David Noonan’s Submission to the South Australian Nuclear Royal Commission, proposed Terms of Reference
Monday 9 March 2015, David Noonan, B.Sc., M.Env.St
To: The Attorney-General’s Department of South Australia
Re: Public submission to the SA Nuclear Royal Commission, proposed Terms of Reference
Nuclear is not ‘peaceful’. Nuclear waste imposes unique risks and unacceptable impacts. Nuclear actions before this Commission are National issues affecting the rights and interests of all Australians. No State administration has a right to impose nuclear risks and impacts on others.
Proposed Term of Reference to direct the Nuclear Royal Commission:
“To inquire into and report on the Democratic and Legal Rights, and the Civil and Human Rights, including to Environmental Protection, to Sustainability, to Health and to Non-Imposition of Nuclear actions, that are at stake and subject to nuclear actions before this Commission.”
Political Leadership in South Australia by Liberal Premier John Olsen in 2000 prohibited International and key National nuclear wastes. Nuclear waste proposals before this Commission are illegal in SA.
Under the “Nuclear Waste Storage Facility (Prohibition) Act 2000”, the import, transport, storage and disposal of any wastes derived from nuclear reactors, or uranium enrichment plants, or from the conditioning and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, is prohibited. The construction and operation of such nuclear waste facilities is against the law in our State. The Objects of this important Act are:
“to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of South Australia and to protect the environment in which they live by prohibiting the establishment of certain nuclear waste storage facilities in this State.”
Continue reading
FIRST WORLD WAR WOMEN – working for peace
FIRST WORLD WAR WOMEN
working for peace in Melbourne
1914 – 1919
The Women’s Political Association and
The Women’s Peace Army
“WE WAR AGAINST WAR”
http://www.womensweb.com.au/1914-1919/index%201peace.html
Australians! Join the Better Power campaign
Join the switch to save renewables https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/renewable-energy/switch/join-the-switch-to-save-renewables?t=z2jAJT5P Australia’s biggest energy companies, Origin, AGL and Energy Australia are attacking the Renewable Energy Target. They’re doing everything they can to get Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to weaken policies critical to our clean energy future. Why? Because they want to support their vested interests in coal and coal seam gas and keep energy prices as high as possible.
The Better Power campaign is using our movement’s collective consumer power to hit the “Dirty Three” where it hurts – their profits. It’s time to leave the companies that are attacking renewable energy behind, and switch to a company backed by renewables, that’s championing our Renewable Energy Target today:
In Victoria: click on the link to switch: https://www.getup.org.au/BetterPower
In NSW: click on the link to switch: https://www.getup.org.au/BetterPowernsw
Tweed Heads indigenous community march on 31 March to support remote communities
Tweed march backs WA Aboriginal communities Ech Net Daily, March 23, 2015 | by Luis Feliu The Tweed’s indigenous community has organised a protest march for next week in the Tweed Heads CBD in solidarity with remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia who face being forcibly removed from their lands. The fears about the closures were sparked by WA premier Colin Barnett flagging the possibility that up to 150 communities could be closed after the Commonwealth withdraws funding for essential services from June this year.
The Tweed’s Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander community are urging locals to support the march next Tuesday at 4pm from Tweed Heads Civic Centre to the Jack Evans Boat Harbour. Continue reading
Australians should pressure govt for food labelling – on country of origin
Tell the Government you want to know where your Food comes from CHOICE http://conspiracyoz.com/2015/03/20/tell-the-government-you-want-to-know-where-your-food-comes-from/Thank you for taking action on better country of origin labelling.
What’s next? CHOICE wants to meet with Barnaby Joyce
in March to call for action on this issue.
Your support will help us illustrate that Australians want a clear
and more meaningful country of origin system.
Thanks,
The Campaigns Team.
To do even more good tell your friends!
Kintyre uranium mine proposal approved – take action
Mia Pepper Nuclear Free Campaigner Conservation Council of Western Australia mia.pepper@ccwa.org.au www.ccwa.org.au
This week the WA Environment Minister approved the proposed uranium mine at Kintyre unique desert ecosystem that was excised from the Karlamilyi National Park to allow mining. The Federal Environment Minister now decides the fate of WA’s largest National Park and the surrounding Martu communities under threat from the proposed Kintyre uranium mine. TAKE ACTION HERE
We need your help to get the word out- please share this short video from the Parnngurr community who are fighting against the uranium proposal – and to send a message to Minister Greg Hunt.
http://ccwa.org.au/takeaction/kintyre
Your support in getting this message out is so important – especially to the communities facing the threat.
Conservation Council of South Australia : points on Terms of Reference for the Royal Commission.
If the Royal Commission is to be a genuine inquiry, the draft terms of reference need significant revision. Otherwise it will lack credibility.Western Australian Premier Barnett snubs Kimberley Aboriginals – protest March 5th
All interested people are encouraged to attend the meeting being held on 5 March 2015 at Kimberley Land Council. Show your support and rail against continued injustices against the Indigenous people.
Indigenous community closures in WA: Barnett turns his back on traditional owners, Independent Australia 23 February 2015, WA Premier Colin Barnett has, without notice or consultation, announced he is closing down 150 Indigenous communities and has refused to meet Indigenous community leaders to discuss the matter, writes Natalie Cromb. Continue reading
Red Cross reports back on the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons
Filling the Gap: A report-back on the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons
Thursday 12th Feb 2015, 6pm Australian Red Cross 155 Pelham St, Carlton
In December 2014, 158 nations gathered for the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons and made an important step towards a nuclear weapons ban. The “Austrian Pledge”, introduced by the host country, invites nations to commit to ‘fill the legal gap for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons’.
Please join a conversation with Australian Red Cross CEO Robert Tickner, Director of International Humanitarian Law and Movement Relations at the Australian Red Cross Dr Phoebe Wynn-Pope, Associate Professor Tilman Ruff, documentarian Vanessa Macedo and Emeritus Professor Michael Hamel-Green at Victoria University on the significance of the Vienna Conference and the road ahead for a nuclear weapons ban. ICAN Asia-Pacific Director Tim Wright will facilitate the conversation.
Refreshments provided, please RSVP to gem@icanw.org.
Aboriginal Australians prepare to mark Invasion Day January 26
Aboriginal activists plan national convergence for freedom, Green Left, January 17, 2015 By Alex Bainbridge & Seamus Doherty Aboriginal people and their supporters are converging in Canberra from all over Australia for the Invasion Day weekend. The weekend will feature a “sit-in” that is expected to release an historic Declaration of Independence reaffirming Aboriginal sovereignty in this country.
Plans for the convergence were made at the Freedom Summit held in Alice Springs in November. The summit reportedly involved 250 people who released a communique and appointed a delegation of twenty Aboriginal leaders from around the country to prepare the January mobilisation.
A program of activities has been organised including the “Last Day of Freedom” on January 25 and a national day of mourning for Invasion Day itself. The “First Day of Resistance” on January 27 will begin a the month long sit-in……….
Special focus is made on the decision to close Aboriginal communities in Western Australia and South Australia. The Communique describes the bulldozing of Oombulgurri in WA as “an act of aggression in an open genocidal process, on top of the continuing apartheid and land clearances through the Northern Territory Intervention.”
The communique also highlights the fact that sovereignty has never been ceded by Aboriginal people in this country and identifies “mass action in the streets” as the means to win justice………….
Activists around the country have been mobilising for the summit including preparation activities in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
The Nyoongar Tent Embassy in Perth has organised a series of fundraisers, including a quiz night and performance nights, to raise funds to send people on buses to Canberra.
The bus from Perth departs January 20. https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58042
Important Project – Uranium − The Silent Killer
Uranium − The Silent Killer Donations are sought for this important project: please visit www.pozible.com/project/187985
At the ANFA (Australia Nuclear Free Alliance) meeting in October 2014, Indigenous Elders called for documentation of the health effects from the Maralinga and other atomic bomb tests in the 1950’s and 1960’s. See www.anfa.org.au for the meeting statement.
From 1952 to 1963 atomic testing covered vast areas of South Australia including Maralinga and Emu Fields test sites. First Nations people along with the rest of the population from the southern regions of Australia were subject to horrific fallout from atomic testing carried out in these remote areas. Permission was never sort from the Aboriginal nations.
This project involves a three-week road trip to archive the stories of the people from Arabuna, Walitina, Ceduna, and Yalata country to produce film, audio and digital documentaries. We will begin a data base of the families affected, the geographical distributions of fall out and detrimental health repercussions of these unconsented tests.
The project will meet with people and family members who remained in the vicinity of the testing who were exposed to the immediate effects of radiological poison; people who were transmigrated from their homelands under duress to missions including Yalata in the south west of the state and people who suffer intergenerational impacts first hand at the expense of the atomic tests.
The project is underway and updates are being posted at: www.pozible.com/project/187985#updates
Nuclear weapons are the most destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. Both in the scale of the devastation they cause, and in their uniquely persistent, spreading, genetically damaging radioactive fallout, they are unlike any other weapons. For more information on nuclear weapons, including an article on Yami Lester, one of the survivors of the nuclear tests in South Australia, see www.icanw.org/au
Many Aboriginal people in South Australia still rely on bush foods – plants and animals sourced from land that still is contaminated. The possibility of bioaccumulation is very real. Certainly the stories of early death from cancer, thyroid disease and congenital deformities are continuing.
Donations are sought for this important project before December 30, 2014: please visit www.pozible.com/project/187985
Contact: Dr Hilary Tyler and other members of the project team: uraniumthesilentkiller@gmail.com
“I’ve lost a lot of my family members through early death – and a lot of it was through cancer, and I do blame the Maralinga fallout.” − Aunty Martha – Arabana (Lake Eyre)
“Just remember that the fallout at Maralinga affected the whole lot of us. Black, white, brindle; we all breathe the same air, and we’re all being affected in various ways, even though that happened a long time ago. It’s still around.” − Sue Coleman-Haseldine (Kokatha Mula – Ceduna)
Public can comment on Cameco’s uranium plans – still time left for this
Deadline looms for say on Cameco uranium plans http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-28/deadline-looms-for-say-on-cameco-uranium-plans/5925776 27 Nov 2014, The public has a week to give feedback on a proposal for a company to mine uranium ore in WA’s northern Goldfields.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is assessing Cameco’s proposal to mine and process uranium at Yeelirrie, an open pit mine site 70 kilometres south-west of Wiluna.
In May 2010, the EPA approved a similar proposal for the same project submitted by BHP Billiton, before it was sold to Cameco in 2012.
The company plans to extend the roughly 30-year mine life and increase the rate of milling and processing previously outlined to 7,500 tonnes per year.
The public has seven days to comment on the proposal.
Buy Nothing Day 28 Nov – North America 29 Nov International
Buy Nothing Day 28 Nov – North America 29 Nov International https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd
“Today, humanity faces a stark choice: save the planet and ditch capitalism, or save capitalism and ditch the planet.” – Fawzi Ibrahim
Until we challenge the entrenched values of capitalism – that the economy must always keep growing, that consumer wants must always be satisfied, that immediate gratification is imperative – we’re not going able to fix the gigantic psycho-financial-eco crisis of our times.
That challenge is a deeply personal one: in a world where every inch of the capitalist system is bullying you into submission, can you resist? When advertisers hound you day and night, can you escape? This Black Friday, a massive, absurd, and destructive consumerist machine will coordinate against you for one simple reason – to convince you to max out your credit card to buy shit you don’t need so that a broken system stays afloat. So when they say “BUY!”, will you say NOTHING!”?
Buy Nothing Day is legendary for instigating this type of personal transformation … as you suddenly remember what real living is all about … you sense an upsurge of radical empowerment and feel a strange magic creeping back into your life.
Join millions of us in over 60 countries on November 28/29 and see what it feels like. Then, after Buy Nothing Day, take the next step … for generations, Christmas has been hijacked by commercial forces … this year, let’s take it back.
And why not get playful while you’re at it!? … Put up posters, organize a credit card cut up, pull off a Whirl–mart, or a Christmas Zombie walk through your local mall.
The Dynamics of Possible Nuclear Extinction – Symposium 2015
Dr Helen Caldicott, 25 Nov 14 As a physician I am trained to assess a patient, taking a detailed medical history then conducting a careful physical examination. This is followed by a series of laboratory tests which guide me to a diagnosis. Appropriate treatment follows after the illness is diagnosed and the cause is defined. It is imperative that the main disease is attended to and the assessor not be distracted by peripheral issues or unrelated complaints.
I look at the world and its ongoing pathology from a similar perspective. There are many serious issues facing the world at the moment but it is necessary to triage the most serious threats, those to our very survival. It is easy to be diverted or distracted by lesser threats. This must be avoided. As a physician, I see the ever-present threat of nuclear war as an ongoing existential risk that threatens almost all planetary life with extinction. The situation is even more acute because most people and politicians have become inured to, or are unaware of, the existential nature of this threat. This is a dangerous form of psychic numbing.
The truth is that Russia and the U.S. possess 94% of the 16,400 nuclear weapons in the global nuclear arsenal. The U.S. maintains its first strike winnable nuclear war policy, and both countries have raised their nuclear arsenals to a higher state of alert because of the trouble in the Ukraine.
Furthermore it has just been announced that the administration has plans to replace every nuclear warhead and their delivery systems via ship, submarine, missile and plane, at a cost of one trillion dollars over the next thirty years. And recently Stephen Hawking and his collaegues have been postulating that there is a real possibility that computers could launch a nuclear war with no human input
This symposium to be held by The Helen Caldicott Foundation – a 501C3 charitable organization – at the NY Academy of Medicine on February 28th-March 1st, 2015 will be structured to address the following issues:
- What are the human and technological factors that could precipitate a nuclear war between Russia and the U.S., how many times have we come close to nuclear war and how long will our luck hold?
- What are the ongoing technological and financial developments relevant to the nuclear weapons arsenals of the US and Russia?
- What problems are associated with lateral proliferation of nuclear weapons via strenuous corporate marketing of nuclear technology?
- What are the medical and environmental consequences of either a small or large nuclear war?
- What are the underlying philosophical, political, and ideological dynamics that have brought life on earth to the brink of extinction?
- How can we assess this situation from an anthropological perspective?
- What is the pathology within the present political situation that could lead us to extinction?
- How can this nuclear pathology be cured?
Speakers for each issue Continue reading
Share and submit your objection to a new uranium mine in Kakadu National Park
Lauren Mellor, 12 Nov 14, Energy Resources of Australia, the operators of the ageing and failing Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu, are currently seeking approval for a new underground mine, Ranger 3 Deeps. Public comment on the proposal is open until December 12.
The Ranger lease is due to expire in January 2021, at which time rehabilitation is mandated to start. The company is facing significant time pressures, has suffered a string of recent severe mine-site accidents and faces long-term profitability problems. Any extension of mining at Ranger would inevitably add cost, complexity and delay to final rehabilitation.
Recently, serious concerns have been raised over ERA’s financial capacity to undertake rehabilitation, with the rehabilitation liability of over $700 million now worth more than the company’s market value. Key economic detail on the project is missing from the Draft EIS and parent-company Rio Tinto have repeatedly refused to take responsibility for clean up.
This assessment process is the first opportunity the public have been given to have a say over the future of a mine that has been trashing and contaminating its lease within the boundaries of a World Heritage Listed national park in over three decades.
The Environment Centre NT and the Australian Conservation Foundation have launched some resources to help as many individuals and organisations as possible to lodge objections during the assessment phase. You can read a copy of the draft EIS here: http://www.ntepa.nt.gov.au/environmental-assessments/assessment/register/ranger-3-deeps-underground-mine/ranger-3-deeps-draft-eis
You can lodge a template submission on our website: http://www.ecnt.org/undermining or download the attached hard copy for distribution at upcoming events.
And if you’re keen to get some of these handy ‘Greetings from Kakadu’ postcards (attached) to send a direct message to Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt please get in contact at lauren.mellor@ecnt.org to get them in the post.
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 