Australia’s tortuous political struggle over Aboriginal Land Rights
Cabinet Papers 1986-87: The struggle for indigenous land rights, SMH, Damien Murphy, 28 Dec 13, The Hawke Government continued to grapple with the sensitive issue of indigenous land rights. In March 1986 Aboriginal Affairs Minister Clyde Holding told Cabinet that NSW, Queensland and South Australia had enacted legislation and Victoria was preparing to do so, but that Tasmania and Western Australia rejected the concept of land rights legislation in principle…….
Cabinet again endorsed its 1985 Preferred National Land Rights Model, but agreed to negotiate with Western Australia on non-legislative measures such as community funding and the granting of long leases to Aboriginal reserves.
The Tasmanian and Victorian governments presented the Commonwealth with conflicting challenges. In December 1986 Mr Holding told Cabinet that Tasmania refused to recognise that Aboriginal people had any legitimate claim to land.
……….The government was concerned that the parlous state of the Aboriginal community might become an issue of moral and political embarrassment during the 1988 bicentennial celebrations……….http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/cabinet-papers-198687-the-struggle-for-indigenous-land-rights-20131228-3017r.html
Unsettling truths about Australia’s uranium and nuclear history
a few unsettling home truths about Australia, as a far-flung outpost of what the writer B. Wongar has called the ‘Nuclear Empire’.
the plunder of native land for its enormous reserves of uranium has entrenched the country’s problematic engagement in world nuclearism and undermined its international credentials as a leading proponent of nuclear non-proliferation.
Anzac, New Mexico: Placing Australia in the Nuclear Empire, Meanjin, Robin Gerster, Dec 13 It is a lament that many Australian readers will recognise: an indigenous narrator is telling the story of colonial dispossession, from the time of white settlement to the rampant mining activity of today, expressing his helplessness in the face of an implacable force that reinscribes the very landscape it has taken over, mapped and mined………….
In August 1945, unable to boast a military role in such a king-hit to its hated enemy Japan, Australia sought another way to take a small slice of the wretched glory. Two days after the Hiroshima bombing, the claim was circulated that ‘Little Boy’ was fuelled by Australian uranium: ‘Uranium from S.A. source’, ran a story on page one of the Sydney Morning Herald. But the text itself says nothing more than the fact that uranium is vital to nuclear fission, that it had been mined at Mt Painter in South Australia, and (portentously) that supplies of the element had been ‘flown out’ from the mine’s newly constructed aerodrome. The Herald soon retracted the story, quoting Prime Minister Ben Chifley to the effect that ‘though Australia attempted to secure uranium for the atomic bomb, the production stage was never undertaken’. This was a minor humiliation in the scheme of things, but a reminder that Australia’s part in these epochal events was essentially peripheral. Undeterred, a Courier-Mail correspondent on 9 August, the day of reckoning for Nagasaki, claimed that Australia ‘gained prestige’ from the advent of the atomic bomb merely by being one of the world’s leading sources of the element.
Tony Abott’s climate denialist voice – Maurice Newman
“The worst part about Mr Newman’s ignorant comments is that he’s only voicing what we know Tony Abbott thinks about climate change,”
The CSIRO says robust scientific findings include clear evidence for global warming
Tony Abbott’s top business adviser accuses IPCC of ‘dishonesty and deceit’, The Guardian, 31 Dec 13 ‘The scientific delusion, the religion behind the climate crusade, is crumbling,’ Maurice Newman says Tony Abbott’s top business adviser has accused theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of “dishonesty and deceit” as it focuses on “exploiting the masses and extracting more money” in a climate crusade.
Maurice Newman, chairman of the prime minister’s new Business Advisory Council, used an interview with the Australian newspaperto launch a strongly worded attack on the global body that provides advice to governments on the body of scientific findings about climate change.
Newman also argued Australia had fallen “hostage to climate change madness” but he believed the “scientific delusion” was crumbling amid suggestions the global temperature could drop to little ice age levels.
The opposition described Newman as an embarrassment to Australia, saying he was not a scientist and therefore not qualified “to make such outrageous claims”. Continue reading
Australia’s miserable history as part of the global nuclear empire
the outrage committed against the land and communities of Aboriginal Australia.
A small community of Aborigines at a nearby station was poisoned by the fallout, though it was unacknowledged at the time and for years afterwards.
Anzac, New Mexico: Placing Australia in the Nuclear Empire, Meanjin, Robin Gerster, Dec 13 “…………The Fox Report fiasco is indicative of contradictions in Australian political attitudes to the nuclear industry. Australia refuses to contemplate nuclear power plants on its own soil, but it is happy to peddle its uranium to numerous countries in Asia and Europe. The meltdown at Fukushima in Japan in 2011 (in a reactor complex owned and operated by a big buyer of Australian uranium) temporarily rocked the markets and embarrassed advocates of nuclear energy…..
The state governments of mining mainstays such as South and Western Australia have a cheerfully gung-ho attitude to uranium. Distant Fukushima is out of mind as well as well out of sight. In addition to hosting established mega-concerns such as BHP Billiton, operator of the Olympic Dam mine near Roxby Downs, South Australia is rolling out the red carpet for new players…….
At Four Mile in the northern Flinders Ranges, another mine has been given the go-ahead. It is majority-owned by a subsidiary of Heathgate Resources, operator of the existing mine at Beverley in the same region, which is itself an affiliate of the nuclear arms maker General Atomics…. ‘Nuclear-free’ Australia has some alarming business connections. …
After the Second World War, Australia wanted to keep some atomic stuff for itself in addition to supplying the product to the United States and Britain. Continue reading
Australians should worry about skin cancer, ozone depletion and climate change
Climate change, the ozone hole, and skin cancer – they’re all connected, Online opinion, By Noel Wauchope, 30 Dec 13 As I watch the TV news on these hot summer days, I marvel, in a sort of shocked way, at the acres of bare human flesh exposed to the harsh sunlight.- Australians of all ages, frolicking at the beaches. Don’t they know about skin cancer? Don’t they care?
Like the mythical mass suicide of lemmings, do they frolic to their doom.?
In a slower sort of frolic, Australia under the Abbott government no longer seems to know or care, about climate change.
Science is finding new connections between global warming and the ozone hole, and skin cancer, especially in Australia.
Australia has just had its hottest year on record. Global warming is happening, whether or not one argues about the cause. The hole in the ozone layer is still there, even though talk of that has gone out of fashion. And there’s skin cancer on the increase 2 common forms, and the less common melanoma, and another nasty rare one, that is becoming less rare in Australia.
What are the connections here?………
This article is not attempting to say that by addressing climate change,we are going to prevent skin cancer, although it is pretty clear that the faster Australia heats up, the greater will be the incidence of skin cancer. (So, on that basis alone, it would be a good idea to get on to a global drive to fight climate change.)
No, what is bugging me is the lack of information, media and public concern in Australia, about UV radiation, about skin cancer, and also cataracts and eye cancers, which also are caused by UV radiation..
You see, although the effects of UV radiation are world-wide, Australia is a special case, and we should be more concerned than nearly any other country.
Mathieu Isidro explains this, in a recent article:……
these rather frightening connections between skin cancer, ozone depletion and climate change are surely more reasons for Australia to take a leading role in action to slow the rate of climate change. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15873
Olympic Dam uranium mine won’t replace Holden jobs
27 Dec 13 “The stalled Olympic Dam mine expansion is not the answer to job 
creation in South Australia, despite the Prime Minister’s vivid imagination”, according to Greens SA Parliamentary Leader, Mark Parnell MLC
“What the PM should be doing instead is focusing on how best to help South Australian industries create jobs in areas where we have a real competitive and natural advantage. 
If he opened his mind to the possibilities, he would see that SA is a leader in renewable energy and there is great potential for jobs growth in wind power, solar PV and in the emerging area of Solar Thermal, such as that proposed for Port Augusta to replace the existing dirty coal fired power stations. [See:http://bze.org.au/repower-port-augusta]
“That’s why the Prime Minister’s decision to axe the Clean Energy Finance Corporation is bad news for South Australia. It’s also why we should be very worried about his likely decision to water down the Renewable Energy Target. This target is the reason why so many energy companies chose to invest in South Australia over the last few years – because our abundant wind and solar resources give us the edge over other States in the grid.
“Liberal leader, Steven Marshall should be horrified at what his party is doing to South Australia’s future economic opportunities and he should be calling on the PM to change direction. Continue reading
Abbott picks pro nuker as Australia’s next Governor General
Peter Cosgrove to be governor-general DENNIS SHANAHAN THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 26, 2013 GENERAL Peter Cosgrove is set to become the next governor-general of Australia, the formal announcement of the appointment of the popular former chief of the defence force expected late next month…..http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/peter-cosgrove-to-be-governorgeneral/story-fn59niix-1226789821832#
Cosgrove backs nuclear power
Lack of Australian nuclear plant almost immoral: Peter Cosgrove “….. it was “almost immoral” to export uranium to less technologically advanced and stable countries to use in nuclear power plants while refusing to have one in Australia………..We’re a rich and technologically advanced nation sitting in a geologically stable continent, so surely we can expect to build and operate safely a nuclear power station.”
Cosgrove wants nuclear answer to climate change Former Australian Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove says Australia should adopt nuclear power as its response to climate change……Mr Abbott, however, says he agrees that nuclear power is the only realistic way to reduce carbon emissions while maintaining living standards. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-02-26/cosgrove-wants-nuclear-answer-to-climate-change/343990
Tony Abbott knows that Olympic Dam will not provide new jobs
South Australia had already learned the hard way not to rely on Olympic Dam
Mr Abbott’s recent comments about the project prompted the state government to contact the company again, but it responded by saying its plans had not changed.
BHP Billiton put the $30 billion expansion, which would have created the world’s largest open-cut mine, on hold late last year, declaring it unviable
Olympic Dam no SA panacea: business leaders FINANCIAL REVIEW, 24 DEC 2013 JOANNA MATHER It would be a mistake to view expansion of BHP’s Olympic Dam mine as the panacea to South Australia’s economic woes, business leaders contributing to a post-Holden jobs and growth plan have warned.
Maurice Crotti, the managing director of iconic SA business San Remo, said the state needed to seize opportunities in a range of areas, including food manufacturing. Continue reading
Tony Abbott’s pretend revival of Olympic Dam uranium expansion plan
Tony Abbott’s push for Olympic Dam revival SID MAHER AND DENNIS SHANAHAN THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 24, 2013 THE Abbott government has turned its sights on reigniting BHP Billiton’s giant Olympic Dam expansion as it seeks to find an economic antidote to Holden’s decision to cease carmarking in Australia from 2017. Federal ministers have held talks with BHP Billiton about ways to assist in the expansion of the South Australian uranium and copper project, including Research and development aid, approval processes and political stability in decision-making. …. (subscribers only) http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbotts-push-for-olympic-dam-revival/story-fn59niix-1226789188416#
Tony Abbott getting ready to reneg on the Renewable Energy Target
“If Tony Abbott goes ahead and breaks this election promise, he will severely damage Australia’s efforts at reducing carbon pollution,”
Tony Abbott inclined to drop RET: Mark Butler SID MAHER THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 24, 2013 LABOR has accused Tony Abbott of preparing to break an election promise on the Renewable Energy Target as Nationals senator Ron Boswell called for the scheme to be scrapped completely.
After The Australian reported that senior electricity industry executives had begun talks on the possible shape of a new scheme in anticipation of government changes, Labor’s climate change spokesman Mark Butler said the RET had been a “clear policy success”, driving investment in wind and solar power and creating thousands of clean energy jobs.
But Senator Boswell, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the scheme, said the RET should be “scrapped altogether…” Continue reading
Problems and limitations of mammography
While mammography is still a very useful test, it has limitations, and having had a recent mammogram does not definitively exclude cancer. So, any change in the breasts, particularly a painless lump, requires a timely trip to the GP.
Radiologist issues a caution on breast cancer screening for young women, Canberra Times, Dr Jeremy Price, 26 Dec 13,
- Mother knows best in advising a second opinion on breast cancer screening
- Boost in demand for breast cancer checks
- Breast cancer test not failsafe, women warned
The problem of screening younger women for breast cancer is an important health issue.
All too frequently we see women between 30 and 50 years of age presenting with a palpable clinical lump which turns out to be cancer and often at a rather late stage. Furthermore, when compared to the older more typical age group, young women with breast cancer usually have more aggressive high-grade disease. Frequently, even if a mammogram has been performed, nothing has shown up, often because the cancer cannot be distinguished from the normal dense breast tissue which most young women naturally have in preparation for lactation. Continue reading
Western Australia’s phenomenal uptake of solar energy
Western Australia Solar Uptake – From 1 To 130,000 http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=4096 26 Dec 13 The growth of residential solar power in Western Australia in the area serviced by Synergy has been nothing short of phenomenal. Continue reading
Toro Energy snatches at a financial straw for Wiluna uranium mine plan
still a long way off from the $260 million they need to start the project and $260 million they need in upfront bonds for mine closure.
Toro secures $10m in funding. Yahoo News, 24 Dec 13, Toro Energy says it has secured $10 million in new funding from a South African fund manager via an equity subscription agreement.
RealFin Capital Partners will initially invest $5 million in three tranches with the option of 
another $5 million equity subscription before July 1 next year.
The first tranche of shares will be priced at 7.3 cents with the balance of tranches priced at a 10 per cent discount to the prevailing trading price of Toro at the time.Toro managing director Dr Vanessa Guthrie said the subscription agreement provided further funding certainty for Toro as it looked towards a busy 2014 work program……http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/20468131/toro-secures-10m-in-funding/
University College London (Australia) pushing its nuclear agenda with a survey
Mr Parnell said nuclear power did not have to be pushed into a survey about alternative energy” Lumping nuclear energy in with low-carbon technologies is just wrong,”
Anger after nuclear option placed on alternative energy survey news.com.au DECEMBER 22, 2013 NUCLEAR power has been put on the table in a survey that asks country South Australians about their preferred alternative energy options.
The survey, commissioned by Regional Development Australia, asks residents in the Yorke Peninsula and the Mid North to respond to a “community preferences survey” regarding their views on solar panels, solar farms, nuclear, household, wind turbines, wind farms, hydro, geothermal facilities, waste-to-energy/plant and biomass plants.
RDA, funded by federal and state governments as well as the region’s local councils, states on its website that the survey is part of a “project to determine how best to prepare the region for renewable energy and other low-carbon technologies as part of the state’s climate change adaptation strategy”.
But Greens MLC Mark Parnell slammed the survey and said the proponents, the region’s councils, had been pushing an anti-wind generation agenda. Continue reading
Adelaide’s University College London (UCL) -pro nuclear research funded by nuclear interests
Professors slam UCL Australia’s nuclear and shale gas research http://london-student.net/news/11/18/professors-slam-ucl-australias-nuclear-shale-gas-research/ by James Burley on November 18, 2013
- Two biggest donors are uranium and shale gas producers
• Academics say this makes idea research was independent “laughable”
Senior professors have spoken out against University College London (UCL) Australia’s pro-nuclear, pro-shale gas research, claiming that strong industry ties make the idea it is independent “laughable”.
UCL’s Adelaide-based campus released one green paper calling for Australia to acquire nuclear submarines and another advocating the use of shale gas in the country. Of its two biggest sponsors, one mines uranium – needed to fuel nuclear submarines – and the other produces shale gas.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, UCL professors told London Student: “The idea that research favouring nuclear submarines and shale gas extraction could possibly be independent (taking into account relevant alternatives) is laughable – UCL Australia has not produced a single piece of research on sustainable, greener, or alternative energies.”
“A university should not only be academically independent and impartial but also be seen to be so. In these matters UCL’s academic integrity is in jeopardy.” Continue reading
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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Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 