Uranium deal to India- a last gasp effort for a dying industry?
In short, the deal with India is seen by some as little more than a short term means to prop up an industry breathing its last gasp……
[For uranium explorers] the 52 week highs and lows paints the same picture as we saw for the producers – market participants doubt the viability of exploring for a product whose demand may be in jeopardy.
Share market participants have spoken and they clearly doubt the future of nuclear energy.
URANIUM STOCKS HIT HARD BUT BULLS ARE BELLOWING, The Bull, By Bob Kohut | 30.01.2012 As the dismal trading in 2011 global share markets ground down to its agonising year-end finish, some Australian investors were heartened by the news that our government was about to lift the ban on uranium sales to India.. Continue reading
Australian media distorts Aboriginals’ peaceful protest – what a load of anti-Aboriginal spin!
Gillard and Abbott were never really threatened by aboriginal protestors, Independent Australia, 26 Jan 2012 The official account portrays Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as being attacked by violent aboriginal demonstrators today in Canberra. Present at the demonstrations was John Passant — who paints a rather different picture of events. Lunching at the appropriately named Porkbarrel Café for an awards ceremony, Gillard and Abbott became the target of a large crowd of demonstrators from the nearby Tent Embassy 40th year commemoration. Earlier that morning, 2,000 of us had gathered at the Australian National University for a welcome, some talks, rap and dancing before marching up to Parliament House and then on to the Tent Embassy at Old Parliament House….. Soon about 200 of the demonstrators moved from the Tent Embassy commemoration to the café to tell Abbott what they thought of him.
There was a bit of banging on the glass walls. The chants started as “Shame, shame!” and “Racists, racists” and then became a steady “Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.” This is a truth the one per cent and their paid mouthpieces, Gillard and Abbott, cannot acknowledge, let alone address.
The cops reacted as they always do when confronted by angry Aboriginal people. The riot squad and the Prime Minister’s protection unit brutalised the crowd to clear a path for Gillard and Abbott, ….
Then the cops tried to wreak their vengeance on the crowd – an Aboriginal crowd and their supporters – for having dared to protest against these two representatives of the mining companies that are stealing Aboriginal land. Together in a line, they walked slowly towards the protestors chanting ‘Move, move, move’ and in one case, shoved a pepper spray bottle into a demonstrators’ face….. The demonstration was a reminder that polite conversation isn’t going to shift entrenched capitalist interests and their representatives in the Parliament. It might give you fake constitutional changes but not land rights, not sovereignty, not a treaty…. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/gillard-and-abbott-were-never-really-threatened-by-aboriginal-protestors/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IA+Newsletter
Tent Embassy spokesman Pal Coe made a point largely lost in the media coverage today, which is that Warren Mundine and Mick Gooda don’t speak for those involved, much less for Aboriginal Australia as a whole
The Mob Violence That Wasn’t New Matilda.com, By Ben Eltham , 28 Jan, 12, The media has framed it as violent but the tent embassy protest was basically peaceful. It’s this gross distortion – and the heavy-handed response of the AFP – that warrant criticism, writes Ben Eltham
Somehow, with the strange alchemy that the media seems to summon, the dominant angle of reporting about yesterday’s Australia Day kerfuffle involving the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition has been to condemn it as a violent protest.
“Indigenous leaders condemn ‘disgraceful’ protesters” is how the ABC has beendescribing it and much of the Fairfax press has carried similar stories. The television networks have, of course, reveled in the dramatic footage. Channel 9’s news report from last night, which carried the inside-the-restaurant footage of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader conferring on whether to evacuate, repeatedly framed the protest in emotive terms like “violent”, “raging”, “angry mob”, under siege” and so on.
Few media outlets seem to have asked whether there was in fact any violence from protesters. The available video and eyewitness evidence suggests that the violence came mainly from police and security staff. Yes, there was chanting, Yes, there was banging on the windows of local restaurant The Lobby.
But were the protesters really “violent”? Continue reading
Western Australian Labor’s new policy could lead to hasty, botched uranium mining applications
“A real concern and a real danger is that companies will try and short circuit what is already a very weak environmental impact assessment process, just to get something into the bank so that they’re through before a potential change of government,”
Has Labor’s shift on uranium mining started a race? ABC News, Rebecca Boteler, 28 Jan 12 The new Labor leader Mark McGowan has changed his party’s stance on uranium mining in Western Australia. But what does it mean for those companies in the race to mine uranium?
Mr McGowan announced the party’s backflip on uranium mining on his first day in the job. The new policy means any mines already operational by the time the Labor party next comes into power will not be shut down and any companies that already have approval can continue development.
However, Labor will not allow any new mines to be given the green light. Continue reading
Time to expose the money that funds Australia’s climate denialist think tanks
“The public should know who is funding climate denial so they can properly judge the information put out by organisations like the Global Warming Policy Foundation,”
“In Australia, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a leading source of climate disinformation, yet it retreats into secrecy whenever it is asked about the source of its funding. Environment groups are upfront about their funding, yet denialists claim privacy.”
The first available set of public accounts shows the foundation, which has declared Australia as one of its areas of operation to UK authorities, received £494,625 in donations in its first year.
Bid to out the money behind the voice against climate change, SMH Graham Readfearn January 27, 2012 – A British journalist’s court bid to unmask the financial backers of a group of climate change sceptics is being used to raise questions about how think-tanks are funded in Australia and whether they deserve tax exemptions.
The UK’s Charity Commission, which regulates charities in the UK, is being asked to release a document that would show the start-up funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, chaired by former UK chancellor Lord Nigel Lawson.
Launched in November 2009, the foundation has consistently challenged the mainstream scientific view that human emissions of greenhouse gases represent a significant risk to the planet and societies.
Later today, freelance journalist Brendan Montague will appeal to the UK’s Information Rights Tribunal for the release of a bank statement provided to the Charity Commission by Lord Lawson, which Mr Montague believes will identify the source of a $50,000 seed donation.
The case has raised the issue of how think-tanks engaged in public policy debates are funded and whether potential conflicts of interest should be declared. None are required by law to publicly disclose their funders. Continue reading
Australia’s Professor Martin Green spells it out on solar cell technology
Solar guru receives Australia Day honour , 26 January 2012, Anna Salleh ABC Science, http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/01/26/3415244.htm Australia needs to look to Germany if it is to realise the potential of solar cell technology, says an expert who is being honoured today. Professor Martin Green of the University of New South Wales has been made a Member of the Order of Australia(AM) for his work on photovoltaics.
“Germany has been the only country that’s had a sensible long-term program in place to promote the use of renewables,” says Green.
Some argue solar cells are not a competitive option for reducing carbon emissions, and are limited by the fact that they don’t generate energy unless the Sun is shining.
But according to Green, the “stars are aligning for conventional roof mounted solar” and it is ripe for a new kick start from governments. Continue reading
Australian rare earths company Lynas has not solved its Malaysian radioactive waste problem
Locals say market won’t buy Lynas’ recycled waste, Malaysia, By Shannon Teoh, January 26, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Lynas Corp’s plans to recycle waste from its controversial RM2.5 billion rare earth plant in Kuantan into a commercial product will not be accepted by the market, local residents opposed to the refinery said today.
The Stop Lynas Coalition (SLC) and Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) groups said in a joint submission to the government that the synthetic gypsum the Australian miner hopes to produces from its waste is the subject of an international safety campaign due to radiation fears. The use of phospho-gypsum plaster-board and plaster cement in buildings as a substitute for natural gypsum may constitute an additional source of radiation exposure to both workers and members of the public,” the document quoted from Internet-based environmental organisation Zero Waste America. Continue reading
With good management, electric cars could mean cheaper and more efficient infrastructure
How EVs could save the grid – and lower energy bills , Reneweconomy By Giles Parkinson 27 January 2012 The world’s electricity grids are facing a dramatic makeover in coming decades as the rapid expansion of renewable energy, distributed generation, battery storage and smart technology takes hold. It’s going to be a challenge to the energy industry’s operations and to their business models – as big as the challenge that hit the world’s telecom networks more than a decade ago with the success of the mobile phone.
It may be, however, that the introduction of the electric vehicle in great quantities could be a saviour to much of the established infrastructure, protecting assets that could otherwise be stranded and leading to an overall reduction in electricity costs.
The Australian Energy Markets Commission, which is responsible for setting the electricity market rules, released an issues paper this month to help prepare for the sort of changes that might need to be implemented if the uptake of EVs takes off.
It came to two initial conclusions: Badly managed, the rollout of EVs could have a severe impact on electricity costs if battery charging times were not controlled and this resulted in large addition to peak demand.
However, if managed properly, the rollout of EVS could lead to a noticeable reduction in energy costs because it would increase load factors at night time and spread the fixed cost of the network over a larger consumer base. And its storage capacity has the potential to put energy back into the grid at times of peak demand and help reduce wild fluctuations in pricing.
The paper includes work done by the consultancy group AECOM, which finds that the difference in costs to the grid between controlled and uncontrolled charging could be as much as $12 billion if the take up of EVs is high, described as 47 per cent of new vehicles sales by 2020 and 54 per cent by 2030…..
The AECOM is broadly consistent with other studies on the rollout of EVs, including those by AGL Energy, and the Australian Energy Market Operator, although these analyses do inevitably differ on predicting the extent of the uptake of the EV – and in the case of AEMO, the impact on peak demand. The study by AGL, which has a commitment to provide renewable energy to support the rollout of the Better Place network due to begin in Canberra this year, also found that a broad uptake of EVs would have a relatively minimal impact on the nation’s electricity market.
It did conclude, however, that “the correct mix of pricing, policy and regulatory settings should ensure a smooth transition to the decarbonisation of the transport fleet.” And key amongst this is the issue of time of use pricing, among others, which the utility says is essential if the country is to take advantage of smart meters, EVs and distributed generation.
AGL agreed with AECOM in concluding that there should be more than sufficient existing generation, transmission and distribution network capacity to manage the demands of the EV, “provided that the combination of smart meters and critical peak pricing form part of the energy market policy fabric for EV owners.”
It also says that the combination of EVs and time of use pricing could maximize the use of network and generation infrastructure, and this in turn could lower unit costs for all consumers. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/how-evs-could-save-the-grid-and-lower-energy-bills
Australia: Constitutional change will entrench dispossession of Aborigines
Settler colonialism is an ongoing process. The maintenance of the Australian nation as it exists today relies on the ongoing displacement and dispossession of aboriginal people from their lands and their cultures…..
The proposed constitutional amendments will not solve this. By continuing to reiterate the idea that aboriginal culture is “ancient”, “traditional” and “part of our national heritage”, the proposed amendments help non-aboriginal Australians to forget not only the genocidal violence perpetrated by early settlers but also their own implication, as settlers on unceded land, in producing the conditions under which most aboriginal Australians live today. By constitutionalising aboriginal Australia in the past tense, this prosperous settler colony may simply take another step towards a future in which tribal dance ceremonies and ancient rituals are all anyone can remember….
Aboriginal Australians are part of the country’s present – not just its past, Guardian UK, 26 Jan 12, It’s Australia Day, but proposed constitutional changes stressing ‘ancient’ aboriginal culture will not unite the country Australia celebrates Australia Day today, marking 224 years since the declaration of British sovereignty and the arrival of the first fleet of convict ships. Australia remains the only Commonwealth country not to have a treaty with its original owners, and although a treaty may have made little difference to the lives of aboriginal Australians, the celebration of Australia Day on unceded land makes many non-aboriginal Australians, myself included, feel highly uncomfortable….. Continue reading
Preserving country and culture- Laurie Baymarrwangga – Senior Australian of the year
Protecting Australia – Senior ANinety-five-year-old Laurie Baymarrwangga from the Crocodile Islands in East Arnhem land is the senior Australian of the year. ABC Rural, By Liz Trevaskis , 26 January 2012 The Aboriginal elder has dedicated her life to the preservation of environment, culture and ecological knowledge, and has donated $400,0000 of her own money to establish projects including a local ranger program and a turtle sanctuary.ustralian of the Year fights for environment and culture…
. She has worked in enormously wonderful ways to create homelands, to put together dictionary projects, to aid livelihood projects like the Crocodile Islands rangers, and she’s worked to help bilingual education and help children learn their own
language on their own country. ….http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2012/s3416266.htm?site=darwin
Honour for Aboriginal man Jeffrey Lee, who saved his land from uranium mining
Territorians recognised in Australia Day honours, ABC News, By Emma Masters January 26, 2012 Four Northern Territorians have been recognised for their contribution to the community with the highest Australia Day honours.
Traditional owner Jeffrey Lee has been made a member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his conservation work in Kakadu National Park.
Mr Lee, who now works as a ranger in the park, offered his uranium-rich country to be included in Kakadu for free, and fought for it to be recognised as a World Heritage Area within the park.
He says he did not expect to receive an award for protecting the country he loves, and he appreciates the support he has been given along the way.
“I love the park,” he said.
“It is good that I get out and look on my country.”….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-26/20120126-territory-orders-of-australia/3794570?section=nt
Land grab and discrimination against Aboriginals remain in Australia’s draft Constitutional changes
A recommendation that jars, however, is Section 116A that would prohibit racial discrimination. It is not long ago that the federal government over-rode the Racial Discrimination Act to launch its outrageously discriminatory Northern Territory Intervention in 2007 during the Howard era. The Rudd and Gillard governments embraced the policy. It is not ancient history.
The discrimination was said to be ended by atrocious legislation that extended aspects of the Intervention to disadvantaged people of all backgrounds in the Northern Territory and beyond.
While the original Intervention legislation is approaching its sunset clause to be replaced by the cheerier sounding “Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory”, the land-grabbing intent continues. Residents of remote Aboriginal communities are being pressured to sign regular leases on their property. Sign on the dotted line before the August
deadline or lose it. Funding for housing in remote communities is frozen in favour of construction in faraway towns. Opposition leader Tony Abbott is rubbing his hands together on behalf of resource developers referring to the current situation in the NT as that of a “failed state”.
Words won’t replace need for struggle, The Guardian 25 Jan 2012, Symbols and words can be powerful and useful; they can unite and heal. But nobody is impressed by lip service or tokenism. In the lead-up to Invasion Day (or Survival Day as it also known) and which is officially celebrated as Australia Day, such judgements are being made about a government-sponsored report on proposed changes to the constitution.
Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution is the work of a panel headed by Aboriginal leader Professor Pat Dodson and senior lawyer Mark Leibler AC. It is said to be the result of discussions with “… more than 4,600 people, in more than 250 meetings in 84 locations across the country and received more than 3,500 submissions.”
The recommendations include “Recognising that the continent and its islands now known as Australia were first occupied by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; Acknowledging the continuing relationship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with their traditional lands and waters; Respecting the continuing cultures, languages and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; Acknowledging the need to secure the advancement of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
Commentators have noted that solid majorities in polls taken on these issues have been reflected in the recommendations. The fact that attitudes to questions like recognition of the first peoples of Australia are improving is certainly to be welcomed. Continue reading
Australia’s uranium will promote India’s nuclear weapons, says former Liberal Prime Minister
Uranium to India irresponsible, says Malcolm Fraser, Herald Sun 26 Jan 12,, FORMER prime minister Malcolm Fraser has warned the Gillard Government’s decision to allow exports of uranium to India will contribute to a global spread of nuclear weapons.
Mr Fraser has used Australia Day to launch a petition signed by 713 Order of Australia recipients, urging the Government to ban nuclear weapons.
Signatories include former prime ministers Bob Hawke and Gough Whitlam, former foreign ministers Gareth Evans and Andrew Peacock, and former high court justices.
“What we want to do is keep the idea of a nuclear-free world alive,”
Mr Fraser told ABC radio today. He criticised the Government’s decision to allow uranium exports to India, given the developing nation had not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
“There is no doubt that exports to India will make it easier for India to divert uranium for weapons purposes,” Mr Fraser said. He believes US policy under former US president George Bush has contributed to the spread of nuclear weapons, and countries like Iran and North Korea have responded accordingly. “They will be safer if they have nuclear weapons,” he said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/uranium-to-india-irresponsible-says-malcolm-fraser/story-e6frf7jx-1226254068007
700 prestigious Australians call for international nuclear weapons ban
Top Aussies call for nuclear weapons ban, news.com.au AAP January 26, 2012 MORE than 700 prominent Australians have called on the Government to show leadership on outlawing nuclear weapons, saying the need is
urgent. Australians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention is a group of 713 Order of Australia honorees who say there is a growing consensus among world leaders on the urgent need for a ban on nuclear weapons.
“The increasing risks of nuclear weapons proliferation and use in our region and beyond mean there has never been a more important time for Australian initiative and leadership in global efforts to free the world from nuclear weapons,” the group says.
They want Australia to support UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon’s call for negotiations on an international treaty that would outlaw and eliminate all nuclear weapons.
Former prime ministers Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and Gough Whitlam, and former foreign ministers Gareth Evans and Andrew Peacock are among the signatories…….
Mr Fraser’s Government established the convention that Australia would only sell uranium to countries that had signed the non-proliferation treaty.
Eight former state premiers and four former armed forces chiefs as well as prominent media, literary, sporting and community personalities also endorsed the statement. “We wanted to show that nuclear disarmament isn’t a left-wing issue.
This is something that has support across the political spectrum,” campaign director Tim Wright said. “Nuclear disarmament is something that we as a nation should care about and that the government should show leadership on.
“This is an urgent threat that needs urgent attention.”
He said while Australia had been a leader in non-proliferation activities in the past, its position was undermined by current defence policies stating the importance of the US having nuclear weapons and moves to sell uranium to India, which makes nuclear weapons. “Although the government does state that it supports nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, that position isn’t matched by its actions,” he said….
Mr Wright said while the Australians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention campaign was open only to people appointed to the Order of Australia, others could take part in activities run by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). http://www.news.com.au/national/top-aussies-call-for-nuclear-weapons-ban/story-e6frfkvr-1226253965331#ixzz1kazsDzNb
Victoria’s Baillieu Liberal government was able to limit, but not stop, this last new wind farm
Wind farm to be built near Colac, The Age, Adam Morton, January 25, 2012 A $400 million wind farm will be built in Victoria’s Western District six years after receiving planning approval from the state government. Spanish company Acciona Energy said the 63-turbine plant at Mount Gellibrand, 25 kilometres east of Colac, would generate enough power
to run about 88,000 homes. Construction of the 189-megawatt clean energy plant, scaled down from an initial proposal of 116 turbines, will start in March.
The wind farm needed final government approval before construction could begin, but was not subject to new planning laws announced by the Baillieu government in August giving households a right of veto over turbines within two kilometres of their home. The revised laws apply to new applications only…..
Mr Wickham said Acciona was yet to decide whether it would go ahead with three other wind farm proposals — at Newfield, Berrimal and Mortlake South — granted planning permits under the previous Labor government. He said the changes to planning laws, which include a ban on wind farms at tourist sites such as the Macedon Ranges and the Great Ocean
Road, meant it was “probably more beneficial for us to be looking in other states” for future projects…
Health and welfare groups have rejected claims turbines cause illness. The Climate and Health Alliance, a coalition of 20 groups including the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Australian Psychological Society, this week released a statement that there was no credible evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals linking turbines to illness.
Documents obtained by environment group Friends of the Earth show NSW health officials dismissed claims by the Waubra Foundation and told the state’s ministers there was no evidence of “wind turbine syndrome”. The National Health and Medical Research Council is due to release a full review of scientific literature on wind farms and health bymid-year. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/wind-farm-to-be-built-near-colac-20120124-1qfwx.html#ixzz1kVcrktpg
Government should promote electric cars for Australia’s automobile industry
Innovation ‘key for car makers’, The Age, David Wroe Canberra January 25, 2012 DESPITE facing the ”toughest time of our life” amid slumping exports and job layoffs, Australia’s car industry can survive by modernising and making greener, more high-tech cars with government help, unions said yesterday…
.. Mr Jones said by way of example that the government’s previous Green Car Innovation Fund – which was axed to pay for Queensland flood assistance – had helped the industry transform itself with new models such as hybrid and fuel-efficient
cars.
”In three years, we completely transformed automotive manufacturing in Australia,” he said. ”We were being crucified because we had large cars that were petrol guzzling vehicles and were not good for the environment and people were shifting away from that product in droves.
”Within a space of almost no time at all as a consequence of the Green Car Innovation Fund, General Motors introduced a four-cylinder at its Elizabeth plant.”….
Greens industry spokesman Adam Bandt said the government should replace the Green Car Innovation Fund with an ”electric vehicle fund” of at least $75 million…..
http://theage.drive.com.au/innovation-key-for-car-makers-20120124-1qfos.html
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