Strong police presence at Paladin’s Malawi uranium mine; five arrests
the development has stunned most workers who think management’s move is aimed at eliminating workers deemed to be fighting for the employees’ welfare.Management already eliminated other employees through “unfair dismissals and retrenchment” of 25th January 2013.
Five held for ‘bomb’ threats at Paladin’s Malawi uranium mine, Nyasa Times By Nyasa Times Reporter, June 19, 2013 Malawi Police in the northern border district of Karonga are keeping in custody five Kayelekera Uranium Mine workers on allegations they threatened management to blow up the mine.
The five, arrested last Friday, are also suspected of being linked to the theft of explosives worth US$5780.76 (about K2, 150, 600) belonging to China Road and Bridge Construction Company in Chitipa.
There was no immediate comment from Karonga Police as officers said they are “still investigating”. But Nyasa Times sources said the five were arrested on orders from Paladin Energy Limited (owners of Kayelekera). The five, who are production plant operators, are reported to have threatened Kayelekera management that they would blow up the process plant if their salaries were not increased and foreign workers laid off…….. Continue reading
Institute of Public Affairs vilifies climate scientists
Much of the climate change scepticism in Australia can be traced back to the free-market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), a prominent news source and intellectual role model for conservative politicians, industry magnates, religious leaders and opinion makers in the media.
The mining industry is a major IPA sponsor and occupies senior positions on its board of directors. The IPA opposes regulations on GHG emissions and rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. It vilifies climate scientists, environmentalists and the political left.
Think tank a false climate prophet, SMH June 20, 2013 – Elaine McKewon A free-market think tank has 
been heavily pushing climate change scepticism. “…….What began as an almost universal acceptance of the science and the need for action has become a false debate between climate change scientists and ideologically driven climate change “sceptics”.
On one side, we have 97 per cent of climate scientists who endorse the empirically based reality that Earth has been warming since the mid-20th century, that human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main cause, and that deep and rapid reductions in global emissions are necessary to avoid the worst impacts.
Then there’s the alternative reality in which there’s no scientific consensus and the idea that human-induced GHG emissions cause global warming is either a hoax, a religion or a scare tactic cooked up to justify higher taxes and restrictions on personal freedoms. This is the “reality” in which many Australians, including several of our political and religious leaders, appear to live. Continue reading
Don’t underestimate the clever tactics of the anti wind farm lobby
Disciplined and on-message, wind farm opponents are a force to be reckoned with The Conversation, Will J Grant, 19 June 13, “…Much of the reporting of the rally has talked of it as a failure…..I’m not so sanguine……This rally showed skilled political organisation, connected directly with key on-the-ground communities. You could describe Stop These Things as an astroturf organisation guided by skilled political operators in the Institute for Public Affairs, in turn connected with a wider array of anti-environmental industries. Many others have done so, and I don’t particularly care to add to that discussion here. (Indeed, critiques like this are often used in precisely the wrong way: to damn the group in their potential supporters’ eyes, rather than change our own behaviour. The potential supporters of Stop These Things couldn’t care less about the IPA.)
What I do want to say is that those in favour of renewables should recognise groups like Stop These Things for the skilled – and dangerous – political operators they are.
In essence, the anti-wind turbine movement already has the near ineluctable force of nimbyism on its side: I don’t want them near me because they make me sick/ruin my sleep/kill birds I like/ruin my view/trample the lands of my ancestors/make me pee funny/make my neighbour rich. (Scientific friends, please note that I am making no argument about the veracity of these claims, except to say that those who believe such things certainly do believe such things). Stop These Things is now adding a layer of networking, guidance, strategic support and, potentially, funding.
You could call this nimbyism 2.0 … Or you could just call this just another strand of modern environmental political activism.
Here’s the thing: unless those in favour of wind turbines recognise and deal with this threat, networks like Stop These Things will add significantly – and perhaps ruinously – to the risk profile of every potential wind farm development….. http://theconversation.com/disciplined-and-on-message-wind-farm-opponents-are-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with-15258?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+June+2013&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+June+2013+CID_06ee2f136721194be78210c407225a91&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Disciplined%20and%20on-message%20wind%20farm%20opponents%20are%20a%20force%20to%20be%20reckoned%20with
Removing Aborigines from Homelands was the purpose of the Northern Territory Intervention
Intervention marks 6 years, as community questions impact http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/in-australia/intervention-marks-6-years-as-community-questions-psychological-impact.htm By Paul Bleakley 19 June, 2013 INDIGENOUS leaders have marked the sixth anniversary of the controversial 2007 government intervention in the Northern Territory by questioning the psychological repercussions of regulating the day-to-day management of Aboriginal communities.
Indigenous advocacy group Concerned Australians have published an article alleging that the ultimate aim of the intervention was to “empty the homelands” in the Northern Territory. The article’s writer Michele Harris claims that federal government claims that the intervention was needed to protect Indigenous children were an attempt to make the plan more palatable to the Australian public.
Ms Harris said: “Even before the Intervention began in June 2007, government had long planned a new approach to the ‘management’ of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. It was no longer part of government thinking that self-determination and Aboriginal control over land could be allowed to continue. These were the Whitlam notions of 1975 and they were no longer acceptable.
“The plan was to empty the homelands, and this has not changed. Continue reading
Australia’s mainstream media actively promotes climate change denialism
How Australia’s old media sows doubt about climate change Independent Australia 20 June 13, Australia’s corporate media does not properly hold politicians accountable or give the public the full picture — and is most especially remiss concerning climate change, says Brad Farrant, David Holmes and Assistant Professor Mark G Edwards. “…….
Why are they getting away with it?..….You would think most journalists would be forensically questioning any politician who denied the science or failed to devise and support adequate policies to address this threat.
Unfortunately, very few, if any, of our mainstream journalists have ever really challenged climate-science-denying politicians.
In fact, the opposite has been true. According to research by Robert Manne, many major media outlets – notably the Murdoch media, and particularly The Australian – have actively created doubt about the science. They have misreported the science and supported inaction among politicians who should be developing climate policies and offering national and international leadership on the issue. Continue reading
Australia’s secret nuclear places
Off limits: 10 places you will never go in Australia, SMH, June 17, 2013 David Whitley
“…...Pine Gap While it’s hardly a top secret base, there’s a remarkable reticence to state exactly what goes on at the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility. Located 18km south-west of Alice Springs, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that this Australian-American military base is used as a satellite tracking station. The large antennas pointing at the heavens give that away. But information on any other intelligence activities conducted at Pine Gap is kept deliberately hidden.
Unless you work there, you’re not getting in. Road signs nearby are very clear about this. And don’t think about a scenic flight overhead either – there’s a no fly zone……..
The Ranger Retention Pond
An absolute shoo-in for the title of Australia’s least appealing swim, this large billabong on the cusp of Kakadu National Park is one you can’t dip a toe into anyway. That’s probably a good thing – even though the local wildlife seems to be treating it as an idyllic wetland refuge.
To protect from possible contamination, by law, all water that falls on the Ranger Uranium Mine site has to be kept there. And during the wet season, that’s a hell of a lot of water.
It’s not just potential radiation that’s the issue, however – traps by the side of the pond indicate that saltwater crocodiles have taken up residence in there. Prime snorkelling territory it is not……..
The Woomera Prohibited Area
Across the wilds of outback South Australia, an area the size of England is kept cordoned off from the public so that the Australian defence forces and various arms manufacturers can practice blowing things up.
The Woomera Prohibited Area is divided into zones. Some are only out of bounds for part of the year. But the red zone just to the north of the Stuart Highway between Woomera and Glendambo is a complete no-no, full of old bits of metal you really don’t want to pick up……http://www.smh.com.au/travel/off-limits-10-places-you-will-never-go-in-australia-20130617-2odqj.html#ixzz2WdHD8s4m
Successful pro wind energy rallies in Canberra
Wind taken out of protesters’ sails in Canberra Independent Australia 19 June 13 Callum Davidson and deputy editor Sandi Keane report from Melbourne and Canberra on a tale of two cities and three rallies — or rather two and a sorry fizzer. THE GLOVES CAME OFF today in Melbourne in the phony war waged against wind farms whilst in Canberra, the pro-renewables rally stole the show from the shadowy anti-wind pressure group, Stop These Things.
Morten Albaek, Senior Vice-President, Vestas Wind Systems, chose Australia, the hotbed of anti-wind activity, to launch its fight against the campaign by vested interests and climate skeptics:
“The wind industry is being attacked by media-savvy and politically influential adversaries who often display a brazen disregard for factual information. The “Act on Facts” campaign is our way of fighting back.”
Speaking at the University of Melbourne today, Albaek said the industry has been too conservative:
“Today it’s gloves off. We’re stepping up our game to fight back but with one big difference — it will be fact-based.”
An impressive line-up of speakers including the master debunker of the mythical “Wind Turbine Syndrome”, Professor Simon Chapman, attracted a large crowd of enthusiastic renewables supporters. Chapman’s reading of the public mood that the community is no longer buying the fear campaign was certainly played out in Canberra, as Callum Davidson’s photos show. In the capital, a lackluster turnout of barely one hundred protesters emerged from the heavy morning fog and filed onto the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra. They came from Crookwell, Mudgee, Yass and a few stalwarts from Western Australia and far North Queensland. Their slogans carried the same gripe: no more windfarms.
Headlining this event was the staunchly anti-windfarm and vocal climate change skeptic, Alan Jones. The popular shockjock announced his unwavering support for their cause:…..http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/wind-taken-out-of-protesters-sails-in-canberra/
A futuristic look at Australia’s energy systems
What I have described here is Australia’s energy ideal. But is it really achievable and how many more summers will we have to sweat through before it’s a reality?
The answer is: yes, it is achievable, and within fewer summers than you might think However, it will require significant regulatory, financial, and cultural changes, supported by commitment from governments, business and the community
Chasing Australia’s energy ideal, Climate Spectator David Green 17 Jun, It’s a scorching hot day during a summer of the future.
At work, you use your smart phone to check the real-time pricing updates on your power supplier’s app. It predicts electricity prices will shoot up during the hottest time of the day, between 4pm and 6pm – the time when people get home from work and turn on air-conditioners, massively increasing power demand. The kids are at home today, so your air-conditioner is already on. You log-in to your home’s power control system and program it to cycle on and off every 10 minutes from 4pm, halving your household’s power use during the expensive peak.
Before 4pm, the system tells you, the solar panels on your roof will be pumping out more than enough to not only run the air-conditioner but also the fridge, freezer and home entertainment system. Excess energy from the panels will also have topped up your home’s power batteries.
After you get home tonight, stored energy from the batteries will run the air conditioner and the TV and will mean all you’ll need to buy from your power company is a small amount of electricity to cover your needs late in the evening – at a much lower cost than earlier in the day.
Of course, you’re well aware that the cheapest electricity is the electricity you don’t use. Long before this hot summer you have taken steps – using expert advice from your local, independently-accredited energy advice centre – to reduce your energy use to a minimum. Continue reading
Senator NIck Xenophon missing amongst anti wind political stars
Wind taken out of protesters’ sails in Canberra Independent Australia 19 June 13 Callum Davidson and deputy editor Sandi Keane report from Melbourne and Canberra on a tale of two cities and three rallies — or rather two and a sorry fizzer “…….Other speakers at the event included a few rogue MPs – Liberal Senator Chris Back and retiring National Senator, Ron Boswell, DLP Senator John Madigan – as well as local Indigeneous elder, Shane Mortimer, and Alan Moran of Australia’s climate skeptic factory, the Institute of Public Affairs. The much-touted Nick Xenophon was nowhere to be seen having made his non-appearance decision quite clear yesterday on his Facebook. Seems Independent Australia was one of the few in the media who bothered to check. Organisers of the antis, Stop These Things, didn’t and still trumpeted his attendance on its website. That’s the problem when you’re so secretive. No-one knows how to contact you. Senator Xenophon’s media adviser, Sharon Smith, certainly didn’t know who Stop These Things were, who funded them or where they were based when she spoke to Independent Australia earlier in the week….http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/wind-taken-out-of-protesters-sails-in-canberra/
National Party Senator Boswell says wind and solar power are a fraud
Huff and puff as Alan Jones leads wind farm protest, SMH, June 18, 2013 – Heath Aston “……Mr Jones said if there was no health risk posed by turbines, they should be put on Parramatta Road or outside his apartment on Macquarie Street, Sydney…….The protest group, drawn mainly from concerned resident groups from country NSW, held placards including, “we are wind refugees” and “stop the spin”.
There were differing views between individual protesters and some of the speakers. A woman held a placard behind Queensland senator Ron Boswell urging “yes solar, no wind farms”.
At the same time, senator Boswell was lambasting “fraudulent” renewables of all kinds. “The world belongs to those who turn up and today you have turned up and you are going to make your opposition to this fraudulent wind, solar power, renewable energy … heard,” he said.
Senator Boswell, a National Party member, called the 20 per cent renewable energy target, which the Coalition is committed to along with Labor, as “ridiculous”. “The wind farms only work 30 per cent of the time, but when you really need the power, in the peak periods, it’s only about eight per cent of the time. So it doesn’t work. In anyone’s language it is just a fraud,” he said.
Organisers of the event included Max Rheese of the Australian Environment Foundation, a front group for the right-aligned, climate sceptic Institute of Public Affairs. A pro-wind rally held in Canberra’s city centre at the same time drew a larger crowd of up to 500, according to organisers.
Greens leader Christine Milne said the party wanted to see a “100 per cent renewable” target as soon as possible.”What is extraordinary is wind farm sickness only affects people who speak English. How come the Danes, Spanish and Germans don’t suffer from wind farm sickness?” she asked.”The renewable industry is providing a solution to greenhouse gas emissions as well as providing new jobs, new industries and giving a better future for our children.” http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/huff-and-puff-as-alan-jones-leads-wind-farm-protest-20130618-2ogd5.html#ixzz2WdkyD6PU
Canberra rally calls for more renewable energy
Canberra protests for and against wind farms ABC News, By Mary Lloyd 18 June 13, “…….Supporting wind farms On the other side of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra’s city centre, environmental campaigners addressed hundreds of supporters.
Greens Leader Christine Milne called for the move to renewable energy to be sped up, and dismissed claims that wind farms caused health problems.
Green groups say there is no scientific evidence that wind farms lead to health problems.Leigh Ewbank of Friends of the Earth says there are 19 reviewed studies that show that wind farms don’t cause adverse health impacts….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-18/canberra-protests-for-and-against-wind-farms/4763294?section=act
Confusion over Victorian Waubra Wind Farm, at small anti wind power rally
Canberra windfarm protesters demand end to ‘renewable energy scam’ Lenore Taylor, political editor guardian.co.uk, 18 June 2013 Radio presenter Alan Jones acknowledges turnout of around 150 demonstrators was lower than expected Three Coalition politicians and one candidate attended the “wind power fraud rally” in front of parliament house on Tuesday where around 150 protesters called for the abolition of the renewable energy target and a ban on all new windfarms.
Signs at the rally urged: “Stop the wind power fraud,” and referred to a “renewable energy scam”, insisting that “wind farms wreck health and jobs”,…..Protesters at the rally asserted that windfarms were “fraudulent” because, they claimed, two of them in Victoria, including the Waubra windfarm, were not compliant with their permit conditions.
But Liberal senator Chris Back acknowledged he had been alerted by wind company Acciona to a letter sent to politicians from the Victorian department of planning and community development stating that “the minister for planning has not determined whether the windfarm is or is not compliant with the relevant planning permit”. It said: “The minister or the department have never stated that the Waubra Wind Farm is not compliant with the planning permit. It cannot be assumed or inferred from the departmental advice that Waubra Wind Farm is not compliant with the relevant planning permit and I seek your co-operation in correcting the public record.”
Back insisted that the state planning minister, Matthew Guy, had told parliament differently and said he would get to the bottom of the discrepancy.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/18/canberra-windfarm-protesters-renewable-energy
Renewable Energy Target brings huge opportunities to regional New South Wales
Standing up for Renewable Energy Target http://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/1578087/standing-up-for-renewable-energy-target/?cs=12 18 June 13, THE NSW Regional Renewables Alliance, representing farmers and rural businesses at Tuesday’s Rally4 Renewables in Canberra, is calling for bipartisan support for the current Renewable Energy Target (RET) of 41,000GWh by 2020. The group, which also supports a more collaborative approach to development of wind and solar projects in rural Australia, issued this media statement on Monday:
The RET has been in operation for 12 years and over that time has generated $18.5 billion in new investment, lowered electricity prices by 8% and created tens of thousands of jobs – mainly in regional and rural areas [1]. If retained in its current form, the RET will repeat this performance over its remaining 17 years of operation.
Andy Divall, Managing Director of Divall’s Earthmoving and Bulk Haulage said the RET is making a massive difference to regional NSW. “In the 25 years we have been in business we haven’t seen anything like the opportunities the renewables industry will bring the region.” Continue reading
Climate change predicted to bring bushfires to Canberra
Scorching increase in bushfire danger June 17, 2013 Scott Hannaford The Sunday Canberra Times editor.Canberra could be facing a nearly 70 per cent increase in dangerous bushfire weather in less than seven years as the result of climate change, according to Australia’s Climate Commission.
The report, The Critical Decade 2013, to be released on Monday, paints a grim picture of the future for the ACT as a result of unchecked climate change, including a rising death toll from extreme-heat days, dwindling inflows to the city’s major water storages and further reductions in winter and spring rainfall.
”The decisions we make from now to 2020 will largely determine the severity of climate change our children and grandchildren experience,” the report states.
The CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology predict the number of days where the temperature climbs above 35 degrees in Canberra will rise from the current long-term average of 5.2 days a year to eight by 2030 and between 10 days and 18 days by 2070, depending on the action taken.
One of the report’s two authors, Professor Will Steffen, said many of the predictions climate scientists made in the 1970s and ’80s were becoming reality as communities began to suffer more-damaging storms, major bushfires and prolonged droughts.
”Canberrans hardly need reminding about the devastation bushfires can cause. If you look at the data since about 1973, 16 of the 38 observation stations show the fire danger rating has increased, while the remainder haven’t gone down. Of particular importance for Canberra is that most of those 16 stations are in the south-east corner and Canberra’s right in the middle of that,” Professor Steffen said……
Changes in rainfall meant summer rains could increase in Canberra, but in terms of the number of extreme-heat days the ACT was already experiencing nearly double the long-term average. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/scorching-increase-in-bushfire-danger-20130616-2ocpf.html#ixzz2WdnhEcMF
Climate change action by religious groups
Climate change gets religious SMH, 19 June 13 Few religious communities have gone as far in fighting climate change as a church in Queensland which has 24 solar panels bolted to the roof in the shape of a Christian cross. “It’s very effective. It’s inspired some members of our congregation to install panels on their homes,” Reverend David Lowry said of the “solar cross” mounted in 2009 on the Caloundra Uniting Church, which groups three Protestant denominations.
Many religions have been wary of moving to install renewable energy sources on their places of worship, from cathedrals to mosques – or of taking a strong stand on climate change in general – despite teachings that people should be custodians of nature.
But slowly, that may be changing, thanks to new religious leaders including Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
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.
.
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 