In reality Kimba’s support for nuclear waste dump was only 49.94% of those eligible to vote”
 ENuFF South Australia, No Nuclear Waste Dump Anywhere in South Australia, 7 Nov 19Barndioota SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) published
“Having stated in the Senate that he would require a number in the vicinity of 65% of the community voting to progress with the proposal, Minister Canavan chose to push Kimba into phase two of the process with a supporting vote of 57%. This |
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In Kimba 62% of locals vote in favour of nuclear waste dump
Kimba locals back nuclear waste dump. The Advertiser, 7 Nov 19, Kimba residents have backed a proposal to build a radioactive storage site near the Eyre Peninsula town.
The Australian Electoral Commission conducted a five-week ballot on the issue, on behalf of Kimba Council, with votes being finalised today.
The ballot found 62 per cent of voters backed the proposal.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan said the results showed “significant” community support for the project, which involves building a storage site for low and intermediate level medical waste.
The Government is considering building the storage site at either “Napandee” or “Lyndhurst” near Kimba, or “Wallerberdina”, near Hawker in the Flinders Ranges.
Mr Canavan said he would consider the results alongside other feedback and technical information relating to the project, once a separate ballot in the Flinders Ranges was complete.
Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson said a nuclear waste site would provide much needed jobs and economic stimulus for the region.
If approved in the area, 45 people would work at the waste site once it was built, and the community would receive a $31 million package from the Federal Government including some money already earmarked for local projects in the lead up to the vote.
“In times of drought, you just get reminded again how reliant we are on agriculture,” Mr Johnson said.
“An alternative industry would be good for the town. Whether this is the right one or not, we’ll find out shortly.”
Mr Johnson said he was “incredibly proud” of his community following four years of consultation.
“To have a 90 per cent participation rate shows how strongly engaged our community has been,” he said.
Kimba farmer Peter Woolford, who has been campaigning against the waste dump plan, said the result showed there was still a lot of opposition to the project.
“The Eyre Peninsula is such an amazing place,” said Mr Woolford, chair of the lobby group No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA.
“Why would you expose your export industry here to any risk at all?”
Mr Woolford said there had been little increase in public support for the project over the past four years, despite the community receiving $4 million in Federal funding for projects as part of the campaign to find a site.
Hawker’s voting period begins on Monday, after the council voted to delay its ballot until a risk assessment was completed.
Mayor Peter Slattery said the council was keen to gauge the public’s views after months of uncertainty on the project’s future.
“If we find they’re opposed to this, we know it’s game over and we can all quietly relax,” Mr Slattery said.
“And if the community are supportive of this that gives us the direction to move forward. “Given how difficult and divisive it’s been, we’re really looking forward to having some direction and resolution.”
The votes had been delayed since last year, when two Aboriginal associations said they would take legal action to stop the ballots, because traditional land owners who did not live in the districts were excluded.”
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/…/6a04b1b53b6fc5f00b69031be1…
Bangarla Aboriginal people conducted their OWN ballot on nuclear waste dump plan for Kimba, South Australia
Kazzi Jai shared a link. Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste In The Flinders Ranges, 6 Nov 19 On ABC 639 news this morning…..The Barngala People have conducted their OWN ballot through the AEC (the Kimba ballot is being done by the AEC as well) and will forward the results to Canavan once tallied.
News segment 02:32:14 to 02:33:00
Podcast will only stay up for 6 days.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/northandwest/programs/breakfast/breakfast/11661112
Kimba’s Dramatic drop in property values, since nominated for nuclear dump
Zac Eagle Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In 
Flinders Ranges SAProperty values dropped nearly 30% in 12 months since Kimba nominated for a dump.
Destruction of local communities in more ways than one. Kimba was 496th in South Australia, now 952nd. more https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/
A travesty of justice- extradition process of Julian Assange
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Julian Assange’s Extradition Process Is ‘A Charade’, The Real News Network, November 5, 2019
Interview Transcript
GREG WILPERT: Julian Assange recently lost a court bid to have his upcoming February 2020 extradition hearing postponed. The hearing about the postponement took place on October 21, and according to observers who were present, he could barely speak in coherent sentences. Reacting to the hearing, UN Human Rights Rapporteur Nils Melzer warned last Friday that Assange continues to show symptoms of psychological torture. Melzer had visited Assange in May when he conducted an extensive review of his physical and psychological condition. In his statement on Friday, Melzer said, “Despite the medical urgency of my first appeal, and the seriousness of the alleged violations, the U.K. has not undertaken any measures of investigation, prevention, and redress required under international law.” In addition to the concerns about Assange’s treatment at Belmarsh Prison outside of London, many have also raised concerns about the impartiality of the proceedings against him. Assange was jailed last April when the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had been given political asylum, allowed the police to arrest him. He then received a 50-week sentence for having skipped jail in 2012. The Trump Administration has since then requested Assange’s extradition on 17 charges of espionage for which he could receive a 170-year prison sentence in the United States. Joining me now to discuss the latest developments in the case of Julian Assange is John Pilger. He has been observing the Assange case very closely and was present at the October 21 court hearing…… John Pilger – “…..His physical condition has changed dramatically. He’s lost about 15 kilos in weight. To see him in court struggling to say his name, and his date of birth, was really very moving. I’ve seen that when I visited Julian in Belmarsh Prison where he struggles at first, and then collects himself. I’m always impressed by the sheer resilience of the man, because as Melzer says, absolutely nothing has been done to change the conditions imposed on him by the prison regime. Nothing has been done by the British authorities.
This was almost underlined by the contemptuous way that this court hearing recently was conducted by this judge, by this magistrate. There was a sense among all of us who were there that the whole charade, and it seemed a charade, was preordained. You had sitting in front of us, on a long table, four Americans who were from the U.S. Embassy here in London, and one of the prosecution team was scurrying backwards and forwards to get instructions from them. The judge could see this, and she allowed it. It was just absolutely outrageous.
When Julian did try to speak, and to say that basically he was being denied the very tools with which to prepare his case, he was denied the right to call his American lawyer. He was denied the right to have any kind of word process or laptop. He was denied certain documents. As he said, “I’m even denied my own writings,” as he called it. That is, his own notes and manuscripts. This hasn’t changed at all, and of course the effect of that on his morale, to say the least, has been very significant, and that showed in the court.
Greg Wilpert – ” ….district judge, Vanessa Baraitser, and one of the things that she did was completely dismiss Assange’s request for determination whether the extradition proceedings are even legal. That is, he cites according to U.K. law, “Extradition shall not be granted if the offense for which extradition is requested is a political offense”
JOHN PILGER quotes Julian’s lawyer Gareth Peirce – “….under law, it’s not a matter of opinion. They are political. All but one of the charges concocted in Virginia are based on the 1917 Espionage Act, which was a political piece of legislation used to chase off the conscientious objectors during the first World War.
It’s political. There is no charge. There is no basis, no foundation, for allowing these extradition proceedings to go forward, and almost perversely the judge seemed to, if not acknowledged that in her contempt for the proceedings. Whenever Julian Assange spoke, she feigned a disinterest, a boredom, and whenever his lawyers spoke, the same thing. Whenever the prosecutor spoke, she was attentive. The theatrics of this hearing were quite remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then very hurriedly, when Julian Assange’s lawyer requested a delay in when the case actually starts from February, they said, “We’re not going to be ready in February,” and she dismissed that out of hand.Not only that, she said that the extradition case would be held in a court that is in fact adjoining Belmarsh prison. It’s almost part of the prison. It’s a long way out of London.
So you have, if not a secret trial, but a trial in which, or an extradition hearing in which very few seats are available to the public. It’s a very difficult place to get to. So every obstacle has been put in the way of Assange getting a fair hearing. And I can only repeat, this is a publisher and a journalist convicted of nothing, charged with nothing in Britain, whose only crime is journalism. That may sound like a slogan, but it’s true. They want him for exposing the kind of outrageous war crimes, Iraq, Afghanistan, that journalists are supposed to do. “
GREG WILPERT: “…….How do you explain this lack of concern among the media and human rights groups for Assange’s situation?
JOHN PILGER: Because so many human rights groups are deeply political, Amnesty International never made Chelsea Manning a prisoner of conscience. A really disgraceful thing. Chelsea Manning, who was effectively tortured in prison, and they haven’t, as you say, they haven’t elevated Julian’s case. Why? Well, they’re an extension. They’re an extension of an establishment that is now almost systematically coming down on any form of real dissent. In the last five, six years, the last gaps, the last bolt holes, the last spaces in the mainstream media for journalists, from average journalists for the likes Assange, not only Assange, for the likes of people like even myself and others, have closed. The mainstream media, certainly in Britain, always held open those spaces. They’ve closed, and there is generally I would think a fear, right throughout the media, a fear about opposing the state on something like the Assange case. You see the way the whole obsession with Russia has consumed the media with so many nonsensical stories. The hostility, the animosity towards Julian. My own theory is that his work shamed so many journalists. He does what journalists ought to have done, and don’t do any more. He’s done the job of a journalist. That can only explain it. I mean when you take a newspaper like The Guardian, which published originally the WikiLeaks revelations about Iraq and Afghanistan, they turned on Julian Assange in the most vicious way.
They exploited him for one thing. A number of their journalists did extremely well with their books, and Hollywood scripts, and so on, but they turned on him personally. It was one of the most unedifying sights I think I’ve ever seen in journalism. The same thing happened in the New York Times. Again, I can only surmise the reason for that. It’s that he shames them. We have a desert of journalism at the moment. There are a few who still do their jobs; who still stand up against establishment power; who still are not frightened. But there’re so few now, and Julian Assange is totally fearless in that. He knew that he was going to run into a great deal of trouble with the state in Britain, the state in the United States–but he went ahead anyway. That’s a true journalist…… https://therealnews.com/stories/julian-assange-extradition-process-charade
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Victorian Government INQUIRY INTO NUCLEAR PROHIBITION
The Standing Committee on Environment and Planning invites written submissions from individuals and organisations addressing
one or more of the issues identified in the terms of reference.
The submission closing date is Friday 28 February 2020.
Terms of reference
https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/epc-lc/article/4347
That this House requires the Environment and Planning Committee to inquire into, consider and report, within 12 months, on potential benefits to Victoria in removing prohibitions enacted by the Nuclear Activities (Prohibitions) Act 1983, and in particular, the Committee should —
(1) investigate the potential for Victoria to contribute to global low carbon dioxide energy production through enabling exploration and production of uranium and thorium;
(2) identify economic, environmental and social benefits for Victoria, including those related to medicine, scientific research, exploration and mining;
(3) identify opportunities for Victoria to participate in the nuclear fuel cycle; and
(4) identify any barriers to participation, including limitations caused by federal or local laws and regulations.
- Email to nuclearprohibition@parliament.vic.gov.au
- Using the eSubmissions form
- Hardcopy; send to:
Standing Committee on Environment and Planning
Parliament House, Spring Street
EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002
- Your full name
- Contact details (either a postal address or phone number)
- The text of your submission or an attachment containing your submission
- A clear indication if you are seeking confidentiality
Strong public demand for climate action, but Australian government determined to punish climate protesters,
An increasingly outraged public is demanding action in a nation intimately linked to coal mining. The government has responded by threatening a new law to punish protesters. NYT, By Damien Cave and Livia Albeck-Ripka, Nov. 6, 2019 SYDNEY, Australia — One climate activist halted train service by chaining himself to the tracks. Others have glued themselves to busy roads, causing gridlock. And just last week, protesters locked arms to stop people from entering a mining conference before being forcibly dispersed by police officers with pepper spray.
A surge of climate activism is flooding Australia as the country falls behind on its promise to reduce emissions — effectively ignoring the Paris Agreement the Trump administration just abandoned. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has responded with a threat that’s alarmed scientists and free speech advocates, arguing that the government should outlaw “indulgent and selfish” efforts by environmental groups to rattle businesses with rallies and boycotts. “The right to protest does not mean there is an unlimited license to disrupt people’s lives,” Mr. Morrison said, adding, “I am very concerned about this new form of progressivism.”
Australia’s “climate wars,” once confined to election campaigns, are now spilling into the streets with some of the biggest protests the country has ever seen. An increasingly outraged public is demanding action while the conservative national government refuses to budge, relying on the police to squelch dissent……..
Coal-loving politicians
Two years ago, when Mr. Morrison was Australia’s treasurer, he stood up in the House of Representatives with a hunk of black coal in his hand.
“Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared,” he said. “It won’t hurt you.”
His shiny prop had been shellacked to keep his hands clean, but the point he made then is one he and his governing coalition stand by: Coal is good……Now, Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter. It is also a major exporter of natural gas, making for a resource-driven country that is
“rich, dumb and getting dumber,” according to one recent headline summarizing the findings of a Harvard study that ranked Australia’s economy 93rd in complexity, behind Kazakhstan, Uganda and Senegal. The mingling of mining interests with national interests is perpetuated through a revolving door: lawmakers frequently work for the coal industry after leaving office. And for some, defending coal has come to be equated with defending the country.Even the opposition center-left Labor Party is hooked, pushing for emissions cuts while continuing to support more coal mining……
An increasingly angry public
Poll after poll shows growing concern about climate change among Australians of all ages and political persuasions.In September, a survey by the Australia Institute found that 81 percent of Australians believe climate change will result in more droughts and flooding (up from 78 percent in 2018). Two out of three Australians agreed that the government should plan for an orderly phaseout of coal, while 64 percent said Australia should aim for net-zero emissions by 2050.
And researchers continue to sound the alarm. A paper co-written by an Australian scientist and signed by 11,000 other experts warned on Wednesday of a clear “climate emergency.”……
The so-called climate strike in September, part of a global effort led by children, was the largest mass demonstration in Australian history.
It was quickly followed last month by the Extinction Rebellion protests, and then came last week’s anti-mining protests in Melbourne….. Over 10 days of protests in London, the police arrested more than 1,700 Extinction Rebellion protesters.
Australia aims to go further. A law passed last year allows the military to break up protests. The Labor government in Queensland is fast-tracking a law to add new fines for protesters who use locking devices to prevent their removal……. Reduced coal mining would not hurt the economy as much as people think.
According to the Australia Institute poll from last month, Australians believe coal mining accounts for 12.5 percent of Australia’s economic output and employs 9.3 percent of its work force. “In reality,” the report says, “coal mining employs only 0.4 percent of workers in Australia and is 2.2 percent of Australia’s G.D.P.” Of the roughly 238,000 jobs that mining provides in Australia, only around 50,000 are tied to coal, according to government figures.
“The government relies on ignorance,” Professor Eckersley said. “It’s a very toxic politics.”
Portrayals of extreme activism are also exaggerated. The vast majority of protesters demanding climate action are not radical disrupters. They are more like Jemima Grimmer, 13, who asked adults to “respect our futures” at the Sydney climate strike in September, or Vivian Malo, an Aboriginal woman attending last week’s protest in Melbourne, where she said the experience of being pepper-sprayed felt like chemotherapy “on the outside.” Here in a country rapidly losing its laid-back image, the future of Australia’s climate battles could be seen in her bloodshot eyes as she stood near a line of stone-faced police officers, describing their use of force as “scary.”
“The insatiable drive for resource extraction,” she said. “It’s out of control.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/world/australia/australia-climate-protests-coal.html
Drought, climate change Some questions on the incompetence of the Morrison government
Desert Woman,7 Nov 19 I have a feeling that things may become very interesting quite soon. They have finally been shamed into putting actual money, not words or promises, into the poor old country as 11,000 scientists issue yet another warning in no uncertain terms, and last night we had Greg Mullins telling them there is a fire disaster coming their way. They will learn that all their huffing and puffing has run out of puff as events and angry, frustrated people simply run over them.Where are all the trucks and water that are going to be required to water towns that have run out? Where are all the fire refugees going to go after there was no water to fight the fires and the nearby towns have also run dry? Where are all the supports going to come from when every state has its own disasters and the USA for example is fighting fires in the winter? And that doesn’t even touch upon the newly impoverished as more crops and small towns fail and epidemics stalk the land. https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/protesting-and-boycotting-the-morrison-government-way,13287
The Morrison governments hypocrisy: double standards on “unacceptable” protests
Protesting and boycotting the Morrison Government way, Independent Australia, By Michelle Pini | 7 November 2019 Ahead of the Coalition’s signalled changes to protests, boycotts and freedom of speech, executive editor Michelle Pini decodes who may and may not protest and what they may protest about.
THE MINISTER FOR RESOURCES and Northern Australia – who, like his coal-loving PM, has openly spruiked coal and practically kissed the feet of his environment-pillaging hero, Gautam Adani – is on TV discussing climate protests and talking about “groups abusing the law”.
Scarcely able to string two words together to form a coherent sentence, Matt Canavan is umming and ahhing on The Project, whining about protesters “stopping average Australians, particularly small businesses, going about their day.”
A few days prior, Scott Morrison labelled environmental protesters “anarchists” and flagged a crackdown on the right to protest, indicating his Government would seek to apply penalties to those boycotting businesses. Such “anarchists” seek to “deny the liberties of Australians”, according to the PM………
Canavan ends by summarising the Coalition’s latest position on democratic protests and public boycotts thus:
“What I wanna do, what I wanna do is support Australian jobs… I do think the problem’s gotten worse, though, since that review — protests holding up traffic, putting lives at risk, ah, ah, just with a few people.”
Thanks for clearing that up, Matt.
Let’s try and clear at least one thing up. This latest tirade from “free speech warriors” the Morrison Government, is about one thing and one thing only — only those who agree with this Government are permitted the right to protest, boycott, or spew forth with angry tirades against others. Once again, free speech, in the world according to the Coalition, is only a right for the Right.
THE RIGHT AND LEFT OF POLITICAL PROTEST
To assist in our understanding of the Right and proper application of our democratic rights, listed below are a few examples of who can and can’t, according to the Morrison Government’s free speech rules, protest, enact a boycott or, generally, speak out about perceived injustice:
1. Racing parade v animal activists…
2. Westpac v Canavan
Only two short years ago, Matt “Minister for Coal” Canavan encouraged everyone to boycott Westpac because the bank had decided to drop on-the-nose mining companies from its investment list.
Right Matty boycotting Westpac in this scenario is okay, because – pay attention here – it is about our democratic Right to protect the “small business” of coal mining and fossil fuels in general.
Wrong It would not be okay for anyone to protest against the democratic Right of the Minister for Coal to boycott any business that got in the way of coal. This would include outside any mining conferences, obviously.
3. Mining tax v climate change action
Gina Rinehart and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest protested in the streets of Perth when the Labor Government instigated the so-called “mining tax.” Gina jangled her bangles standing atop a flat-topped truck, and led the chant alongside fellow protesters to demand Kevin Rudd “axe the tax”.
Fellow billionaire Forrest, whose “small business” Fortescue Metals had never paid tax, was Rightly aghast at the prospect of breaking that record and took it all the way to the High Court.
Right Once again, this is perfectly acceptable. Gina and Twiggy were simply exercising their democratic Right – aided by the mainstream media – to topple any government that stood in the way of their billions.
Wrong, It is not okay for anyone to protest against the Adani mine, however, or boycott any of the companies owned by the aforementioned billionaires. This would be “abusing the law” and would not be tolerated. It would likely also be “putting lives at risk”…… https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/protesting-and-boycotting-the-morrison-government-way,13287
Deadline looms for New Zealand nuclear veterans and descendants study
The study lead by University of Otago associate professor David McBride will look into the connection between nuclear veterans and their children, who may have been affected by their parents’ exposure to radiation.
So far only 166 people had signed up, according to Mururoa Nuclear Veterans president Gavin Smith.
Mr Smith implored more to join, saying about 500 people went to the Christmas Island and were exposed to nuclear tests in the 1950s and about 500 went to Mururoa during the 1970s.
“Everyone who has a veteran father or grandfather that served there and has maybe deceased or may be living but mentioned nothing of it, I urge them to contact the University of Otago,” he said.
He said the study was crucial because veteran’s children may have been affected by their parents’ exposure to radiation, which could make their offspring more susceptible to conditions like leukaemia and auto-immune diseases.
“Our study is open to all nuclear veterans. If we don’t do it in our generation, it’s going to be an even bigger battle for the next generation.”
The group, which was established in 2013 to press the government to help families with nuclear related illnesses, had 135 members who served at the protest.
Of those, 56 had children or grandchildren with unexplained medical conditions.
Testing would begin next week at the University of Otago, with a timeframe and details on the study yet to be confirmed.
Wyoming Bill to authorize nuclear waste storage talks withdrawn
Members of the Legislature’s Joint Minerals Business and Economic Development Committee agreed to stop work on the bill after its Spent Fuel Rods Subcommittee, formed to examine the issue, met in September.
Sen. Jim Anderson, R-Casper, a chairman of both the committee and subcommittee, told committee members that based on what the subcommittee heard during its meeting, legislative authorization for the state to enter into negotiations over spent nuclear fuel storage is not needed.
“I have prepared a bill as the chairman if the committee to give the governor’s office authority to negotiate with (the federal Department of Energy) on this subject,” he said. “I found out that we really don’t need to give the governor’s office the authority, that they have the authority right now. So at this time, I would like to withdraw that bill from the docket.”
Anderson also told the committee that any negotiations could take five to nine years to complete.
Anderson noted that there are no plans for Gov. Mark Gordon to open negotiations with the Department of Energy about the waste storage.
The idea of storing spent nuclear fuel in Wyoming has surfaced several times over the last three decades and each time, it has generated strong opposition.
Opponents to the plan were on hand for Tuesday and said they were prepared to argue that any rewards from accepting spent nuclear fuel would be outweighed by the risks.
“The biggest issue for me and the state of Nebraska, who says they don’t want a dry cask storage place to get the transportation coming through, it’s the transportation,” said Coleen Whalen, a spokesperson for Wyoming Against Nuclear Dumps. “It’s going to get off on I-80 and I-25 on our teeny little highways“
Whalen said she was pleased the committee killed the bill, but unsure of how the issue would unfold going forward.
“The bill kind of came up quick and the withdrawal of it, I’m glad they are not telling the governor to negotiate, but it could be that they are just moving it out of the public eye,” she said.
There’s no market for new uranium mines or re-opening old ones – Cameco
Cameco: No market for new uranium mines, THE AUSTRALIAN, NICK EVANS, RESOURCE WRITER, NOVEMBER 6, 2019 The world’s biggest uranium company says it cannot see any case for construction of new uranium mines, despite signs the sector is on the cusp of a long-awaited recovery.
Canada’s Cameco delivered the blunt assessment in its third-quarter financial results, released to the market late last week, saying there was still no case for reopening the mines it shut down in 2016 and 2017, stripping more than 20 million pounds of annual uranium oxide production from world supply.
Uranium prices remain in the doldrums, with spot prices averaging only $US25.68 a pound in the September quarter and long-term pricing sitting at an average $US31.50, , but chief executive Tim Gitzel told analysts the company was now receiving more interest in new contracts from customers than at any time since the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
But, as Australia’s state governments face pressure to reverse laws banning uranium mining, and a federal parliamentary commission examines the economics of building a nuclear power plant in Australia, Mr Gitzel warned there would be no case for the construction of new uranium mines for some years to come.
Mr Gitzel said Cameco was seeing increased demand for the conversion of uranium oxide to enriched products, which he said was a precursor for a mining sector recovery. But he warned that nuclear utilities were still reluctant to commit to the long-term supply contracts needed to return mothballed mines back to production amid an excess of uranium oxide still in the market.
Cameco plans to fill more than 70 per cent of the 32 million pounds it needs to deliver to customers next year by buying on the spot market and produce only 9 million pounds from its mines.
“Today, the activity we’re seeing in the spot market is largely churn, the same material changing hands many times. There’s been a lack of fundamental demand (and) is more appropriately thought of as delayed purchasing decisions,” Mr Gitzel said.
“Utilities are delaying their purchasing decisions due to the uncertainty caused by changing market dynamics, including the ongoing market access and trade policy issues.”
Cameco has two Australian uranium projects in Western Australia — Kintyre and Yeelirrie — that have largely negotiated the necessary environmental permitting processes allowing constructions. But both are well out of the money, with Yeelirrie — bought from BHP for $US430m in 2012 — needing a long-term price of $US55-$60 a pound to be viable, and Kintyre, worth $US346m in 2008, closer to $US75 a pound.
While Mr Gitzel said he was concerned the lack of new mines could cause issues for the industry over the next decade if the number of nuclear power plants in the planning became a reality, he said there was no economic case for building new supply.
“Not only does it not make sense to invest in future primary supply, even the lowest-cost producers are deciding to preserve long-term value by leaving uranium in the ground,” Mr Gitzel said in Cameco’s financial report.
Signs of a recovery in the global market, partly spurred by the looming closure of ERA’s Ranger mine in the Northern Territory in 2021, have led to renewed activity from listed uranium plays.
Paladin Energy successfully raised $31.7m in October to fund feasibility studies on the restart of its Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia, and in the September quarter Deep Yellow raised $11.3m for its Namibian uranium exploration.
Cameco chief financial officer Grant Isaac said he did not believe new mines could win financial backing without a far stronger recovery in demand for uranium than was currently on the horizon, given the amount of idled supply sitting on the sidelines.
“It’s pretty hard to say you’re going to take the risk on an asset … that isn’t licensed, isn’t permitted, probably doesn’t have a proven mining method, when you have idle tier 1 capacity that’s licensed, permitted, sitting there,” he said.
Australia’s Environment Is The Enemy – Sussan Ley faithful to Scott Morrison’s priority
Sussan Ley’s environmental law circus, Independent Australia By Sue Arnold | 5 November 2019 Vulnerable species like the koala – and the environment in general – are the losers, while developers reign supreme in Environment Minister Sussan Ley’s environmental law “review”. Sue Arnold reports.
In July, Sussan Ley sent out a statement indicating that as Minister for the Environment, she would
… commence a ten-year statutory review of the [Environment Protection and Conservation] Act by October this year. And it is the right time to have a conversation about the best ways we can ensure strong environmental and biodiversity protection measures that encourage people to work together in supporting the environment.
All Australians will have a chance to share their ideas as part of the next statutory review of the EPBC Act, due to commence by October 2019.
Exactly why Ley waited another three months before commencing the review is unclear. In a follow-up press release, she announced that former competition regulator Professor Graeme Samuel would head the year-long review, ‘to tackle green tape and deliver greater certainty to business, farmers and conservation groups‘.
Missing from Ley’s pronouncements are key issues relevant to one of the most critical problems — self-referral by developers. Under the current scenario, a developer whose project is likely to destroy or severely impact koala habitat makes the decision whether or not to “refer“ the development to the Federal government as a matter of national environmental significance (MNES), under the provisions of the EPBC Act 1999.
As the koala is listed as “vulnerable” under the EPBC, the referral should never have been reduced to the responsibility of a developer — referral to the Federal government should have been made a mandatory requirement.
A referral is designated as a “controlled action” if the result of a scorecard available from the Government’s ‘EPBC Act referral guidelines for the vulnerable koala’ reaches a certain level. Then the project is assessed by the Federal Department of the Environment and Energy and the minister makes the decision whether to approve the project. Documents relevant to the project are published on the EPBC referral list website and open to public comment — including environmental impact assessments paid for by the developer.
Once the project is approved, a “koala management plan” (KMP) must be provided by the developer before the project commences. However, this is where the proverbial hits the fan as there is no requirement for any public comment, nor any access to the plan.
One of the most important koala management plans has been on Sussan Ley’s desk since July. This is the Lendlease plan for southwest Sydney koalas at their Mt Gilead, now renamed “FigTree Hill” urban project for 1700 residences. This is a project mired in controversy and public outrage because of the risks to the largest expanding healthy koala colony in the Sydney Basin.
IA has been following up this issue with the only section of the Department of the Environment and Energy (DEE) that responds in a timely manner — the Communications and Engagement Branch Media (CEBM) team. ……….
The bottom line to this Monty Python circus is not only the Lendlease koala plan of management which is being withheld, but any developer who has self-referred has no requirement by the environment minister to publish the plan other than “on the developer’s website”.
Given that this would require a large staff to check the multiple developer projects impacting koala habitat throughout Queensland and New South Wales on a daily basis, a new definition of “mission impossible” arises.
Essentially, any koala management plan may be approved. There are no published standards or requirements — much less compliance or monitoring.
A review by some of Australia’s leading ecologists sums up the catastrophic situation facing koala survival.
Some 85 per cent of land-based threatened species experienced habitat loss. The iconic koala was among the worst affected. More than 90 per cent of habitat loss was not referred or submitted for assessment, despite a requirement to do so under Commonwealth environment laws.
Our research indicates the legislation has comprehensively failed to safeguard Australia’s globally significant natural values, and must urgently be reformed and enforced.
Sussan Ley’s priorities in a review of the EPBC Act reflect those of the Prime Minister: the environment is the enemy. https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/sussan-leys-environmental-law-circus,13279
Solar and battery offered as “standard” in Victoria new-build housing project — RenewEconomy
CEFC-backed scheme to offer solar and battery storage as standard features in some off-the-plan townhouses being built by property developer Mirvac. The post Solar and battery offered as “standard” in Victoria new-build housing project appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Solar and battery offered as “standard” in Victoria new-build housing project — RenewEconomy
November 6 Energy News — geoharvey
Science and Technology: ¶ “Last Month Was The Warmest October On Record Globally. Here’s What It Means For Climate Change” • The Copernicus Climate Change Service, which analyzes temperature data from around the planet, said October 2019 was 0.69°C (1.24°F) warmer globally than the average of all the Octobers in the 30-year span from 1981-2010. […]
1.This month.
The Road to War brings a sharp focus to why it is not in Australia’s best interest to be dragged into a war with China which will almost inevitably go nuclear very quickly. The filmmaker has interviewed some of Australia’s senior foreign policy analysts who have vast experience behind them in analysing what really is going on here as the United States rattles its sabres with China. And sets us up to be its proxy, like the poor Ukranians have been fed into the Meatgrinder. So America can remain the Top Dog. The Road to War reveals how the United States through its spy base at Pine Gap and by stationing six nuclear capable B52 bombers in the Top End (without permission from the traditional owners) is making Australia a prime nuclear target if the current war of words suddenly melts down into full scale war.
The Road to War shows the implicit connection between Carbon emissions (the US military uses a whopping 70% of America’s annual petroleum to move its armies and vast War Machine around the globe to its 800+ military bases..but under a loophole wangled at Kyoto, the US military does not have to report its C02 annual emissions). The Road to War starts screening at selected cities and regional centres in March. See the trailer end for details.
Antinuclear 