Exceptional sea level rise on the Perth coastline.
Perth’s sea levels on the rise, Dec 05, 2012 WA Today In 2011, Sea levels on the Perth coastline are rising at three times the global average, the latest State of Australian Cities report shows.
In a statistic that federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese described as “disturbing” and “extraordinary”, readings since 1993 have indicated sea levels are rising by between nine and 10 millimetres per year. The global average is around three millimetres per year…….
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perths-sea-levels-on-the-rise-20121204-2asue.html#ixzz2EEy5FBXH
Toro Energy has to work hard to get financing for Wiluna uranium project
Toro pushes back financing on Wiluna ninemsn 29 Nov 12Toro Energy has pushed back financing negotiations for its proposed Wiluna uranium mine in Western Australia, as it waits for the federal government to decide the fate of the project. The move comes a month after WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion granted final environmental approval
for the state’s first uranium mine, in the Mid-West region.
Development can go ahead if Mr Marmion’s federal counterpart, Tony Burke, gives it the nod and the company’s board makes a final decision to proceed.
Managing director Greg Hall said the company anticipated a decision from Mr Burke by the end of the year after the minister delayed his decision by 30 days. “We anticipate it will take longer to secure a financing arrangement and hence it will take longer to make that investment decision in late 2013, Continue reading
Aboriginal run anti uranium organisation, from the bush to Toro Energy’s board room
A delegate from the West Australia Nuclear Free Alliance* will attend the Toro Annual General Meeting today in Adelaide to raise local concerns about their proposed Wiluna uranium mine in WA.
Vicki McCabe from Leonora and the WANFA committee said “We have fought against uranium mining in WA for a long time. We don’t want uranium mining on our country and want no part in the nuclear industry, not now not ever.”
“This country is far away from Perth or Adelaide, but it is our home. The Government say uranium is too dangerous to go through Fremantle, or Geraldton – Toro want to truck uranium right past my house in Leonora. If uranium is not good enough for Fremantle then it’s not good enough for the Goldfields.
Kado Muir, WANFA chairperson and Ngalia man from south of Wiluna said “When we’ve asked for assurance from Toro Energy that there won’t be any damage to the country they can’t provide it. Toro say to the Traditional Owners that if things go wrong they can sue them. That is no assurance that is a slap in the face.”
“Communities are stuck between a rock and a hard place – Native Title doesn’t allow you to stop an unwanted development on your country but it forces people into consultation. Companies like Toro are interested in ticking boxes and looking good but what they’re really doing is dividing and rail roading” concluded Mr Muir.
*WANFA is an Aboriginal run organisation representing communities across WA who are concerned about uranium mining. www.wanfa.org.au
Small but courageous bare protest against US military base in Perth.
NO MORE WARS – CHEEKY PRESENCE AT SAS BARRACKS, SWANBOURNE 13th November This morning a group of women bared all outside Swanbourne Barracks, headquarters of the SAS, to deliver a peaceful message in advance of the visit of Leon Panetta, United States Secretary for Defence.
The un-named women, bearing the letters of NO MORE WARS across their buttocks, are concerned at the military build-up which will be subject of AUSMIN discussions over the next two days between the United States and Australian governments, taking place in Perth.
“We know that Leon Panetta is scheduled to visit the SAS headquarters at Campbell Barracks, so we wanted to get in ahead of security forces, to let him, his Government, our Government and the public know that there are hundreds of thousands of Australians who do not want our country further embroiled in wars of the United States’ choosing.
“We do not want an “upgrade” of Stirling Naval Base to suit U.S. Navy requirements, meaning more warship visits, some of which carry nuclear weapons and are powered by nuclear reactors.
“We do not want further “interoperability” which suits the United States war-fighting plans, but not necessarily the requirements for the defence of Australia.
“We do not want to see U.S. marines on Australian soil, nor further military exercises which are damaging to our environment.
“What’s happened to Australian sovereignty? Gone missing in action, while U.S. forces get the nod.
“Not in our name,” the women concluded.
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For further information, contact Kerrie Ann: 0401 909 332
Western Australian govt making some strangely anti-commercial decisions on energy
Dumb and dumber energy choices in the wild West, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 7 November 2012 The Western Australia energy system can proudly lay claim to some notable firsts for Australia. In 1986, it opened the nation’s first commercial wind energy plant near Esperance. Just last month, the state government formally opened the nation’s first utility-scale solar farm near Geraldton.
Now it may have a new but less admired “first” – a power plant that is built, but doesn’t operate, and is paid for by a state-sponsored tariff imposed on consumers. The Perth-based company Merredin Energy is in the throes of completing an 82MW peaking plant near the wheat-belt town of the same name. It is being built at an estimated cost of $95 million and proposes to use expensive and highly polluting diesel fuel, but it may never be switched on.
And if it isn’t, its owners might not care – under WA’s capacity payments system, they’ll likely make enough money simply for being there – around $15 million in its first year. In fact, they might prefer if the plant wasn’t used. Some analysts suggest it would difficult to run the diesel plant at a profit – even during critical peak periods – given the sky-high cost of diesel and the fact that WA power prices rarely jump to more than $300/MWh. Continue reading
Toro borrows up big from Macquarie Bank for uranium venture
Toro raises $12m in debt , Yahoo News, 2 Nov 12 Toro Energy has raised $12 million through a convertible debt facility with Macquarie Bank.
Toro said the raising would boost its coffers to $19.5 million, which would be used to fund the completion of a definitive feasibility study for the Wiluna uranium project and finalise negotiations with potential joint venture or funding partners.
Managing director Greg Hall welcomed Macquarie Bank as a significant new stakeholder in Toro and said he looked forward to working with the investment bank in moving the Wiluna project through to financing phase… http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/15274840/toro-raises-12m-in-debt/
Aw gee shucks when I say “No” to nuclear, I mean “Yes” – Martin Ferguson
Ferguson says no to nuclear power THE AUSTRALIAN AAP October 24 The Australian government remains opposed to nuclear power, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says. RESOURCES Minister Martin Ferguson has ruled out Australia pursuing nuclear energy as an increasing number of states open the door to uranium mining.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman on Monday reneged on an election commitment to uphold a 30-year ban on uranium mining in his state, saying Mr Ferguson’s urging and the federal government’s moves to sell uranium to India prompted his decision.
Mr Ferguson told the National Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) Conference in Perth on Tuesday that a wide range of clean energy technologies including CCS would be part of the nation’s future, but not nuclear power, which was expected to fall in cost.
“The Australian government has basically said we are committed to all potential forms of clean energy from an innovative point of view, other than nuclear, which is a proven clean energy technology,” he told reporters…..
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/ferguson-says-no-to-nuclear-power/story-fn3dxiwe-1226501691026
Western Australian Labor party’s weak opposition to uranium mining
Uranium mine: ‘more than the issues we’ll lock on to’ Green Left , October 20, 2012 By Alex BainbridgeTwenty-four hours after telling the world that “people need to start showing some respect for the environment they live in”, WA environment minister Bill Marmion showed what he meant by that statement by approving Western Australia’s first uranium mine The October 9 decision gives state approval to Toro Energy for its Wiluna uranium mine. The mine still requires approval from the federal Labor government, but the state approval is considered to be a major hurdles passed.
The state Labor opposition tries to walk both sides of the street, claiming it is opposed to uranium mining but promising not to close down any mines approved by the current government. This stance contrasts with the policy WA Labor had under its previous leader and is a marker of the shift to the right under Mark McGowan.
Socialist Alliance candidate for Willagee Sam Wainwright said this is a mistaken policy. “Labor should be threatening to reverse approval for the mine and promising to utilise every democratic means possible – including the power of the people – to avoid paying a cent in compensation.
“At the moment, Labor is just giving comfort to the uranium industry and promising to give them a toe-hold to maintain their existence – just as the Bob Hawke government did in 1983 with their ‘Three mines policy’…… Anti-Nuclear Alliance of WA spokesperson, Marcus Atkinson told Green Left Weekly that after protesting at Toro, the group moved to state parliament where they were joined by Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary Steve McCartney who spoke against the approval.
Other speakers included former Greens senator Jo Vallentine and anti-nuclear campaigner Mia Pepper.
ANAWA is planning to contest the mines development in every possible way, including a possible legal challenge….. http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52565
Uranium mining in Western Australia – the Barnett Government’s Betrayal
The Premier has shown his colours this week by attacking the Renewable Energy Target and supporting a half-baked scheme to mine toxic material and sell it to a dangerous industry that is in terminal decline. The Wiluna project makes no sense whatsoever on an economic level as well as an environmental level.
10 October 2012 The Western Australian Minister for Environment has handed down his flawed decision to approve the Toro Energy Wiluna Uranium Project today. This mine, if not stopped, will be the first uranium mine to open since the change in uranium policy by the Western Australian Government in 2008.
The State Government has failed to place adequate conditions on mine closure for Toro’s Wiluna Project. Toro has not revealed estimates of future mine closure liability and has not submitted a final rehabilitation plan. Despite the scarcity of water in the area, the Minister failed to determine adequate water resource for the life of the mine. Continue reading
Australia’s first utility scale solar energy plant – but we lag behind USA
Australia lags US by four years in solar roll-out, First Solar says. SMH, October 16, 2012 First Solar, the biggest maker of thin-film panels, said Australia is four years behind the US in building large solar farms and expects its
project with General Electric to help spur the industry’s expansion.
First Solar is supplying panels to the 10-megawatt Greenough River project in Western Australia, the nation’s first large-scale solar plant. The GE- and Verve Energy-owned solar project, which started this month, may increase capacity to as much as 40 megawatts, the companies said Oct. 10.
“This is less about the size and more about the fact that we now have a utility-scale solar project in Australia,” Jack Curtis, First Solar’s Sydney-based vice president of business development, said . “The local industry can now look to this project and see they can be developed, that they can be executed. It will provide local operational data that can be used to bring the rest of the industry along.” ….. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-lags-us-by-four-years-in-solar-rollout-first-solar-says-20121016-27pih.html#ixzz29ZyKNn6y
Many a slip twixt Toro’s plan and uranium mining at Wiluna in Western Australia
The Anti Nuclear Alliance of WA said it would fight in court the approval granted by WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion yesterday.
the mine cannot make money at current low uranium prices and the company, valued at only $86.5 million, did not have the financial capacity to clean up the mine if it was unprofitable
“If Toro falls over at Wiluna, who cleans it up? It either doesn’t get cleaned up, which is unacceptable, or it gets cleaned up at public expense,” Mr Sweeney said
Green protests at Toro HQ over mine approval Rhianna King, Nick Evans and AAP, The West Australian
October 11, 2012, A group of about 25 protesters marched outside the West Perth offices of Toro Energy this morning to express their anger over the approval of WA’s first uranium mine.
Environmentalists and trade unionists walked from Toro’s headquarters to Parliament House, chanting ‘Toxic Toro, you’ve got to go.’ Conservation Council of WA Nuclear Free campaigner Mia Pepper said green groups would not give up until the State Government’s decision was overturned.
“This proposal has no complete mine closure plan or costings, it will run out of water in seven years and no alternatives have been evaluated, scientists are still naming a new plant species found near the mine site, and Toro are yet to finalise their transport management plan,” she said.
“This is not a credible plan. It is a half-baked, half-assessed shambles driven by a political agenda and is not based on good science or evidence. Continue reading
Solar energy farm up and running in Western Australia
Hip hip array! First solar farm opens in WA SMH, October 10, 2012 Australia switched on its first utility-scale solar farm today, a small step on the way to achieving ambitious renewable energy use targets that traditional coal and gas power producers are now fighting to soften.
The Greenough River Solar project, just outside the small town of Walkaway in Western Australia is a joint-venture between WA state-owned Verve Energy and US conglomerate General Electric. It is expected to generate 10 megawatts, enough to power 3000 homes. Continue reading
Aboriginal elders of Western Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (WANFA) fight uranium mining
WANFA’s Elders speak out from Kutunatu Ngurra http://indymedia.org.au/2012/09/22/radiation-exposure-looming-for-wiluna Gerry Georgatos Traditional Aboriginal Elders have never been more concerned about the sovereign risk to Country, and of its very health, with the loom of uranium mining. The Western Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (WANFA), made up of Aboriginal Traditional Land Owners from the Pilbara, the Kimberley, the Goldfields, the Great Victorian Desert, the Central Desert, the Gascoyne, Perth and the South West, and alongside their supporters, have declared “that it is a must do in preventing uranium mining on Country.”
The WANFA met for its annual conference on September 16 at the registered sacred site of Kutunatu Ngurra camp just outside of Leonora, in the ochre heart of Western Australia.
WANFA chairperson Kado Muir said, “(The Elders and Traditional Land Owners) support Aboriginal sovereignty across all Aboriginal territories in WA. The State Government and its industries need to respect the basic human rights of Aboriginal peoples.”
Mr Muir said that everyone is concerned in light of the “fast-tracking of the Toro Energy Wiluna uranium project assessment.” Mr Muir had invited Environment Minister Bill Marmion to meet with WANFA representatives, Elders and land holders but he declined. “He shows an unwillingness to engage with our local Elders and community,” said Mr Muir.
Despite one approval after another, and the dismissal of appeals, by the Government to the prospective uranium miners Mr Muir said that WANFA is determined “to stop the poison of uranium mining contaminating Aboriginal lands.”
Mr Muir said that WANFA will “challenge the Australian Uranium Association’s Indigenous Dialogue Group who are representing the industry rather than a true Aboriginal community view.”
“We will also continue to expose anthropologists, archaeologists and pro-industry consultants who attempt to validate negligent practices of the mining industry.”
“We want our Land Councils, Native Title representative bodies and Native Title organisations to fulfil their legal requirements to be accountable, transparent and representative of their communities views.”
Ultimately, WANFA is calling for an independent public inquiry or royal commission into uranium mining. “We need an inquiry and it will be called for, and when this happens then maybe Governments and the nuclear industry will be forced to stop minimising and trivialising the dangers of radiation,” said Mr Muir.
Western Australian Aborigines fear radiation pollution from Wiluna and Yeelirrie uranium mining projects
Radiation exposure looming for Wiluna http://indymedia.org.au/2012/09/22/radiation-exposure-looming-for-wiluna 22 Sep 2012 By Gerry Georgatos Perth Western Australia Gerry Georgatos – courtesy National Indigenous Times – nit.com.au “They are going to kill our people, some will die quickly, some by a thousand cuts,” said Wiluna Elder Glen Cooke.
“We don’t want Maralinga all over again where our people will be hurt and die sick and young, and for decades the truth hidden.” “If they bring uranium out of the ground at Wiluna and radiation to our people many of our young children today will be tomorrow’s Yami Lesters.”
Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project’s final environmental approval looks near certain from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the uranium mine will become the front runner for more uranium mining throughout Western Australia and predominately on Aboriginal lands where communities continue to thrive – for now.
The many years-long ban on uranium mining in WA has been lifted.
Angst has ripped through Aboriginal communities State-wide and especially at Wiluna and Yeeliree.
“The Government has not said that they cannot guarantee against radiation poisoning of our people,” said Mr Cooke. EPA chairman Paul Vogel said radiation exposure for people living near Wiluna would be “very low”.
Yeeliree Traditional Owners and chairperson of Western Australians Nuclear-Free Alliance (WANFA), Kado Muir said all the Elders from across WA who make up WANFA cannot believe the “high risk” claim by Dr Vogel of “very low” radiation exposure risks to communities nearby the proposed Wiluna mine. “There are no genuinely safe levels with radiation – radiation exposure at any level is bigger than exploding dynamite. Chernobyl and Fukishima didn’t get it safe, so what makes us think Australia will? This is our peoples lives they are putting at real risk, not theirs.”
“How many Western Australian communities have suffered lead and aluminium poisoning from leaks along freight routes and from refineries, and it was said risks would be contained but they weren’t? They skyrocketed past base levels and with uranium a thousand times more dangerous, what are they saying? Are they mad? Uranium belongs in the ground, not above it.”
“Don’t our peoples, our communities, our Country matter to these Boards?”
The EPA claim to have tightened conditions around the uranium project after an independent appeals committee made 21 new recommendations after appeals were made by independent groups, the Conservation Council of WA and WANFA and its Elders to the EPA decision to approve Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project.
Canadian company CAMECO is also seeking approvals to mine uranium on Mr Muir’s Tradtional Country – Yeeliree.
WA environment minister Bill Marmion said nine appeals had been lodged against the EPA decision in May. The EPA has three uranium proposals before it. “I am satisfied the appeals committee has carefully considered all the matter raised in the appeals and have accepted their recommendations,” Mr Marmion said in a statement. He said he would consult the Radiological Council and the Ministers for Indigenous Affairs and Health
Tor Energy may face legal action against its Wiluna uranium mine plan
Uranium plans may spark legal stoush http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-21/uranium-mine-plans-may-spark-legal-stoush/4274134 Sep 21, 2012 The Conservation Council of Western Australia says it will consider legal action to prevent Toro Energy’s proposed Wiluna uranium mine going ahead.
The group says the State Government has not responded adequately to appeals lodged against the project, which is set to become WA’s first uranium mine. The council’s Mia Pepper says the group will pursue a range of avenues to ensure its safety and environmental concerns are addressed. Continue reading
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