Yami Lester: tributes follow death of Aboriginal elder and Maralinga activist https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/23/yami-lester-tributes-follow-death-of-aboriginal-elder-and-maralinga-activist
Lester, who was blinded by British atomic tests in South Australia in the 1950s, campaigned to get recognition for the 1,800 Indigenous Australians affected, Guardian, 23 July 17 Tributes have poured in for Aboriginal elder and activist Yami Lester, who died at the age of 75.
Lester, who died in Alice Springs on Friday night, lived a life of “great hardship and challenge” after being blinded as a young adolescent by the Maralinga atomic tests in the 1950s, which he called the “black mist”.
He worked as a stockman before losing his sight.
He may be farewelled at a state funeral if his family accepts the offer from the Northern Territory government.“Mr Lester was a key Aboriginal leader who embraced the challenge of bridging two worlds,” NT chief minister Michael Gunner said on Saturday.
“He never let his blindness hold him back, he was sharp as a tack in negotiating at the highest levels of business and government.
“His life was a life of great hardship and challenge, met with great courage and foresight, and he achieved great change.”
He joined the Aboriginal Advancement League in Adelaide, fighting to gain recognition for the British atomic tests in South Australia, and an acknowledgement for the 1,800 Aboriginal people affected.
His work lead to the McClelland royal commission in 1984-85 which resulted in group compensation for the Maralinga Tjarutja people and long-term clean-up operations to restore the land.
Lester, who had an Order of Australia, was also central to the work of the Pitjantjatjara Council that led to the grant of freehold title to traditional owners in South Australia.
South Australia’s Aboriginal affairs minister, Kyam Maher, said Lester had inspired many and left behind a strong legacy.
Lester was also the inspiration for the 1987 Paul Kelly song Maralinga.“My thoughts are with his family, who carry on his work of activism, standing up for the rights and views of Anangu and preserving culture and language,” he said in a statement.
The South Australian government is consulting with his family on a memorial to recognise his contribution to the state.
July 24, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, personal stories |
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Nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan heads into Brisbane, Warwick Daily News Jodie Munro O’Brien, The Courier-Mail | 22nd Jul 2017 “….The USS Ronald Reagan, named after America’s 40th president, was commissioned in July 2003 and has been based in Yokosuka, Japan since late 2015.
The Nimitz class airline carrier – which towers 20 storeys above the waterline, is 334m long and 77m wide – is scheduled to pull into Brisbane for a port visit late Sunday, but no public tours are available.
The flight deck of the nuclear-powered ship is 1.82 hectares (4.5 acres) in size, which is where the approximately 65 aircraft are either parked, or taking off or landing at any time of the night or day at high speeds.
Aircraft attached to the ship, which was about 644km off the coast of Brisbane this week as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre, are US Navy F/A 18 Super Hornets, an E-2 Hawkeye, EA-18 G Growlers, MH-60 R/S Seahawk helicopters and a C-2 Greyhound.
Even with ear plugs, a helmet and additional ear protection on, the noise on the flight deck from the mostly hornets taking off every minute or two can still sound like a powerful, giant vacuum cleaner.
A steam-powered catapult system helps launch most aircraft off the ship in what feels like a human slingshot, sending a plane from zero to hundreds of km/hr in mere seconds…..
On top of being a mobile military airport, the USS Ronald Regan is its own floating city, with at least 5000 sailors on board at any time……
Talisman Sabre is a biennial joint Australia-United States military exercise that started in June.
This year it involves more than 33,000 mostly Australian and US troops, 20 ships and more than 200 aircraft, with the majority of the mock war taking place in and around Shoalwater Bay in Central Queensland. https://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/nuclear-powered-uss-ronald-reagan-heads-brisbane/3203549/
July 22, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Queensland, weapons and war |
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Peter Dutton’s home affairs ministry will investigate itself for corruption, The Age, Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker 22 July 17 In his almost four years as Justice Minister, Michael Keenan has not once requested that the commission hold public hearings to examine corruption – a move guaranteeing the agency’s virtually non-existent public profile.
Fairfax Media is aware of several major investigations under way into the integrity of people or operations within agencies set to form part of Mr Dutton’s new super-ministry. These investigations are being conducted behind closed doors by the integrity commission and the federal police.
The creation of Home Affairs means that the Australian Federal Police will now come under the same departmental umbrella as the people and agencies they are investigating in partnership with the integrity commission.
Experts warn the arrangement risks putting such integrity probes even further out of the public eye.
“Institutionally it is a weakness. The arrangements should be such that this is not an option,” says Australian National University security expert John Blaxland. Professor Blaxland has been critical of the proposed Home Affairs ministry because it may reduce the “high degree of healthy contestability” between agencies, which sees the AFP eager to scrutinise Border Force, and vice versa, when necessary. This is disputed by senior officials.
What is incontestable is that since its inception in 2006, the integrity commission has not held a single public hearing into any of the agencies it oversees: the AFP, the Criminal Intelligence Commission, Border Force and the Immigration Department.
Due to a lack of resources, Australia’s least-known corruption fighting body relies on one of the agencies it oversees, the AFP, to actually carry out its major investigations. …….http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/peter-duttons-home-affairs-ministry-will-investigate-itself-for-corruption-20170721-gxfwov.html
July 22, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, civil liberties |
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Andrew Liveris adamant US will revisit Paris climate deal, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/andrew-liveris-adamant-us-will-revisit-paris-climate-deal/news-story/d4b0e75cb50c717220f4b13543157a67, 22 July 17 JAMIE WALKERAssociate Editor, Brisbane @Jamie_WalkerOz The Australian businessman tasked with making American manufacturing great for Donald Trump has broken with the President on climate policy, saying the US must re-engage with the Paris agreement.
And in a provocative address in Brisbane, Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris revealed that spiralling domestic gas prices had forced the multinational firm to review its Australian operations.
As the head of Mr Trump’s manufacturing council, Darwin-raised Mr Liveris is working with the embattled administration to deliver a key election promise to revitalise US manufacturing, while engineering one of the biggest corporate mergers in history between Dow Chemical and DuPont.
Warning that environmental sustainability was “no longer an initiative, it’s a business model”, Mr Liveris said Mr Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris accord should not halt international co-operation on greenhouse gas mitigation. “We cannot as citizens of the world let that move impede our collective progress and our determination to remove carbon from the atmosphere,” he said, to applause from the crowd of 1500 that turned out for the UQ ChangeMakers forum, put on by his alma mater the University of Queensland and supported by The Weekend Australian.
“Many businesses in the US, NGOs and states have re-upped and picked up the commitment of what’s become the slack left behind by the federal government.
“I believe the US will re-engage ultimately with Paris and I am certainly being part of the solution to make that happen.” But he distanced himself from Mr Trump’s handling of the issue, saying it was “very unfortunate” the President had said the US was withdrawing from the 2015 Paris agreement, when the aim was to “redefine its engagement”. Under the UN-backed accord, Australia is committed to reduce greenhouse emissions by 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030. Mr Liveris said: “They are actually not withdrawing, they just want to re-engage on different terms. So if you think about it that way, I would say the odds would be very high of a re-engagement.”
Mr Liveris was one of the first business leaders to warn of the “gas cliff” that has deepened eastern Australia’s energy crisis, prompting intervention by the federal government to limit LNG exports and boost domestic gas supplies. He said yesterday that the gas price paid by Dow Chemical in Australia had rocketed from “roughly five or six dollars” to $20 in less than a year, jeopardising the business. “So my leader of Australia-Pacific … he’s got a proposal in front of us to look at exiting Australia right now in terms of uncompetitive energy prices.
We are not alone. We … can see the future in terms of the trajectory … you need to fix supply and you have got to basically recalibrate demand so that 90 per cent of the gas isn’t exported.”
Backing the controversial Finkel report to the government on energy security, Mr Liveris said it offered a “great series of policy solutions” and business would accept a target for renewables. The country, however, needed “policies that outlive” the government concerned. “What I would say is give me a policy that has a renewable target, give me time to develop it and I will develop a partnership model with you, in an innovation hub … to develop the technologies over time,” he said.
July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics international |
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North Queensland to be Australia’s first major exporter of solar power
As Conservatives push for new coal generator in north Queensland, the region is about to become Australia’s first significant solar power exporter.
Australia’s Greatcell signs MOU with JinkoSolar for perovskite cells
Under a non-exclusive MOU with JinkoSolar, Greatcell will make developmental perovskite cells available for further evaluation.
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July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, solar |
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“…….Mr Parnell said the laws — changed last year to allow public consultation on the issue — must be reinstated now Premier Jay Weatherill said the nuclear debate was dead.
“The Government has already wasted over $13 million of taxpayers’ money on this dump proposal and I want to make sure that any future public relations exercises for harebrained schemes like this won’t be funded without Parliament’s approval,” Mr Parnell said.
“There are still too many diehard nuclear dump supporters inside both the old parties for us to trust them with public money.”
Mr Weatherill last year said the Government was still committed to a referendum on the issue, but would not do so until there was bipartisan support.
But he went further in June, saying he would not revisit the nuclear debate even if he wins the 2018 election.
The Liberal Party said it was opposed to a nuclear facility in SA after the Government’s citizens’ jury process overwhelmingly rejected it.
Two thirds of the 350-member panel said they did not wish to pursue nuclear storage under any circumstances….” The Advertiser, 19 July 17
July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, South Australia |
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French nuclear testing continued at Moruroa and Fangataufa Atolls for another decade
Did Australia ‘cave’ to Chirac’s threats over opposition to nuclear testing?, Released documents from the UK Foreign Office detail the political fall-out of Australia’s opposition to French nuclear testing in the South Pacific in 1985. SBS, By Brett Mason, 20 July 17 , Australian diplomats were forced to deny mysterious rumours circulating around the European Union headquarters in Brussels that the iconic kangaroo faced imminent extinction, just days after then Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac threatened to ‘make trouble’ for Australia and New Zealand in European Union trade negotiations.
The threat came after both nations vocally protested French nuclear testing in the South Pacific and the sinking of Greenpeace vessel the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour on July 10, 1985.
New Zealand authorities had arrested two French agents suspected of involvement in the bombing, Captain Dominique Prieur and Commander Alain Mafart, who had posed as married couple Sophie and Alain Turenge.
Australia’s former Environment Minister, Barry Cohen, formally wrote to his British counterpart in October 1985 stressing that ‘these allegations are untrue’, providing research data he suggested might be more widely distributed by the United Kingdom ‘in the EC (European Community) context’.
Just days earlier, Mr Chirac delivered what British diplomats described as an ‘ill-tempered’ speech to his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party’s annual conference in Menton, France.
They reported ‘enthusiastic applause’ when Mr Chirac threatened to ‘adopt an increasingly tough line’ towards Australia and New Zealand and ‘to make trouble’ for both nations in crucial upcoming trade negotiations, centred on lucrative lamb and butter imports.
In a diplomatic cable, they claimed Mr Chirac told the enthusiastic crowd: “France recognised and was grateful for the Australian and New Zealand contribution during the Second World War, but this did not give the Australians or New Zealanders any right to interfere in France’s internal affairs.” Continue reading →
July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, history |
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Correspondence with Rowan Ramsay MP (2014-present) https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/correspondence_with_rowan_ramsay/new
Dan Monceaux made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Currently waiting for a response from Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, they must respond promptly and normally no later than August 21, 2017 (details).
From: Dan Monceaux Delivered July 20, 2017
Dear Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation,
I wish to receive electronic copies of all correspondence between ANSTO and Rowan Ramsey MP from the years 2014 to present (inclusive).
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
July 21, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, wastes |
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If Turnbull’s plan becomes law – and the prospects of the Opposition stopping anything to do with ‘fighting terrorism’ are remote – we can expect a terrorist attack to trigger an emergency response from the Special Operations Command, whose officers will have to be trained to shoot to kill other Australians.
As Australia becomes increasingly militarised, it is possible that the Tactical Assault Group could be called out for an anti-war demonstration, anti-mining protest, or industrial strike, and may be told that the people it confronts are enemies of the state and therefore terrorists. It makes me think of those signs you see on American suburban lawns: ‘Beware, Armed Response.’
ALISON BROINOWSKI. Beware, armed response. http://johnmenadue.com/alison-broinowski-beware-armed-response/ 19 July 2017
Now that we have concrete bollards in Martin Place and Swanston Street and on Capital Hill, as well as fences to stop citizens strolling or rolling over the Parliament House grass, you’d think that in exchange for the aesthetic damage inflicted on us we must be safe. After all, Australia has had only five fatal terrorist attacks since the mysterious Hilton Hotel bombing in 1978. The risks we face from lightning strikes, sharks and crocodiles, or indeed bee-stings and falling furniture, are incomparably greater.
But terrorism is serious political business and once the threat of an attack is officially listed as ‘probable’, no government is brave enough to reduce it. Politicians have to be seen to be responding robustly to the danger. Continue reading →
July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, civil liberties, safety |
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‘Almost exponential’: Green bank eyes rapid renewables growth as doubts linger, SMH Peter Hannam, 20 July 17 Investments by the government’s $10 billion clean energy fund are growing at an “almost exponential” rate but growth could shudder to a halt if the industry’s post-2020 policy is not settled, according to the agency’s new head, Ian Learmonth.
Mr Learmonth, who took on the role of chief executive of the Clean Energy Finance Corp, said the fund had about 50 transactions in the pipeline worth about $4 billion of its own funds. Based on previous years’ results, partners joining the CEFC would lift the total investment value to $10 billion.
In the year to June 30, the CEFC committed to 35 projects in wind, solar, storage and energy efficiency projects worth almost $2.1 billion, more than double the previous year’s tally and close to five times the size of its first-year investments in 2014-15.
“We feel like we’ve gone mainstream these days,” Mr Learmonth told Fairfax Media on the sidelines of the Clean Energy Summit in Sydney, adding that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg had trumpeted the fund’s activities. “I don’t have any concerns about the political issues around the organisation.”……
Mr Frydenberg said “appointments to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will be announced before the next scheduled board meeting in August”. He did not say if any of the four, including chair Jillian Broadbent, would have their terms extended. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/almost-exponential-green-bank-eyes-rapid-renewables-growth-as-doubts-linger-20170717-gxd7pj.html
July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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Smaller businesses are installing rooftop solar at unprecedented rates (which explains why solar is by far the most popular technology choice)
Business slowly wakes up to reality that renewables are cheap http://reneweconomy.com.au/business-slowly-wakes-reality-renewables-cheap-32040/, By Giles Parkinson on 19 July 2017 One Step Off The Grid Consider these two propositions: The top reason cited by Australian business for using more renewables it that it costs less. The top reason cited by Australian business for not using renewables it that it costs more.
As Ivor Frischknecht, the head of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency observes, both propositions cannot be right. It is pretty obvious now that the right answer is that renewables cost less, but ignorance is hurting business, as well as Australia’s policy debate.
Less than half of Australian businesses – according to a new ARENA report – actually source any renewable energy at all, and when they do it assumes only a minor role (less than 10 per cent of the needs of the user).
The lack of knowledge is perhaps understandable – the arrival of cheap renewables is not something that gathers much mainstream media attention, despite the soaring cost of grid power to its current ridiculously high levels.
Two of the biggest corporate investments in renewable energy have received little or no mainstream media coverage.
These include the Sun Metals investment in a 116MW solar farm to underpin the expansion of its zinc refinery in north Queensland; and the commitment by Nectar Farms to power the country’s largest glasshouse for vegetable crops with just wind and battery storage, preventing a project from heading overseas due to high energy costs in Australia.
Telstra got a lot of publicity for its recent commitment to a 70MW solar farm in Queensland, but as Nada Kalam, an electrical engineer for Telstra Energy says, it was no easy job.
“The economics for a solar PPA speaks for itself,” Kalam said. “Financially it totally makes sense.” But, Kalam added, it was hard work to get it through the system.
“It took a while but it set a precedent,” she said at the Clean Energy Summit on Tuesday. “We showed it is very doable and we built trust about the process. This is something we can do more of and at a faster pace.” Continue reading →
July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, business, energy |
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Queensland energy minister stands down amid email investigation
A blow to the state-based renewable energy and climate effort as Queensland energy minister Mark Bailey is sidelined by allegations of corruption.
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Hazelwood gone today – Liddell gone tomorrow. Are we ready?
Early action on transmission should be at the top of the new Energy Security Board’s agenda if we are to connect enough wind and solar and hydro to replace retiring coal generators.
EnergyAustralia signs PPA for 150MW Neoen solar farm in NSW
EnergyAustralia has agreed to buy 100MW of output from planned Neoen solar farm in NSW – its 5th renewables PPA in seven months.
Rooftop solar shock for consumers, installers as rebate price falls by one-third
Price of rooftop solar to jump 10%, and catch many installers unawares, due to sudden fall in price of rebate certificates after record amounts of new solar in past 6 months.
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Former Wallaby player and European energy veteran joins Wirsol Energy Pty Ltd
WIRSOL Energy, part of the WIRCON Group, has appointed Bill Calcraft as non-executive director of its Australian operations, to focus on expanding WIRSOL Energy’s relationships in Australia, bringing a wealth of experience in the European energy sector to WIRSOL Energy’s thriving business.
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GreenSync awarded CEC innovation award
GreenSync has won the 2017 Clean Energy Council Innovation Award in conjunction with AusNet Services and Power Tech for their work on the Mini Grid project in Mooroolbark, Victoria.
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Photon Energy mandates Pottinger as financial advisors for Australian project pipeline
Global solar power solutions provider Photon Energy NV has mandated financial and strategic advisory firm Pottinger Co Pty Limited, to advise on a capital raising for a solar PV project pipeline with a total generation capacity of over 1 GW in Australia.
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Transgrid: 100% renewables is feasible and affordable
Network operator Transgrid says 100 per cent renewable energy is both feasible and affordable, and says only incremental increases in renewable energy will not achieve potential falls in the cost of electricity.
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July 21, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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Lawyer Steven Skala named new chair of Clean Energy Finance Corp
Lawyer and ABC director Steven Skala named chair of $10 billion CEFC, three women appointed to board.
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Australia becomes 35th member of International Solar Alliance
Launched in Paris during the COP21 summit, the International Solar Alliance, spearheaded by India and France, has this week welcomed Australia to the fold.
July 21, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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Australia quietly makes first uranium shipment to India three years after supply agreement, ABC Radio The World Today By South Asia correspondent James Bennett, 18 Jul 17 Three years after signing a civilian nuclear supply treaty, the Federal Government confirmed overnight the first shipment of Australian uranium has left for India.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop provided little detail about the inaugural sale, saying only that it was subject to commercial negotiations.
The supply deal with India, signed in 2014, is the first of its kind Australia has made with a country not party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty…….
Details of inaugural shipment unclear
It is not clear how big the shipment is, where it departed from, or where in India it might be heading.
Indian officials were unable to immediately provide comment, while the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said only that the details were subject to commercial negotiation.
Parliament only passed the final legislation enabling sales last December, following years of debate about supplying uranium to a country with a strategic nuclear weapons program and that refuses to sign the non-proliferation treaty.
Parliamentary hearings to ratify the supply treaty in 2014 heard the International Atomic Energy Agency still had concerns about India’s safeguards.
Ongoing tensions between India and its neighbour Pakistan, which also has not signed the non-proliferation treaty, have raised the spectre of armed confrontation in the past……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-19/australia-quietly-makes-first-uranium-shipment-to-india/8722108
July 19, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international, uranium |
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Kakadu National Park: Jabiru residents in limbo as governments, mining company contemplate town’s future, ABC, By Sara Everingham, 18 July 17, If the Northern Territory’s mining town of Jabiru near Kakadu National Park is to stay afloat, decisions will need to be made soon to avoid the loss of essential services, infrastructure and people, a report commissioned by Energy Resources of Australia has warned.
ERA, which operates the Ranger Uranium mine, is planning for the expiry of its lease agreements in 2021.
The company is required to return the town of Jabiru, which is also a service hub for the national park, to its pre-development state, removing housing and critical infrastructure, including power and water services.
Jabiru, which has a population of about 1,100, was built in 1982 as a mining residential and service hub, and the majority of its residents, whether they work at the mine or not, live in the town.
Even if there’s a consensus that Jabiru should continue to exist, it’s not clear what services would remain, particularly if there’s a sharp population decline once ERA departs………
The NT and Federal Governments have been in talks with traditional owners, the Northern Land Council, and ERA about a plan for the future of the town, but have not yet reached an agreement.
Traditional owners have also been in talks with the Commonwealth about a new township lease over Jabiru.
In the absence of any final agreements, ERA was planning for the closure of the town in four years’ time…….
ERA’s lease on the Ranger Uranium Mine expires in 2021, and the rehabilitation of the Ranger Mine has to be completed by 2026.
ERA had proposed prolonging the life of the Ranger mine by developing the underground 3 Deeps project, but in 2015 that plan lost the support of traditional owners and Rio Tinto, the majority shareholder of ERA.
The Mirrar traditional owners “absolutely” want to see the town continue and have been intensely lobbying the Federal Government since 2003, said Justin O’Brien, CEO of the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation.
“If you want security of tenure, if you want to avoid the bulldozers and the base case scenario that’s still the only option on the table, sadly, you negotiate very speedily the township lease that the traditional owners have put on the table, which we’ve commenced negotiating with the Australian Government,” he said. “If the Government engages quickly in the next several months with traditional owners then yes, it’s got a great future in terms of tourism and service provision. It’s a really positiveplace.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/jabiru-residents-in-limbo-as-uranium-mining-draws-to-a-close/8718432
July 19, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, uranium |
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Antinuclear 