Serious security implications in Australia’s sale of uranium to India
Old mistakes in New Delhi: Australian irresponsibility and Indian uranium sales, Online opinion By Dave Sweeney, 5 Sept 14, Before jetting off to India today to sign a controversial uranium export deal set in motion seven years ago by John Howard, Prime Minister Tony Abbott made an extraordinary admission. “If we are prepared to sell uranium to Russia, and we’ve been prepared to do that in the past, surely we ought to be prepared to provide uranium to India under suitable safeguards,” he told ABC television last night.
Despite assurances of ‘peaceful purposes’, this sales deal has serious nuclear security implications. Even if all goes well, and in the shadow of Fukushima that is a big assumption, it will free up India’s domestic uranium stocks for military use and do nothing to advance Indian non-proliferation or reduce the continuing tension with nuclear rival Pakistan.Yes, Mr Abbott, Australia has unwisely provided uranium to Russia in the past. But instead of this becoming a justification for opening up new uranium sales in increasingly insecure and conflict-prone regions we should instead be drawing a lesson about the need to tread more carefully with our uranium supplies in the future.
Uranium is not just another mineral. It fuels nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons and it all becomes nuclear waste. As home to around a third of the worlds’ uranium supply Australia’s decisions matter and this is an important moment to comprehensively re-consider the domestic and international costs and consequences of our uranium sales.
Tony Abbott has no excuse or mandate to put the promise of small time corporate profit ahead of the reality of severe and sustained human and environmental radioactive risk. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=16656
World leaders call for new effort on nuclear disarmament
New push needed to stop nukes: leaders http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/new-push-needed-to-stop-nukes-leaders/story-fni0xqi4-1227048054634 4 Sept 14 FORMER prime ministers, foreign and defence ministers have urged all nations to put new effort into nuclear disarmament.
THE call comes as Prime Minister Tony Abbott prepares to sign a nuclear co-operation deal with India despite that country not having signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Twenty-nine political, diplomatic, military and scientific leaders from 14 Asia-Pacific countries have signed what has been called the Jakarta Declaration on Nuclear Weapons.The declaration urges all nuclear-armed states, and allies such as Australia who rely on their nuclear protection, to commit to “no first use” of nuclear weapons.It also calls for a convention to be negotiated making the “no first use” a binding commitment by the US, Russia, China, India, North Korea and Pakistan.
As Asia is the only region in the world where nuclear stockpiles are growing, the group urged at least a freeze on present arsenals, and their reduction over time to the lowest levels “consistent with maintaining minimum effective retaliatory capability”.All nuclear-armed states should also take their nuclear weapons off high operational alert and separate warheads from land and air-based delivery vehicles.
Group convenor, former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, said a renewed sense of urgency was needed to deal with the risks posed by the world’s 16,000 remaining nuclear weapons.”It’s time for leaders to listen, and act,” he said.The Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament was formed in 2011.The declaration text was agreed in Jakarta on August 18 and released on Thursday.Signatories include former NZ prime ministers Geoffrey Palmer and James Bolger, former Australian PM Malcolm Fraser, former Pakistan joint chiefs of staff chairman Jehangir Karamat and former Indian foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh.
Nuclear deal between Australia and India – video link
Video lnk India-Australia seal nuclear deal 05 Sep 2014 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-now/daily/india-australia-seal-nuclear-deal/videoshow/41810657.cms
Australia’s environment groups call for abandoning sales of uranium to India
URANIUM SALES TO INDIA Friends of the Earth is today releasing a joint statement (attached) from leading environment groups calling on the government to abandon plans to sell uranium to India or any other country refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty − the centrepiece of the global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament architecture.
The statement notes the harm suffered by Indigenous people, workers and the poor at the hands of the nuclear industry in India; brutal state repression of peoples’ movements against nuclear projects; and the inadequacy of labour laws and environmental protection regulations in India.
Gem Romuld, Nuclear-Free Campaign Co-ordinator with Friends of the Earth, said: “Having visited India and spoken with many people living in the shadow of dangerous nuclear plants, and witnessed their heroic resistance to brutal state repression, I am appalled that the Abbott government is implicating Australia in these gross human rights abuses.”
“There is strong public opposition to uranium sales to India − a 2012 Lowy Institute poll found that 61% of Australians opposed uranium sales to India, with just 33% in support. A 2008 Lowy Institute found that 88% agreed that Australia should only export uranium to countries which have signed the NPT.”
“India accounts for just 1.4% of world uranium demand.[1] Claims from government and industry that the uranium deal will result in a jobs bonanza and significant export revenue must be exposed for the lies they are. Likewise, claims that uranium sales to India will indirectly boost trade by fostering trust and goodwill ignore the fact that bilateral trade grew six-fold from 2000−2011 despite Australia’s principled ban on uranium exports to countries refusing to sign the NPT.”[2]
“India’s nuclear safety regime is ‘fraught with grave risks’, India’s Public Accounts Committee said in a report last year, adding that the country’s nuclear regulator was weak and under-resourced. In 2012, India’s Auditor-General found that 60% of regulatory inspections for operating nuclear power plants in India were either delayed or not undertaken at all.”
“There are further risks arising from domestic and international political tensions. For example, transport of uranium ore from India’s Bagjata mine to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited processing plant was suspended after an ore-laden truck was torched by Maoists on 7 May 2014.”
“Australia should be helping India shift towards a future that it renewable[3] not radioactive,” concluded Ms Romuld.
(Under pressure from The Greens) Australia bans uranium sales to Russia
Australia bans uranium sales to Russia Yahoo 7 News September 3, 2014, Australia has banned uranium sales to Russia over its actions in Ukraine while announcing it will set up an embassy in Kiev and may offer military assistance.
The announcement by Prime Minister Tony Abbott came just days after Canberra said it would toughen its sanctions against Moscow so they match those of the European Union…….The Ukraine crisis will be a key topic during a NATO summit in Wales this week attended by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
She said a decision on whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin should be invited to the Group of 20 summit in Brisbane in November was still some way off, as opposition to his presence grows.
Bishop said she would be speaking with NATO members to canvass opinion, but there was time for the Russian president to prove why he should still be at the table.
“But the point is this, there are a number of international meetings before the G20,” she said, pointing to the APEC forum in Beijing and the East Asia summit in Myanmar.
“I think we’ll have a better idea of the international community’s attitude and indeed President Putin’s attitude to attending these meetings before we consider the G20.”
Bishop added that as the rotating G20 host Australia’s role was to “consult and to reach a consensus”.
“But we are some way from that decision and of course we take soundings, and I’ve no doubt people will raise it with me, but it is not Australia’s call,” she said.https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/24890268/australia-bans-uranium-sales-to-russia/
AUDIO: Government uncertainty about Renewable Energy Target is damaging the entire energy industry
AUDIO Energy generators says the uncertainty surrounding Renewable Energy Targets is killing investment in the industry ‘http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bushtelegraph/ret/5716206A Central Victorian community which built its own renewable energy project may seek compensation from the Federal Government if Australia’s Renewable Energy Target is cut.
A review headed by climate sceptic Dick Warburton last week called for a drastically reduced target for renewables.
While the government will have to negotiate with minor parties in the Senate to make any changes, the uncertainty about the target has seen some projects mothballed or made unviable.
Two thousand members of the Hepburn community invested a total of $10 million dollars on two wind turbines to achieve energy self-sufficiency.
While local children invested smaller amounts of $100, some community members poured up to $50,000 of their life savings into the project.
Founding chairman of the wind farm project, Simon Holmes a Court, says the turbines were expected to start generating returns of around seven per cent later this year, but will be economically unviable if the Renewable Energy Target is cut.
‘Returns from renewable energy investments are already crashing because of the review. The community feels let down that a policy introduced by the Howard government in 1997, that has enjoyed bi-partisan support at successive elections, is now going to be dismantled.’
‘The review is a sham. It’s like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.’
Simon Holmes a Court says he’s now got no choice but to fight for compensation ‘if our members’ investment is damaged any further.’
Meanwhile a group of farmers at Crookwell in southern New South Wales has shelved plans to build 47 wind turbines.One of the group, Charlie Prell, says he was hoping the turbines would make his farm more sustainable as well as providing construction and service jobs in the surrounding community. ‘Climate change is real and I as a farmer am going to suffer dramatically the effects, so it made sense to do something about it.’
‘If the government tries to implement the recommendations of the review, there won’t be any investment in renewables.‘However the general manager of corporate affairs with the Energy Supply Association of Australia, Andrew Dillon, blames the RET for an electricity over-supply in Australia resulting in declining investment in renewables.
Andrew Dillon concedes that policy uncertainty is damaging to the industry as a whole.
‘Our members are always loathed to recommend the government start chopping and changing policies half way through.
Modern Australia’s ‘defining moment’ was in 1973 – with multiculturalism
Modern Australia’s defining moment came long after First Fleet , The Conversation Benjamin T. Jones Historian at University of Western Sydney 4 September 2014
“……….Independent identity emerges
Australia may not have a neat date from a legal point of view, but perhaps Australians can find a defining moment in their cultural history. The Liberal governments of the 1960s slowly dismantled the “White Australia” policy before Gough Whitlam’s government removed its final remnants in 1973. Whitlam’s charismatic immigration minister, Al Grassby, definitively declared:
It is dead. Give me a shovel and I’ll bury it.
Grassby introduced the term multiculturalism to the Australian political lexicon and it became the government’s official policy. Following the Whitlam dismissal, the incoming Liberal government of Malcolm Fraser kept and strengthened the policy. This was demonstrated most dramatically in the wake of the Vietnam War when thousands of Vietnamese asylum seekersarrived by boat and were resettled.
Australia passed a nation-defining moral test in the 1970s. Having rejected the inherent racism of White Australia and abandoned the desire to create a homogenous British mono-culture, Australians opened their arms and hearts to a new philosophy that sees the beauty in diversity……
1788 was not our defining moment. Rather, some two centuries later, we let old Australia fade into history and took our first steps into the new.
Through social pressure and political leadership on both sides, we decided that in new Australia our neighbours could be the Smiths or the Nguyens. Multiculturalism has brought to Australia a richness and diversity that Arthur Phillip and his reluctant fellow voyagers could not have fathomed.
As I stand before my classes in Bankstown, Parramatta and other suburbs of western Sydney, I see smiling faces from every background imaginable. I see the next generation of Australian leaders and am thankful to live in a multicultural society…….Overwhelmingly, multiculturalism has been an Australian success story.
Perhaps we do not need to go back to the days of empire to find our defining moment. Some 40 years ago, we took a bold stand as a nation and we see the benefits of it every day.http://theconversation.com/modern-australias-defining-moment-came-long-after-first-fleet-31160
Indigenous Land Council describes as ‘paternalistic’ the approach of Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest
Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest consults on Indigenous disadvantage report, ABC Indigenous, By Gavin Coote September 04, 2014“…….The acting CEO of the Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council, Jenny Thwaites, said she is sceptical about Mr Forrest’s approach to providing employment opportunities for remote Indigenous people.
“His experience has not been in developing small sustainable businesses run by Aboriginal people, which is what is needed in Wilcannia,” she said.
“This is just another case of train people, so they’ve got enough certificates to wallpaper their houses, but don’t necessarily guarantee employment.”
Ms Thwaites said she is doubtful Mr Forrest has a silver bullet solution to providing employment for the community.
“His experience in providing employment is in mining, and unless there’s something I’ve missed, there isn’t any mining happening around Wilcannia,” she said.
“He has a totally paternalistic view of the way to overcome issues in Aboriginal communities.”
The “marching” movement is becoming an influential voice in Australian politics
the electoral “people power” channeled through the March movement is becoming an influential voice in Australian politics.
Find out more about March Australia on their website marchaustralia.com or get involved by emailing info@marchaustralia.com.
The March Australia movement has declared the latest round of ongoing protest rallies against the Abbott Coalition government to be an inspiring success for “people power”.
Angered by Government policy, people took to the streets in 27 locations around Australia this weekend, from the state capitals to the more traditionally conservative regional centres such as Bega, Bathurst and Cairns.
Tens of thousands joined the marches, the fourth cluster of rallies since March. Continue reading
40.000 people march against the Abbott government
March in August protests against Abbott government held across Australia http://www.news.com.au/national/march-in-august-protests-against-abbott-government-held-across-australia/story-fncynjr2-1227042928586
THOUSANDS of Australians have rallied at March in Australia protests around the country this weekend, protesting against the Abbott government after almost one year in power.Protest organisers say around 40,000 people have marched at 31 locations, including capital cities and tiny regional towns…..
MORE: Tens of thousands turn out for March in March protest against Abbott government3 AUGUST 31, 2014
Thousands of protesters in Hyde Park for ‘March Australia’ rally August 31, 2014 Angelo Risso Thousands of protesters descended on Hyde Park on Sunday for the third instalment of the “March Australia” rallies.
Following the success of marches in March and May, which drew over 10,000 people to each event in Sydney, the rally brought its usual share of colour, noise and creative placards but numbers appeared to be down.
Signs with the phrase “Team Humanity” – a play on Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s call for migrants to sign up for “Team Australia”, were prominent……. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/thousands-of-protesters-in-hyde-park-for-march-australia-rally-20140831-
Thousands join March Australia protest in Brisbane Brisbane Times, August 31, 2014 Marissa Calligeros Thousands of protesters have marched through Brisbane’s CBD to coincide with a wave of anti-government rallies across the country.
Between 4000 and 5000 people attended the March Australia rally in Queens Park on Sunday to send a strong message of protest against recent state and federal government policy decisions, while similar gatherings were held in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.
Protesters marched down Adelaide and Edward streets calling for the repeal of the Newman government’s controversial anti-association legislation, as well as an end to its asset sales agenda…….March Australia is a non-partisan independent alliance of citizens groups, which does not limit its objectives to a selected list of policy issues, but encourages supporters to attend rallies to lobby for all issues that are important to them. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/thousands-join-march-australia-protest-in-brisbane-20140831-10aler.html#ixzz3CDHO5cTH
Australia’s Renewable Energy Target review – a love letter for the coal industry
Renewable energy target review an exercise in fossil thinking “ SBS News, by Greg Jericho 1 Sept 14 Thus, clearly it needs to be completely gutted.…..In essence, the report finds that the RET is working very well – indeed, better than expected – and is having a minimal impact on prices. Moreover, it could even lead to lower electricity prices after 2020.
The report is a love letter for the coal industry. It argues that because demand for electricity is decreasing, coal and other non-renewable energy generators need to be protected from would-be new entrants – i.e. renewable energy entrants not new non-renewable ones.
It therefore recommends the scheme be stopped for any new entrants, which if the government agreed, would in a stroke kill any new investment in the industry and put at risk the returns on investments already made on the presumption the RET would not be changed. ….
It’s hard not to think Greg Hunt is in his job purely for window dressing. He was the bloke in the Liberal Party who seemed to actually agree with the science on climate change, and so Tony Abbot found him useful to placate that small section of would-be LNP voters who cared about the issue.
He kept his role as environment spokesperson in opposition and as Minister in government. The only price to pay was to trash everything he had previously advocated. It’s a price he has willingly – nay, eagerly – paid.
And thus far he has been the most redundant minister in the government. …..http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/09/01/comment-renewable-energy-target-review-exercise-fossil-thinking
Australia has a “normal” government? Not really – and they know it!
It’s anything but ‘situation normal’ for the Government The Drum By Paula Matthewson 1 Sept 14 Why is the Government so determined to repeal the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, when both public sentiment and the Senate aren’t on side? Paula Matthewson writes.
One glance at the work program for this week’s sitting of the Senate belies the Abbott Government’s claim that they’re operating under “situation normal”.
More than 20 pieces of legislation are listed for debate in the Upper House compared with just six in the House of Representatives.
The same occurred at the beginning of last week when a similar number of Senate bills were flagged for consideration, only to be pared back once the lay of the land began to emerge……..
In cases such as the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which Palmer vowed to protect when announcing his climate action policy alongside Al Gore, the Government has quietly dropped the bill to abolish the CEFC off the legislative agenda altogether.
Similarly, the bill to abolish the Climate Change Authority has gone missing in action. This is not only because Palmer intends to oppose the bill; he also plans to amend it to introduce his Claytons emissions trading scheme.
The risk to the Government is not so much from Palmer’s ETS, which will be killed off anyway once it reaches the House of Representatives, but in having to publicly oppose a Palmer initiative……..
Having followed the lead of his occasional kennel-mate, the Motoring Enthusiasts’ Ricky Muir, Palmer has committed to protect the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Unlike the mysteriously disappearing repeal bills for climate action entities now protected by Palmer, legislation to repeal ARENA is due to be passed by the House of Representatives early this week. Then it will be debated in the Upper House once a senate committee reports on its review of the legislation on Thursday.
But if Palmer remains true to his word, the votes of his bloc combined with that of Muir will stymie the attempted repeal. It’s difficult to see how this predestined impasse constitutes a sensible use of the Senate’s time when there are at least 20 other pieces of legislation awaiting consideration.
What makes the Government’s apparent stubbornness to fight a losing battle on ARENA all the more curious is the release late last week of the Warbuton Review into the Renewable Energy Target. The review outcome reinforces the perception that a battle over renewable energy presents the Government only with a lose-lose proposition.
According to the report, the RET has encouraged investment, created jobs, put downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices, and contributes only about 4 per cent to electricity bills. It’s greatest flaw, depending on one’s perspective, is to transfer wealth from the fossil fuel industry and its aging fleet of generators to the much newer renewable energy industry, including the 1.3 million households that have installed solar panels on their roofs.
The Abbott Government may not have taken into consideration the influence the burgeoning adoption of rooftop solar may have on voters’ support for renewables. A recent Newspoll found 95 per cent of respondents thought renewable energy was a good idea, although only 31 per cent were prepared to pay more for their electricity to support renewables development.
Ironically, households’ unwillingness to pay more for electricity is the main driver for the uptake of rooftop solar…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-01/matthewson-its-anything-but-situation-normal-for-the-government/5709300
Purpose of the Renewable Energy Review – to promote the coal and gas industries
The RET review cares only about coal profits, not renewable energy Greg Jericho Monday 1 September 2014 theguardian.com The review did not conclude that the RET had failed to fulfil its objectives, rather it decided that the objectives were irrelevant Let’s not beat around the shrubbery: the review of the renewable energy target (RET) led by Dick Warburton was a sham designed from the very start to conclude that the RET should be wound back. If you don’t agree with the overwhelming scientific view on climate change you are not going to feel any great need for Australia to bother about pursuing renewable energy. Instead, you’ll view renewable energy as an optional extra – and that view permeates the RET review.
The RET was not implemented because of some random desire to force businesses to use electricity generated by a more expensive method. It was introduced by the Howard government in 1997 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It was included as part of “the largest and most far-reaching package of measures to address climate change ever undertaken by any government in Australia”.
Thus, if you think climate change is all a bit of a scam driven by the UN and NASA with an assist from the Bureau of Meteorology and a vast majority of the world’s scientists, media and governments, then your position on the need for renewable energy is rather altered.
Which brings us to Dick Warburton, a man who told the ABC in Februarythat he was “sceptical” of “the claims that man-made carbon dioxide is the major cause of global warming”.
Warburton of course says his views had “no bearing on this report at all”. But it is clear that they did, because throughout the report there are logical inconsistencies which have the RET judged against different criteria than its purpose. The review is also founded on the view that renewable energy is something needed only if the demand for electricity requires it…….. the review did not conclude that the RET failed to fulfil its objectives, rather it concluded that the RET’s objectives were irrelevant……..
given we no longer have a carbon price, it would seem the report is putting all its faith in the government’s Direct Action emissions reduction fund (ERF). However, the government has not modelled the cost of abatement under that plan; thus the review’s conclusion that there are “lower cost options” is utterly reckless……..
The reality is that this report didn’t give a stuff about renewable energy, or the reduction of carbon emissions. It cared about the profits of coal fired power generators, laughably suggesting the RET might in time cause their profits to fall so low that they would reduce spending on maintenance.
If the government accepts the review’s recommendations to either close the scheme to new entrants or to severely adjust the cap, it can only do so on the basis that its direct action will achieve the same goals more efficiently.
But to do that it needs to show us the modelling. Otherwise they’re just selling us snake oil. http://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2014/sep/01/the-ret-review-only-cares-about-coal-profits-not-renewable-energy
Michelle Evans tells why she marched for a better Australia
Why I marched in Bathurst today for a Better Australia August 31, 2014 by michellemevans “……..I am standing here today to make my voice heard. The current government is not speaking for me, they don’t speak for my family, they don’t speak for my values nor my hopes and dreams for our country.
It is disgraceful that the budget put forward by the self declared Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs cuts more than half a billion dollars from funding to Indigenous affairs……….
Another strategic cut made by the Abbott government is to Indigenous democracy.
The National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples has been defunded altogether……….
We require more than words to effect impactful and sustainable change in Indigenous affairs. Cutting funding has sent your message loud and clear – these services, programs and people do not matter. We need to ask ourselves who is this government representing?
We are gathered here today to speak up and speak out.
Government efforts to silence grassroots organized representative voices like our community controlled services, our representative bodies, our not for profit organisations are not going to be tolerated by me/by us………
My dream is to see Australia free of the shackles to England, to see our land, our home become a Republic that recognizes in law the First Australians. That is why I am marching today for a better and fairer Australia………..http://michellemevans.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/why-i-marched-in-bathurst-today-for-a-better-australia/
Who benefits is the Renewable Energy Target is scaled back?
From a commercial point of view the fossil fuels sector seems to have the most to gain if the RET is scrapped or scaled back.
The Climate Institute, Australian Conservation Foundation and WWF Australia commissioned independent modelling that found weakening the RET could result in $8 billion in additional profit to coal and $2 billion to gas generators.
Renewable Energy Target: Who benefits from scaling back the scheme?NEWS.COM.AU AUGUST 30, 2014 THE renewable energy sector is powering along but not everyone seems to be happy with how successful it has been.
title=”2014-08-30T11:48:00+10:00″>So far the Federal Government has pumped $9.4 billion into supporting the Renewable Energy Target (RET) and, since 2001, the amount of electricity produced by clean energy has almost doubled.
In July, South Australia got nearly half its electricity from wind and solar, and Australians’ take-up of small-scale systems such as home solar panels, has already exceeded levels anticipated for 2020………
title=”2014-08-30T11:48:00+10:00″>There are widely differing predictions about whether electricity bills will go down or increase if the RET is scaled back. It may just stay the same.
Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne has criticised the review, headed by climate sceptic Caltex Australia chairman Dick Warburton, who has rejected suggestions his personal views coloured his work.
Senator Milne suggested the review’s recommendations reflected the fact that “clean energy is proving way too good at making coal obsolete”.
“The RET review is part of the dinosaur protection racket – an $8 billion favour for Tony Abbott’s mates in the fossil fuels sector, at the expense of clean technology,” Senator Milne said.
“To protect his big-business mates Tony Abbott got rid of the carbon price, making it free to pollute, and now he’s destroying the market for renewable energy.”
WHO BENEFITS? Continue reading



