from combatting climate change, to curing diseases, to protecting our air and water. This powerful uprising of 400 (and counting) marches will demand evidence-based decision making from our politicians and unite local communities behind the importance of science.
Then, a week later, values represented by the March for Science will manifest in the Peoples Climate March. Because the Trump administration’s reckless affronts to truth, none is clearer and more dangerous than its attacks on climate science at the service of fossil fuel interests. The Peoples Climate March will call for bold solutions to address the climate crisis, action that doesn’t just protect our environment, but also creates and retains jobs, and delivers social justice for all. In contrast to Trump’s divisive, fossil fuel based economy, the Peoples Climate March will put forward a bold vision of a clean energy economy that works for all.
In some towns and cities, organizers will combine the two events. That’s great. Both mobilizations are intentionally open-source and encourage collaboration (and even combination) at the local level.
During the week between the two marches, many different organizations, networks, and individuals are putting on other events, film screenings, announcements, and more.
April 10, 2017
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Adani to press Turnbull on $900m boost during visit , THE AUSTRALIAN, DAVID CROWE, Political correspondent, Canberra, @CroweDM, 10 Apr 17, Malcolm Turnbull will be asked to seal a $900 million deal to clear the way for the mammoth Adani coal mine in central Queensland during his visit to India that also seeks to inject momentum into a trade deal between two countries.
The Prime Minister arrived in New Delhi last night for a three-day state visit that will include talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, meetings with business leaders and a focus on the country’s demand for energy.
The $21 billion coal project towers over other items on the agenda, with Adani pushing for action within months on financing agreements and regulatory hurdles. Its Carmichael mine is being opposed by green groups in the courts and on the ground.
“We’ll certainly be talking about the importance of energy exports to India,” Mr Turnbull said before flying to New Delhi from Port Moresby, where he concluded a two-day visit yesterday morning. “India has a massive program of expanding electrification across the country and Australian coal has a very big role to play in that.”
Adani founder Gautam Adani told Indian media last month the company was eligible for $900m from the Turnbull government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund to build the rail line from the mine to the company’s port at Abbot Point.
The backing from the fund, which uses federal guarantees to finance commercial projects, will help Adani limit its equity contribution to the rail project to about $800m of a total investment of about $2.5bn in the next two years, with the rest coming from debt and the NAIF.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk met Mr Adani in Mumbai last month and announced most approvals had been concluded for the project. At the same function, Mr Adani said he expected final approval from the federal government by May.
Mr Turnbull is expected to see Mr Adani during the visit after meeting him at least twice, in November 2015 and December 2016, when the billionaire pushed for more help to get the mine open.
After the 2015 meeting, Mr Adani said he had pressed Mr Turnbull to legislate to stop environmental groups delaying the project in the courts. The Abbott government’s attempt to amend the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to stop “vigilante” activists was stymied in the Senate a month before Mr Turnbull became Prime Minister.
Writing in The Australian today, Mr Turnbull emphasises the opportunities for Australia as the Indian economy grows, increasing demand for Australia….. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/adani-to-press-turnbull-on-900m-boost-during-visit/news-story/6beae575a49aacfad4d51eca3dfe0846
April 10, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics, politics international |
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Campaign to #StopAdani ramps up https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/campaign-stopadani-ramps~ Alex Bainbridge
8 April 2017:
“Thousands of people turned out to packed out and sold out #StopAdani roadshow meetings
in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne between March 28-31.
The enthusiastic response is a tangible demonstration that the Adani Carmichael coalmine project can be defeated.
“Other actions since then demonstrate the ongoing dynamism of this people-power movement.
These include a vibrant picket outside a speech by Adani’s Australian chief at the Brisbane Hilton on March 31 and an occupation of Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad’s office on April 4.
More actions are planned. … “https://www.facebook.com/stopadani/
#StopAdani Roadshow Kicks Off to Stop Australia’s Largest Coal Mine
https://350.org.au/press-release/stopadani-roadshow-kicks-off-to-stop-australias-largest-coal-mine/
April 10, 2017
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Donald Trump’s decision to launch airstrikes on a Syrian airfield was hailed by many corporate media and foreign policy establishment types, but in addition to the myriad questions surrounding the motivation and constitutionality of Trump’s unilateral action, the ineffectiveness of the strike is becoming the story. According to multiple reports, flights from the airbase resumed on Friday, a day after the strikes.
Trump, true to form, wore that insecurity on his sleeve, and his Twitter feed:….
Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) pointed out that the strikes did “basically nothing” to prevent Assad from launching attacks on civilians. Lieu is part of a growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who are questioning the efficacy of the Syria strikes, including one of the most vocal boosters of Trump’s decision, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
The criticism sparked an absurd response from current Trump National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, who was pressed by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace over the fact that the airbase resumed operations so quickly:……..
Trump has definitely sent a lot of messages with this strike, including to the Russians prior to the strike, to Congress by not seeking their authorization, and to the corporate media by getting them to look away from the Russia collusion investigation. The faintest of these was to Assad, who scarcely has any more incentive to cease his brutality than he did last week. http://shareblue.com/trump-team-on-the-defensive-amid-dem-criticism-of-syria-strikes/
April 10, 2017
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This Guy Ruined A Fancy Banking Dinner To Protest Australia’s Largest Coal Mine
‘A protester managed to interrupt Westpac’s black tie birthday party by chaining himself to the venue.’ https://www.buzzfeed.com/robstott/this-guy-ruined-a-fancy-banking-dinner-to-protest?utm_term=.xxjrnM7p4q~ Rob Stott rob.stott@buzzfeed.com‘, 9 April 2017:
‘Australia’s high flying chief executives and politicians sat down at Westpac’s black tie,
200th birthday gala dinner on Saturday night, expecting a normal evening for the rich and powerful.’
“Instead guests including federal treasurer Scott Morrison, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, former Westpac chief Gail Kelly and former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh were greeted by a throng of protesters outside the event at Carriageworks in Redfern, angrily denouncing Westpac for not distancing itself from the proposed Carmichael coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee basin.
“One of the protesters, 41-year-old Shaun Murray from Newtown, was able to climb some scaffolding and chain himself to the building, interrupting the dinner for 90 minutes. … ”
“NSW police confirmed to BuzzFeed News that a 41-year-old man was charged with entering closed lands. He was granted bail and will appear at Downing Centre Local Court on May 8.”
April 10, 2017
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TRUMP’S CONFUSING STRIKE ON SYRIA, If President Trump broadens his aims against Assad, he will enter the very morass that Candidate Trump warned against.New Yorker, By Steve Coll APRIL 17, 2017, “……. despite having previously seen similarly horrifying pictures, Trump had been skeptical of military action in Syria. In 2013, Assad’s forces attacked civilians and rebels near Damascus with sarin, a banned nerve agent, killing more than a thousand people. Trump advised President Obama, via Twitter, “Do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside.” (Obama had called Assad’s use of chemical arms crossing a “red line,” which might lead the U.S. to take military action, but he did not strike. Instead, Russia helped broker an agreement by which Assad gave up many—but evidently not all—of his chemical arms.)]
Trump has said, “I’m very capable of changing to anything I want to change to.” In the case of Syria, however, he seems to have acted without a clear plan in place. During the campaign, he promised to “bomb the shit out of” isis, which holds territory in Syria, but he also said that it was foolish to become mired in the civil war, or to target Assad, who has opposed isis—at least, rhetorically.
As recently as March 30th, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Assad’s future would be “decided by the Syrian people,” words that signalled a sharp departure from Obama’s insistence that Assad must leave office. Then, last Thursday, Tillerson seemed to shift direction, saying that “it would seem there would be no role” for Assad in Syria’s political future. But he later said, “I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or our posture relative to our military activities in Syria today.”……..
If President Trump broadens his aims against Assad, to establish civilian safe havens, for example, or to ground Syria’s Air Force, or to bomb Assad to the negotiating table, he will enter the very morass that Candidate Trump warned against. He would have to manage risks—military confrontation with Russia, an intensified refugee crisis, a loss of momentum against isis—that Obama studied at great length and concluded to be unmanageable, at least at a cost consistent with American interests……..
once started, even limited wars upend initial plans and assumptions, violence produces unintended consequences, and conflicts are much easier to begin or escalate than to end.
Canadian, European, and Middle Eastern allies, as well as some sections of the Washington foreign-policy establishment, applauded Trump for his strike, pointing out its narrow scope, and noting that Assad had brought it on himself. Unfortunately, Donald Trump’s continual search for approval seems to contribute to his unpredictability. Perhaps he will soon rediscover his inclination to proceed cautiously in Middle Eastern wars. Given his bombast, his inconsistency, and his preference for gut instinct over policy knowledge, he always seemed likely to be a dangerous wartime President. The worry now is that he will also be an ambitious one. ♦http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/trumps-confusing-strike-on-syria?mbid=nl_TNY%20Template%20-%20With%20Photo%20(155)&CNDID=46508601&spMailingID=10785187&spUserID=MTcxNTIwODYzMTU2S0&spJobID=1140615112&spReportId=MTE0MDYxNTExMgS2
April 10, 2017
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Activists vow to continue protests against Westpac over Adani funding, THE AUSTRALIAN, GLENDA KORPORAAL, Associate Editor (Business) Sydney @GlendaKorporaal, MICHAEL RODDAN, Reporter, Melbourne, @michaelroddan 9 Apr 17 Environmental activists have warned they will continue to target Westpac over the proposed Adani coalmine in Queensland, despite the nation’s second-largest lender saying it had not been approached to fund the project.
April 10, 2017
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ACTION, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL |
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Farmers are leading way on climate change action, http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4582398/farmers-are-leading-way-on-climate-change-action/?cs=97 John Iser, 9 Apr 2017, It’s often assumed that farmers and regional communities aren’t concerned about climate change. Our state and federal politicians debate the issue with little thought of what’s happening in the country, despite agriculture being Australia’s most climate-exposed sector.
However, farmers are taking it upon themselves to bridge the divide. A new advocacy group called Farmers for Climate Action has formed to give a voice to those who are on the frontline of climate change. At the same time, the country’s peak farming body, the National Farmers’ Federation, has updated its thinking on the issue. It now recognises that climate change poses a significant challenge for Australian farmers. In fact, taking action offers many benefits for the millions who live in the country.
The practical solutions for farmers to reduce carbon emissions will advance innovation, and renewable energy developments create jobs.
Climate action is also crucial for land health and biodiversity, both of which affect the productivity of agriculture.
Farmers and rural communities also have a major influence on government decisions.
The Victorian government have just banned fracking after farmers vigorously voiced their concerns. The politicians recognised that mining of unconventional gas puts the quality of farmland and its water at risk, as well as the health of people and animals living nearby.
In South Australia, a parliamentary inquiry made a similar finding.
Rural communities are now turning their attention to the effects of climate change. They know that action will protect farmland and their livelihoods which will then benefit the country as a whole. John Iser is the Victorian chairman of Doctors for the Environment Australia
April 10, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming |
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Great Barrier Reef at ‘terminal stage’: scientists despair at latest bleaching data ‘Last year was bad enough, this is a disaster,’ says one expert as Australia Research Council finds fresh damage across 8,000km
‘Australia’s politicians have betrayed the reef and only the people can save it, Guardian, Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed, 10 Apr 17, Back-to-back severe bleaching events have affected two-thirds of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, new aerial surveys have found.
The findings have caused alarm among scientists, who say the proximity of the 2016 and 2017 bleaching events is unprecedented for the reef, and will give damaged coral little chance to recover.
Scientists with the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies last week completed aerial surveys of the world’s largest living structure, scoring bleaching at 800 individual coral reefs across 8,000km.
The results show the two consecutive mass bleaching events have affected a 1,500km stretch, leaving only the reef’s southern third unscathed.
Where last year’s bleaching was concentrated in the reef’s northern third, the 2017 event spread further south, and was most intense in the middle section of the Great Barrier Reef. This year’s mass bleaching, second in severity only to 2016, has occurred even in the absence of an El Niño event.
Mass bleaching – a phenomenon caused by global warming-induced rises to sea surface temperatures – has occurred on the reef four times in recorded history.
Prof Terry Hughes, who led the surveys, said the length of time coral needed to recover – about 10 years for fast-growing types – raised serious concerns about the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events.
“The significance of bleaching this year is that it’s back to back, so there’s been zero time for recovery,” Hughes told the Guardian. “It’s too early yet to tell what the full death toll will be from this year’s bleaching, but clearly it will extend 500km south of last year’s bleaching.”
Last year, in the worst-affected areas to the reef’s north, roughly two-thirds of shallow-water corals were lost.
Hughes has warned Australia now faces a closing window to save the reef by taking decisive action on climate change.
The 2017 bleaching is likely to be compounded by other stresses on the reef, including the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish and poor water quality. The category-four tropical cyclone Debbie came too late and too far south for its cooling effect to alleviate bleaching……….https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/10/great-barrier-reef-terminal-stage-australia-scientists-despair-latest-coral-bleaching-data
April 10, 2017
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Coalition supporters back quicker shift to renewable energy, The Age, Adam Morton 10 Apr 17, (excellent graphs) The wisdom of a campaign by the Turnbull government emphasising the risks of moving too rapidly to renewable energy has been thrown into question by polling that suggests a majority of its supporters don’t agree. Left-leaning think-tank the Australia Institute surveyed 1420 voters on whether the country was moving too slowly or too quickly in embracing renewable sources wind and solar.
It found two-thirds of voters – and 55 per cent of those who identified as Coalition voters – believed the shift was too slow. Only 9 per cent – and 17 per cent of Coalition supporters – said it was happening too fast.
Forty-five per cent believed electricity prices would go up if the national renewable energy target of about 23.5 per cent by 2020 was abolished. Only 19 per cent thought bills would go down.
Again, Coalition supporters were broadly in step with the majority: 41 per cent said ending the target – a step floated by former prime minister Tony Abbott, among others – would actually push up prices; 23 per cent believed they would come down.
On cost, voters appeared to reject claims that renewable energy was the cause of the significant power bill increases. The support for clean energy is consistent with a Fairfax/Ipsos Poll a fortnight ago that found a third of voters believed the country should continue to use coal-fired power, and 61 per cent said it was time to turn to other sources.
Australia Institute executive director Ben Oquist said clean options were becoming increasingly economically and politically attractive as the price of renewable energy and battery storage came down.
“The war on renewables looks like the political version of the Somme. Furious attacks have not made any ground on the popularity of renewable energy,” he said.
The Australia Institute poll did not test whether views on clean energy would change how people voted.
It found a narrow majority of voters (52 per cent) backed an increase of the renewable energy target, while only 9 per cent wanted it cut.
A clearer majority (73 per cent) supported the introduction of a higher target for 2030.
More than three-quarters of voters (77 per cent) supported state renewable energy targets to drive further investment. Neither question considered what more ambitious policies would cost. (See data tables at the end of this story.- [on original] )……http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coalition-supporters-back-quicker-shift-to-renewable-energy-20170409-gvgzh6.html
April 10, 2017
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Climate change is literally turning the Arctic ocean inside out, WP, By Chris Mooney April 6 There’s something special — and very counterintuitive — about the Arctic Ocean.
Unlike in the Atlantic or Pacific, where the water gets colder as it gets deeper, the Arctic is upside-down. The water gets warmer as it gets deeper. The reason is that warm, salty Atlantic-originating water that flows into the Arctic from the south is more dense, and so it nestles beneath a colder, fresher surface layer that is often capped by floating sea ice. This state of “stratification” makes the Arctic Ocean unique, and it means that waters don’t simply grow colder as you travel farther north — they also become inverted.
But in a paper in Science released Thursday, a team of Arctic scientists say this fundamental trait is now changing across a major part of the Arctic, in conjunction with a changing climate.
“I first went to the Arctic in about 1969, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Eddy Carmack, a researcher with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and one of the study’s authors. “Back then we just assumed the Arctic is as it is and it will be that way forevermore. So what we’re seeing in the last decade or so is quite remarkable.”
In a large area that they term the eastern Eurasian basin — north of the Laptev and East Siberian seas, which in turn are north of Siberia — the researchers found that warm Atlantic water is increasingly pushing to the surface and melting floating sea ice. This mixing, they say, has not only contributed to thinner ice and more areas of open water that used to be ice covered, but it also is changing the state of Arctic waters in a process the study terms “Atlantification” — and these characteristics could soon spread across more of the Arctic ocean, changing it fundamentally.
The study was led by Igor Polyakov of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, in collaboration with a team of 15 researchers from the United States, Canada, Russia, Poland, Germany and Norway.
To understand the work, it’s important to first note the extensive and rapid shrinkage of Arctic sea ice of late in an area to the north of Siberia. The area, known as the eastern Eurasian basin, is seeing thinner ice and more months of open water. Arctic sea ice is a linchpin of the Earth’s climate system………https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/04/06/scientists-say-the-unique-arctic-ocean-is-being-transformed-before-our-eyes/?utm_campaign=crowdfire&utm_content=crowdfire&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_term=.40ec22cba221#350509998-tw#1491570060364
April 10, 2017
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Antinuclear 