Adani ramps up propaganda war, intimidation of activists
Nuclear Engineering company Frazer Nash increasing its pro nuclear lobbying in Australia
“Since opening its first Australian office in 2010 Frazer-Nash has supported high-profile South Australian projects including ……. the Federal Government’s initiative to develop a low level radioactive waste disposal facility, …..”
https://www.fncaustralia.com.au/…/south-australia-premier-o…
Extreme weather in Australia – the economic effects : why we need to prepare for this
Storm-o-nomics: Why Australia should be more prepared for extreme weather, The Conversation, By Matt WadeFebruary 9, 2019 Another Australian summer has been marked by disasters triggered by extreme weather. Some came out of the blue, like the Townsville floods. Others unfolded gradually, like the droughtafflicting much of eastern Australia.
But there’s one characteristic our natural disasters have in common: their high price tag when compared with the rest of the world.
The World Disasters Report 2018, prepared by the Red Cross, found Australia was ranked 10th in the world for the cost of damage caused by disasters between 2008 and 2017. It estimated our disaster damage bill over that decade to be a hefty $US27 billion ($38 billion).
A separate study by London-based charity Christian Aid rated Australia’s lingering drought as the world’s seventh most costly weather-related disaster of 2018 (between US$5.8 and $9 billion).
We’re also located in world’s most disaster-prone region. The Asia Pacific was hit by two out of every five of the 335 disasters recorded worldwide in 2017 and suffered 58 per cent of disaster-related deaths, according to the Red Cross.
The headlines typically focus on the insurance losses caused by property damage following a calamity like the Townsville floods.
A recent report by consultancy SGS Economics and Planning for insurance company IAG tallied the insurance losses in Australia due to natural perils between 1970 and 2013.
During those decades storms caused the greatest losses (27 per cent of the total) followed by hail damage (21 per cent), floods (18 per cent), tropical cyclones (18 per cent) and bushfires (10 per cent).
But there’s a difference between insurance losses due to extreme weather and the broader economic cost. Insurance losses following natural disasters only capture the losses accruing to insured assets such as homes, motor vehicles and business premises. That’s only part of the story.
The disruption caused by disasters changes the way businesses and consumers behave, sometimes for an extended period, causing losses to production that never show up in insurance claims. ……….
Professor Frank Jotzo, director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at the Australian National University, says climate science shows Australians should expect more frequent, and more intense, extreme weather events due to climate change. He warns the effects of climate change will drag on the economy in two ways.
First, the destruction caused by more frequent extreme weather events, especially to public infrastructure, will require capital and labour to be diverted to rebuilding things we already have rather than creating new productive assets.
“It means we have to invest resources in things that don’t give us an additional economic output,” says Professor Jotzo.
Second, climate change will take a toll on productivity. One obvious example is the impact higher average temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns will have on agricultural production.
The health of employees, especially in cities, will be affected by more frequent and long-lasting heatwaves and that means more work days lost to illness.
“Heatwaves mean people are under greater stress and more prone to ill-health,” says Jotzo. “That’s a direct hit on the economy.”………..
So what can be done?
Rawnsley’s analysis shows governments have focused too much on post-disaster reconstruction while investing too little in mitigation.
“Out of ever $100 spent on disasters about $97 is spent post the disaster,” he says.
The upshot? A disaster-prone nation like Australia should be doing more to mitigate the effects of extreme weather. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/the-economy/storm-o-nomics-why-australia-should-be-more-prepared-for-extreme-weather-20190208-p50wln.html
Psychological aspects of the fact that climate change has arrived in Australia
The climate crisis has arrived – so stop feeling guilty and start imagining your future The Conversation, The Conversation Principal Lecturer in Psychology, University of Brighton February 7, 2019
Evidence of the devastating impacts of anthropogenic climate change are stacking up, and it is becoming horrifyingly real. There can be no doubt that the climate crisis has arrived. Yet another “shocking new study” led The Guardian and various other news media this week. One-third of Himalayan ice cap, they report, is doomed.
Meanwhile in Australia, record summer temperatures have wrought unprecedented devastation of biblical proportions – mass deaths of horses, bats and fish are reported across the country, while the island state of Tasmania burns. In some places this version of summer is a terrifying new normal.
The climate disaster future is increasingly becoming the present – and, as the evidence piles up, it is tempting to ask questions about its likely public reception. Numerous psychological perspectives suggest that if we have already invested energy in denying the reality of a situation we experience as profoundly troubling, the closer it gets, the more effort we put into denying it.
When it comes to the climate crisis, the personal is political. I am talking about a politics that grows from opposition and critique of our current systems. This is evident in young people organising school strikes and protesters willing to get arrested for their direct action. But we also need to pay more attention to what is lost, to who and what we care for, to other possible ways of being.
Some conservation scientists, at least, see recent cultural change as a hopeful sign of a growing sense of care and responsibility. So stop feeling guilty, it’s not your fault. Be attentive to what’s going on, so that you might notice what you care about and why. What are you capable of, and what might we be capable of together, when we aren’t caught between knowing and not knowing, denial and distress?
New South Wales Labor announces plan for 500,000 households to get rooftop solar
Labor announces plan for 500,000 households to get rooftop solar, https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/labor-announces-plan-for-500-000-households-to-get-rooftop-solar-20190209-p50wrl.html, By Laura Chung,February 9, 2019 NSW Labor has announced it will support a program to help 500,000 households to install rooftop solar, reducing electricity bills in the next 10 years.
Under Labor’s Solar Homes policy, owner-occupied households in NSW with a combined income of $180,000 or less would be eligible for a rebate, to be capped at $2200 per household.
Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Adam Searle, said the policy could add solar to an additional million homes over the next decade, and could save the average household anywhere between $600 and $1000 a year on electricity bills.
“This is a bold program to push NSW to the front of the energy revolution,” he said. “This will significantly cut electricity bills and carbon emissions.”
“We will have much more to say about energy and tackling climate change.”
The program would be phased in during the 2019-2020 financial year. The policy announcement comes ahead of the launch of Labor’s campaign bus, which will travel around the state from Sunday.
The Smart Energy Council said Labor’s policy addressed two of NSW residents’ main concerns: the cost of living and climate change.
It shows “a strong commitment towards climate change” and is a “sign of confidence in renewable energy, a critical part of NSW’s future,” a spokesman said.
The council said it would like to see a stronger commitment from both the NSW Government and the Opposition to supporting families’ purchases of household solar batteries, which would provide people “with a greater sense of control of power and how they use power.”
In a statement, deputy leader of NSW Liberals Dominic Perrottet said Labor “cannot be trusted” to deliver more affordable, reliable and clean energy, “with a history of energy cost blowouts and blunders”.
The NSW Coalition government “is getting on with the job of taking pressure off electricity prices, while maintaining energy security,” Mr Perrottet said.
Contrary to what ANSTO says, nuclear waste returning to Australia IS High Level Waste (HLW)
Gary See Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/,
Scotland’s Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) clearly state that it considers radioactive waste generated at Sellafield in England, and heading to Australia, to be vitrified High Level waste, despite what ANSTO call it. https://www.gov.scot/…/0038…/00389151-pdf/govscot%3Adocument
Steve Dale To think politicians and the nuclear people here got together to deliberately deceive the Australian public – to call what other countries calls “High Level Waste” something else. It’s the same toxic, corrupt thinking that brought us Maralinga. At left is a picture of High Level Waste from a UK document – looks (and is) the same as the stuff they have at Lucas Heights (same link)
from here:
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/…/radwaste.pdf
Climate change already having drastic effects on Torres Strait islands
Climate change eats away at Torres Strait islands, prompting calls for long-term solutions, ABC Far North
A flood prevention method that withstood wild weather this week may be rolled out to other vulnerable Torres Strait communities, including Yam Island where families were left homeless after king tides last year.
Torres Strait Island Regional Council deputy mayor Getano Lui said geotextile sandbags were used for the first time in the Torres Strait this week when abnormally high tides impacted Poruma Island, a cultural hub home to just 200 people.
“It’s getting worse every year,” he said.”Climate change is really having a detrimental effect on all the communities.
“When I was growing up the elders could predict the weather but right now it’s unpredictable.
“The worst is yet to come this year, the king tides are predicted [on February 19] and anything could happen, we could end up with the same catastrophe as Yam Island last year.”
Connection to land, culture under threat
Research from the Torres Strait Regional Authority shows sea levels are rising by 6mm each year — double the global average.
“If this trend continues, relocation is an option many of those on the Torres Strait’s 200 islands and coral cays may be faced with,” Mr Lui said.
“What is instilled in us and our ancestors is if the Torres Strait sinks, we’ll sink with it.
“We would be very reluctant to be relocated.
“Most of us would refuse to leave.”
Torres Shire Council mayor Vonda Malone said the region’s two councils would now look at installing the sandbags on other vulnerable islands such as Yam Island, Masig Island and Boigu.
“The weather over the last two weeks has been unpredictable; it has been full on,” she said…..
Sinking cemeteries a concern for State MP
….https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-09/call-for-increased-flood-protection-in-torres-strait/10794696
Bob Brown to lead anti coal mine convoy from Hobart to Queensland’s Galilee Basin, and Canberra
Dr Bob Brown leads anti coal mine convoy, Examiner, Sue Bailey 7 Feb 19,
About 100 Tasmanians have so far signed up to join an anti-Adani coal mine road convoy which organisers say will be bigger than the protest to stop the damming of the Franklin River.
Environmentalist and former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says if the Adani coal mine goes ahead a peaceful protest convoy will leave Hobart on April 17 bound for Queensland’s Galilee Basin and then back to Canberra ahead of the federal election.
“Now that’s an economic, employment and environmental win for Tasmania and Australia.
Dr Brown said thousands of people joined the Franklin blockade and hundreds were arrested and he expected many Australians would join the convoy which would travel through Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
He said the Federal and Queensland governments should not tick off the mine and Labor would be foolish to support it.
“Bloomberg says this is the most contentious coal mine on earth,” Dr Brown said.
“Climate change is the big vote changer.
“Adani is a litmus test for common sense in this age of global heating.”
Dr Brown said 1100 people,including 100 Tasmanians, had already expressed interest in joining the convoy which will be led by electric cars and other vehicles…….. https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5892738/dr-bob-brown-leads-anti-coal-mine-convoy/?cs=95
Anti Adani protesters rally outside the Sydney Mining Club
Anti-Adani protesters outside CEO speech, SBS , 8 Feb 19,
A group of protesters have rallied outside the Sydney Mining Club, where Adani Australia’s CEO was speaking about the company’s Carmichael coal mine. More than 100 people have rallied against Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine as the company’s Australian boss spruiked the project to industry figures.
The protesters carried placards and chanted loudly outside the Sydney Mining Club on Thursday as chief executive Lucas Dow delivered his lunchtime speech.
“We’re not going to stop until they listen,” one speaker told the crowd……..
The Queensland government in January appointed an environmental group to review the mine’s management plan, including plans to conserve 33,000 hectares of pastoral land bought near the 1300-hectare site to offset habitat loss for black-throated finch.
The LNP believes the move has put the project at risk. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/anti-adani-protesters-outside-ceo-speech
This New South Wales court ruling will shake the coal industry to its core
Paparc People Against Political and Religious Corruption, 8 Feb 19,
In an Australian first, and a decision that will no doubt set a precedent in this country, and shake the coal industry to its core, a proposed coal mine in Gloucester has been denied and rejected by the Chief Justice of the Land and Environment Court.
“Wrong place because an open-cut coal mine in this scenic and cultural landscape, proximate to many people’s homes and farms, will cause significant planning, amenity, visual and social impacts.
“Wrong time because the [greenhouse gas] emissions of the coal mine and its coal product will increase global total concentrations of [greenhouse gases] at a time when what is now urgently needed, in order to meet generally agreed climate targets, is a rapid and deep decrease in emissions.”
‘Dire consequences’: NSW court quashes plans for new coal mine
http://www.abc.net.au/…/rocky-hill-mine-plans-qaus…/10792902
There is still no deal on royalties for Adani coal mine with Queensland government
Adani yet to sign royalties deal with Queensland government, Fin Rev, By Mark Ludlow, Feb 7, 2019
Indian energy giant Adani has yet to sign a royalties agreement with the Queensland government for its controversial $2 billion Carmichael mine.
In a further setback for the mine and rail project – which has become a lightning rod for environmental activists across the country – it can be revealed that while there was an in-principle agreement about a royalty framework for the project, it has yet to be finalised between the company and the Palaszczuk Labor government….. (subscribers only) https://www.afr.com/news/politics/adani-yet-to-sign-royalties-deal-with-queensland-government-20190207-h1ayhi
Adani doesn’t want a “Mega-Mine” any more
Adani chief rues original plans for ‘mega-mine’ Brisbane Times, By Nick Bonyhady, February 7, 2019 The chief executive of major coal miner Adani says he rues the way the company’s controversial Carmichael coal mine was originally announced as a 60 million tonne mega-mine in 2010 before being scaled down to a 10 million tonne project last year……..
A CFMEU spokeswoman said their official had spoke about central Queensland and that the quote was not a reference to Adani specifically, but that the union supported resource jobs in the state. The Labor Party was contacted for comment.
Mr Dow named the Queensland seats of Flynn, Capricornia, Dawson and Herbert as federal electorates where the mine’s fate would be particularly influential in the election. But Mr Dow also lauded the Coalition for its support of the project, which he said was very nearly underway after being delayed for eight years.
A Queensland government investigation into whether the company breached bore water extraction requirements is ongoing, as is a Federal Court challenge to the validity of a meeting at which indigenous owners approved the company’s indigenous land use agreement.
Adani had sought hundreds of millions of dollars in government loans for the project but its applications were rejected after political pressure from environmental groups……. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/companies/adani-chief-rues-original-plans-for-mega-mine-20190207-p50wbh.html
Morrison government not recognising the climate impacts already hitting Australia
 Governments not keeping pace with climate change impacts: scientist, Brisbane Times, By Tony Moore, February 5, 2019 — One of Australia’s leading scientists has warned the Queensland and federal governments that they are not keeping pace with the impacts of climate change.
Queensland’s recent extreme weather – bushfires, heatwaves, coral bleaching, drought, Cyclone Penny, Townsville’s floods – showed the state was clearly experiencing climate change, Professor Ian Lowe said. “What I think is a reason for concern is that the science in the 1980s was saying that – if the [1980] climate models were right – by about 2030 there would be observable changes in climate that would be impossible to ignore,” Professor Lowe said. “Now I think you could say that, if anything, the science of the time was being unreasonably cautious,” he said. I think you would have to be in deep denial not to accept that there are unmistakeable signs of climate change.” Professor Lowe is a member of the Queensland government’s senior climate change body, the Queensland Climate Advisory Council. It is chaired by Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch, while Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham and Queensland’s chief scientist are members. It has met only three times since 2017. ……. Professor Lowe listed coral bleaching, Townsville’s flooding, the Australia-wide heatwaves in January 2019, the unseasonal Queensland bushfires from October to December and the recent fires in Tasmania as examples of extreme weather, triggered by the changing climate. Professor Lowe said the Queensland government was not “keeping pace” with measures to adapt to a changing climate, despite a string of reports since 2015. “As I said before, there isn’t yet the sense of urgency that there should be, either in adaptation, or in mitigation,” he said. He said the federal government was “in complete denial” over the impacts of climate change. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in Townsville on Tuesday, declined to say whether the torrential rain, described as a one-in-100-year event, was a demonstration of climate change……. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/climate-change/governments-not-keeping-pace-with-climate-change-impacts-scientist-20190205-p50vun.html |
Cost of insurance becoming unmanageable in Australia, due to climate change?
Could climate change make it harder to get insurance in Australia? ABC News The Signal , By Ange Lavoipierre and Stephen Smiley for The Signal, 6 Feb 19, At the moment, Townsville is more or less underwater and large parts of Tasmania are on fire.
Key points:
- There were anecdotal reports of premiums reaching $30,000 after the 2017 Lismore floods
- There is a serious risk some places could become too disaster-prone to insure, according to an expert
- Taxpayers could end up footing the bill
Summer in Australia has always been extreme, but some corners of the country are experiencing climate-driven disasters that are worse than ever — and more of them every year.
Those stories are told in extraordinary detail as they unfold, but once the world looks away, there’s the question of who’ll pay the bill.
So with fires, floods and crazy weather becoming more frequent and severe, is Australia on its way to being uninsurable?
The clean-up can take years and cost millions…….
Could we become too disaster-prone to insure?
The director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Australia Institute, Richie Merzian, says it’s a very real risk.
“We will get to a certain point, somewhere between say 3 degrees or 4 degrees above pre-industrial levels, and a world like that will see situations where cities, entire coastlines, do become uninsurable,” he said.
Mr Merzian said in that case “the basic safety net that’s provided by the private sector just becomes too prohibitively expensive”.
He said in that instance, the burden will fall back on the taxpayer.
“The Government is always the insurer of last resort and then you see these odd situations where everyone will have to pay to keep these towns operating,” Mr Merzian said.
“And we saw that with the Queensland flood levy, where the damages were so big the insurance industry couldn’t possibly cover it.”.
So can it be avoided?
Mr Merzian said it was possible, in the immediate future, to manage the risks to insurers in flood and fire-prone areas.
“Some insurers have basically decided to leave certain markets,” he said.
“Ideally the insurance [companies] that do want to stay in there need to work with the governments to make that happen.
“And that’s where you see more money and effort put into mapping the risks, improving zoning, building better codes and better safety measures.”
Mr Merzian warned that the difficult discussion about whether or not it was even appropriate to rebuild in some disaster-prone areas was not happening in enough places.
“There’s $88 billion at risk in terms of damage from coastal erosion in Australia … but no local council wants to go and tell people who have million-dollar beach houses, ‘you shouldn’t have built here’,” he said. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-06/could-climate-change-make-australia-uninsurable/10783490
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Keeping South Australia nuclear-dump-free – a priority for Candace Champion, Greens candidate for Grey electorate
Greens announce new candidate for Grey electorate, Transcontinental, Amy Green 6 Feb 19 Port Augusta woman Candace Champion has joined the race for the seat of Grey at the next federal election.
Running as a candidate for The Greens, Candace is described as a passionate and driven young Aboriginal woman who can bring diversity to Australian parliament.
Brought up in a close-knit family, Candace has many fond memories of her childhood growing up on the Eyre Peninsula – especially participating in local sports. ……
While her family has been a large source of inspiration throughout her life, her faith is also something that has had a big influence on who she is today.
Candace’s father was a minister and later on her mother followed suit.
“The church is and has always been a second home for me. Friday night Youth Group and Sunday Church hold special memories,” she said.
She is now an active member of the Uniting Church in Australia and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islanders Christian Congress.
Candace said she was inspired to run for government after witnessing the many issues her family, friends, country, communities and church continue to face. ……
She is deeply committed to child safety and keeping families together, a treaty with First Australians, and the protection of Australia’s beautiful country and waters.
“By running for the seat of Grey I hope to achieve real advocacy, I will advocate for equality, justice and change. I hope to create positive change in all areas of government and society,” Candace said……
Candace is also passionate about cleaning up politics – where corporate donations should be banned and making SA a no nuclear waste dump. …… https://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/5886273/candace-throws-her-hat-to-contest-the-seat-of-grey/?fbclid=IwAR0TR2ZpvxAPD1T647q1lPdqF30cV6h6aE38D
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 