Prime Minister Turnbull taking former PM Abbott’s policy to UN Climate Summit
PM carrying Abbott’s climate policy: Labor http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/pm-carrying-abbotts-climate-policy-labor/news-story/4e2c82a32e25422ef17a2680ff0d0c88 November 29, 2015 Labor’s Tanya Plibersek has accused the prime minister of hypocrisy for lecturing other countries about climate change ahead of the Paris conference.
The comments come as tens of thousands of protesters gather in Sydney CBD to urge leaders to take action on climate change in a series of rallies around the world.
Activists, including Australia’s Climate Guardians, still protesting in Paris, despite State of Emergency
Some activist groups plan to march at the Place de la Republic in defiance of the state of emergency. Others are looking for creative ways to make their point whilst staying within the bounds of the law.Among them are the Climate Guardians, Australian activists dressed as angels to highlight the stewardship of natural resources.
COP21: Security crackdown in Paris sees climate change protesters under house arrest, ABC News 29 Nov 15 By Melissa Clarke in Paris French climate change activists have been placed under house arrest ahead of the opening of the UN climate change conference in Paris.
Public demonstrations are banned in France under the state of emergency that was declared after the Paris terrorist attacks two week ago, in which 130 people were killed.
Green groups have described the move as “an abuse of power” but the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the activists were suspected of planning violent protests……
A delegation of environmental organisations met with French president Francois Hollande to appeal against the measures.
Greenpeace International’s executive Director Kumi Naidoo said he was “disappointed” that France’s political leadership would “choose to enable sporting events, trade exhibitions and other arts and culture events to go ahead, but with such a clamp down on the space for the biggest issue humanity faces”. Continue reading
Trans Pacific Partnership is a dud
Trans-Pacific Partnership is a fizzer, The Age, November 29, 2015 Malcolm Bosworth The Trans-Pacific Partnership text confirms the federal government’s rampant over-selling of the economic benefits to Australia. While heralded by a few, mainly food exporters for opening foreign markets, any benefits from the TPP to our economic wellbeing will be small and short-lived.
The TPP is not about multilateralism but discriminatory regionalism personified. It is further proof that efficient globalism (or multilateralism) founded on the WTO’s non-discrimination principle is being replaced by inefficient regionalism built on discriminatory Preferential Trading Agreements (PTAs). Discrimination between trading partners distorts global trade. The TPP is another nail in the WTO’s coffin and globalisation on which Australian prosperity has relied.
Negotiated secretly like all PTAs, the TPP covers under 40 per cent of world trade; major traders e.g. EU and China are excluded. It not only discriminates against non-TPP members but as a bunch of PTAs the TPP also entrenches discrimination between its parties. It is riddled with side deals, different transition periods, unequal member-specific and member non-specific tariff quotas, and incomprehensible rules of origin, just to mention some discriminatory measures. It is more about managing trade discriminatorily among members than open competition.
The TPP is a bizarre mix of confusing negotiated outcomes bearing little resemblance to globalised trade. Its complexity guarantees it will be a nightmare to administer and understand, for traders, investors and consumers. The TPP simply super-imposes a layer of discriminatory regionalism on an already overlapping and tangled web of PTAs between TPP members and non-members. Trade in the Asia Pacific, as elsewhere, will now become even more of a ‘dog’s breakfast,’ compromising global efficiency. Rather than simplifying the global trading system, PTAs like the TPP are making it less transparent and more cumbersome……..http://www.theage.com.au/comment/transpacific-partnership-is-a-fizzer-20151127-gla4t5.html
A message to Australians who care – from Australian Conservation Foundation
Dear folks – last night in Melbourne there was a great start to a weekend of mobilisation around the country demanding action to address dangerous climate change.
Safe to say fifty thousand people on the streets – big, bright, bouncy and with a strong nuke free presence.
Including this banner – lovingly refreshed by the stand out crew at FoE’s ACE collective – which again made its way along a route it has made many times over many years.
And over those years we are digging and selling less uranium, there are solar panels on one million Australian buildings, no one wants a waste dump and talk of domestic nuclear power remains just that.
So this weekend whether you are walking down a city street calling for cuts to carbon, strolling to the shops for a coffee or wandering through the bush – walk proud.
Our collective efforts have, are and will continue to make a real difference for a safer and saner future.
Best wishes for positive events in your patch this weekend- solidarity and much respect.
Dave
Dave Sweeney
Nuclear Free Campaigner
Australian Conservation Foundation
South Australia’s bushfires (a dangerous place to put nuclear waste)
SA bushfire: 35 homes destroyed, 42 ‘impacted’ in deadly blaze as roads reopen, ABC News 27 Nov 15 Insurance claims have reached $61 million as authorities confirm at least 35 homes have been destroyed and another 42 “impacted” during the deadly bushfires in South Australia’s Mid North. Fire claims the lives of two people, 19 injured The blaze, known as the Pinery fire, has now been contained.
The Country Fire Service (CFS) clarified that 35 homes had been destroyed, up from 16 yesterday, and dozens of others impacted after a spokesman addressing a press conference this morning originally said 77 homes had been destroyed.
At least 166 sheds have also been lost in the fire, authorities said……
Insurance Council of Australia said as of 9:30am, insurers had received 415 claims from policy holders, with more expected. The council’s chief executive Rob Whelan said the region’s agricultural sector had been hardest hit. “These fires have had a devastating impact on the farming community with crop, stock and commercial assets making up the overwhelming bulk of the losses so far,” Mr Whelan said…….
Bushfire seasons starting earlier a worrying trend
Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre chief Richard Thornton said the fires reflected a worrying trend of Australian fire seasons starting earlier and ending later.
He said the early start further stretched volunteer firefighters. “The core message from this is that even as early as September in some parts of our country we’re starting to see fires,” he said.
“People need to be prepared for that — not just focus on January and February being the times of peak fires.”….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-27/dozens-more-homes-confirmed-lost-as-sa-bushfire-threat-eases/6978888
Farmer Josh Gilbert goes to Paris, as rural Australia wakes up to climate change
Farmer attitudes to climate change across generations ABC Rural By Lucy Barbour 28 Nov 15 The nation’s farmers could be considered the sentinels of climate change; they are more attuned than most to long-term changes in weather patterns.
But many of them are yet to be convinced that man-made climate change is real, arguing that floods and droughts are cyclical and extreme temperatures are nothing new.
It is a view some younger producers are now challenging and they are reshaping their farming practices to suit the changing climate. Continue reading
With global warming, Western Australia faces deadly fire risk
Climate change sparks volatile bushfire season in WA
In the wake of last week’s deadly Esperance fires, the Climate Council says WA’s South West is facing a “very high bushfire risk” for the coming summer, thanks to more intense heat waves and severe droughts. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/climate-change-sparks-volatile-bushfire-season-in-wa-20151124-gl6erh.html
Global warming and El Nino set to make 2015 the hottest year on record, WMO says This year is set to be the hottest on record, due to a strong El Nino season and global warming, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/2015-set-to-be-hottest-on-record-wmo-says/6974530
Sallys Flat residents not consulted about nuclear waste dump proposal, want answers
Nuclear waste storage: Government officials grilled over proposal for historic village Sallys Flat , ABC News 26 Nov 15 Dozens of people have attended a community meeting to grill Federal Government officials over a proposal to store nuclear waste near a historic village in the Bathurst district in central west New South Wales.
Sallys Flat is one of six sites around Australia shortlisted by the Federal Government to host the country’s first permanent nuclear waste dump.
A community meeting is being held in Hill End today to discuss the possibility that the neighbouring village of Sallys Flat could be chosen to store the material.
The meeting, at Hill End’s Royal Hall, is the first chance locals have had to hear directly from Federal Government representatives about the decision to shortlist the site.
Commonwealth officials are due at the meeting to give residents a chance to find out more about the proposal.
Community in the dark, residents say
Neighbouring landowner Robyn Rayner said the entire community was in the dark about the proposal.
“To this day we have no information stating how it will affect us personally or the community as a whole,” Mrs Rayner said……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-26/sallys-flat-nuclear-waste-site-proposal-meeting/6974808
Murdoch press dumps expert climate and renewable energy writer
Murdoch strikes again: The sad demise of Climate Spectator By Giles Parkinson on 25 November 2015The Murdoch media strikes again on climate change. And this one hurts.
In late 2009, then Business Spectator boss Alan Kohler was so rapt by the response to a daily column I wrote from the Copenhagen climate summit that he finally agreed to a suggestion I had been pushing for nearly two years – the creation of a specialised site that became Climate Spectator.
It became a powerful and influential voice about the emerging role of renewable energy technologies and the business impact of climate change, a role that was expanded, improved and enhanced when Tristan Edis took over as editor in early 2012.
Six years later, and just days before the world looks to repair the disastrous outcome of Copenhagen by trying to forge a new global deal in Paris, Climate Spectator has been shut down – an apparent victim of budget cuts and editorial indifference from its new owners, Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd.
It’s unfortunate, and very sad. The Murdoch camp has sacrificed one of their most popular columnists in the Business Spectator stable; another media title has folded; and an important voice has been lost in a country where the majority of mainstream media (with a few notable exceptions) expresses an ignorance and a hostility to new technologies that is quite astounding.
Tristan Edis did a magnificent job holding the government and industry to account, countering the misconceptions peddled by the mainstream print, radio and TV media, and even puncturing a few of the wildest claims of the green lobby.
Environment minister Greg Hunt would often carry a dossier of Tristan’s writing to conferences and media events, just on the hope that he could leap on some perceived error in his columns. Tristan’s constant line has been that Direct Action is a load of cobblers and accounting tricks. There is nothing that Hunt has done to prove him wrong.
Tristan was forensic in his criticism of vested interests – the utilities and government policy in particular – and was fearless in his rubbishing of the nonsense written by influential stable-mates such as veteran columnist Terry McCrann and others on the Murdoch pay-roll.
Now, that platform, and the voice of many other fine contributors has been lost. That competition gave us at RenewEconomy some grief, but it was good for us because it kept us on our toes. Our challenge now is not to rest on our laurels, so we will continue to rely on our readers for support, encouragement, advice and criticism.
RenewEconomy will continue, with the support of our readers – averaging more than 200,000 a month – our advertisers, our partners, and our donors, some of whom happily transfer $5 a month – or more – as a sort of voluntary subscription. We thank all of you for that support.
In the short term, I’m off to Paris, along with 6,000 other journalists who applied (but only 3,000 got in). Like Copenhagen, it should be fascinating, and mighty important. And you can guess the line that the Murdoch media will take on it.
Australian Youth Climate Coalition Welcomes SA Government Commitment to Carbon Pollution Free SA by 2050, Calls for 100% Renewable Power
The Australian Youth Climate Coalition has welcomed the South Australian Government’s commitment to a zero emissions South Australia by 2050 made today following the release of the recommendations of the South Australian Low Carbon Economy Expert Panel. The AYCC is urging the SA Government to adopt the panel’s recommendation of powering SA with 100% renewable.
“It’s great to see Premier Weatherill stepping up and committing South Australia to being carbon pollution free by 2050” Dan Spencer, South Australian campaigner with the AYCC said.
“South Australia has led the way with renewable energy and we now have the opportunity to plan a just transition to 100% renewable energy and build a cleaner, fairer, job rich South Australia” Mr Spencer said.
“The government’s expert panel has recommended South Australia transition to 100% renewable energy, we now want to see Jay Weatherill take this opportunity and commit to powering SA with renewables” Mr Spencer said.
The AYCC says the SA Government’s announcement should put the pressure on Prime Minister Turnbull to do more.
“We can’t forget how important acting on global warming is and the Prime Minister needs to stop letting us down” Mr Spencer said.
“South Australia is incredibly vulnerable to the impacts of increasing heatwaves and bushfires which is why the State Government stepping up is critical, now Prime Minister Turnbull needs to act” Mr Spencer said.
“This announcement comes just days before world leaders meet in Paris to discuss action on climate change and the community will be out in force this weekend calling for stronger action. We welcome the Premier’s announcement, it’s time for the Prime Minister to up his game” Mr Spencer said.
Double jeopardy: Australian uranium deals are deficient and dangerous
Dave Sweeney, 25 Nov 15 The federal government has failed to serve Australia’s national interest or observe responsible nuclear policy by finalising controversial uranium supply deals with both India and the United Arab Emirates, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.
News of the signed agreements flies in the face of a recent government-controlled parliamentary committee report on the proposed Indian deal which recommended Australia not supply uranium to India at this time or on these terms.
The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) said a series of practical steps were urgently needed to address safety, security and legal uncertainty as a pre-condition to uranium sales to India.
“Serious and unresolved concerns have been ignored,” said ACF campaigner Dave Sweeney.
“By putting the promise of profit for uranium companies ahead of the safety of the wider community the government has prioritised nuclear interests over the national interest.
“The Foreign Minister has called the India deal ‘an important milestone’ when it is in fact a millstone and a retreat from responsibility.
“Australian uranium directly fuelled Fukushima. To fail to learn from this or apply increased scrutiny and rigour to uranium and nuclear deals is indefensible and derelict.
“These two deals are bad deals. This risky and radioactive trade lacks social license and will continue to be actively contested.”
Queensland community meetings of indigenous and non indigenous people discuss nuclear dump plan
AUDIO: Community meetings are being held in response to proposals of a nuclear waste dump http://www.nirs.org.au/NEWS/Community-meetings-are-being-held-in-response-to-proposals-of-a-nuclear-waste-dump on November 23, 2015 Cassandra Tim Journalist
Queensland – The first of four to six planned community meetings has been held in response to Oman Ama being named as one of six potential sites to become a nuclear waste dump.
The federal government is under fire from several camps about its plans to bury low levels of radioactive waste and to store higher level waste above ground in sheds in a number of proposed sites across the country.
The forum in Inglewood attracted up to 200 local residents, a lobby group consisting of several councils and alongside them was Co-Chair of the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance, Adam Sharah.
Mr Sharah says he welcomes the consultation process to engage the interests of local First Nations people and Land Councils.
He says local non-Indigenous residents used the event to voice their concern over the region potentially housing nuclear waste.
There are three nominated locations to be Australia’s first nuclear waste dump in South Australia and one each in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Adani misled tribunal – says traditional land owners
Traditional land owner tells court Adani misled tribunal over mine’s benefits
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/23/traditional-land-owner-tells-court-adani-misled-tribunal-over-mines-benefits
” … Burragubba’s barrister, David Yarrow, told a court hearing in Brisbane on Monday that the tribunal’s decision was invalid because it had been misled by Adani as to the economic benefits of the mine in Queensland’s Galilee basin. Yarrow said testimony by the company’s own expert in a separate land court case challenging the mine, including its likely creation of 1,200 jobs, differed significantly from the case Adani put to the tribunal, which referred to 7,000 jobs.
He said Adani was obliged to produce information to the tribunal that was not misleading, but that the company “by choosing one expert over another, where there is a material difference between those expert reports, was relevantly misleading”. … ”
Traditional owners appeal against native title process for Adani’s Carmichael mine http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-23/wangan-jagalingou-native-title-carmichael-mine-adani/6962964 ” … Spokesperson Adrian Burragubba said Adani dishonestly and knowingly relied on inaccurate information on the economic and employment benefits of their project. “Adani justified its
mine in the Native Title Tribunal with false claims that it will create 7,000 jobs and generate huge economic benefits,”
Mr Burragubba said. “We say today that these claims mislead the Tribunal and amount to fraud.” … David Yarrow, a lawyer for Mr Burragubba, told the court that Adani had failed to provide the Native Title Tribunal with certain material concerning the economic impact of the coal mine. … “
AUSTRALIA/INDIA U-DEAL SELLS URANIUM DIRECTLY INTO SUBCONTINENTAL NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
India-Australia nuclear agreement: supplying uranium to a nuclear flashpoint http://www.dianuke.org/john-hallam-india-australia-nuclear-agreement-supplying-uranium-to-nuclear-flashpoint/ AUSTRALIA/INDIA U-DEAL SELLS URANIUM DIRECTLY INTO SUBCONTINENTAL NUCLEAR ARMS RACE, John Hallam Nuclear Weapons Campaigner PND-NSW
The India-Australia uranium deal, whereby Australia agrees to sell uranium to India in spite of India’s not being a signatory of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and in spite of the fact that a vigorous nuclear arms race is in progress on the subcontinent, beggars belief for anyone who has been involved for decades as I have, in questions of nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, and nuclear safety.
A vigorous nuclear arms race is taking place right now on the Indian subcontinent between India and Pakistan, with Pakistan now having some 130 nuclear warheads, and India not far behind with between 110 and 120.
Pakistan has deployed short-range, war-fighting ‘mini nukes’ to repel Indian tank attacks. India has said that their use will lead to full-scale nuclear war.
India and Pakistan are poised on a nuclear knife-edge. While we can say all we like that Australian uranium will only ever be used to ‘civil’ uses, the fact is that because India has limited uranium supplies of its own (mined under appalling conditions at Jharsguda in Bihar with catastrophic effects on the health of local people) – the fact is that use of Australian uranium will ‘free up’ un-safeguarded Indian uranium for weapons use. It can be no other way, there is simply no avoiding the brute facts of arithmetic. Uranium that has been replaced by imported (Australian) uranium for nuclear power use is now available for use in nuclear weapons.
Australia has chosen to sell its uranium into the worlds most dangerous nuclear flashpoint. It has done so against the recommendations of a parliamentary joint committee.
This is a mindbogglingly foolish decision.
Aboriginal legal challenge to Carmichael coal project in Queensland
Traditional owners challenge Qld mine http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/traditional-owners-challenge-qld-mine/news-story/f243c7c4f8af7436202f40bd0e60b1d1
Indian energy giant Adani’s controversial $16.5 billion Carmichael coal mine is facing even more legal action, with traditional owners to become the latest to challenge its approval.
Wangan and Jagalingou cultural leader Adrian Burragubba will appear in the Federal Court in Brisbane on Monday to challenge a National Native Title Tribunal decision that allowed the government to issue a mining licence for the Carmichael project in Queensland’s Galilee Basin without traditional owners’ consent.
The environmental group is arguing Mr Hunt didn’t properly consider the impact emissions from burning coal will have on climate pollution and Australia’s international obligations to protect the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
15 April – Zoom –Nuclear Power is Not the Solution
Apr 15, 2026 01:00 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) on Tuesday, April 14th for a timely webinar exploring the risks associated with nuclear power and challenging the myth that it offers a simple, safe, carbon-free solution to the climate crisis
21 April Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-04-21 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-04-21 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
Event Type: Virtual
A virtual link will be communicated before the event.
Host Contact Info: australia@icanw.org
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 