BHP BILLITON ABOVE THE LAW FOR ANOTHER 70 YEARS AND BEYOND
The Roxby Downs Indenture Bill today passed the South Australian Upper House. It has now passed both houses of Parliament, enshrining in law an agreement that over-rides some 21 South Australian laws, including state legislation covering radiation protection.
“Since the negotiation of the Indenture Agreement, it has been clear that the parliamentary process would simply be a rubber stamp. For example, in the Parliamentary Select Committee hearing, the opposition had the chance to question BHP for an hour, and the nature of their investigations were along the lines of concerns for the caravans that may be inconvenienced if a road was closed, never mind the tailings dams that are designed to leak,” said Nectaria Calan from Friends of the Earth Adelaide.
“Neither Labor not Liberal have shown any inclination to critically scrutinise the implications of the project, with the government bending over backwards to accommodate the mining giant. BHP wanted to recognise a historical version of the Aboriginal Heritage Act that was repealed over 20 years ago – they got it. They wanted a mining lease that spans 70 years, despite the fact that their Environmental Impact Statement only covers 40 years – they got it. They wanted the right to be granted the expanded mining lease, covering nearly 50, 000 ha as freehold, free of charge – they got it. They wanted royalties capped for 45 years – they got it,” said Ms. Calan.
The scope of the Indenture Agreement extends far beyond the 40 years covered in the Environmental Impact Statement.
“It’s a strange state of affairs to have an Environmental Impact Statement that only covers 40 years, a mining lease granted for 70 years, and an indenture agreement that creates the right for future mining leases that will not expire until the last of the extended mining leases have expired. The intention appears to be to avoid any further Parliamentary scrutiny at all cost,” continued Ms. Calan.
South Australian Parliament trashes state environmental, heritage, aboriginal laws in passing Roxby Downs Indenture Bill
Dark day as state laws trashed in Roxby riches rush The Parliamentary debate over the Roxby expansion Indenture Bill has confirmed that the State Government has delivered a bad deal for South Australia, says Greens Parliamentary Leader Mark Parnell.
“This is a dark day for our State’s democracy. The Government has locked in for the next 70 years the right of the world’s richest resource company to over-ride all relevant State laws,” said Mr Parnell.
“The hours of debate in Parliament has shown that in the rush to get this deal signed before ex-Premier Rann departed, the State Government has given too much away for too little in return.
“The environmental costs are going to be much higher, and the economic return will be much lower than the SA public rightly expect.
“Parliament has exposed the yawning gap between the Government’s hyperbolic spin over the Roxby riches and the dark reality of this terrible deal.
“Future generations are going to be disgusted with us for giving their resources away for a pittance and leaving them to deal with the enormous toxic legacy of managing the world’s largest radioactive waste dump,” he said.
The Greens put forward a package of amendments that would have positively transformed the Indenture contract.
The controversial Bill has now passed both houses of State Parliament, with only the Greens voting against it.
What the debate exposed:
- · The local jobs, manufacturing and local procurement Plan will contain ‘aspirational’ targets only. Not one extra job is guaranteed.
- · The ‘net’ economic return to state coffers in years 10-20 of the project could be as low as $10 million / year – and that’s even before millions are given back to BHPB through Federal subsidies like the diesel fuel rebate.
· No explanation for locking in royalty rates at a low rate for 45 years – apart from that is what BHP wanted.
- · The Government did not do any comparative economic analysis with similar projects interstate and overseas to see if we were getting a good economic deal.
- · There is nothing the Government can do to make BHPB expand their domestic processing up to an additional 200,000 tonnes of ore (as has been promised by the Premier and others). In fact, there is nothing to stop BHP exporting all ore from Roxby Downs to China (including the ore that is currently processed here).
- · Govt has relied entirely on BHPB’s figures for the cost of processing in SA rather than exporting South Australian copper ore to China.
· BHPB can continue to extract fossil water from the Great Artesian Basin until 2082, with costs capped for the next 30 years.
· Third parties won’t have any right to access the railways, roads, ports and airports being constructed for the expansion.
· No cumulative impacts of this expansion (beyond the artificial EIS timeframe of 40 years) have been considered.
- · The Government doesn’t know what impact the ODX will have on the State’s greenhouse pollution reduction targets.
- · The toxic tailings waste dams have been deliberately designed to leak.
- · The final operating conditions to protect the marine environment at Point Lowly will not be known for years and will be negotiated in secret.
South Australia: Labor and Liberal toe the BHP Billiton line on Roxby Downs Indenture Bill
Roxby debate exposes BHPB radioactive racism Greens MLC Mark Parnell has questioned why the SA government, under the Roxby Downs Indenture Ratification Amendment Bill 2011, is allowing BHP Billiton to continue to override the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.
The answers in Hansard reveal BHP Billiton’s continued radioactive racism and of the failure of the State to respect or to protect Aboriginal people’s interests including Aboriginal Heritage. The ALP and the Liberals voted together to prevent the Greens deleting Clause 8 of the Bill and repealing Section 9 of the Roxby Downs Indenture Ratification Act 1892:
Extracts: The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I have been advised that that is what the agreement was at the time and that BHP currently are only willing to consider the continuation of the current arrangements.
… I have been advised that BHP insisted that the current arrangements continue and they were not prepared to consider changes to that.
… I have been advised that BHP were satisfied with the current arrangements and insisted on the continuation of these arrangements, and the government did not consult further than that.
ROXBY DOWNS (INDENTURE RATIFICATION) (AMENDMENT OF INDENTURE) AMENDMENT BILL
In committee. Legislative Council, Thursday 24th November 2011. Page 4699-4717 (the second of three Hansard sections on that day re the Roxby Indenture) http://hansard.parliament.sa.gov.au/pages/loaddoc.aspx?e=2&eD=2011_11_24&c=26 Continue reading
UK govt lied about the extent of the atomic bomb tests in Maralinga
A spokesman for Rosenblatt solicitors, which is representing veterans from the UK, New Zealand and Fiji since taking up the case six years ago, said: “This is potentially very significant information for the progress of the case.”…
RAF veteran says government covered up scale of nuclear tests, Ex-airman’s evidence could prove crucial in court case against Ministry of Defence, THE INDEPENDENT, OMAR OAKES, PAUL CAHALAN 14 NOVEMBER 2011 A former RAF navigator has claimed the size of a nuclear bomb detonated during tests in the 1950s could have been three times bigger than the Government officially stated, in evidence which could that prove crucial for more than 1,000 service veterans suing the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for upwards of £100m. Continue reading
Maralinga’s hidden legacy of radioactivity AND asbestos
Maralinga sites need more repair work, files show, The Age, Philip Dorling, November 12, 2011 MORE than a decade after the Howard government declared the clean-up of Maralinga to be finished, the Australian government is continuing to support remediation work at the former British nuclear weapons test site.
Confidential federal government files released under freedom of information also show Canberra bureaucrats have at times been primarily concerned with ”perceptions” of radioactive contamination, while rejecting a request by the Maralinga Tjarutja Aboriginal community for a site near the Maralinga village to be cleared of high levels of toxic uranium contamination.
Files released by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism show that erosion of the massive Taranaki burial trench north of Maralinga, described by federal bureaucrats as ”a large radioactive waste repository”, has required significant remediation work. Other burial pits scattered across the former nuclear test range have also been subject to subsidence and erosion, exposing asbestos-contaminated debris…..
The Taranaki trench was excavated in the mid-1990s and used to bury radioactive-contaminated debris and soil, principally from numerous ”minor trials”, British nuclear weapons safety and development experiments conducted between 1956 and 1963 that caused the heaviest radioactive contamination at Maralinga. Records of a Maralinga Lands and Environmental Management Committee meeting in October last year show that ”erosion of the Taranaki trench was noted” and that repair work funded by the Commonwealth would be carried out by the Maralinga Tjarutja. An annual survey of 85 debris pits revealed that 19 pits had been subject to erosion or subsidence, with eight requiring ”major work” and at least four containing exposed asbestos…..
The released files also show that the Australian government declined requests by Maralinga Tjarutja to clean up the trials site closest to the Maralinga Village. Situated east of the Maralinga airstrip, the Kuli site was used by British nuclear weapons scientists to conduct 262 trials that explosively dispersed 7.4 tonnes of uranium into the environment……… http://www.theage.com.au/national/maralinga-sites-need-more-repair-work-files-show-20111111-1nbpp.html#ixzz1dck3m6z7
Australia’s Maralinga veterans and Aboriginals paid the price for nuclear bomb testing
Finally they can heal together, Adelaide Now, Bryan Littlely, From:The Advertiser, November 12, 2011 THEY are snapshots from a secret time. An insight into a life in one of the harshest and most secure places in Australia. The men who took these photographs at Maralinga during the series of British nuclear testing and clean-up from 1952 to 1967 carry them proudly. Most also carry another legacy of this land and the controversial atomic testing that went on here.
Cancers and other conditions linked to the radiation, plutonium, burilium-laced lands that were left after the testing has claimed the lives of many of the men who were at Maralinga. In 1985, a survey found that of the 12,500 people involved in the British nuclear testing program in Australia, 11,000 had died. Hundreds of Maralinga-Tjarutja people were also forced from their homeland during the testing.
Few of the veterans remain today but the handful who have gone back to Maralinga for the Remembrance Day reunion have done so with the blessing of the traditional owners, so the two groups of people for
whom Section 400 is so significant can heal together…. Australian Nuclear Veterans Association founder Avon Hudson, the Maralinga whistleblower and advocate for compensation claims for the men, said there were only about 50 members of that association left.
“We’re nearly buggered … most of our members are old buggers like me and we are dropping off the perch,” Mr Hudson, 74, said. “We can get a bit of healing coming back here. It brings back a lot of sad memories because almost all my mates are dead but it is mixed feelings because I have a lot of good memories, too.”…
“We were sent on to that Taranaki ground zero site to test some stuff… nobody knew it was contaminated,” he said…..
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/finally-they-can-heal-together/story-e6frea83-1226193206591
Marathon uranium miner to sue South Australian government
Mining company Marathon Resources sues over Arkaroola ban, Courier Mail, Greg Kelton, From:AdelaideNow, November 12, 2011 MINING company Marathon Resources will sue the South Australian State Government over its plan to ban mining at Arkaroola in the Flinders Ranges.
The Government’s proposed ban, one of Mike Rann’s final acts as Premier, directly affected a Marathon mining lease which had been granted by the Government. Legal proceedings were issued in the Supreme Court yesterday by Kelly & Co on behalf of Marathon….. Marathon was carrying $15.8 million of exploration expenditure relating to its Mt Gee tenement in its December accounts and the Government’s decision would require the company to write off these expenses – destroying all but $500,000 of Marathon’s residual equity in one blow. While the State Government may not have a legal obligation to compensate Marathon for its expenditure, it is likely to offer an “egratia” payment for political purposes. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/marathon-resources-sues-south-australia-government-over-arkaroola-mining-ban/story-e6freooo-1226193147653
Olympic Dam “Every word of the agreement favours BHP, not South Australians” – Liberal MP
Opposition industry spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith joined the criticism of the deal struck with BHP Billiton. Mr Hamilton-Smith said, “Every word of the agreement favours BHP, not South Australians.”
Greens turn new Premier Jay Weatherill blue, The Advertiser, Sarah Martin , November 10, 2011 “……Mr Parnell agreed that the Greens did not support any expansion of uranium mining in Australia, and argued the mine could be viable without uranium exploration. Continue reading
Australia’s newest uranium mine, Honeymoon, is majority owned by Russia
Uranium One is now majority owned by the Russian’s…will they be first to sell uranium to Russia under the Howard-Putin deal that was ratified without any changes by PM Gillard & Foreign Affairs Minister Rudd against the recommendations of a JSCT Parliamentary Inquiry to not proceed with the deal ?
AUSTRALIA’S fourth uranium mine – Honeymoon in the northeast of South Australia – is up and running. Owned by Uranium One, It is the first uranium project to reach production since the Australian Labor Party scrapped its no-new mines policy in 2007.
Uranium: Greens are asking some critical questions about BHP’s Roxby Downs Indenture Bill
Greens put forward 100 amendments to gridlock mine’s $525 million, by:Sarah Martin, The Advertiser, November 09, 2011 Greens MLC Mark Parnell said his minority party was “not going to be cut short and stopped from asking the questions that need to be asked”, …. BHP says the revised Indenture Act needs to pass Parliament before the end of the year to trigger spending on preparatory work for the mine…. the Bill’s passage could be delayed until Parliament resumes in February next year…..
- WHAT THE GREENS WANT TO KNOW
1. ROYALITIES
Why did the Government lock in a royalty regime for 45 years, and why is it based exclusively on old-style production-based royalties, rather than one that captures a fair share of mining profits?
2. ECONOMIC RETURN
How good an economic deal did SA receive when BHP CEO Marius Kloppers is claiming to his shareholders that the Olympic Dam Expansion will be low cost and highly profitable?
3. PROCESSING IN SA RATHER THAN CHINA
How many South Australian jobs will be lost by not requiring BHP to process our ore here in South Australia rather than exporting it to China?
4. EXEMPTION FROM SA LAWS
Why is BHP exempt from over 20 South Australian laws that every other mining company in SA has to comply with?
5. NO URANIUM OPTION
Why wasnt a No Uranium Roxby Expansion considered when we know it is not only technically feasible, it would also mean less water and energy use and more jobs as the processing would be done here in SA, rather than in China?
6. GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN
Why isn’t there a plan to wean BHP off using 42ML/day of ancient water from the Great Artesian Basin, when they plan double that volume in excess capacity (80ML/day) from their desalination plant?
7. DESALINATION PLANT & CUTTLEFISH RISK
Why is the Government prepared to risk the breeding grounds of the Giant Australian Cuttlefish by not requiring the company to build in a different location?
8. RADIOACTIVE LEAKAGE FROM TAILINGS DAM
How can the Government claim that they have met their public commitment for the expansion to meet worlds best environmental practice when only 4 per cent of the tailings dams will be lined and the dams are designed to leak up to 8 million litres of toxic radioactive waste liquid/day?
9. RESPONSIBILITY POST MINE CLOSURE
Who will ultimately be responsible to manage the open pit, tailings dams and rock waste pile for the 10,000 years after the operations cease that the radioactive risk remains: the company or SA taxpayers, and how much will that management cost?
10. GREENHOUSE POLLUTION & RENEWABLE ENERGY
Why isn’t the company committing to any investment in cleaner energy to meet their whopping 650 MW electricity demand beyond the 57MW commitment for powering the desal plant (less than 10 per cent of total demand) to reduce their enormous increase in the states greenhouse pollution of 12-15 per cent?
Liberals kow tow to BHP ‘s poor deal for South Australia in Roxby Downs Indenture Bill
Roxby Spin vs Reality as Libs Roll-over:
1) EPA not fully independent
2) No guarantee of extra processing on site
Greens Leader Mark Parnell has accused the Liberals of ducking responsibility over the Roxby approval Bill, as more details emerge that undermine confidence in the deal signed between the Government and BHP Billiton. “The Liberals claim they could have got a better deal. Well, they still can,” said Greens Parliamentary Leader Mark Parnell.
“It is not too late for the Parliament of South Australia to insist on a much better deal for our State. We can and should amend the legislation to ratify the Roxby expansion currently before Parliament. “To roll over and pass the Roxby Indenture Bill unchanged will miss a once in a generation opportunity to get this right,” he said.
The call comes as more gaps emerge in the Government’s claims over the Roxby expansion. “The Government claims the EPA will be fully independent. Yet with this Indenture the EPA will still be operating with one hand tied behind its back,” said Mr Parnell.
“Also the Government has talked up the potential to double processing on site at Roxby Downs to 350,000 tonnes of refined copper. Yet this is not a condition in the approval and there is nothing to stop BHP Billiton ignoring that commitment in the future and export all the ore from the expansion and jobs to China. “And this is on top of locking in a ridiculously low royalty rate for the next 45 years.
“The closer we look, the more concerned we are at the very poor deal the State Government has signed on behalf of all South Australians,” he said.
Surprise, surprise, Liberal Party backs BHP’s massive new uranium mine
Opposition to back Olympic Dam mine expansion bill ABC News 8 Nov The Olympic Dam mine expansion legislation is almost certain to pass the South Australian Parliament before Christmas after winning the Opposition’s backing. The SA Liberal Party has met and decided to support the legislation for BHP Billiton to turn Olympic Dam near Roxby Downs into the world’s biggest open cut copper, gold and uranium mine.
The Opposition has decided it will allow the legislation to pass without amendment or delay. Liberal leader Isobel Redmond says her party’s support for the bill will give BHP Billiton certainty.
“There are things that maybe could have been better for the state but with the economic circumstances, with the massive debt, we felt that economically we could not afford for this project not to go ahead,” she said…..
The Minister says there is an option for Parliament to sit an extra week if needed to get the bill through.
SA Greens leader Mark Parnell says it is no surprise the Liberals have given the legislation their support. He says the Greens will ensure the tough questions are asked. “What we have to remember is that it is the biggest industrial project in South Australian history,” he said. “It’s going to be the biggest hole in the ground on the face of the planet and I think the people of South Australia expect their members of parliament to give this project very thorough scrutiny.”
BHP Billiton is to make a final decision on the multi-billion-dollar expansion early next year…http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-08/liberals-olympic-dam-legislation-mine/3651486/?site=newcastle
Effect of nuclear plants on marine life – are animal activists aware?
Indeed nuclear lobbyists in Australia operate by stealth – not least in Adelaide. ( Comment from a readerof this page) One prolific blogger comes to mind who’s a member of an animal activist group. Impressive one thinks but hopping over to Barry Brook’s website and there he is lobbying for nuclear. This duplicitous gentleman (an animal activist no less) believes it’s quite acceptable for one nuclear plant to suck up a billion marine organisms and marine life every year in the US – the Indian Point nuclear plant.
Adding insult to injury he evaded responding to the fact that “since the advent of the nuclear age in the mid-1940s, the mass of radioactive 129I (t1/2 = 15.7 Myr) circulating in the Earth’s hydrosphere has increased nearly forty fold from its natural background level of 140 kg.
“Nuclear fuel reprocessing has been by far the major contributor, responsible for releasing 5400 kg of 129I (half-life 15.7 million years) primarily into the North Atlantic Ocean. Regional and global trends in the distribution of the 129I inventory are elucidated from an examination of more than 600 determinations of 129I in environmental samples from around the world. Because the major point sources are located in Europe and the United States, more than 99% of the present 129I reservoir is distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, where both 129I concentrations and 129I/I ratios in rivers, lakes, and shallow seawater are several orders of magnitude above the preanthropogenic background.
” …………………. We model the effect of a collapse in thermohaline circulation and project a concentration increase of more than 3 orders of magnitude in shallow oceans over the 10,000 years that follow if nuclear reprocessing is to continue at the present rate. ” “Filthy water cannot be washed.” http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2010/2009GC002910.shtml#citation#citation
Olympic Dam – A detailed submission to the Roxby Downs Indenture Bill committee
SUBMISSION TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE. NECTARIA CALAN, Friends of the Earth Adelaidc /- Conservation Council of SA
Level 1, 157 Franklin Street, Adelaide SA 5000 Contact: blackwallaby@gmail.com, 26 October 2011
Re: Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) (Amendment of Indenture) Amendment Bill 2011
I ask the Committee to revisit the issue of consultation, in regards to the approval of the Olympic Dam
expansion as set out in Clause 11(3) which ratifies and approves the amendments to the Indenture. Continue reading
South Australia’s Olympic Dam Indenture scrutiny – a token effort, just for show?
Weatherill happy to widen Olympic Dam mine bill scrutiny, ABC News October 28, 2011 South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says he would be happy for groups opposed to the planned Olympic Dam mining expansion to put evidence to a special parliamentary committee.
It sat on Thursday to examine legislation which will enact the Olympic Dam indenture. The Greens say they managed to get the proceedings opened to the public, but said the committee was a farce because the three witnesses who appeared were all in favour of the mining expansion near outback Roxby Downs in South Australia.
Mr Weatherill said he would not be opposed to other groups having a say.”That’s a matter for the committee but I think we want to make this an open process as we can,” he said….
Greens leader Mark Parnell was upset the only parties invited before the parliamentary inquiry were proponents of the expansion; BHP Billiton, the Chamber of Mines and the Olympic Dam task force. He accused the SA Government and Opposition of colluding to make sure the committee only heard from those who favoured the mining project.
After the hearing, the Greens said BHP Billiton had been given an easy ride. Mr Parnell says it was a one-sided affair with little real scrutiny.
“The questions asked of BHP Billiton were about as soft as they get,” he said. “This is a multi-billion-dollar project that will go for 100 years or more and a lot of the committee’s time was wasted talking about boggy roads and grey nomads.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-27/conservationists-to-testify-over-olympic-mine/3604936
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