Australia’s Treasurer, Joe Hockey, tries to put the world on a treadmill to climate disaster
Climate change is no impediment to economic growth, says Joe Hockey, SMH November 16, 2014 Latika Bourke Climate change is not an impediment to economic growth, the Treasurer, Joe Hockey, said on Sunday as the Federal Government hit back at Barack Obama’s speech aimed at forcing climate change to the fore of the G20 summit in Brisbane……..Mr Hockey said he had not seen the President’s speech because the finance ministers are “the ones doing the hard work on the treadmill’.
Traditional Aboriginal owners at Muckaty gear up for renewed fight against nuclear waste dumping
Muckaty landowners say nuclear dump fight is ‘back to square one’ http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/13/muckaty-landowners-say-nuclear-dump-fight-is-back-to-square-one Helen Davidson in Darwin The owners feel the only way to protect the station is for it to be within the borders of the neighbouring Central Land Council The proposal of a second site for nuclear dumping at Muckaty Station sends the fight “back to square one,” traditional landowners say. They feel the only way to protect the area is to be within the borders of the neighbouring Central Land Council, which decided not to make a nomination last week due to local opposition.
Last week the case for a storage facility on Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory was reopened when one of the clan groups proposed a second parcel of land, just months after a bitter seven-year dispute appeared to have ended.
The Northern Land Council (NLC) had abandoned its nomination to the federal government to store low and intermediate radioactive waste in the area north of Tennant Creek as part of a settlement reached outside the federal court. It is now considering the new proposal.
One of the traditional owners, Dianne Stokes, told Guardian Australia the new proposal takes the fight “back to square one.” Continue reading
Australians embarrassed by their Prime Minister – show their disgust in mocking. with heads in sand
Australians Stick Their Heads In The Sand To Mock Prime Minister Abbott’s Climate Stance http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/13/australians-stick-heads-sand_n_6150606.html Reuters | By Sue-Lin Wong SYDNEY, Nov 13 (- More than 400 protesters stuck their heads in the sand on Australia’s Bondi Beach on Thursday, mocking the government’s reluctance to put climate change on the agenda of a G20 summit this weekend.
“Obama’s on board, Xi Jinping’s on board, everyone’s on board except one man,” activist Pat Norman, 28, bellowed into a megaphone on the Sydney beach.
“Tony Abbott!” the protesters shouted back.
Folks with babies, school children and working people in business suits dug holes on the beach and stuck their heads in them. The ostrich is said to stick its head in the sand in futile bid to avoid danger.
Ornithologists say the African bird does no such thing but that didn’t spoil the cheeky protest.
“Wiggle ya bums if you feel like it,” Norman shouted over the megaphone.
A few athletic types did handstands with their heads in the sand.
“To be so far behind the rest of the developed world embarrasses progressive Australia,” he said.
Final deal on uranium to India will not be signed during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia
Pact to operationalise nuclear deal won’t to be signed during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia Indian Express by Shubhajit Roy | New Delhi November 13, 2014
Two months after India and Australia signed the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement, a pact on the administrative arrangements — key to operationalising the uranium supply deal — is not likely to be signed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Australia from November 14 to 18. However, officials said the two sides are aiming to conclude the deal in the first-half of 2015.
The pact on administrative arrangements is important for the Australian government to put it before the Australian parliamentary committee on treaties. After the committee examines the civilian nuclear deal and the administrative arrangements and prepares a report, it goes to the Australian parliament for approval. Only after the parliamentary nod can the Australian companies get into commercial negotiations with Indian counterparts for uranium supply………http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/pact-to-make-n-deal-with-australia-operational-wont-be-signed-this-time/
Australia’s deadlock over Renewable Energy Target *RET)
RET fate deadlocked, Stock & Land DANNIKA BONSER 13 Nov, 2014 AUSTRALIA’S future in sustainable energy is on shaky ground as the federal government remains in a stand-off with Labor over proposed cuts to the Renewable Energy Target (RET).
The Abbott government is pushing to slash the RET from 41 terawatt hours per year by 2030 to 26tW hours/year but needs support from Labor or the Palmer United Party to get the change through the Senate.
Labor was willing to bargain the RET down slightly but walked away from talks with cabinet ministers after a compromise could not be reached. Continue reading
International pressure on Abbott, over his climate sceptic policies
Abbott continues to allow vested interests and narrow definitions of Australia’s business priorities to control the agenda. These priorities emphasise protecting mining and resource companies, no matter what the long-term costs, even when they are becoming less successful with their largest client.
US–China emissions deal puts pressure on Abbott Macro Business Cross-posted from The Conversation: Unconventional Economist November 14, 2014 | While most of the world is celebrating the US–China pact on climate change, the deal puts pressure on the Australian government and resources companies to rethink relations with China.by Kerry Brown, Executive Director, China Studies Centre at University of Sydney
The deal, signed at the APEC summit in Beijing this week, includes agreement to cut emissions and work together to mitigate the impact of climate change. For the first time China has set 2030 as the year in which its emissions are expected to peak. The deal creates a common framework with the United States, the other largest greenhouse gas producer in the world, to take action.
Chinese President Xi Jinping started the APEC summit hoping for blue skies in the capital. With this deal, he is showing he is prepared to take action to achieve this.
For Australia this means that environmental compliance costs in China will rise. Australian companies will have additional costs of doing business there. Meanwhile Chinese companies will drive a harder bargain as their cost base lowers. Continue reading
Tony Abbott repeats his offensive statement on Aborigines, to an international audience
Mr Abbott did not mention the hundreds of Aboriginal nations who made this land home for almost 60,000 years, who managed the vast swathes of country under an extraordinary and complex land management system that incorporated aspects of their spirituality.
He also did not mention that the belief there was nothing in Australia but bush was overturned in the 1992 Mabo High Court decision, which paved the way for the Native Title Act, a weaker form of land rights.
Tony Abbott Says ‘Nothing But Bush’ In Australia Before White Settlement https://newmatilda.com/2014/11/14/tony-abbott-says-%E2%80%98nothing-bush%E2%80%99-australia-white-settlement By Amy McQuire In the presence of British Prime Minister David Cameron, Abbott doubled down on previous remarks about the unsettled nature of Australia before white invasion. Amy McQuire reports.
The self-appointed “Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs” Tony Abbott has reiterated the legal fiction of “terra nullius” stating that Australia was “nothing but bush” before British invasion and called pre-colonisation civilisation “extraordinarily basic and raw”.
Mr Abbott made the comments to an international business breakfast in Sydney this morning in an audience that included British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in town before the G20 summit in Brisbane this weekend. Continue reading
Western Australian Govt’s costly and racist move to get 137 Aboriginal communities off their land
Cost of closing remote communities greater than tackling issues, Aboriginal leaders say, ABC News, 13 Nov 14 By Nicolas Perpitch and Anna Vidot Aboriginal leaders and advocates are warning the “chaos and dysfunction” caused by closing down remote Indigenous communities will cost the West Australian Government far more than addressing existing issues.
Premier Colin Barnett has acknowledged his decision to shut about half the state’s 274 remote communities will cause distress to the more than 12,000 Aboriginal people living there and cause problems in the towns they move to………
Amnesty International’s indigenous peoples’ rights manager Tammy Solonec said there was no plan to help people evicted from Ooombulgurri integrate into Wyndham or other towns, leaving them “highly traumatised”……..
She said governments needed to support communities rather than shutting them down.
Greens MLC Robin Chapple has gone one step further, accusing the Government of peddling a racially-motivated agenda. “It’s smacks of the assimilation policies over the early 60s,” he said. “It’s horrendous. This is a diabolical, in my view, highly racially motivated agenda.”
The Barnett Government has said it was forced to accept a $90 million payment from the Commonwealth to take over responsibility for the remote communities.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-13/closing-remote-aboriginal-communities-cause-chaos-leaders-say/5889278
C20 critical of G20 Agenda, and demands climate change as a stand alone item
C20 calls on G20 to act on inequality, tax avoidance and climate change ABC News By AM business editor Peter Ryan Mon 10 Nov 2014, The C20 (Civil Society 20) is calling on G20 leaders to take action this weekend to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in society.
C20 chair Tim Costello said the group was looking for an outcome on Sunday that clearly demonstrates G20 leaders’ commitment to fairness by taking concrete, measurable action to reduce inequality and address climate change.
“It will be a sad legacy of the Australian presidency if we go backwards in the fight against poverty by failing to tackle growing inequality,” Mr Costello said.
“The G20’s Brisbane Action Plan must build on the formal commitment made in St Petersburg last year for inclusive growth to be a central focus of G20 decision making.
“Otherwise meeting the 2 per cent growth target will be a hollow achievement and leaders will be judged as indifferent to those most in need.”………
The C20 also argues that climate change is a critical economic issue confronting the G20 and must be discussed as a standalone item on the G20 agenda.
Mr Costello condemned the decision by the Australian presidency to ignore the impact of climate change on the global economy as a retrograde and damaging step.
“This G20 will ultimately be judged by the fairness test,” he said.
“Whether that’s fairness to future generations by facing up to climate change; fairness to the bottom 20 per cent of poorest households; fairness to 75 million young people unemployed worldwide; or fairness to taxpayers by declaring tax havens immoral.”
The Australian C20 Steering Committee comprises representatives of international and domestic civil society organisations including World Vision Australia, ACOSS, WWF, Oxfam, Transparency International, the National Council of Churches, and the National Employment Services Association. A number of individuals are also involved in the C20.
The C20 has focused its engagement with the G20 around the four key areas of:
- Inclusive Growth and Employment;
- Infrastructure;
- Climate and Resource Sustainability; and
- Governance (including tax and financial transparency).http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-10/c20-calls-on-g20-to-act-on-inequality-tax-avoidance-and-climate/5879784
Residents of Leonora, Western Australia, oppose Shire Council’s offer to site radioactive wastes dump
Residents Of Leonora have written to Ian MacFarlane, Minister for Resourcs, opposing the Shire’s proposal for hosting radioactive wastes, and demanding that no site be selected until after an independent commission of inquiry has examined the question of Australia’s radioactive wastes, and of the best way to mange his matter.
Their letter can be read at
Public comments closed on nuclear waste plans: need for a national inquiry
Unproven and unfinished: Time for a new approach to managing Australia’s radioactive waste November 10, 2014 National civil society groups have urged federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane to display an open mind and an open door with a new approach to radioactive waste management. http://www.acfonline.org.au/news-media/media-release/unproven-and-unfinished-time-new-approach-managing-australia%E2%80%99s-radioactive
The call comes as public comment closes today on a planned federal government move to start a national nomination process for potential waste dump sites. This move follows the failure of a long federal push for a waste facility in the Northern Territory.
National environment groups, the ACTU, public health and Aboriginal representatives have urged the Minister to stop searching for a postcode for a remote dump and instead initiate an inquiry into the best way to manage this waste.
Australia has never had an independent, expert review of responsible management options. Continue reading
Labor Party refuses t o weaken Renewable Energy Target
Labor Walks Away From Renewable Energy Target Negotiations http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/alp-ret-negotiations-em4587/ November 12, 2014It’s been reported the ALP has broken off negotiations with the Federal Government that would have resulted in the dilution of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET).
Had the Abbott Government gotten its way, a gutted RET would have caused the loss of thousands of jobs and also higher electricity prices. Among the few parties to have benefited from a cut to the RET were coal fired power generators and the coal industry generally.
“The ALP rightly concluded there was no prospect of a reasonable outcome that could offer the industry the certainty it needs,” said Australian Solar Council CEO John Grimes.
“Because supporters of the existing RET are in the majority in the Senate, any attempt by the government to change the law will be defeated. So, Tony Abbott will not be able to deliver the big win to the fossil fuel industry and big power companies that he dearly wanted.”
The Australian Solar Council is now gearing up to turn its very successful Save Solar initiative that focused on the current RET crisis into a campaign it will take into the next federal election.
“The Abbott Government started this fight against Australian electricity consumers. The people of Australia love renewable energy. They love solar. They want more renewable energy not less. They will win this fight,” said Mr. Grimes.
The Australian Wind Alliance also welcomed the news of the ALP abandoning negotiations.
“The ALP should be applauded for walking away. These negotiations were completely unnecessary and the government has been completely unreasonable,” said spokesman Andrew Bray.
“Before the election, all parties promised to keep Australia’s renewable energy industry intact. The ALP have kept their promise. The Coalition have broken theirs.”
The uncertainty caused by the RET argy-bargy has already had a major negative effect; effectively bringing the large scale renewables sector to its knees. Yesterday we reported investment in renewable energy during 2014 in Australia has dropped by 70 percent compared with 2013.
Warren Mundine not trusted by Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land council shuns Mundine over Wallarah 2 negotiations, Australian Mining10 November, 2014 Ben Hageman Warren Mundine has proven a poor choice to negotiate with local aboriginal groups, who have voiced their distrust in him for dealing with the Wallarah 2 coal mine.
After compensation negotiations with the Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council broke down this year, Korean government-owned miner Kores hired the chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council to represent the company, SMH reported.
A spokesman for Kores said Mundine had been engaged by the company “to facilitate the resumption of discussions between Darkinjung ALC and Wallarah 2 on a land access agreement.”
However, land council CEO Sean Gordon said the ALC did not want to negotiate through Mundine. “From our end there is distrust in his position as chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council and his general support for the mining industry,” Gordon said……..http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/aboriginal-land-council-shuns-mundine-over-wallara
In Victoria’s State Election, Renewable energy a key issue in Macedon
State election: Renewable energy a key Macedon issue, say environmentalists http://www.macedonranges.starweekly.com.au/story/1827216/state-election-renewable-energy-a-key-macedon-issue-say-environmentalists/ Matt Crossman 11/11/2014 A blanket ban on wind farms is out of step with community views, according to environmentalists who believe renewable energy will be among the issues to decide the marginal seat of Macedon in this month’s state election.
The Macedon Ranges Sustainability Group (MRSG) and Friends of the Earth released a report on voters’ views at the site of a community-owned wind farm near Daylesford last Thursday.
The report included results of a community survey, which found that 86 per cent of Macedon respondents supported community wind farms similar to those at Hepburn Wind.
Almost 90 per cent of the 700 people surveyed believed communities should be able to develop their own wind facilities.
A total of 97 per cent of respondents preferred renewable energy sources over fossil fuels.
And 80 per cent of those aware of the state government’s anti-wind farm laws supported their repeal. The laws, introduced in 2011, banned wind farm projects in the Macedon Ranges, Otways and Dandenongs. Continue reading
New South Wales govt backs community renewable energy projects
NSW Government throws its support behind renewable energy projects for regions like the Mid North Coast ABC News 10 Nov 2014, State government grants totalling $700,000 are now available for new renewable energy projects in areas like the Mid North Coast.
Community-based renewable projects can apply for grants of up to $70,000, to help with set-up costs.
So that may mean providing financial help with feasibility studies, to engage with the community about the project and do some planning
Parliamentary Secretary for Renewable Energy and Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams, said the projects will not be industrial-scale in size, and will be entirely owned by community members…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-11/nsw-government-throws-its-support-behind-renewable-energy-proje/5881366
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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