Government rejects claim by former national servicemen involved in British nuclear tests
Former national servicemen involved in British nuclear test have gold card bids rejected ABC, 4 Dec 17, By political reporter Dan Conifer A former national serviceman involved in a 1950s nuclear test in Australia is pleading for his lifetime healthcare application to be reconsidered.
Key points:
- Operation Hurricane was the first British nuclear test in Australia and took place at the Montebello Islands
- Ken Palmer believes exposure to radiation from a nuclear blast contributed to his illnesses
- The national servicemen are now pleading to have their cases reviewed by Dan Tehan
Ken Palmer, 83, believes exposure to radiation from the blast has contributed to illnesses, including cancers.
“Please Mr Minister … you’ll still be in the job for a little while, make a clean breast of things, let your guard down a bit,” he said, referring to Veterans’ Affairs Minister Dan Tehan.
Mr Palmer was a teenager aboard HMAS Murchison in October 1952 when he saw “a big mushroom cloud” form on the horizon.
Operation Hurricane was the first British nuclear test in Australia and took place at the Montebello Islands, off Western Australia’s coast.
“It’s about five operations I could safely put down to being at Montebello,” Mr Palmer said.
He attributed having both thyroid glands removed to the nuclear test, along two hip procedures, back surgery, and having his prostate removed.
This year’s federal budget included $133 million to give nuclear veterans gold cards, providing lifelong no-gap medical care.
But Mr Palmer’s application was rejected by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs…….
Those aboard the ship have long argued they were as close as nine kilometres away, saying photographs taken moments after detonation prove their claims.
To qualify for gold cards, the national servicemen had to be within 10 kilometres.
“Was there a curtain they put up to stop the radiation heading towards our ship? I doubt it. I didn’t see it,” Mr Palmer said.
Veterans advocates estimate about 60 national servicemen were on the navy ship.
Another former ‘nasho’ aboard the HMAS Murchison, who has also been knocked back, estimated fewer than a dozen of his crewmates were still alive.
Mr Palmer, who is in hospital ahead of surgery on Tuesday, said: “This is our last stand.”…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-04/veterans-have-gold-card-bids-rejected/9221780
Wangan and Jagalingou Aboriginal claim that Adani paid people to stack meeting
Adani accused of paying people to stack its meeting on crucial mine deal http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-02/adani-accused-of-paying-people-to-stack-meeting-on-deal/9218246 By Josh Robertson Adani is accused of discreetly paying thousands of dollars to recruit people to vote on a crucial mining deal with traditional owners, including Aboriginal people with no link to its Queensland mine site.
A Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) representative said he was paid $2,000 by Adani to boost numbers at the meeting, where he said many who were “not part of my mob” voted on the compensation deal.
Another W&J woman said her family of eight voted against the deal but the official vote recorded just one person against and 294 people in favour.
What’s the deal with the Adani deal?
- Traditional owners need to sign off on a deal for compensation
- Adani can’t get finance until the deal is done
- The deal’s divided the W&J group
- Last year’s meeting was to sign off on the deal
- A trial next year will decide whether the meeting was legitimate
The claims are made in sworn statements filed in the Federal Court, ahead of a trial in March to decide whether the meeting legitimately endorsed the Adani deal, which has bitterly divided the W&J Continue reading
Chinese banks won’t fund Adani’s Carmichael coal mine
Adani: Chinese banks not interested in financing Carmichael mine project http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-03/chinese-banks-not-interested-in-financing-adani-carmichael-mine/9221750
Key points:
- Two of China’s major banks have ruled out funding the Carmichael mine
- This leaves Adani “increasingly reliant on public funding”, expert says
- Adani previously claimed it would have finance in place by the end of this year
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) issued a statement to clarify it had no intention of funding Adani’s proposed mine in Queensland.
“ICBC has not been, and does not intend to be, engaged in arranging financing for this project,” ICBC said in a statement on its website.
“ICBC attaches great importance to its social responsibilities and keenly promotes green financing.”
While not mentioning coal, ICBC said it had provided finance in Australia “for a series of renewable energy projects”.
Earlier, China Construction Bank also rejected financing links with Adani saying it “is not involved with, nor considering involvement with, the Adani Carmichael Mine project”.
The anti-Adani lobby has hailed the rejection by two of China’s major banks as a significant development in blocking the construction of the mine.
Blow follows failure to secure finance from other banks
Market Forces executive director Julien Vincent said arranging finance from China was one of Adani’s last remaining hopes given that Australian banks had walked away.
“Having failed to secure finance from banks in the US, Europe and Australia, Adani has now seen the world’s largest and second largest banks by assets rule out support for its massive proposed coal mine,” Mr Vincent said.
“This leaves their attempts to open up Australia’s largest coal mine in tatters, and increasingly reliant on public funding.” Mr Vincent said Adani has been working to contract China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CEMC) into the Carmichael mine and rail project.
However, CEMC would potentially need to source credit and support from Chinese banks to participate in the Adani project.
Adani has, on numerous occasions, pushed back the start date for the mine.
Adani has previously claimed it would have finance in place by the end of this year and, later, said it expected to finalise finance by the end of the Indian fiscal year in March.
Global banks, including Australia’s major banks, have baulked at funding the Carmichael coal mine on concerns about its financial viability and the push towards renewable energy sources.
W and J Aboriginal owners claimants again vote down Adani deal, seek Injunction
Brisbane, 3 December 2017. ‘For the fourth time since 2012, W&J Traditional Owners have voted unanimously at an authorisation meeting to reject an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with Adani, underlining their sustained opposition to the mine.
‘Today the Traditional Owners also announced they have filed an injunction in the Federal Court
against Adani and the Queensland Government, to restrain them should they attempt to extinguish their native title. … wanganjagalingou.com.au/wj-claimants-again-vote-down-adani-deal-seek-injunction/
Senator Claire Moore refutes arguments of Australia’s pro nuclear lobby
The far Right in Australia have turned their attention, for the moment, away from efforts to sabotage the Equal Marriage Bill, and on to efforts to sabotage Australia’s laws against the nuclear industry .
In the Australian Senate, Cory Bernardi (Australian Conservatives) introduced the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (Facilitation) Bill 2017 and 3 right-wing senators backed it:
– Ian MacDonald (Liberal)
– David Leyonhjelm (Liberal Democrats)
– Eric Abetz (Liberal)
We surely miss Greens Senator Scott Ludlam. However, Senator Claire Moore (Labor) rose nobly to the defence of Commonwealth bans on nuclear power and on nuclear fuel processing, reprocessing and enrichment. These bans are found in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act.
SPEAKER: Moore, Sen Claire (ALP) 30 Nov 17“…..Over the years, issues around nuclear energy have come before this place and they have been part of the wider community discussion. Through that process, a number of investigations have taken place, and, as our shadow minister, Mark Butler, has said, the simple fact is that nuclear power in Australia simply doesn’t add up. The arguments do not add up now and they didn’t add up in the past. Sometime in the future they may, but at this time they just don’t add up. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, which is well skilled and well knowledgeable in this space, noted: ‘It’s difficult to envisage traditional nuclear power plants being established on the NEM given the current grid structure.’…..
Another major issue, if a decision were made to build a nuclear energy facility at a particular point, would be how long would it take for it to be operating on the ground, providing the kind of energy that we, as a nation, require? The CSIRO calculations say that it’s a 10- to 15-year interval from the commencement to the start-up of a reactor. I know that Senator Bernardi gave other figures. I understand that it would be part of a discussion in this area, but the data that we have before us on the current knowledge that’s out there from the CSIRO says that the time frame from commencement to completion and to operation is a 10- to 15-year process, and that, of course, is a very long-term plan, if we’re looking at a transition to another form of energy.
There is also the issue of reactor locations. When we talk about nuclear reactors and nuclear waste facilities, a massive community discussion occurs when proposals are put up for these types of facilities. ….. Our personal experience in Australia has been that when these things are brought out into the open—when finally, after discussions that often take place in secret, I’ll say, and when finally decisions are made public as to where a nuclear reactor or a nuclear waste facility could be located—there does seem to be a reaction from the community that is not positive…..
…water use. CSIRO has done a lot of work generally on the issue of water use in our community. They’ve used that knowledge in the discussion on what would be necessary for nuclear plants or nuclear operations. The indications that they have—and this is available on their website—is that nuclear plants use more cooling water than coal and gas plants. In terms of the sensitivities in our community and also the necessities of our climate and our access to water in Australia, that is a really important issue. Where would you be able to ensure that there were appropriate water sources, that would be safe and that would provide the support that would be necessary for the implementation of nuclear energy?
Even if you were to overcome the community, legal and political barriers to nuclear energy, it’s clear that due to the skills and other technical barriers it would take very many years, over a decade—and that’s the optimistic option—for Australia to be ready to begin construction of a nuclear power plant. That also does not take into account, as I said, the real need existing in our nation, and I am very much aware of strong community opposition to nuclear power…
As I was saying, that remains a major issue within the community in terms of any acceptance of a change to the current position that we have in the country around nuclear power. Senator Macdonald did allude to the ‘issue’ or ‘incident’—I should have written it down—of Fukushima. His dismissal of the significant issues around what happened at Fukushima was, I think, indicative of the lack of genuine understanding of the concerns in the community around this issue. Certainly over a long period of time one of the clear issues that has been raised within the community about anything around the further development of nuclear energy in our country has been a concern around a guarantee for safety and that there not be the kind of environmental, social and serious damage that occurred as a result of a series of nuclear incidents over many years. The most recent of those was in Fukushima, but the Chernobyl situation, of which we’ve just passed a significant anniversary, caused immense damage all across northern Europe and into the Arctic. In parts of Europe and the UK—I know that the UK are probably not referring to themselves as part of Europe any longer—there is still monitoring being done of ongoing issues around environmental damage in that area as a result of an incident that happened well over 20 years ago.
We’ve had Chernobyl identified and national and international reviews of what occurred at Three Mile Island and the significant safety issues that occurred. When something goes wrong in a nuclear energy facility, the resultant impact is much more serious than we see when things go wrong with other forms of power in the power industry. Certainly no-one can ever offer a guarantee. …. http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2F676f35b6-5c99-4c03-b7ba-036ffe24360c%2F0023%22
Iodine 131 – a treatment for thyroid disease, but still a radiation risk
Paul Langley Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia, 1 Dec 17
Today in this forum, the implication has been made that I131 as a treatment for thyroid disease is a benefit and that therefore, it is implied that the benefit of I131 as a nuclear medicine is harmless to the general public who are not in need of treatment dose I131.
It is easy to point out that low dose I131 is acknowledged as a public risk factor and is a known carcinogen. The cost/benefit equation used in medicine to determine treatments does not apply to members of the community. In fact, in the case of treatment dose radiation therapy patients, the general rule is to minimise addition exposures outside of the medical setting. It is also easy to point that world wide governments approve the medical use of nuclear medicines (radio isotopes) according to strict ethical and medical need guidelines.
What is good for someone seeking to lengthen their survival time in the context of disease is not good for someone who has no illness. Radiation is a double edged sword. In the context of the five year survival time for cancers, radiation treatments work. Longer term limits to treatments include recurring cancers and heart disease. The research clearly shows this.
The hope that I131 may be considered to be innocuous is a false one. Here is a list of US FDA approval nuclear medicines. It is forbidden under US law, Australian law etc to administer these substances to any person for any reason apart from medical need and with patient consent:
Adani coal mine project headed to be a big issue at next Federal election?
The future of the Adani mine, Overwhelming public opposition to the Adani coalmine in northern Queensland tipped the scales in state election campaigning. But now that’s over, what influence does it have at a federal level and on the mine’s future? The Saturday Paper, By Alex McKinnon. 2 Dec 17,
“……Palaszczuk’s explanation for abandoning her long-time support of the loan was to avoid a potential conflict of interest, arising from her partner’s work on Adani’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) loan application as a consultant for PwC. But state treasurer Curtis Pitt admitted during the campaign that the real reason for Palaszczuk’s about-face was the overwhelming public opposition to taxpayers’ money being used to fund a private mine.
Queensland’s Labor government supports the Adani mine going ahead, to provide jobs in struggling regional areas. But GetUp! environmental justice co-director and Stop Adani campaigner Sam Regester points to the huge swings to the Greens in a swath of inner-Brisbane electorates as proof Labor recognised anti-Adani sentiment was hurting them enough to force a response. Counting still under way in Maiwar could lead to the Greens winning their first seat at a general election, and candidate Amy MacMahon came close to knocking over Labor deputy premier Jackie Trad in South Brisbane.
ON THE ISSUE OF THE NAIF LOAN, AT LEAST, PUBLIC OPINION IS EMPHATIC ENOUGH TO PRESSURE PALASZCZUK INTO KEEPING HER WORD.
“The Greens’ strong position on Adani was directly responsible for their strong showing in the inner city,” Regester says. “Labor tried to have it both ways for three years, and they offset some of the damage by deciding to veto the NAIF loan, but voters rewarded the party that had a consistent stance.”
Given Labor will most likely form a majority government, that balancing act appears to have worked for now. What comes next – for the mine, those opposing it, and the government that could make or break it – is less clear. As counting continues and the Palaszczuk government prepares to go back to work with whatever parliament the voters have given it, anti-Adani campaigners are planning their next moves.
The Stop Adani Alliance, the umbrella organisation of environmentalists, climate scientists, traditional owners and civil society groups that formed to campaign against the mine in March, largely regards the election result as a win. Nicholls’ Liberal National Party, which has backed the mine to the hilt, remains in opposition. One Nation’s promised windfall of seats failed to materialise………
Palaszczuk’s Labor government will likely hold 47 or 48 seats in Queensland’s 93-member, single-house parliament. Once it nominates a speaker, the government will have the barest of majorities, provided every Labor MP stays in line. Given the record of Palaszczuk’s previous government, which lost Pyne and former Cook MP Billy Gordon to the crossbench, that may be too much to hope for. If Labor is forced to negotiate with the KAP’s three parliamentarians, One Nation’s Stephen Andrew, or Noosa independent Sandy Bolton, it may find the competing interests over the Adani mine can’t be finessed away.
On the issue of the NAIF loan, at least, public opinion is emphatic enough to pressure Palaszczuk into keeping her word. ReachTel polling conducted for the Stop Adani Alliance during the campaign found 70 per cent of Queenslanders oppose directing public funding towards the Carmichael project, with voters across political lines expressing strong support for the government using its veto power.
Queenslanders are more evenly split on the larger question of the mine itself, but losing the NAIF loan will compound Adani’s difficulties in securing the $3.3 billion it needs to fund the first stage of the project, and could sink the mine altogether. While Adani has made noises about seeking financing from Chinese banks, such a move would likely require construction materials and infrastructure contracts to be sourced from Chinese firms, further souring the project in the public eye and undermining the argument that the mine will bring local jobs.
So much attention has been devoted to Palaszczuk’s manoeuvring, it’s easy to forget how much of Adani’s ultimate fate lies in Canberra. The federal opposition leader, Bill Shorten, stayed far away from Queensland during the campaign, not least to avoid awkward questions about where he stands. Shorten tied himself in knots trying to articulate his various positions on the mine earlier this year, sometimes changing his mind mid-sentence……..
With the state election over, Shorten and federal Labor no longer have the luxury of dithering. Regester says the anti-Adani movement’s top post-election priority, “besides ensuring the veto goes through” and “working to ensure Adani can’t secure funding from anywhere else”, will be recentring the campaign on the national stage.
“Unless a major party moves on Adani, we’ll be making it an issue at the next federal election,” Regester says, highlighting “marginal seats in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane” where support for Adani could prove costly. Labor’s Terri Butler and the Liberals’ Trevor Evans will be looking nervously at the huge upswing in the Greens’ vote across territory their inner-Brisbane seats cover, while the Stop Adani movement’s large Melbourne presence could see the thumping Greens victory in the Victorian Northcote byelection repeated in Batman, Wills, Higgins and Melbourne Ports…….. https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2017/12/02/the-future-the-adani-mine/15121332005585
Fraud allegations against Adani – review surely means new scrutiny of its coal megamine plan
Adani mining giant likely to face fresh scrutiny over financial fraud allegations https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/01/adani-mining-giant-likely-to-face-fresh-scrutiny-over-financial-allegations
India’s finance secretary has called for decision clearing company of allegations of siphoning huge sums into tax havens to be reviewed, Guardian, Michael Safi in Delhi, 1 Dec 17, The Adani Group is likely to again have to answer allegations it siphoned more than US$600m (£445m) into overseas tax havens after senior Indian finance authorities recommended an appeal of a judgment clearing the mining giant.
The Indian finance secretary has confirmed to local media the August decision clearing the Adani Group had been reviewed by senior officials in November who ordered an appeal to be lodged by 14 December.
In August the Guardian revealed details of a massive fraud investigation into the company, which is preparing to build one of the world’s largest coal mines in Australia.
According to two sets of Indian customs intelligence documents from 2014, the Adani Group was accused of inflating the cost of electricity equipment for power projects in Maharashtra and Rajasthan states using fraudulent invoices. Authorities valued the alleged scams at nearly $852m.
The company or entities linked to it are currently being scrutinised for their suitability for a $681m concessional loan from the Australian government to build a railway line linking the proposed coal mine to a Queensland port. However it is reportedly close to securing loans from a Chinese state-owned company that would make the Australian loan unnecessary.
The Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared on one set of allegations in August and a second set in October.
But the Indian finance secretary, Hasmukh Adhia, has confirmed the August judgment – referring to fraud allegations worth around $600m – has been recommended for appeal by senior customs officials.
“As per the procedure for review of orders of the Adjudication Authority, a committee comprising of two chief Commissioners of Customs has reviewed this order of Adjudicating Authority and directed the Commissioner of Customs vide their order dated November 15, 2017 to file an appeal in the tribunal,” Adhia said
Customs officials have until 14 December to lodge the appeal, which will be heard by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal. Any subsequent appeals would be heard by the Indian supreme court.
Six Adani subsidiaries are among 40 companies being investigated by Indian authorities over a separate alleged fraud involving the over-invoicing of coal imports from Indonesia.
The general modus operandi of the alleged scams is that the energy companies used fake middlemen to inflate the price of equipment or coal they sourced from overseas.
The extra money allegedly paid by the businesses was allegedly channeled into offshore bank accounts out of the reach of Indian regulators or tax authorities.
The Indian Express reported on Thursday that the outcome of the allegations against the Adani Group could impact a $125m compensation package the company has been promised from electricity distribution companies in Haryana state over its “financial difficulties” in the area.
Indian opposition groups have called for a supreme court inquiry into the company over the fraud allegations which, if proved, could have pushed up power prices for local consumers.
A public-interest lawsuit has also been filed in the supreme court calling for an investigation into alleged over-invoicing by the Adani Group and other energy companies.
The Adani Group has been contacted for comment.
Immense glacier in Antarctica is melting – NOW!
“The majority of the heat that has gone into the global climate system has gone into the ocean, about 90 percent over the last few decades of measurements,” he said. “The hypothesis is ocean temperatures around Antarctica will keep warming and drive the melting of the glaciers. If the glaciers flow faster, sea levels will rise, and that has profound implications for global civilisation.”……..“Climate change is a reality. There’s the whole debate around how we deal with it, and the work we do in Antarctica is influencing our ability to look forward and genuinely understand how much things are going to change,” Australian Antarctic Division director, Dr Nick Gales told HuffPost Australia from Hobart, the base of operations for the AAD.
“It is alarming. There is huge change going on there.
UNFROZEN IN TIME, Huffington Post, Video and Pictures: Tom Compagnoni | Words: Josh Butler, 1 December 17 There’s a glacier in Antarctica so immense that, if it melted, would raise sea levels globally by 3.5 metres.
It’s melting. Right now.
“The facts around climate change are undeniable. It’s happening,” Australian glaciologist Ben Galton-Fenzi told The Huffington Post Australia. “The research we do now isn’t about trying to convince ourselves it’s real, because it’s irrefutable. What we’re trying to do is understand what the response time of the system is going to be into the future, so we can adapt to it.”
The Totten glacier is the biggest in east Antarctica. The glacier itself is around 120 kilometres long, 30 kilometres wide and drains some 538,000 square kilometres of the continent. That’s an area bigger than California. The ice is kilometres thick, but it’s melting at 70 metres a year in some spots. A study released in December reported warmer water was melting the Totten ice from below. Continue reading
Banks warned of ‘regulatory action’ as climate change bites global economy
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority says it is quizzing companies about their actions to assess climate risks, Guardian, Michael Slezak, 1 Dec 17, Australia’s financial regulator has stepped-up its warning to banks, lenders and insurers, saying climate change is already impacting the global economy, and flagged the possibility of “regulatory action”.
Geoff Summerhayes from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) revealed it had begun quizzing companies about their actions to assess climate risks, noting it would be demanding more in the future.
Apra also revealed it has established an internal working group to assess the financial risk from climate change and was coordinating an interagency initiative with the corporate watchdog Asic, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and federal Treasury to examine what risks climate change was posing to Australia’s economy…….https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/29/banks-warned-of-regulatory-action-as-climate-change-bites-global-economy
2 December REneweconomy News
RenewEconomy-
ASX top 20 companies for climate change reporting in 2017We’ve looked at the top 20 companies listed on the ASX to see what they actually said about climate change in their latest annual report.
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Developing nations are driving record growth in solar powerEmerging markets now account for the majority of growth in solar power, according to new data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance .
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How to find a site for a solar farm in less than 10 minutesWant to know where to connect a local solar farm to the grid? Now you can, in 10 minutes or less.
Yami Lester’s daughters continue his fight against the nuclear industry
Yami’s daughters take up anti-nuclear fight https://nit.com.au/yamis-daughters-take-anti-nuclear-fight/ – Wendy Caccetta –reporter@nit.com.auSisters Karina and Rose Lester know all too well the tragedy nuclear weapons can bring.
Their late father Yami Lester, a Yankunytjatjara man of northern South Australia, lost his sight after 
being exposed as a boy to nuclear testing by the British Government at Maralinga in remote SA.
He went on to become a prominent anti-nuclear campaigner.
Now his daughters have taken up the battle, collecting and sharing stories that have helped the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) win a Nobel Peace Prize.
The prestigious prize will be presented in Oslo on December 10, with an event at Melbourne Town Hall to be held the same day.
Karina Lester, who lives in Adelaide, said when she was growing up her father did not talk much at home about what had happened to him as a boy when the nuclear testing took place.
But in public Mr Lester, who passed away in July at the age of 75, felt it was important to share with the world the events that shook the Wallatina community in the ’50s.
“There’s a role a parent plays in protecting your children from really knowing some of the sad, sad stories that did take place across our community,” Ms Lester said.
“He spoke a bit about where the camp was, he remembers that day, he remembers the ground shaking and this black mist rolling and the fear in the community.
“There was a huge loss for us as an Aboriginal community and we were so badly done by when the British came in and tested in our backyard that we still suffer to this day.”
Ms Lester said conditions in the community deteriorated over a week after the testing.“When the fallout happened, that evening, people were violently ill,” she said. “There was a lot of vomiting going around in the camp. People became sick. Their eyes started getting sore and tender.
“By day two, people were really starting to suffer. By week two, people’s eyes were either burnt out or people had bad burns on their bodies. “There were lots of rashes appearing and there was a trail of black-like soot that fell over the whole of the community.
“The oranges had shrivelled up and by that week were non-edible.”
Ms Lester said the story was a painful one, but needed to be heard. She said it was important to take a stand against anything nuclear from weapons to waste storage facilities. The Lester sisters gave NIT permission to reproduce the photo of their late father.
Report finds that Aboriginal landowners would get little benefit from Adani’s coal mine expansion
Adani’s compensation for traditional owners ‘well below’ industry standard, report finds, ABC News 1 Dec 17, By Josh Robertson A hotly contested deal between Adani and traditional owners of its proposed Carmichael mine site in Queensland’s Galilee Basin would deliver compensation “well below” what most big miners pay, according to a new analysis.
The Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people would only get 0.2 per cent of Adani’s earnings from the mine, less than half the industry average, respected mining industry outfit Economics Consulting Services has found.
Its report, obtained by the ABC, was commissioned by six W&J representatives whose looming court challenge to the deal stands as the final legal hurdle to Adani’s contentious mega-mine.
It found the W&J people would earn up to $145 million over 30 years, out of the project’s estimated $77.4 billion in gross revenue, a share which was “well below industry benchmark standards”.
The benchmarks for such deals usually ranged from 0.75 per cent to 0.35 per cent.
Only 11 per cent of the deal would come to the W&J people in cash, up to $17.4 million over 30 years, or about $2,300 a year per adult member of the clan.
Report author Murray Meaton, who was awarded an Order of Australia in 2014 for services to the mining industry, found the benefits to the W&J people would be “dramatically lower” if job promises for locals fell short as they did “in most jurisdictions and agreements”.
Traditional owners divided
To gain finance for the $21 billion project, Adani needs an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with the W&J people, or it must call on the Queensland Government to forcibly extinguish any native title claim over the mine site in the Galilee Basin.
After almost six years of vexed negotiations with Adani, the W&J representative group is evenly split over the deal.
The Indigenous group twice rejected Adani in 2012 and 2014 before seven of 12 W&J representatives swung their support behind the miner last year.
But Adani lost majority support in June when one representative changed heart, sending the group into deadlock after the ILUA was allegedly authorised in a meeting funded by Adani……… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-01/adani-compensation-well-below-industry-standard-report-finds/9212058
Chinese Government denies receiving application to fund Adani’s Carmichael coal mine
Adani: Chinese Government denies receiving application to fund Carmichael mine, ABC News, 30 Nov 17, By Stephen Long, As Adani angles for Chinese money for its giant coal mine in North Queensland, China’s Australian embassy has made clear that any backing from Chinese state enterprises would need central government approval.
Senior embassy officials have also told opponents of the mining venture that no applications for funding have been made, despite Adani insiders claiming recently that finance from China had been secured.
Over the past month, businessman and environmentalist Geoff Cousins and prominent investment banker Mark Burrows, AO, have held talks with Chinese embassy officials in Canberra to lobby against Adani’s Australian project, amid reports Adani was close to finalising a deal for Chinese backing.
“Myself and Mark Burrows went to see senior officials from the Chinese embassy; we explained that China might think that Australians supported the Adani mine and we gave them a lot of evidence that that was not the case,” Mr Cousins told the ABC.
“The Chinese embassy was very forthright in saying that investment from a Chinese corporation would require the approval of the central government and that also no such proposal had been put.”……….
Chinese funding for the project is becoming more critical as prospects for a subsidised loan of up to $1 billion from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for the mine railway fade.
The Labor Party, which looks likely to form a government in Queensland, has pledged to effectively veto the loan.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party, which has secured at least one seat in the state parliament, is also opposed to the loan.
Banks across the globe have refused to fund the Carmichael coal mine because of doubts about its financial viability and its potential to worsen global warming. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-30/adani-china-government-would-have-to-sign-off-on-loans-for-mine/9209188
1 This month
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
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 