How Australia was sold the idea of atomic bomb testing, uranium mining, nuclear power
…. all manner of consumer and industrial goods were arrayed as icons of the coming atomic utopia.
‘ON THE BEACH: AUSTRALIA’S NUCLEAR HISTORY, Discontents Tim Sherratt, 7 Dec 12
“…..The crossroads of destiny At 8.00 am on the 1 July 1946 the inhabitants of eastern Australia tuned in to the atomic age. In a live radio broadcast from Bikini Atoll, they listened as the world’s fourth atomic bomb was exploded – ‘Bomb’s away! Bombs away!’ came the excited radio announcer’s call.
Some weeks later, a fifth atomic bomb was detonated, again at Bikini. Continue reading
Corporate Australia determined to destroy environmental protection laws
Do you recognise the language of the industry bullies?
” this is just a speed bump along the way”
One of the main sticking points with those against the changes, which includes environmental groups and The Greens, is that the Commonwealth would not have right of veto over projects on environmental grounds..
Industry says backflip on environmental approvals may be just a bump in the road, ABC Rural News, By Babs McHugh, 07/12/2012 The mining industry says the decision by the Federal Government not to honour an agreement to streamline the environmental approvals process is a purely political one.
The Prime Minister has told the Business Advisory Forum at the Council Of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting that the Federal Government wouldn’t relinquish any of its powers unless all states agreed to the same framework.
That’s despite a promise at the last COAG meeting to reduce duplication of environmental assessments between the Commonwealth, States and Territories.
It would have meant changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), which was enacted in 1999…. Continue reading
Groups demand Queensland’s Federal MPs retain protection of the State’s environment
“We have been witnessing a wholesale removal of environmental protections in Queensland on a completely unprecedented scale and at a pace that is breath-taking – and certainly beyond the capacity of the community to respond”
“Our organisations together represent tens of thousands of Queenslanders who are extremely alarmed at the prospect of the economic development driven Newman government having sole responsibility for the future of Queensland’s special places like Cape York and World Heritage areas like the Great Barrier Reef”
Queensland Conservation Council, 6 Dec 12 Queensland’s state and regional conservation groups meeting in
Brisbane today have demanded that Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan and other Queensland Labor MPs act to prevent the handing over of environmental approval powers to the States. Continue reading
BHP gives up on uranium: Olympic Dam may mine copper only
BHP is now looking at less capital-intensive options for the mine, focusing on copper.
BHP shuts uranium arm; nuclear-fuel prospects dim
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bhp-shuts-uranium-arm-nuclear-fuel-prospects-dim-2012-12-06 By Robb M. Stewart MELBOURNE, 6 Dec 12, –BHP Billiton Ltd. BHP +0.19% has shut its uranium division, responsible for its Olympic Dam copper-and-uranium mine, in a reflection of dimmed prospects for the nuclear fuel.
The South Australia mine has been folded into its base metals division, the company said in a statement Thursday. Continue reading
Julia Gillard delays decision on weakening environmental protection: reactions from business and The Greens
Environment delay riles business, The Age, December 7, 2012, Michelle Grattan BUSINESS has reacted furiously to Prime Minister Julia Gillard putting on hold plans to give the states power to deal with environmental approvals for major projects……
Greens leader Christine Milne said Ms Gillard had found out during the past few months that she had ”made a complete muck of it”, and now had made another mistake.
Instead of abandoning ”this ridiculous proposition that the Commonwealth hand over its powers to the states, what she’s said is ‘all right then states, you go and sort it out, come back and tell me how much of the environmental protection powers you want, and I’ll hand it over to you next year”’.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/environment-delay-riles-business-20121206-2ay8k.html#ixzz2ERF3Jiwr
Toro Energy gives Dr Vanessa Guthrie the poisoned uranium chalice
It looks as if Toro Energy, with its planned uranium mine Wiluna, Western Australia might be following an Australian tradition – of giving “the poisoned chalice” to a woman.
Australia’s had quite a history of giving women impossible jobs – I’m thinking mainly here of some State Premiers – Carmel Lawrence, Joan Kirner, Kristina Keneally. But it can happen in industry, too.
At Toro Energy, Dr Vanessa Guthrie, with a background in environmental sustainability, joins nuclear enthusiast Dr Erica Smyth. Smyth has been advocating nuclear power for Australia, nuclear powered desalination plants, and she presided over Toro’s propaganda campaign, with Doug Boreham preaching low level radiation as beneficial to health.
“There are serious flaws in the state assessment process and the studies Toro provided to the State Government. The project is a long way from being approved and the company faces serious financing constraints.
“Under new mine closure guidelines Toro has to find 100% of the mine closure costs in order to get approval to mine. So Toro needs $150 million to close a mine even before it has raised the $300 million to open it. The combination of a uranium price in free-fall and rising mine costs make this project increasingly unviable.” – Mia Pepper
Toro Energy’s uranium mining push comes as proven miners, including BHP Billiton and Cameco, defer or get out of planned uranium projects in WA. – Christina Macpherson
Women lead in ASX first, The Age, Peter Ker, December 5, 2012 THE branding is positively male, but the executive ranks of Toro Energy are about to take on a feminine look. In what is believed to be a unique set of circumstances in Australia, Toro will soon have women occupying both the chief executive and chairman roles, after announcing the departure of long-serving chief executive Greg Hall on Tuesday.
The situation will be formalised on February 8, when Dr Vanessa Guthrie replaces Mr Hall in running the company that is close to developing Australia’s next uranium mine.
Her chairman will be Erica Smyth, who has led the Toro board for more than three years. While it is difficult to be certain, most gender diversity experts believe the change will make Toro the only ASX-listed company to boast the female quinella. Continue reading
Doctors raise concerns about sloppy radiation science
5 Dec 12, The Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) – the Australian branch of a Nobel Peace Prize winning public health organisation – has called for increased transparency and robust science in medical presentations on radiation health issues.
The call follows concerns raised earlier this year when junior uranium company Toro Energy promoted the fringe scientific view that exposure to low-level radiation is harmless. Toro Energy has sponsored speaking visits to Australia by Canadian scientist Dr Doug Boreham, who argues that low-level radiation is actually beneficial to human health. Attached is a letter signed by 45 doctors deploring the use of junk science to lower occupational health and safety standards. Continue reading
Contrary to industry propaganda – mining is NOT an ideal job for Aboriginal people
Aboriginal people would prefer to have jobs that “heal the land”, not dig it up.
To say that he [Andrew Forrest] will get more jobs in mining is the answer, is really only the answer for the mining sector – not Aboriginal people.”
Indigenous mining jobs push misguided, spokesman says, Australian Mining, 4 December, 2012 Cole Latimer The mining industry’s drive to increase the number of Indigenous Australian in resources work is ‘misguided’ according to Indigenous spokesperson David Collard.
His comments came yesterday at an Indigenous Business, Enterprise and Corporations Conference at UWA, where Collard singled out Fortescue’s Andrew Forrest’s Aboriginal employment drive, according to The West.
It comes only days after the chair of Australian Indigenous studies at the University of Melbourne, Marcia Langton, stated that the mining industry is helping to pull many Indigenous people out of poverty…… Continue reading
Key points from the Solar Power Australia 2011-12 report,
The report reiterates the busting of the solar is for the rich myth. Over half of system buyers earn less than $100,000 annually and more than a quarter earned less than $65,000 per annum.
Solar Power Australia 2011-12 Report Highlights http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3498, by Energy Matters, 5 Dec 12, The Clean Energy Council has released its Solar Power Australia 2011-12 report, which states solar panel installations now represent 3.2% of all current electricity generation capacity in Australia.
The CEC report describes 2011 as “prophetic in terms of the industry’s impact on where Australia’s electricity industry is headed.”
Other key points from the report: Continue reading
Exceptional sea level rise on the Perth coastline.
Perth’s sea levels on the rise, Dec 05, 2012 WA Today In 2011, Sea levels on the Perth coastline are rising at three times the global average, the latest State of Australian Cities report shows.
In a statistic that federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese described as “disturbing” and “extraordinary”, readings since 1993 have indicated sea levels are rising by between nine and 10 millimetres per year. The global average is around three millimetres per year…….
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perths-sea-levels-on-the-rise-20121204-2asue.html#ixzz2EEy5FBXH
Scientists appeal to Australian government not to give up its environmental powers
Scientists warn against environmental powers being handed to states, December 4, 2012, Lenore Taylor National Affairs Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald Federal environmental powers that saved the Franklin River and the Great Barrier Reef need not be abandoned in a quest for faster development approvals, the respected Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists says, in a last ditch appeal to the Gillard government to rethink a deal with the states.
Below – Miranda Gibson, in the observer tree, Tasmania
At the urging of the Business Council of Australia, the Prime Minister and premiers are due to sign the first stage of the controversial agreement at the Council of Australian Governments on Friday.
It will see the Commonwealth hand over environmental assessment and approval to state governments under specific ”standards” in a bid to remove ”green tape”. Continue reading
Australia at risk of losing its national environmental protection laws
The Business Council of Australia hastily prepared a discussion paper and released it the day before the Forum, calling for a slashing of so-called green tape. The Prime Minister agreed to the business demands and took the proposals to COAG. State and Territory leaders duly fell in line. As is the practice with COAG, the first official notification of the detail of the proposals was in the communique following the meeting.
It is a broad-ranging package of measures but most significant is the proposal for the Commonwealth to hand over responsibility for administration of national environmental laws to the States by March next year.
COAG’s Green Tape Agenda Is Undemocratic, New Matilda By Brendan Sydes, 4 Dec 12 The unelected Business Advisory Forum has been given special access to this Friday’s COAG meeting – and it’s calling for national environmental laws to be wound back. Brendan Sydes explains what’s wrong with the process
The goings on in Parliament last week might not provide the best vantage point to reflect on what we value in our democratic system of government.
Imagine, however, an alternative system where the executive arms of government meet behind closed doors and make crucial decisions on matters of national policy, where the agenda is not published beforehand and where the detail of policy only comes to light in a communique published after decisions have been made.
Consider further a refinement of that system which means that unelected vested interests get a seat at the table in the lead up to the secret meeting and get make their demands heard on key parts of the policy agenda.
That in a nutshell is how the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the recently-developed Business Advisory Forum (BAF) interact. COAG meets again in Canberra this Friday. The meeting will be preceded by a meeting on Thursday of the BAF, a new institution that appears to have been hastily cobbled together prior to the first COAG meeting in April this year. Its precise membership and terms of reference appear never to have been announced. Quite where or from whom the idea even came from is unclear.
Unsurprisingly, given these hazy origins, the idea that we ought to have a business body with special access to COAG has gone largely unscrutinised. The first meeting of the BAF took place the day before the April COAG meeting. Continue reading
25 anniversary of Australia’s oldest operating wind turbine, and still going strong
These days, the wind turbine that could delivers around 80,000kWh a year to the grid, with an estimated 90-95 per cent availability
Blow out the candles: Australia’s oldest wind turbine turns 25 REneweconomy, By Sophie Vorrath 4 December 2012 November might have been a milestone month for solar, with cumulative PV installations reaching 2GW, but it also marked a reasonably big milestone for wind: 25 years since the Breamlea Wind Turbine, near Geelong in Victoria, was commissioned. Continue reading
Senate inquiry finds that “infrasound” from wind turbines is not a problem at all
higher sound levels were recorded with turbines turned off versus when the turbines were running. A strong indication that the origin of most infrasound and low-frequency noise was the wind itself which was slowed by running turbines…….
Wind turbine infrasound: What’s all the noise about?, REneweconomy, By Richard Mackie 4 December 2012 On Wednesday the Senate inquiry into excessive noise from wind farms released their report. The inquiry was supposed to focus on audible noise but debate strayed into concerns that wind turbines can cause health problems by producing infrasound (sound of a frequency so low that it is normally inaudible) and low frequency noise.
Wind farm opposition groups such as the Waubra Foundation are prone to making extreme statements about wind turbines such as this from their senate inquiry submission “…characteristic symptom patterns have been reported at distances up 10km away from the nearest wind turbine.” Infrasound is blamed and understandably people get concerned.
So where does this idea come from? The Senate inquiry gives us the answers. Submissions represent a global who’s who in the debate on wind farms and health. Often information provided to support the wind farms-cause-health-problems idea actually demonstrates the opposite. Continue reading
Doha Climate Talks – Australia, Qatar, and developed world – out of touch with reality
Doha Dispatches: Mind the gap… and the science REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 3 December 2012 DOHA: The first slogan to greet arrivals at Doha Airport in Qatar are as optimistic as those that greeted delegates to the climate change talks in Copenhagen in 2009: “Welcome to 12 days that could have an everlasting effect,” it pronounces.
Not real catchy, and possibly a direct translation from Arabic. But worthy all the same. Sadly, judging by the lack of ambition, and the lack of progress of these talks, it’s not a likely outcome.
The second thing that attracted my attention on arrival were two payment booths at the exit of the parking lot. Barely big enough for one person to sit inside, they were each equipped with their own 1kW air conditioning system with a large hose attached, like a deep-sea diver with an oxygen supply.
They probably need it. Doha is a city that thrives because of its fossil fuel riches and it has built a western city of stunning shapes and proportions only because it is air conditioned. It has even promised to air condition the World Cup, which it aims to host in 2022 and will have to do exactly that if the competition is to run in the northern summer, where temperatures average 36°C from June to August and have peaked at 53°C, and could hit goodness-knows-what in a decade’s time. (Even the sea-water reached 37°C in 2008).
Qatar is one of a handful of Gulf states that deprives Australia of a most unwanted moniker – the highest emitting state in the world per capita. Australia gets the gong for the category of developed nations, but even it can’t compete with Qatar. Humankind would need more than two planets if the world lived like Australians do. If they lived like the Qataris – the massive buildings, the labyrinth of four lane highways that seem always often clogged, what must be the highest per capita penetration of Toyota Land Cruisers, and its need to desalinate its water – then we would need around five planets. Continue reading
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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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