Australian uranium company Paladin – huge losses and never a dividend
Paladin chief calls for investor calm The Age, November 4, 2013 Peter Ker Resources reporter Paladin Energy chairman Rick Crabb has urged shareholders to cool their lust for executive scalps at the troubled uranium miner, saying that succession planning was in train and that board changes would be counterproductive while an asset sell-down was under way.
Mr Crabb and his managing director, John Borshoff, have been under extra pressure in recent times on the back of shareholder anger at the company’s direction.
An Asian hedge fund has been leading a group of Paladin shareholders that are trying to remove Mr Crabb and Mr Borshoff, and their rebel cause has been helped by proxy adviser ISS, which last week called for shareholders to reject a dilutive share placement that Paladin made in August.
The pressure is likely to continue before this month’s annual meeting, with the Australian Shareholders Association set to agree with ISS, plus name Mr Crabb at the top of its list of ASX chairmen who should stand down……..
Paladin failed to sell a stake in its Langer Heinrich mine in the September quarter, and Mr Crabb said sale negotiations were still under way, making it a bad time to overhaul the board…..
The ASA disagreed, with chairman Ian Curry saying that Paladin had not once delivered a dividend to shareholders since it started trading in 1994, yet had imposed billions of dollars worth of losses. : http://www.smh.com.au/business/paladin-chief-calls-for-investor-calm-20131103-2wusp.html#ixzz2jiZEkGKl
Hear Christine Milne on the carbon tax, and Abbott’s challenge for a double dissolution
AUDIO: Listen to the story (AM) Christine Milne says the Coalition will not call a double-dissolution election to scrap carbon tax ABC News, By Naomi Woodley 3 Nov 2013, Greens leader Christine Milne says Prime Minister Tony Abbott does not have the courage to call a double-dissolution election in order to scrap the carbon tax before next July……..
Ms Milne has confirmed that her party will not support the Government’s repeal legislation, even with Labor’s proposed amendments.
Labor’s stance and the Greens’ ongoing resistance means, in all likelihood, the Government will have to wait until the new Senate sits next July to pass the repeal bill, or risk going to a double-dissolution election before then.
However, the prospect of a fresh election does not bother Ms Milne. “I don’t think [Tony Abbott] would have the courage to go to a double-dissolution. There are plenty of governments who’ve had the trigger and not gone to a double-dissolution and I think Tony Abbott would not have the courage to do it frankly,” she said…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-02/milne-abbott-carbon-tax-double-dissolution/5065684
“Labor knows as well as I do that we have an emissions trading scheme already legislated. It is the law in Australia; it’s operating with a fixed price and will go to a flexible price.
“What people who care about climate change want to hear is that there is a serious effort in the Federal Parliament to maintain the only scheme we have which is bringing down emissions.
“And that’s especially in the week when the scientists are telling us that we have to do much more than we’re already doing.”
Labor’s stance and the Greens’ ongoing resistance means, in all likelihood, the Government will have to wait until the new Senate sits next July to pass the repeal bill, or risk going to a double-dissolution election before then.
However, the prospect of a fresh election does not bother Ms Milne.
“I don’t think [Tony Abbott] would have the courage to go to a double-dissolution. There are plenty of governments who’ve had the trigger and not gone to a double-dissolution and I think Tony Abbott would not have the courage to do it frankly,” she said…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-02/milne-abbott-carbon-tax-double-dissolution/5065684
With solar power, energy efficiency, battery storage – you can be energy independent
How To Gain Energy Independence http://www.energymatters.com.au/energy-efficiency/energy-independence.php 4 Nov 13 Are you interested in having more control over the energy you use? Would you like to be less dependent upon traditional electricity generators, distributors or retailers? Energy Matters can help you.There are several steps along the path toward full energy independence.
Go solar
The simplest and most effective way to gain some energy independence is toinstall solar PV. You will generate your own power and export the excess to the grid; for which you will receive a credit. Apart from simple maintenance every three years, there is nothing to check or worry about – simply enjoy your reduced power bills.
The other great thing about installing solar panels is you don’t necessarily need to pay anything up front. Energy Matters offers a zero deposit payment plan and repayments for a large system can be less than a cup of coffee a day!
Run your appliances when the sun shines Continue reading
South Australia Power Networks punish home energy storage
Home Energy Storage Penalised In South Australia http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=4004 3 Nov 13, SA Power Networks seems to have taken a dim view of mains-connected solar households incorporating battery storage systems. While countries such as Germany are actively encouraging the uptake of home energy storage, it appears South Australia is actively discouraging it.
In an industry news bulletin from earlier this month; SA Power Networks have declared that customers installing energy storage will lose their feed in tariff incentive. According to the document: Continue reading
Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop pushes ahead on uranium sales to India
India, Australia inching towards civil nuclear agreement THE HINDU, 2 NOV 13 India moved a step closer to sourcing uranium from Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of the radioactive mineral, with the Foreign Ministers of both countries agreeing to hold the third round of talks on a bilateral civil nuclear agreement towards the end of this month.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to finalise a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement to enable the sale of Australian uranium to India, and announced that the third round of negotiations would be held here in the last week of November. They met in Perth on the margins of a multilateral conference.
The two Ministers also discussed energy security and the possibility of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to strengthen ties. Both sides have laid stress on the security of sea lanes as India and Australia have supplemented their coal-based energy ties with a multibillion dollar contract for sourcing Australian gas…… http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-australia-inching-towards-civil-nuclear-agreement/article5306545.ece
Ways to completely remove Murdoch spin from your computer
Actually, I wouldn’t do this. I like to know what lies and hypocrisies are being pushed currently
How to block Murdoch Independent Australia, Torin Peel 3 November 2013 Sick of News Corp spin? Technology whiz Torin Peel explains how to erase Rupert Murdoch’s propaganda from your computer screens completely. IF YOU’RE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE who simply won’t stand for Rupert Murdoch’s crap anymore, now might be the time to completely erase him from your computer screens for good. There are many ways to do this, and they’re remarkably simple.
If you’re ready to block News Corpse, the first way we can do this is using a plugin for Google Chrome. If you don’t use Chrome, I recommend you download it. It’s a lot faster and more modern than Internet Explorer. It’s also a lot easier to use and works better with most web pages, including websites like Twitter and Facebook.
The Google Chrome plugin is called Murdoch Block, and can be added to Chrome with relative ease through the Chrome extensions library…… http://www.independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/how-to-block-murdoch,5861
Mainstream media in Australia has brought about a public fog of ignorance about climate change
If you believe that the main obligation of journalists is to the public right to know, the results of this study are truly alarming. Journalism is about reporting contemporary events as accurately as possible. There could be no better example of the importance of this than the reporting of climate science.
News Corp’s coverage seems to be more about production of ignorance than informing people so they can participate in debates about solutions. If people are confused or ignorant about potential threats, they cannot be expected to support action to confront them.
Big Australian media reject climate science The Conversation, Wendy Bacon,1 November 2013, Australia has the most concentrated press ownership in the world. What does that mean for significant issues such as climate change?
In 2011 and 2012 we at the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at University of Technology, Sydney collected data on climate science coverage in ten Australian newspapers. We published the results yesterday in a report: Sceptical Climate: Part 2.
We found that Australia’s concentrated newspaper ownership has a significant effect on how climate science is covered. One third of articles in Australia’s major newspapers do not accept the consensus position of climate science: that human beings are contributing to climate change.
That’s a very high level of scepticism when you consider that these stories are rejecting findings that over 97% of the world’s climate scientists support. Recently the International Panel on Climate Change found there was 95% certainty that people were contributing to climate change.
How did we decide what was sceptical? Continue reading
VIDEO: Discussion on the implications of the Trans Pacific Partnership
The first language in both these deals goes something along the lines with, “All signatories are required to make their laws and regulations conform to the standards of this agreement.” They are literally required to make their nation-based laws subordinate to the terms of these agreements.
Quebec has an anti-fracking prohibition to protect the Saint Lawrence River Valley. There’s a US company that’s suing $250 million. And if they win that case before the special panel, the Quebec government will have to pay that amount. Under the TPP, you’ll see an enormous expansion of that kind of power.
One of the aspects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is it’s an everyone-but-China deal. One of the intentions of the deal is to isolate China. So if you think isolating China is a good thing, then that would be a reason to support the deal.
VIDEO: Yves Smith and Dean Baker on Secrets in Trade http://billmoyers.com/segment/yves-smith-and-dean-baker-on-secrets-in-trade/ TRANSCRIPT of VIDEO November 1, 2013 Let’s turn now to another big story most of us know even less about than drones. TPP — the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It’s a trade agreement the United States is negotiating with Australia, Canada, Japan and 
eight other countries in the Pacific region. If you don’t know about the TPP, and few do, it’s because the powerful people behind it — including President Obama — don’t want you to know.
The negotiations are shrouded in secrecy, and once they are completed, Obama wants to rush the agreement through Congress — fast-tracking, they call it — with our elected representatives given the choice only of voting it up or down. Last year, over 130 members of Congress asked the White House for more transparency about what’s being negotiated, and were essentially told to go fly a kite. You can be sure of this, however: a select group of corporate partners — companies like General Electric, Goldman Sachs, and Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant — are not likely to be in the dark. Players like these stand to be the real beneficiaries of the agreement, because like other so-called “free trade” agreements, TPP actually will reward those at the top, even as it creates rules to override domestic laws on the environment, workplace safety, and investment. Corporate lobbyists already are lining up in Washington to ram the agreement through once the White House hurries it out of the delivery room. How do we know this? Because some vigilant independent watchdogs are tracking the negotiations, with sources they trust, and two are with me now. Continue reading
Energy storage batteries could soon make solar households independent of the grid
Solar has power to cut grid reliance http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/19635839/solar-has-power-to-cut-grid-reliance/ Thousands of WA households with solar panels could begin disconnecting from the electricity grid once batteries became “affordable and reliable”, Australia’s peak renewable energy lobby has claimed.
Warning about the huge financial implications for traditional energy businesses unless governments got policy settings right, the Clean Energy Council said residential solar customers could soon become independent of the network. Continue reading
Anti wind farm group’s ‘sprawling and inarticulate’ tactics to try to delay King Island wind project
Judge labels King Island wind farm legal challenge ‘sprawling and inarticulate’ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-01/king-island-wind-farm-legal-challenge-too-27sprawling27/5063722 1 Nov 2013 A legal challenge against Hydro Tasmania’s King Island wind farm proposal has been described as “sprawling” and liable to create additional costs.
The No TasWind Farm group has appeared in the Federal Court in a bid to stop Hydro proceeding with its $2 billion project. Lawyers representing the group say Hydro did not have broad community support for the wind farm and it should not proceed.
Justice Duncan Kerr described the application as massively sprawling, inarticulate and likely to result in significant costs to Hydro Tasmania, without concluding anything. He has ordered the two parties to meet and narrow down the claim before returning to court later this month. Hydro wants to build 200-turbines on the island, creating the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere.
It said the project would not proceed to the feasibility study without the backing of most of the residents. The survey in June found just under 59 per cent support, which Hydro described as sufficient. The close vote prompted the opponents to launch a legal challenge to stop the project. In a statement,
Hydro says a decision on the project’s future will only be made after a feasibility study. Several studies are underway looking at whether the TasWind project is commercially and technically feasible. Hydro says the court challenge will not affect the timing of this phase.
Despite the Australian government, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation continues to lend money
Clean Energy Finance Corporation defies Government call to stop lending ABC News, By Anna Henderson and Jane Norman 1 Nov 2013, The investment fund set up under Labor to encourage low emission technology and renewable energy projects has rejected a request from the Treasurer Joe Hockey to stop making new investments.
The announcement comes ahead of a key shadow cabinet meeting today at which Labor MPs will discuss their next move on the future of the carbon tax. The Coalition’s carbon price repeal policy includes provisions to dismantle the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).Mr Hockey is expected to introduce the legislation later this year and has asked the CEFC to stop lending in the interim.
However, the board and executive of the fund have decided to continue making investment decisions.
In a statement the CEFC says:
“Until legislation is passed, the CEFC is required by law to fulfil its responsibilities under the legislative framework in which it operates. This includes performing our investment function and therefore we are continuing to progress investment proposals.”
The CEFC has already invested more than half a billion dollars in low emissions projects…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-01/labor-negative-political-climate-carbon-policy/5063658
USA corporations, but not Australians, can know what is in the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement
Right now we don’t know exactly what will be in the TPP, because it’s kept completely secret, unless you’re fortunate enough to be a wealthy lobbying organisation in the United States, who are provided access to the text through the US Trade Representative (USTR), and have direct input into it.
We urge the Abbott Government to release the TPP text before it’s too late to fix. Let’s not cripple Australian innovation in the interests of American profits.
Why can’t Australian citizens read the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement? http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/30/trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-dfat?CMP=twt_guAs Journalists have been banned from a briefing about the TPP. Why the secrecy – and why can only wealthy lobbyists access the text? Only in Australia could the phrase “public briefing” mean that the meeting will be held behind closed doors, where journalists are not welcome.
Yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) rescinded the invitations of several journalists to attend a public briefing regarding a multilateral trade agreement under negotiation called theTrans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).
The TPP is an extensive agreement that covers typical topics such as goods and services, but also contains chapters on labour laws, intellectual property, the environment and investor-state dispute settlement provisions. This agreement is currently being negotiated completely opaquely between the US, Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and Brunei Darussalam. DFAT claims that it will be finished negotiating by the end of the year.
If you’ve never heard of the TPP, here’s a summary of the major issues: Continue reading
Secrecy is the style of Australia’s new Abbott government
PM’s department keeps first briefings secret October 31, 2013 SMH Dan Harrison Health and Indigenous Affairs Correspondent Tony Abbott’s department has decided to keep secret its first briefing for the Prime Minister, arguing disclosure of its advice would be contrary to the public interest.
The decision to block access to the briefing, which was handed to Mr Abbott the day after the election, marks a shift from 2010, when the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet published a redacted version of the briefing it prepared for Julia Gillard.
It follows decisions by Treasury and the Attorney-General’s department – both of which published elements of their 2010 briefs – to refuse Freedom of Information requests for the briefs they prepared for their new political masters.
Fairfax Media, along with other media organisations, applied to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Freedom of Information for access to the so-called “blue book” prepared in advance for an incoming Coalition government as well as the “red book” for a re-elected Labor government.
The documents typically provide a frank assessment of the party’s election policies as well as the public service’s view of the economy and other information designed to allow a smooth transition between governments.
The department’s acting first assistant secretary, Myra Croke, declined both requests on the grounds that the release of the briefs would “have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the operations” of the department. “I consider that release of any part of these documents would be contrary to the public interest,” Ms Croke wrote…….
Treasury and the Attorney-General’s department cited similar grounds in refusing requests for their briefs, with the Attorney-General’s department also noting the view expressed publicly by Mr Abbott in opposition that release of the briefs would contravene the Westminster conventions. The Industry and Employment departments have rejected requests from Labor Senator Joe Ludwig for the briefs prepared for their new ministers, arguing the requests are an unreasonable diversion of their resources……..
…..Senator Ludwig said while departments would always take a conservative approach to such requests, Ministers could encourage their departments to release their briefs.
“It is by and large information by individual taxpayers, why shouldn’t they be able to access that information? I think this is a government that is wedded to secrecy,” he said…….. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pms-department-keeps-first-briefings-secret-20131031-2wllw.html#ixzz2jQmSYq8j
Bernie Fraser calls for political consensus on the inevitable costs of global warming
Climate change chairman attacks policy ‘flip-flopping’ and lack of consensus, Katharine Murphy deputy political editor theguardian.com, Wednesday 30 October 2013 Bernie Fraser criticises Abbott’s ‘extreme’ position and says policy reversals create uncertainty for investors Climate Change Authority chairman and former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser has criticised the lack of political consensus over climate change, arguing that rolling contention and policy “flip-flopping” is impeding Australia’s ability to deal with the inevitable costs and consequences of global warming.
Fraser told a briefing of reporters on Wednesday there was no current political consensus in Australia that the science of climate change was real, and he said policy reversals would only create uncertainty for private investors, who must do most of the “heavy lifting” in terms of investing in clean technology.
The Climate Change Authority on Wednesday concluded that Australia’s current 5% emissions reduction target was not credible, and proposed two potential alternatives: 15% or 25%. Fraser said the conclusions were not “doomsday scenarios”, they were an effort to point out that with such a slow start, Australia would not contribute a fair share to the global effort to reduce carbon pollution.
He also argued that the Abbott government’s current policy, to rely on domestic emissions reduction alone and not to purchase international carbon credits where that alternative was economically efficient, represented an “extreme” position.
Fraser said he did not intend his remarks to be provocative. He said the Climate Change Authority had no agenda beyond fulfilling its duty statement in “an objective and independent way”, and he said he anticipated a deal of community discussion about the findings and recommendations published on Wednesday.
“We are trying to provide independent advice in an objective way on what we think are important issues for the government and the community to be aware of,” he said…… http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/30/climate-change-chairman-attacks-flip-flopping
Fact checking Tony Abbott on his claims about power costs
- The claim: Tony Abbott says electricity and gas prices will drop by 9 per cent and 7 per cent once the carbon tax is abolished.
- The verdict: It is impossible to predict with precision. Many factors determine electricity and gas prices other than the carbon tax.
The precise figures Mr Abbott used in his claim are pure speculation.
Will abolishing the carbon tax reduce power bills? ABC News FACT CHECK, 31 Oct 13 After a three-year campaign to scrap the carbon tax, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has wasted no time in preparing legislation for its final destruction. He’s demanding that the Senate pass it by Christmas. To do that, Mr Abbott needs Labor’s support and that remains unclear. 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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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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