The case for new thinking on Aboriginal land rights, and for a Treaty
Adelaide land crime shows why we need a treaty Eureka Street, JOHN BARTLETT JANUARY 17, 2012 Recently attention has been focused on the legal documents that underpinned the establishment of the Province of South Australia in 1836, and how the state’s founding impacted the original inhabitants. These documents appear to prove the land was acquired illegally.
Chief among these is the Letters Patent signed by King William IV in 1836 that made white settlement conditional on the following principle:
That nothing in those Letters Patent shall affect or be construed to affect the rights of any Aboriginal Natives of the said province to the actual occupation or enjoyment, in their own persons or in the persons of their descendants, of any land therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such Natives.
The legal implications of such a document turn the establishment of South Australia into a testing ground for Indigenous rights Australia-wide. So far the tone of this discussion has been very muted.
Sean Berg, who practises Intellectual Property Law in South Australia, has shone light on other documents that raise new possibilities for rethinking Indigenous land rights in this country….. These potentially incendiary issues have been aired in 
a book edited by Berg,Coming to Terms: Aboriginal Title in South Australia….. No matter how extensive or generous any government program to tackle Indigenous inequality, it will mean little unless Indigenous people are first treated as a sovereign nation with independent rights. http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=29317
Australia’s uranium industry facing a doubtful future
Uranium Sector Hit by Mining Safety Fears Oil Price, By Dave Forest , 10 January 2011 “….. the Electrical Trades Union of Queensland and the Northern Territory is banning its members from working in any nuclear-related facilities. Including uranium mines and nuclear power stations.
The Union is worried about the health dangers of uranium and nuclear power. In an anti-uranium video released by the group, the narrator notes, “This is dangerous stuff. It has no place in society.”
Union spokesman Peter Simpson further says, “We are sending a clear message to the industry and the wider community that vested interests in the uranium and nuclear industries are trying to hoodwink us about this dangerous product and industry.”….. a group of this stature taking such a heavy-handed stance against uranium cannot be ignored.
Ultimately, this could be a setback for the Aussie uranium business. Particularly if other workers follow the electricians’ suit.
In the bigger picture, the Union’s move illustrates the huge challenges the world faces in bringing on new uranium supplies. Right or wrong, the radioactive metal will always be viewed in a more cautious light by workers, local communities and governments.
Anti-uranium protests are inevitable, and will probably slow or stop completely some of the world’s yellowcake projects. One more hurdle for an industry that’s already having a hard time finding new, economic deposits in order to meet global demand. …. exploration and development companies will need to think hard about what projects they pursue. Not only are size, grade and infrastructure a consideration. Companies will also have to think about the surrounding communities, the attitudes of the regional populace, and the stance of host governments when it comes to uranium.
Throw all of these factors in the mix, and it’s going to be extra tough to make new mines. http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Uranium-Sector-Hit-By-Mining-Safety-Fears.html
Western Australia’s new Labor leader might change uranium policy
Ripper to stand down as WA Labor leader in favour of McGowan, ABC, Radio National A.M. David Weber , January 18, 2012
Political analyst, Harry Phillips…. says Mark McGowan could change Labor’s current policy to
withhold approval for uranium mines.
HARRY PHILLIPS: He may bring about a reversal on Eric Ripper’s very strong stand on uranium; they’d rescind contracts and that. That’s a very hard policy to sustain and I think it leads to – they’re really locking themselves into a different position there to the Federal Labor. That’s a very hard policy to uphold…. http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3410113.htm
THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper twists climate information to benefit fossil fuel industries
The Australian newspaper’s war on science, truth and journalistic ethics continues. Independent Australia, Managing editor David Donovan reports. 17 Jan 12,
In last Wednesday’s The Australian newspaper, columnist Imre Salusinszky came out with the quite extraordinary claim that the world had “beaten global warming”.
He said we should congratulate ourselves; that the worst dangers no longer loom over us……. Here’s some of what he said:………
“Last year was the sixth coldest since 1997, which shows the catastrophic scenarios of recent times are no longer looming over us.”
According to Salusinszky, because last year was only the 8th hottest in the last 14 years, and some parts of the world had below average temperatures, global warming is beat……
Because if Salusinzky had looked at the data from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) as he suggests he has, he must know that, although 2011 was “the sixth coldest since 1997” (or the 8th hottest, whichever you prefer) it was also, according to the WMO, the 10th hottest year the world has ever recorded and the hottest ever during a La Nina weather event…….
the newspaper has been conducting a calculating and concerted campaign to discredit the established and very clear consensus in global warming science and foster doubt about the need for climate action. It is the only newspaper in Australia that publishes these sorts of unscientific denialist articles — and it does publish this anti-science on a daily basis.
And while The Australian fiddles with public opinion, the world gets hotter. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/media-2/the-australian-declares-victory-in-war-on-global-warming/
Australia’s Aboriginal Tent Embassy – a renewed drive for Aboriginal rights
Michael Anderson is preparing to launch a legal campaign to overturn the lie of peaceful British colonial settlement of Australia. This legal action will establish beyond dispute that Aboriginal people never ceded our sovereign rights over this land.
This legal challenge will be taken to the international community. We need to seek a binding treaty to fully recognise our rights. This will recognise our demands for comprehensive land rights and an end to mining on our land…..
Aboriginals of Australia: Tent Embassy Celebrates 40 – Year Anniversary Unrepresented Nations and people’s Organisation (UNPO) 16 Jan 12, On January 16, Activists and supports came together to celebrate the achievements of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
Few Australian political protests can claim to have made an impact as great or as lasting as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. First set up on the lawns of Old Parliament House in January 1972, the embassy has been a focal point for the struggle for Aboriginal rights.
Four Aboriginal men, Michael Anderson, Billie Craigie, Tony Koorie and Bertie Williams, launched the embassy in response to then-prime minister Billy McMahon’s refusal to grant Aboriginal land rights. Instead, McMahon had offered to lease stolen land back to Aboriginal people. Continue reading
South Australia’s Supreme Court rules in favour of Aboriginal landowners
Mining exploration on indigenous land blocked , WA News. com.yu 15 Jan 12,AN exploration venture in South Australia’s north has been blocked by a court ruling in favour of the land’s traditional owners. Argonaut Resources and its joint venture partners, Straits Resources Ltd, were planning to start drilling for copper, gold and iron-oxide in parts of Lake Torrens and Andamooka Island.
The companies had been given ministerial approval to access the area, which is part of the traditional lands of the the Kokatha Wati and Adnyamathantha people.
But the South Australian Supreme Court has overturned that approval, ruling that the traditional owners were denied procedural fairness in not being properly consulted.
The court also found problems with the nature of the approval, ruling that Straits did not actually hold any exploration rights but that they were held by another company……
South Australia’s Aboriginal Heritage Act requires TRUE consultation with Traditional Owners
the chair of the Andyamathanha Traditional Land Association, Vince Coulthard, says the aim of the Supreme Court challenge was not to block mining, but to challenge Government process.
He says Aboriginal Affairs Minister Grace Portolesi is legally required to consult with Traditional Owners before making a decision on exploration. But Mr Coulthard- who received the Premier’s NAIDOC award last year for work in his community- says that process never occurred
Aboriginal leader hits back at mining claim ABC News, 16 Jan 12, An Aboriginal leader in South Australia’s far north has rejected claims by explorer Argonaut Resources that the state’s Aboriginal Heritage Act is anti-mining.
In 2010, the Government granted Argonaut a licence to explore 6300 hectares of land near Lake Torrens in a joint venture with Straits Resources. Traditional Owners appealed against that decision, taking their case
to the South Australian Supreme Court. Their appeal was upheld, prompting Argonaut to claim the Act gives too
much power to Traditional Owners to veto mining……. Continue reading
ABC Radio National again provides a platform for the nuclear lobby
Just a few months ago, in ABC Radio National’s “Ockham’s Razor” program, Robin Williams interviewed the Australia Nuclear Forum’s Terry Krieg. Yesterday, 15/1/ 12, Krieg was back on the program – this time with a more subtle approach to his pro nuclear propaganda. So , I thought it timely to draw attention to Krieg’s previous ABC performance, analysed in the article below. Perhaps it’s time that “Ockham’s Razor” gave right of return to the other point of view? – Christina Macpherson
Nuclear industry infiltrates ABC to push for an atomic Australia, Independent Australia, 10 Sep 2011, The nuclear industry is using increasingly subtle methods to promote the development of a nuclear power and radioactive waste disposal industry in Australia. Noel Wauchope reports .
“……..There was, as there always seems to be, some “astroturfing” going on. A bit of research on the Net and we soon discover that Mr Krieg is a spokesperson for the Australian Nuclear Forum. This is an organisation dedicated, it says, to “advancing peaceful aspects of nuclear science and technology”. With that aim, the ANF provides “policy papers and information papers for schools”. Its members are “professionals with wide collective experience in nuclear science and technology”. In other words, it is a false grassroots nuclear industry lobby group.
Now, I really do think that the presenter, Robin Williams, should have told us that. But perhaps he didn’t know. It is in the interests of nuclear astroturfers to not have people know that the information they present, far from being unvarnished, comes straight from the nuclear industry itself.
Secondly, Mr Krieg came out with what the nuclear lobby has been secretly planning for Australia — that is, to establish the full nuclear cycle in this country, including storing radioactive wastes……
Krieg, rather surprisingly, loses some scientific credibility right at the start, as he reveals himself as a climate-change denier. He moves on to state that pursuing renewable energy is unwise, saying that USA energy experts in the ’80s have been proved right in writing off solar energy…… Krieg dismisses any problem of radiation from Fukushima:….
He claims that nuclear power is “emission free”. Yes, emission-free if only you don’t count the nuclear fuel cycle’s “front end” uranium mining, milling, transport and its “back end”…
Krieg has spelled out what Australia’s nuclear mandarins have been quietly planning for some time, as has been reported in this journal. Not a word, not a worry, about environmental impacts, water supply and water contamination, costs of security and permanent waste disposal, risks of terrorism. It is no mere pipedream. …. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/media-2/nuclear-industry-infiltrates-abc-to-push-for-an-atomic-australia/
Killings of Iran’s scientists – an ethical test for Australia
these killings pose an ethical test for Australians too.
It’s easy to condemn terrorism when it’s carried out by official enemies. You don’t need much moral courage to stand up against Emmanuel Goldstein.
But Israel and the US are key allies of Australia, and, on almost every issue of import, our government marches in lockstep with theirs.
Killing Iranian scientists: when terrorism isn’t terrorism The Drum, JEFF SPARROW, 16 Jan 12, Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage – torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians – which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by ‘our’ side…
George Orwell might have been describing almost exactly the Western response to the murder spree currently underway in Iran. Continue reading
Radioactivity over Sunshine Coast likely to have come from Lucas Heights Nuclear Facility
In a long article, Paul Langley traces the history of nuclear radiation releases and coverups. Marcus Grezechnik of Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) was reassuring, and vague about the origin of this radiation But – this same Marcus Grezechnik is one of the authors of the only research study done on radioactive clouds in Austtralia. That study of radioactivity in the atmosphere above Melbourne, in 2008 and 2009 found that the source was the Lucas Heights nuclear facility, in Sydney. – Christina Macpherson
That cloud of reactor gas reported off the Sunshine Coast – Not Fukushima. It’s Lucas Heights, Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 14 Jan 2012,
Quote: “Evaluation of radioxenon releases in Australia using atmospheric dispersion modelling tools.
The origin of a series of atmospheric radioxenon events detected at the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) International Monitoring System site in Melbourne, Australia, between November 2008 and February 2009 was investigated. Backward tracking analyses indicated that the events were consistent with releases associated with hot commission testing of the Australian Nuclear Science Technology Organisation (ANSTO) radiopharmaceutical production facility in Sydney, Australia. Forward dispersion analyses were used to estimate release magnitudes and transport times. The estimated (133)Xe release magnitude of the largest event (between 0.2 and 34 TBq over a 2 d window), was in close agreement with the stack emission releases estimated by the facility for this time period (between 0.5 and 2 TBq). Modelling of irradiation conditions and theoretical radioxenon emission rates were undertaken and provided further evidence that the Melbourne detections originated from this radiopharmaceutical production facility. These findings do not have public health implications. This is the first comprehensive study of atmospheric radioxenon measurements and releases in Australia. Crown Copyright (c) 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Rick Tinker, Blake Orr, Marcus Grzechnik, Emmy Hoffmann, Paul Saey, Stephen Solomon. Evaluation of radioxenon releases in Australia using atmospheric dispersion modelling tools. Journal of environmental radioactivity. 2010 May;101(5): 353-61 ” end quote.
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, 619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie, Victoria, Melbourne 3085, Australia. rick.tinker@arpansa.gov.au
Journal of environmental radioactivity 2010 May http://www.nextbio.com/b/search/article.nb?id=20346548
Mysterious radioactive cloud detected by Geiger counter over Sunshine Coast
Radiation cloud ‘not harmful’ , Sunshine Coast Daily, Kate Clifford | 14th January 2012 A RADIOACTIVE cloud lingering off the Sunshine Coast on Sunday was not dangerous, according to the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.
Caloundra IT manager Peter Daley picked up the cloud’s radioactivity on his Geiger counter, a device that measures ionizing radiation in the atmosphere. The reading was taken at 6.30pm and measured 0.80 microsieverts, which is eight times over the average level of radiation in the atmosphere.
Mr Daley said he was concerned the cloud could have formed from a radioactive fall out from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. “This may be just a one off but even still, any exposure to an increase in radiation is not good,” Mr Daley said. He first noticed the hike when his Geiger counter began erratically beeping.
He then watched the rise in radiation fluctuate for three hours, peaking for 20 minutes at 0.80. “I was shocked to hear the Geiger alarm going off, I have been recording radiation in the atmosphere for four years and the highest it has ever gone was 0.20 microsieverts.”
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency senior environmental scientist Marcus Grezechnik said the reading was unusualbut not concerning for the Coast…..
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/01/14/radiation-cloud-not-harmful-sunshine-coast/
Australia should rethink uranium sales to India, as India has poor nuclear security
India scores poorly in nuclear security ratings, The Age, David Wroe, January 13, 2012 A NEW report that gives India a poor rating on nuclear material security has been seized on by opponents of plans for Australia to sell uranium to the emerging economic giant. The report, released yesterday by US think tank the Nuclear Threat Initiative, ranked India fourth-last among countries with significant quantities of weapons-grade nuclear material, putting it above only North Korea, Pakistan, Iran and Vietnam.
The Nuclear Materials Security Index assessed countries’ ”contribution towards improved global nuclear materials security
conditions”. The report follows Labor’s proposal, ratified at its party conference late last year, to overturn its long-held stance against selling uranium to India, which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
As part of its deal with India, Australia is negotiating a treaty to guarantee safeguards on its uranium exports.
But Greens nuclear spokesman Scott Ludlam said the report highlighted how far India had to go in meeting the standards Australia should demand. ”I think this is going to force the government to put some teeth into this so-called safeguards agreement, which doesn’t address the kinds of issues that the NTI is putting down in their paper,” Senator Ludlam said.
The NTI’s report rated India as below average on a number of issues including transparency, corruption, the number of sites where material was stored, the independence of regulators and security during transport.
”I think it’s a massive wake-up call that, first of all, the change of policy at the end of last year was a mistake,” Senator Ludlam said. On a broader scale that included countries not in the possession of weapons-usable material, Australia ranked No. 1 in the world, partly because it has little nuclear material at all.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/india-scores-poorly-in-nuclear-security-ratings-20120112-1pxj6.html#ixzz1jNWNIOtk
Extreme weather in Northern Territory bodes no good for uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia
Australia’s ERA warns rains to hit uranium output again SYDNEY, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Energy Resources of Australia warned on Thursday that recent flooding caused by monsoon rains in northern Australia will continue to restrict its production of uranium in 2012.
Production at the company’s Ranger mine — which in previous years supplied as much as 10 percent of the world’s uranium — was halted by heavy rains in early in 2011 and did not resume until mid-June.
A second deluge in December that dumped record rains across parts of the tropical Northern Territory meant ERA would be unable to readily mine richer ores at the bottom of the lode, it said.
“As a result, access to the high grade ore located at the bottom of the pit will be delayed and is highly dependent on rainfall
experienced for the remainder of the 2011/2012 wet season,” said ERA, 68 percent owned by Rio Tinto but separately listed on the Australian bourse….. Analyst are expecting the company to show a loss on earnings before interest and tax of around A$61 million against a profit of A$68.4 million in 2010.
The stock has plummeted more than 80 percent in the last 12 months, in part due to negative sentiment toward uranium companies following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan last March…..
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3E8CB8ZU20120111?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Australian environmentalists, Aboriginal, medical experts to attend global nuclear conference in Japan
Activists at nuke talkfest, By DAMIEN McCARTNEY, Northern Territory News 11 Jan 2012 A PROTESTER and an environmentalist are on their way to a global nuclear conference in Japan. Justin Tutty and the Environment Centre’s Cat Beaton will travel through Fukishima, Yokohama, Hiroshima and Okinawa. The pair will be joined by South Australian traditional owner Peter Watts and Medical Association for the Prevention of War representative in Melbourne, Margaret Bevis.
Mr Tutty said he and Ms Beaton would make a presentation on the role of Australian uranium in the global nuclear cycle. “We will be talking a lot about the link between Ranger Mine uranium and the destroyed Fukishima reactors,” he said.
The group also will meet survivors of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima,and residents around the US military base in Okinawa.
Whisper quiet wind turbines for Australia
Newly-introduced policy regulations in states such as Victoria and South Australia have seen a number of changes to the zoning of wind farms. According to Mr Le Messurier, however, the Eco Whisper Turbine does not face the same limitations as larger turbines.
“One of the major concerns from a community standpoint around wind turbines is the issue of noise. The planning response we have had from the Victorian government, however, is that [the wind legislation] doesn’t apply to us, given that the Eco Whisper is virtually silent,” Mr Le Messurier said.
“The quietness of the wind turbine and its ability to operate effectively in a range of wind conditions makes it well-suited for organisations seeking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of the Federal Government’s carbon pricing mechanism.”.
Quiet as a Whisper Ecogeneration, 12 Jan 12, The Eco Whisper Turbine, recently released by Renewable Energy Solutions Australia Holdings Limited, is believed to be the world’s quietest 20 kilowatt wind turbine. Due to its unique design, which sees the Eco Whisper Turbine’s blades housed within a cowl that sits around the outside of the turbine, the 20 kilowatt (kW) product is virtually silent. Continue reading
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