USA militarisation in Australia is disturbing to China
The Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper, hit hard upon the theme of 
besiegement. It quoted a People’s Liberation Army major general as saying that the expanded U.S. training and deployment base inAustralia was one of a series of U.S. installations to “encircle China from the north to the south of the Asia-Pacific region.”….
Beijing is wary of Obama’s assertive China policy , Taiwan News, By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press 2011-11-18 President Barack Obama‘s sudden moves to contest rising Chinese power are setting this capital on edge, even if in public the response has been muted.
During his ongoing nine-day swing through the Asia-Pacific region, Obama has already unveiled a plan for an expanded U.S. Marines presence in Australia, advocated a new free-trade area that leaves China out, and called on Beijing not to buck the current world order.
The Beijing government is trying to understand the shift, tasking academic experts to review the initiatives and submit options on how to respond. Continue reading
Questions: nuclear submarines for Darwin? Greens, China, Indonesia – all want answers
We need more details of US build-up: Brown, SMH, 17 Nov 11, Australian Greens leader Bob Brown fears nuclear submarines could be stationed off the coast of Australia as part of a US military build-up in the Top End……
The expansion of the existing collaboration between the Australian Defence Force and the US Marine Corps and US Air Force will allow America to enhance its presence in the Asia-Pacific region
Senator Brown wants to see more details of the deal, announced jointly by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and US President Barack Obama on Wednesday. He also wants a parliamentary debate on the deal. “I object to Australian people and parliament not knowing what the details are,” Senator Brown told ABC radio on Thursday. Continue reading
Darwin U.S. military base opens the way for cluster munitions and nuclear-powered vessels
probability cluster munitions will be stockpiled in Darwin since there are known plans for the US to base a number of B-52 bombers historically used to deploy cluster bombs. It is already known that nuclear weapons will not be permitted onto Australian territory, but a number of the US’ naval fleet are nuclear-powered vessels which will be allowed…….
Both acts would result in Australia violating the spirit and intent of the Convention—to eliminate cluster munitions and the harm they cause for all time. And both are likely to occur as a result of the US base in Darwin.
Theorising Darwin: US may stockpile and transit cluster munitions Crikey, November 17, 2011 , by NAJ Taylor, A US military ‘base’ in Darwin will necessitate foreign weapons systems and armaments being stockpiled, retained and transited on and in Australian territory (spun as a “rotational deployment” – for China? I’ll use base until I know better).
Whilst long-standing and committed allies, Australia and the United States hold different positions on many matters relating to both arms control and humanitarian law. One recent normative development where the US and Australia’s views have diverged is the ban on cluster bombs, Continue reading
Renewable energy going ahead in Australia, attractive to investors
Winds of change for new energy investment, SMH 17 Nov 11 CANBERRA: Australia’s gradual shift away from coal and towards cleaner energy has begun, government figures released yesterday showed, with nearly half of new energy investment being in wind, hydro and solar projects. The Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics reported that new wind farms alone made up 41 per cent of the new energy investment either begun or committed in the year to October……
The director of emissions and environment at Westpac, Emma Herd, said the passage of the carbon pricing legislation would help investors make long-term decisions about energy projects. ”Renewable energy will become more attractive as the carbon price improves the economics of deploying renewable energy,” she said. ”In the short to medium term, we also expect gas to be a transitional energy source and expect more gas-fired electricity generation projects to be developed.”
The Clean Energy Council policy manager, Tim Sonnreich, said: ”Plenty of people still have the view that renewable energy is a very small percentage of our energy mix. ‘But in South Australia it’s already 20 per cent and that will be the model for the country by the end of the decade.”: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/winds-of-change-for-new-energy-investment-20111116-1njds.html#ixzz1e01bdjUy
Australian Capital Territory will have solar feed in tariff for both small and commercial systems
Small scale solar power in Canberra is also still being supported through a 1:1feed in tariff. Solar households in Canberra and the A.C.T are rewarded for any surplus electricity generated by their systems; which is purchased by ActewAGL Retail at the customer’s electricity tariff rate.
Big Solar To Benefit From Feed In Tariffs In Canberra, by Energy Matters, 17 Nov 11 The ACT Labor Government will today table legislation in the Territory’s Legislative Assembly to support development of large scale solar power facilities in Canberra. Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development Simon Corbell says the Electricity Feed In (Large Scale Renewable Energy Generation) Bill 2011 is the first time a feed in tariff for commercial scale solar power has been proposed by an Australian government.
“The Bill establishes the framework for a feed in tariff ‘reverse auction’ to award support for at least two large scale solar generation plants capable of powering 7000 Canberra homes. This reverse auction process will require companies to provide a detailed proposal to the ACT Government about how they can provide the greatest amount of renewable energy at the lowest cost to Canberrans.” Continue reading
Pro nuclear union pushing to lift NSW’s ban on uranium mining, Lithgow not keen
Council airs uranium mining fears ABC News, 16 Nov 11, The Lithgow City Council says it would have concerns about any open-cut mining proposals that might come from a uranium discovery.
The Australian Workers Union has suggested deposits of the material could be found in the Lithgow area, if a ban on exploration was lifted.
Lithgow Mayor Neville Castle says despite wide exploration for other metals, he has never heard of it being found in the region.”Well as far as I’m aware there’s been no identified deposits of uranium and we’ve had obviously a lot of geologists,” he said….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-16/council-airs-uranium-deposit-fears/3674062
Julia Gillard’s new line on uranium to India causes quite a political mess
the discomfort in some quarters about the plan was underlined yesterday when India test-fired a long-range missile, which officials said was capable of carrying a one-tonne nuclear warhead deep inside China.
Gillard’s uranium backlash The Age, Michelle Grattan, Katharine Murphy and John Watson November 16,
2011 PRIME Minister Julia Gillard’s push to sell uranium to India has triggered a fight with her party’s Left, attracted disquiet from Pakistan and infuriated Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who was not consulted about the change. Tensions between Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd are likely to escalate after the snub, which was made worse by Mr Rudd being in India when she made the move. Continue reading
India wants to be treated differently from other nations
The problem with the Prime Minister’s argument, of course, is that the existing policy does not treat India differently at all….The problem is rather the opposite of what the Prime Minister says: it is not that Australia treats India differently, but that India wishes to be treated differently.
If India wants uranium, let it sign the treaty The Age, 16 Nov 11Trade advantage does not make safety negotiable. THE Prime Minister, writing on our opinion page yesterday, complained that ”despite links of language, heritage and democratic values”, Australia continues to ”treat India differently”. The differential treatment, she says, lies in the fact that we do not sell India uranium for peaceful purposes, despite selling it to China, Japan and the United States. It is time, she believes, to abandon this attitude to India, while acting in our own economic best interests.
At the ALP federal conference in Sydney next month, Ms Gillard will propose that the party make an exception to its policy that Australia should continue to adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by allowing uranium exports to India. This will be all right, apparently, because we will ”expect of India the same standards we do for all countries for uranium export – strict adherence to International Atomic Energy arrangements and strong bilateral undertakings and transparency measures that will provide assurances our uranium will only be used for peaceful purposes”. Continue reading
Obama pops in to Australia to dictate policy on uranium sales to India
Gillard uranium move linked to US: report, Business Spectator, 16 Nov 2011 Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s move to open the door to uranium exports to India reportedly follows talks with the Obama administration. The US has been pursuing a closer partnership with India and considers Australia a key part of its strategy, The Australian reported on Wednesday.
Ms Gillard has denied that the decision was made to coincide with President Barack Obama’s visit to Australia and said it was her decision alone.The Australian, however, reported that US and Australian officials have been in intense strategic discussions about India for several months. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Gillard-uranium-move-linked-to-US-report-NMLD2?OpenDocument&src=hp3
India can thank Uncle Sam for Julia Gillard’s uranium backflip, First Post India, 16 Nov 11 Uttara Choudhury New York: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s dramatic decision to open the door to uranium exports to India came after talks with the Obama administration, which viewed the ban as a “fly in the ointment” to greater engagement between Washington, New Delhi and Australia in the Indian Ocean region…….
Gillard announced on Tuesday that she will ask the Australian Labour Party to dump its ban on uranium sales to India, at its national conference next month. The ban was imposed by former prime minister Kevin Rudd in 2008 as India wasn’t a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Gillard has denied her decision to seek to overturn the ban is in order to fall in line with the US. She bristled when questioned on the timing of the announcement which coincided with Obama’s state visit to Australia. Gillard said the decision was hers alone…..
She did, however, point to the US-India civil nuclear agreement of 2008, which lifted the “de facto international ban” on the sale of uranium to India….. While Beijing has learned to live with American forces on its eastern periphery, the possibility of an intimate US-India military relationship, as well as India’s position astride China’s key maritime shipping lanes, has generated fears of encirclement…
Uranium sales to India will trigger India-Pakistan arms race
Should the ALP back Ms Gillard’s call,… this would be seen as “another example of international hypocrisy when it comes to Pakistan”.
Fear trade move will trigger arms race, BY:AMANDA HODGE , THE AUSTRALIAN, November 16, 2011 :SECURITY analysts on both sides of the India-Pakistan border have warned that the decision to sell Australian uranium to India could trigger an arms race between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
Pakistani nuclear physics professor and analyst Pervez Hoodbhoy told The Australian many people would be dismayed by Julia Gillard’s push to end the ban on uranium sales to India, given the likelihood it would stoke nuclear proliferation in South Asia.
“It’s very disappointing, because it’s well known that if India gets Australian uranium it will be able to divert a bigger fraction of domestically mined uranium for the production of fissile material used for making bombs,” Continue reading
Pakistan says that Australia should sell uranium to it, too
Pakistan says it should be allowed to buy uranium, ABC Radio National PM Michael Edwards ,
November 15, 2011, MARK COLVIN: Pakistan says that if Australia sells uranium to India, it too should be eligible for exports of the product. India’s chief rival is also a nuclear power and, like India, a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Pakistan says it could use Australian uranium to boost its civilian nuclear power program. And its High Commissioner to Australia says itwould be discrimination to sell to India and not to Pakistan… http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3367265.htm
Biggest mining companies the beneficiaries of uranium sales to India
Gillard’s uranium backflip ‘to appease big miners’, WA Today, 16 Nov 11, Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decision to push for uranium exportation to India may be the product of a deal struck with the big miners over the MRRT, Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Neville Power speculated yesterday.
“It’s no coincidence I guess that BHP will be the largest beneficiary of exporting uranium so maybe the deal from the MRRT continues and what we’re seeing is just payback for the support of the MRRT,” Mr Power said. Ms Gillard yesterday revealed she would lobby the Australian Labor Party to change its stance on exportation of uranium to India, a country who is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Mr Power said BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia stood to gain the most if the growing Indian market was opened up. “It is remarkable that Xstrata, BHP and Rio Tinto have not said a thing about the MRRT…..
The WA Labor Party has said it will maintain its blanket ban on uranium mining.…
http://www.watoday.com.au/business/gillards-uranium-backflip-to-appease-big-miners-20111116-1nhze.html#ixzz1durZFCcq
USA pushes Australia on military bases, on uranium sales to India
Australia under nuclear pressure, Independent Australia, 15 Nov 2011 The prime minister announced today that Australia is set to overturn its ban on uranium sales to India, a non-signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The reason why she’s doing this is simple, Barack Obama asked her — because it’s good for the US economy. Noel Wauchope reports……
As Australia’s biggest trading partner, one would expect that China would be receiving top consideration from the Australian government, but hey — Australia has to be nice to USA, doesn’t it? As we all know, it’s traditional that when USA yells “Jump!”, Australia responds “How high!?”
And so it is that, once again, the Australian government is in the process of jumping hurdles, as dictated by USA, however little sense that might make….. Continue reading
Uranium ‘debate’ the ALP will regret
“It deliberately undermines the NPT, the rules nearly every country on earth has signed up for; only India, Pakistan and Israel have refused to sign on. “Australia’s prudent and principled stance for the last 41 years was based on these foundations.
The Prime Minister’s regrettable cave-in on uranium sales to India is the latest in a long and dishonourable line of ALP policy capitulations on uranium and nuclear security issues, Australian Greens nuclear issues spokesperson Scott Ludlam said today. “The mining industry is now setting foreign policy to suit their commercial interests, through their Cabinet representative Martin Ferguson,” Senator Ludlam said. Continue reading
Martin Ferguson, Minister For the Nuclear Industry avoids debate, avoids Aborigines on Muckaty waste dump
Ferguson claims that Muckaty traditional owners support the dump despite clear evidence that a majority do not. Traditional owners have written to him repeatedly voicing their objections. They have repeatedly requested a meeting with Ferguson and he repeatedly refuses. Traditional owner Dianne Stokes said: “Martin Ferguson has avoided us and ignored our letters but he knows very well how we feel. He has been arrogant and secretive and he thinks he has gotten away with his plan but in fact he has a big fight on his hands.”
Traditional owners also initiated ongoing legal action in the Federal Court to try to stop the imposition of a nuclear dump — and Ferguson continues to claim they support the dump!
No Debate On Muckaty For Ferguson, By Jim Green, New Matilda, 15 November 2011 As Julia Gillard pushes to end the ban on uranium sales to India, resources minister Martin Ferguson won’t enter into debate on how we deal with nuclear waste at home, writes Jim Green
Federal resources minister Martin Ferguson issued a media release in September claiming that he welcomes debate on Australia’s radioactive waste management options. Friends of the Earth invited him to participate in just such a debate but we were told by his office last week that he wouldn’t participate.
Small wonder. The government’s ongoing effort to impose a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land in the NT is the most disgraceful example of “radioactive racism” since the Menzies government exploded atomic bombs on Aboriginal land in the 1950s. Ferguson claims that Muckaty traditional owners support the dump despite clear evidence that a majority do not. Continue reading
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