AUDIO: Aboriginal rights will be eroded as Queensland develops uranium mining
Uranium mining in Australia has removed Aboriginal rights in uranium States and territories. Queensland’s Aboriginals are next in line for this, as Newman government sets up a committee, with Aboriginal uranium lobbyist invited to join it.
‘Nuclear racism’ concern over Qld uranium mining http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/239743/-Nuclear-racism-concern-over-Qld-uranium-mining 31 Oct 2012 By Stefan Armbruster Queensland Aboriginal groups are being warned their legal rights could be eroded as the state moves to resume uranium mining. Queensland Aboriginal groups are being warned their legal rights could be eroded as the state moves to resume uranium mining.
Last week the state’s Liberal National Party government said it would end the uranium mining ban introduced by Labor in 1989. The Queensland government has asked indigenous employment advocate and Australian Uranium Association director Warren Mundine to join a committee overseeing renewed mining.
In other states and territories, uranium mining has partial or total exemptions from Aboriginal land rights and heritage laws. Friends of the Earth’s national nuclear campaigner, Jim Green, told Queensland correspondent Stefan Armbruster it is a bad sign, given Australia’s past of so-called “nuclear racism”.
Nuclear lobby’s Aboriginal poster boy Warren Mundine to oversee Queensland uranium mining?
Warren Mundine asked to oversee Qld uranium mining BY: ROSANNE BARRETT The Australian October 30, 2012 FORMER Labor party president Warren Mundine has been approached to oversee the resurrection of Queensland’s uranium mining industry.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman told parliament today that Mr Mundine’s appointment to the uranium implementation committee was “subject to confirmation”. – subscription only
Poor outlook for Queensland uranium mining, but “Yellowcake Newman” presses on
The Australian Conservation Foundation’s Dave Sweeney called on Mr Newman to back up his claim that uranium exports will earn Queensland tens of billions of dollars over the next two decades, providing
thousands of jobs.
“Development plans have been shelved at Yeelirrie and Kintyre, the two largest deposits in Western Australia.
“Kakadu uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia has lost more than $180 million and BHP Billiton has walked away from its long-held plan for a massive expansion of the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.”
Activists slam ‘Yellowcake’ Newman http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/newman-names-qld-uranium-committee/story-e6frf7kf-1226506654419 AAP October 30, 2012 QUEENSLAND activists say Premier “Yellowcake” Campbell Newman’s new uranium committee is a stunt to fast-track mining of the “toxic” substance.
Mr Newman on Tuesday named members of the committee, which will establish a framework for the resumption of uranium mining in the state. It will be chaired by Central Highlands councillor Paul Bell, who has just retired as the president of the Local Government Association of Queensland, the government’s chief scientist Geoff Garrett and industry representatives.
Mr Newman said former ALP national president and indigenous leader Warren Mundine had been invited to serve on the committee and he hoped he would agree. Continue reading
Queensland government considering shipping uranium through Great Barrier Reef
Queensland uranium could be exported through reef, SMH, October 31, 2012 -The Queensland government says it would consider shipping uranium through the Great Barrier Reef if a new advisory committee made the recommendation.
The comments come as the United Nation’s environmental arm considers whether to list the reef as a World Heritage site in danger. In a report earlier this year, UNESCO identified shipping as one of the most pressing threats to the reef’s future. Continue reading
Queensland uranium would have to go to ports in Darwin or Adelaide
Queensland ports unready for uranium, Brisbane Times, November 1, 2012 – Tony Moore Queensland’s burgeoning uranium industry would bring no immediate benefit to the state’s port cities, the Australian Uranium Association has predicted.
Rather, AUA spokesman Simon Clarke said uranium would be exported via ports in Darwin and Adelaide.
That would mirror the situation in Western Australia, where uranium export is banned from local ports. Uranium from WA is instead shipped through Darwin and Adelaide.
“As matters stand now, it would seem most likely that any uranium mined in Queensland would be transported by road and rail to either Adelaide or Darwin for shipment out of Australia,” Mr Clarke said. Any port exporting radioactive uranium must be capable of carrying class seven hazardous wastes and storing waste in secure premises while waiting for commercial shipping. Continue reading
Rockhampton mayor rejects Liberal Party push for nuclear power
Rockhampton mayor says nuclear “over my dead body” The Bulletin Christine Mckee 29th Oct 2012 “Over my dead body”. These are the words of Rockhampton Regional Council mayor Margaret Strelow in response to the possibility of building a nuclear plant in the region.
Media reports on the weekend revealed secret plans from the Bjelke-Petersen era to construct a nuclear enrichment plant in the Rockhampton region are being revisited by the Federal Opposition.
“It’s not even a discussion I want to have,” Cr Strelow says. “I’m a Mum and a grandma.”
Broadmount, 30 kms south-east of Rockhampton, and Boolburra, 95km west of Rockhampton, were among three preferred options put forward 40 years ago for a $1 billion uranium enrichment plant. North Queensland MP Warren Entsch says it makes sense to reconsider the plan, and Senator Barnaby Joyce is also showing his support…..http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/strelow-rejects-plan-for-uranium-plant/1600099/
Abbot Point recommended for World Heritage, not for uranium exports
Uranium export claims rejected by environmentalist Daily Mercury Dominic Geiger 29th Oct 2012 A BOWEN-BASED environmentalist has hit back at Federal Member for Dawson George Christensen’s claims the town would support uranium being exported from Abbot Point.
Mr Christensen made the claims following State Premier Campbell Newman’s recent decision to lift the ban on uranium mining in Queensland. “Abbot Point (is) an established resource port that (is) far removed from an urban area and the Bowen locals would love the potential work and opportunity,” he said.
But Bowen resident Ian Lee said the town had a history of opposing uranium mining and nuclear power. “Before the amalgamations, Bowen Shire Council voted to become a uranium-free and a nuclear-free shire,” Mr Lee said. “They’re all now jumping on the bandwagon and wanting to make Abbot Point a massive port.
“The World Heritage Committee has recommended there be no major developments outside the long established major ports. Abbot Point is classified as a minor port.”
Mr Christensen isn’t the first Federal Member for Dawson to come under criticism for a pro-nuclear stance. Former member De-Anne Kelly was deposed in 2007 after supporting a short-lived push to have a nuclear
power plant established in the Mackay region…..
http://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/uranium-export-claims-rejected/1599798/
Senator Larissa Waters debunks Queensland’s uninformed fervour for uranium minng
Senator Barnaby Joyce says nuclear power in Australia is next step after Queensland decision to resume uranium mining Robyn Ironside, John McCarthy The Courier-Mail October 24, 2012 “….Queensland Greens Senator Larissa Waters said those supporting uranium mining in Queensland had not worked out safe means of
transporting and exporting uranium.
Guidelines have only recently been adopted in WA and that state will not allow uranium oxide to be transported to, or shipped from, its ports until 2014.
“It is too dangerous, it is too risky, it is dirty and we have clean safe renewable alternatives that won’t end up making the world’s conflicts even worse,” Senator Waters said.
She said she doubted uranium would be an “economic saviour” for Queensland because the price of uranium was very low, now about $43 per pound.
The Queensland government is expecting total royalties of around $900 million if the total resource ($18 billion on current prices) was mined.
“The price for uranium has tanked in the last few years – all the more because of the Fukushima disaster – and we have just seen Olympic Dam in South Australia, the biggest uranium mine in Australia – well we’ve just seen plans for that to expand, shelved,” Senator Waters said.
Senator Waters said transportation of uranium remained a major problem. “There is no safe way to dig up uranium, or transport it to port, or export it, and have it used safely,” she said. “We simply don’t have the guarantees that we need that this stuff can be managed.” “It is radioactive, it is toxic.”….. : http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/uranium-cheapest-alternative-fuel-20121023-2838o.html#ixzz2AWgmmDmv
Caloundra’s solar energy array now in operation
SPS Energy Installs 80 kW Solar Array for Caloundra-Based STC AZO CleanTech October 26, 2012 Today marks a new milestone for Australia’s private businesses seeking heightened energy efficiency: the unveiling of what’s believed to be one of the largest privately funded solar installations in the nation , installed by SPS Energy and now operational in Caloundra, Queensland. The Honourable Mark McArdle, Queensland’s Minister for Energy and Water Supply, officiated at the commissioning celebration.
SPS Energy, based in Eumundi, is a preeminent supplier of energy management and renewable energy solutions across Australia.
The 80kWatt solar array is located on the rooftop of the Caloundra-based Saddlery Trading Company (www.saddlerytrading.com ), and powers 75kWatts of inverter capacity. ….
“The installation has already delivered benefits for our business: an energy consumption decline of over 60% in the first billing period after commissioning, followed by further reductions in subsequent periods,” Mr Grant said.
“As a family-owned business, it’s critical for us to keep an eye on the bottom line, while integrating environmentally conscious practices.
“Our family business is proof that solar power can deliver savings, efficiency, and sustainability.”
The solar array provides STC with certainty of power costs into the future and provision for even greater energy autonomy, if needed. …. http://www.azocleantech.com/news.aspx?newsID=17503
No environmental safeguards for Queensland uranium mining, (Barnaby Joyce doesn’t care)
Senator Barnaby Joyce says nuclear power in Australia is next step after Queensland decision to resume uranium mining Robyn Ironside, John McCarthy The Courier-Mail October 24, 2012 OUTSPOKEN Senator Barnaby Joyce has put nuclear power on the LNP’s agenda in the lead-up to the next federal election following Queensland’s decision to resume uranium mining…..
The comments came as federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said yesterday nuclear power was not part of Australia’s future…
.. The State Government’s rush to announce its uranium backflip has left Queensland without any policy on environmental and health safeguards. Premier Campbell Newman offered a guarantee the environment and public
health would not be adversely affected by uranium mining.
The powerful left-wing union, the Electrical Trades Union, has said it will ban members from working in any uranium mine in Queensland because of the risk to the workers’ health and to Australia’s environment….
Don Argus, like Martin Ferguson, adds more lies about nuclear energy
Uranium ‘cheapest’ alternative fuel October 23, 2012 Tony 
Moore brisbanetimes.com.au senior reporter Uranium remained the cheapest of the alternative fuels, one of Australia’s leading business figures, Don Argus, said today.
However restrictions on shipping and transport of uranium in several Australian states, including Queensland and Western Australia, remain.
Mr Argus, the former BHP Billiton chief executive, cautiously welcomed Queensland’s possible re-entry to uranium mining.
Mr Argus however decried governments’ lack of focus on Australia’s natural gas reserves.
“Uranium is still the cheapest of the so-called alternative energy sources,” Mr Argus said. “But I am surprised that governments haven’t adjusted to the gas option as distinct from what appears to be, in
some cases, inefficient renewable energy in the form of wind farms.” http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/uranium-cheapest-alternative-fuel-20121023-2838o.html#ixzz2AWguXGhW
Queensland Premier Newman admits uranium not necessarily a job provider
No evidence jobs flow from uranium mining ABC News By Eric Tlozek, 26 Oct 12, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman admits the State Government has no economic modelling or studies to show lifting a ban on uranium mining will create jobs or investment in the state.
In announcing the lifting of the ban this week, Mr Newman said the decision was partially prompted by Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s recent support for uranium sales to India…
.. Mr Newman says the State Government has no modelling to show the industry will create jobs or increase investment in regional areas. He says the proposal was put to Cabinet after just one meeting with the Mines Minister.
Uranium has not been mined in Queensland since the closure of the Mary Kathleen mine in the state’s north-west in 1982.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-25/no-evidence-jobs-flow-from-uranium-mining/4333390?section=qld
Campbell Newman’s next move – get rid of Nuclear Facilities Prohibition Act.?
Qld opposition fears nuclear power plants, new.com.au by: Marty Silk October 24, 2012 THE Queensland opposition says allowing uranium mining in the state will eventually lead to a nuclear power industry. Premier Campbell Newman announced on Monday the state would lift a decades-old uranium mining ban, despite saying before the March election the Liberal National Party had no plans to allow it.
Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mulherin said he fears Mr Newman, like some of his federal counterparts, wants to build nuclear power plants in Queensland. “He’s proved his word on the nuclear industry is worthless,” Mr Mulherin told reporters. He said if the coalition were to win the federal election next year, it would be “a recipe for nuclear power
plants in our state and all the risks they pose”. Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce’s pro-nuclear power stance should
worry all Queenslanders, he said.
Mr Mulherin said the only thing standing in the Newman government’s way of introducing nuclear power is the Nuclear Facilities Prohibition Act.
The act, introduced by the former Labor state government in 2007, requires a federal plebiscite to allow nuclear power plants. “But if the Newman government repeals the act, our state is wide open to the plans of Senator Joyce and others in the LNP pushing us down the nuclear path,” Mr Mulherin said……
Bans at both levels of government have prevented uranium mining in Queensland since 1982, when the Mary Kathleen mine, near Mount Isa, ceased production.
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/uranium-mining-no-greater-risk-qld-govt/story-e6frfku9-1226502416198#ixzz2AKgTBMPw
Queensland Premier’s risky choice to go for uranium, not for sunshine
The Premier should remember that community trust is a finite resource.
The risks of uranium last far longer than a politician’s promise. Attempts to introduce uranium mining in Queensland will be actively contested.
Queensland, especially regional Queensland, is perfectly positioned to become a world leader in the globe’s fastest growing energy sector – renewable energy. Queensland has some of the world’s best solar and wind resources. There is no need to open the door to an industry like uranium which is unsafe, unwelcome and under-performing.
Uranium decision takes the cake http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/uranium-decision-takes-the-cake/story-e6frg6n6-1226502563991 BY: DON HENRY From: The Courier-Mail October 25, 2012 WHEN Premier Campbell Newman wrote to me two weeks ago saying his Government had no plans to approve the development of uranium mining, I took the letter at face value.
So I was as surprised as other Queenslanders when Newman announced on Monday at noon that he would overturn the popular and long-standing state ban on mining the nuclear fuel
.
I realise the Premier has been under a lot of pressure to reverse the state’s prudent position on uranium. The Australian Uranium Association, the Queensland Resources Council and some of the multinational mining companies that hope to make big profits from digging up uranium and shipping it overseas have lobbied hard.
But there are some very strong reasons Queenslanders should keep our uranium in the ground. Uranium is not like other minerals. Continue reading
Queensland’s scandalous uranium history: a bad idea to start it again
Queensland Forgets Its Uranium History http://newmatilda.com/2012/10/24/queensland-forgets-its-uranium-history Jim Green, New Matilda, 24 Oct 2012 The Queensland Government is unwise to reverse the ban against uranium mining and there is no stronger reason than the industry’s sordid track record in the state.
French company Minatome undertook trial mining at Ben Lomond, near Townsville, in the early 1980s. Federal MP Bob Katter spoke at length about Ben Lomond in Parliament on 1 November 2005. He noted that Minatome initially denied reports of a radioactive spill, but then changed its story and claimed that the spill posed no risk and did not reach the water system from which 210,000 people drank.
Bob Katter’s version of the story is on Hansard: “For the next two or three weeks they held out with that story. Further evidence was produced in which they admitted that it had been a dangerous level. Yes, it was about 10,000 times higher than what the health agencies in Australia regarded as an acceptable level. After six weeks, we got rid of lie number two. I think it was at about week 8 or week 12 when, as a state member of parliament, I insisted upon going up to the site. Just before I went up to the site, the company admitted — remember, it was not just the company but also the agency set up by the government to protect us who were telling lies — that the spill had reached the creek which ran into the Burdekin River, which provided the drinking water for 210,000 people. We had been told three sets of lies over a period of three months.”
Queensland’s other misadventure with uranium was the Mary Kathleen mine in western Queensland. In the mid-1970s, a whistleblower from Mary Kathleen Uranium Mining leaked documents which revealed the existence of a global uranium cartel leading to protracted international scandals and fines totalling hundreds of millions of dollars.
The leaked documents also revealed evidence of shoddy environmental practices at Mary Kathleen; close surveillance of environmental organisations; the close relationship between then-ACTU President Bob Hawke and the chairman of uranium miner Conzinc Riotinto Australia; and advice from government officials about how companies could circumvent non-proliferation treaties in order to sell uranium to countries that had not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
One million litres of radioactive liquid were released in February 1984 from Mary Kathleen’s evaporation ponds during a wet spell. Even now, 30 years after the mine’s closure, there is ongoing seepage of saline, metal and radionuclide-rich waters from tailings, as well as low-level uptake of heavy metals and radionuclides into vegetation.
Bob Katter’s son, state MP Rob Katter, claims that uranium mining represents a potential $20 billion export industry for Queensland which could generate 2600 jobs. The simple facts are that uranium accounts for just 0.2 per cent of Australia’s export revenue ($610 million in 2010-11) and less than 0.02 per cent of Australian jobs (1760 jobs including mining, exploration and regulation). Queensland is home to just 3 per cent of Australia’s uranium resources.
Rob Katter claims that Queenslanders support uranium mining but he provides no evidence. The latest poll reported in the Courier Mail in November 2008, found that 47 per cent of Queenslanders oppose uranium mining compared to 45 per cent in support. Two-thirds of Queenslanders oppose uranium sales to nuclear weapons states. A majority of Australians believe that the “safeguards” system, which aims to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, is ineffective.
Before the last state election, the Queensland Liberal National Party said it had no intention of reversing the ban against uranium mining. Campbell Newman’s LNP Government ought to take its new position to the next state election. Better still, a referendum could be held on the question of uranium mining when Queenslanders next go to the polls.
The uranium industry has no capacity to deliver serious economic benefits to Queensland but, if given the chance, it will create more long-term environmental and public health hazards such as Ben Lomond and Mary Kathleen.
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