Anti science in the ear of Australia’s Prime Minister
Modern Monetary Theory … macroeconomic reality Bill Mitchell – billy blog 17 Aug 14 “………Yesterday, we were confronted with the ranting Maurice Newman in an Op Ed in Murdoch’s The Australian newspaper – We’re ill-prepared if the iceman cometh.
Newman is the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council. He has been behind the establishment of major conservative think tanks in Australia and is not a scientist (has a background in finance).
He is on the record as saying that those who believe that climate change is occurring and presents a serious challenge are trapped in “uncritical group-think” (Source).
His position on climate change has hardened and in December 2013 he wrote:
… the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change progressively has applied mass psychology through a compliant media to spread the delusion that wicked Western industrialists are causing irreparable damage to the climate. Crowds go cold on climate cost
Yesterday’s article continues his campaign. He is now asserting contrary to what most scientists consider to be a reasonable interpretation of the research, that the world is cooling as a result of solar activity. The same activity that he claims is responsible for the period of warming over the last 50 years.
He considers that there is “growing evidence that climate change is determined by the sun, not humans”. He wants the Government to start cutting funding towards “biased research to pursue gesture politics”. That funding “has inflicted serious damage on economies and diminished the West’s standing and effectiveness in world affairs.”
He also opposes investment in renewable energy…….” http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=28711
Federal Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane admits the disastrous mess of efforts to impose nuclear waste dump on Muckaty
Failed Muckaty nuclear dump process ‘a disaster’, Federal Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane says, ABC News, August 14, 2014, “……..Ian MacFarlane added that if there were no takers for a dump in the NT by September he would “throw open it to all Australia”. Mr MacFarlane has been in the Territory to speak with Aboriginal land councils about proposals to nominate a new site after the Federal Government withdrew its nomination of Muckaty Station north of Tennant Creek as the site for Australia’s first nuclear waste dump in June.
Mr MacFarlane said a dump would be a lucrative opportunity but would only consider nominations that were uncontested…….
Dave Sweeney of the Australian Conservation Foundation said the process should lure people to consider the dump out of financial circumstance.
“We should have a process that’s based on evidence, not enthusiasm. We should have a process that isn’t a race to the bottom of which community desperate and seeking some revenue puts their hand up first,” Mr Sweeney said. https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24715167/failed-muckaty-nuclear-dump-process-a-disaster-federal-industry-minister-ian-macfarlane-says/
Risk to crops from radioactive dust contamination from Yorke Peninsula Hillside mine?
Uranium dust’ from Yorke Peninsula Hillside mine could contaminate crops, campaigners say ABC News, By Malcolm Sutton 15 Aug 14, Fears that dust from a planned mine on Yorke Peninsula could contaminate crops with low-level uranium and potentially travel as far as Adelaide have been raised by campaigners.
The YP Landholders Group said an estimated 3 million kilograms of dust produced annually by Rex Minerals’ Hillside copper, gold and ore mine could include radioactive uranium and its decay products, called radon gas and radon daughters.
Chairman Stephen Lodge cited a joint paper written by United States doctor Dale Dewar that found “long-lived radioisotopes” from uranium mines could spread on surrounding land via dust and the water used for dust suppression.
Mr Lodge said Rex Minerals’ own documents acknowledged the existence of uranium on the site near Ardrossan………
Mr Lodge said the level of uranium considered safe was constantly being downgraded and feared guidelines could be breached as a result.
“YPLOG is asking Rex to guarantee there will be no increase in background radiation, radioactive dust or radiation levels in rainwater tanks as a result of the Hillside operation,” he said.
He warned that Rex Minerals’ decision last week to consider scaling back the project’s initial stages did not mean the full mine would not go ahead, and people needed to be aware of the risks……
Tony Abbott’s intentions clear – wants to scrap the Renewable Energy Target
Abbott’s Praise Of Coal All You Need To Know About Renewable Energy Target Review Clean Technica August 11th, 2014 by Joshua S Hill Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott initiated a review of the country’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) less than six-months into holding office. Months later, and Australians are waiting with baited breath for former Reserve Bank board member, and arguable climate-skeptic, Dick Warburton and his committee to hand down their recommendations in the next week or so.
However, Tony Abbott’s intentions already seem pretty clear — and if you’re part of Australia’s renewable energy community, or at all interested in Australia contributing to healing planet Earth, then you’re not likely to be too happy…….
in May a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance found that scrapping the Renewable Energy Target could have dramatic ramifications on consumers and employees if Abbott decides to move that way.
As the time until the review board hands down its recommendations regarding the Renewable Energy Target, I’ve been waiting to see just how bad it will turn out. There is no doubt in my mind that Tony Abbott will move to redraw the RET, but just how far he feels he can go is a matter of opinion…….http://cleantechnica.com/2014/08/11/abbotts-praise-coal-need-know-renewable-energy-target-review/
BHP guzzling precious farming water for uranium mining
BHP Billiton’s thirst triggers an outback water fight THE AUSTRALIAN, Sarah Martin Political Reporter Adelaide 9 Aug 14 SHANE Oldfield kicks the red rocks on his vast, dry pastoral lease north of Marree where he raises organic Angus beef for export.
The outback Clayton Station in northern South Australia has always been marginal farming land. With an average of 10cm of rain a year the property is dependent on water from the Great Artesian Basin in dry years…….. (subscribers only)
UK film star Emma Thompson blasts Tony Abbott on Climate Change
Tony Abbott climate change is REAL I’m standing on it’: Actor Emma Thompson blasts the Prime Minister from the Arctic http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2719575/Tony-Abbott-Climate-change-REAL-Im-standing-Actor-Emma-Thompson-blasts-Prime-Minister-Artic.html‘
- Oscar winning British actress, Emma Thompson is currently travelling the Arctic as part of a Greenpeace campaign
- The 55-year-old help up a sign calling Tony Abbott to act on climate change
- Ms Thompson is visiting retreating glaciers in the area alongside her 14-year-old daughter
- The group hopes to use their visit to draw the public’s attention to the impacts of climate change on the area
By LILLIAN RADULOVA, 8 August 2014
Conservation Council of South Australia welcomes Bill for Renewable Energy on Pastoral Lands
Green group cites ‘huge potential’ in pastoral land renewable energy projects http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-07/green-group-cites-huge-potential-in-pastoral-land/5654982 7 Aug 2014, The Conservation Council of South Australia says a bill backing renewable energy developments on SA’s pastoral lands will help to diversify regional economies.
The Legislative Council this week passed the Pastoral Land Management Bill, which aims to make it easier to build wind farms or solar energy projects on pastoral properties.
Conservation council chief executive Craig Wilkins says there is huge potential to expand the state’s green energy sector.
“A lot of leaseholders actually do want to have some choices and they want some opportunities and renewable energy does provide the diversified income and another string to their bow,” he said.
“So it makes sense for them to be given opportunities where it is appropriate and where it doesn’t impede on other activities.
“The potential is huge and going forward there is really an exciting story to tell about South Australia.
“We actually are one of the world leaders in terms of renewable energy and in terms of how much renewable energy is in our mix and we think we can go even further.”
The Legislative Assembly still needs to consider the bill.
Australia’s wind power is cheap: solar is getting cheaper!
Solar energy may soon be less expensive than wind power in Australia http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/solar-energy-may-soon-less-expensive-wind-power-australia/8518954/ 5 Aug 14 FirstSolar predicts that Australia’s solar power sector will continue to see price drops in the coming years Stephen Vagus –
Solar energy may become less expensive than wind power in Australia in the coming years, according to First Solar, a developer of solar power systems. Australia is currently a very attractive market when it comes to solar power, largely due to the country’s near constant exposure to solar radiation. The Australian government has recently reduced its support of solar power, but investments in new energy projects from the private sector have remained somewhat strong.
Predictions from First Solar are based on Australia’s renewable energy target
First Solar predicts that large-scale solar power projects will account for the majority of the clean energy capacity in the coming years. The company also believes that the cost of solar power will drop significantly by 2020. This prediction is based on Australia’s renewable energy targets. The country intends to produce some 41,000 gigawatt-hours of electrical power from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, by 2020.
Renewable energy target is encouraging the formation of new energy projects and spurring technological progress The country’s renewable energy target is encouraging the development of new energy projects throughout Australia. It is also promoting advances in clean technology, helping make photovoltaic technologies less expensive and more available. There are concerns, however, that the country’s renewable energy target may be significantly revised or removed entirely due to changes in the government.
Politics may affect the future of Australia’s solar power sector
Renewable energy is often subject to the whims of politics. Changes in a political climate can often affect whether or not clean energy projects have the financial support they need. Politics can also have an impact on how the private sector chooses to invest. If Australia’s renewable energy target is removed, private investors may become more cautious of the future of solar power, withholding their financial support until the energy sector has more concrete support. Given the current political climate of Australia, the future of solar energy is somewhat uncertain, though the country will likely continue to support renewable energy as a whole well into the future.
Radioactive racism raises its ugly head again, with Bob Hawke’s “import wastes” plan
Hawke/Giles international dump plan entrenches radioactive racism Less than two months after the controversial and long-running Muckaty radioactive waste dump battle was settled ,with the federal government agreeing not to act on the proposal, former-PM Bob Hawke has used an appearance at the Garma festival to suggest dumping the world’s nuclear waste on Aboriginal land is the only way to lift communities out of poverty.
“Mr Hawke has disingenuously put forward the idea that to end disadvantage Aboriginal communities must accept responsibility for hosting the world’s worst industrial wastes. These comments are a perpetuation of the same kind of racist disregard for the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal communities that allowed atomic testing to take place on Aboriginal lands in the South Australian desert, and continue to see communities subjected to the environmental and health risks of uranium mining and contamination” said Lauren Mellor, nuclear-free campaigner with the Environment Centre NT.
“It is little wonder that Hawke’s efforts at a treaty with Aboriginal Australia failed when the best plan he can envisage for lifting communities out of poverty is to offer a toxic trade-off for access to basic services that all other citizens enjoy. This really demonstrates how bereft of responsible policy ideas some politicians are, both in regards to tackling Aboriginal disadvantage and dealing responsibly with the nation’s growing radioactive waste problem.”
Beyond Nuclear Initiative convenor Natalie Wasley added, “It is clear from Mr Hawke’s comments that NT Chief Minister Adam Giles learned nothing from the eight year campaign by Muckaty Traditional Owners to keep their country free of nuclear waste. If he has been secretly canvassing locations to dump the world’s nuclear waste in the Territory he should make this position public and be judged on it by Territorians, who are overwhelming against the idea of hosting a nuclear dump.”
“There is no easy fix to both the complex issue of Aboriginal structural and economic disadvantage and dealing with the nation’s nuclear waste problem. If Hawke and Giles want to show true leadership on these issues they can start by backing calls made by Australia’s peak environment, public health and trade union groups to establish a radioactive waste management commission to examine the most scientifically credible and fair ways of managing nuclear waste into the future,” Ms Wasley concluded.
Contact:
Lauren Mellor, Nuclear-free NT Campaigner 0413 534 125
Natalie Wasley, Beyond Nuclear Initiative convenor 0429 900 774
Australian government paralyses renewable energy industries in uncertainty over Renewables Target
Renewable energy ‘dead’ as industry waits for target policy July 25, 2014 Matthew Raggatt Reporter at The Canberra Times Leaders of the nation’s sustainable energy sector have warned the industry is doomed if the federal government fails to commit to the renewable energy target, with approved projects in danger of never being built.
With the government due to receive the report from a review of the Renewable Energy Target within days, Australian Solar Council chief executive John Grimes said policy uncertainty had already hurt investment.
“The big projects today in Australia are dead, and the only prospect of reviving them is to shift the federal government on this issue,” he said. “If you’ve got a government that has all but said publicly that there’ll be no more wind farms on our watch, you have no investor confidence or certainty.”
Clean Energy Council chairman Miles George said he did not expect the review to recommend the scrapping of the target, but investors were not prepared to take the risk that government would change its mind and lower the energy goal, despite confirmed opposition to this from the Palmer United Party.
Mr George, also managing director of Infigen Energy, the nation’s largest wind farm developer, said the company’s stalled Capital II wind farm at Bungendore, north of Canberra, was an example of the difficulties projects faced in attracting commitments from energy retailers required to buy the RET scheme’s large-scale certificates.
Business and mining interests united last week to call for a scrapping of the target or at least a reduction so the sustainable energy produced in 2020 was a “real 20 per cent” of the nation’s electricity. Declines in use of electricity from the grid each year since 2009 mean the current target of 41,000 gigawatt hours annually is now expected to be 28 per cent of all use by the end of the decade.: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/renewable-energy-dead-as-industry-waits-for-target-policy-20140802-zx1tc.html#ixzz39T3wFOuq
An Australian holiday for Fukushima children
Fukushima children visit Australia A group of Japanese schoolchildren affected by the Fukushima Nuclear disaster has travelled to Australia this week, as part of a trip organised by charity project. By Helen Isbister World News Radio 1 AUG 2014
A group of Japanese schoolchildren affected by the Fukushima Nuclear disaster has travelled to Australia this week, as part of a trip organised by charity project.
The Rainbow Stay Project is designed to give the children a chance to do things they can no longer do at home, due to the fear of radiation poisoning……..The group of children, aged between ten and sixteen, are here on a charity-sponsored trip.
It is world away from the ongoing fear of radiation which affects their daily lives back home………..
Kazuki says the threat of radiation still affects her life in many ways.
“I was really sad because everything was polluted by radioactive material. I couldn’t swim in the sea anymore and my mum told me to stay inside and not touch the soil.”
There have been several trips like this since 2011, thanks to a Japanese woman living in Sydney.
Yukiko Hirano set up a Rainbow Stay Project with the aim of giving the children new hope.
” I tried to invite the Fukushima children to come over to Sydney. Beautiful environment, and no fear of radiation earthquake. They can enjoy entire holiday, without fearing those kind of things.”……..Andrew Vickers is from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union which helped make the trip a reality.
“They can’t eat fish from the sea, they can’t pick up plants and flowers, they can’t touch any wild animals for fear of further radiation poisoning – so it’s not just coming to another country, it’s a totally new experience” http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/08/01/fukushima-children-visit-australia
Vanessa Guthrie hopes for miracle uranium revival. Kado Muir warns on uranium risks
Do the Martu peoples want uranium mining? Fukushima Emergency what can we do? Thursday, 31 July 2014 “……..Toro Energy managing director, Vanessa Guthrie said that there will be a swell of demand for uranium and that “the price will change – it is just a question of when.”…….Once the Kintyre and Wiluna mines are operational, every month three trucks will carry concentrated powdered ore sealed in drums and with a United Nations inventory numbers. The trucks will rumble thousands of kilometres to Port Adelaide.Ms Guthrie has been reported in saying, “It is very safe.”
“The plastic-lined drums are sealed and locked in pallets and we monitor the (radiation) exposure to the drivers who would be closest to the product.”
Ms Guthrie said the occupational limit in reference to radiation exposure is 20 millisieverts and she said driver’s exposure “would be less than one millisievert a year.”
But First Nations anti-uranium campaigner, Kado Muir said that “uranium is radioactive and poses great risks to workers, communities and the environment.”
“Uranium oxide can be very dangerous if inhaled.”
“Breaking it down to radon gas is dangerous.”
“The biggest problem is that its impacts are long-term whether from leaks or mine waste. It can get into groundwater and into the food chain. Then what will we do?”
“Every uranium mine so far in Australia has a history of spills and leaks.”
“For our people nearby uranium mines, such as on Arabunna Country, or at Jabiluka in Kakadu, if radiation fallout impacts the environment then animals and food chains will be affected and so too our towns.”
“Uranium is the asbestos of the 21st century.” …………http://fukushimaemergencywhatcanwedo.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/do-martu-peoples-want-uranium-mining.html
Newman Government’s uranium push threatens economy, health, environment and ultimately the Great Barrier Reef
Senator Larissa Waters Senator for Queensland Friday, 1 August 2014 The Newman Government’s new framework for uranium mining makes no economic or environmental sense and threatens the health of Queenslanders.“Although the framework currently says the toxic cargo will be transported all the way from Queensland to Darwin or South Australia, how long will it be until the big mining companies start pushing for export through the Great Barrier Reef?
The Conservation Council of WA has slammed the EPA approval for Kintyre uranium mine
Do the Martu peoples want uranium mining? Fukushima Emergency what can we do? Thursday, 31 July 2014 “……….“The proposal to mine uranium five hundred metres from a creek system that is part of a network of significant waterways in a national park is reckless and should not be approved,” said CCWA spokesperson, Mia Pepper.
Ms Pepper said the approval disturbingly followed the recent allegations by Martu man, Darren Farmer “that a former mine owner Rio Tinto made secret payments of around $21 million to silence Aboriginal concerns and opposition while it negotiated the project’s sale to current owner CAMECO.”
Former Western Desert Puntukurnuparna Aboriginal Corporation CEO, Bruce Hill has joined the chorus for independent inquiries into how decisions and dealings are made in native title dealings in the Western Desert. A few years ago, Mr Hill blew the whistle on a litany of alleged rorting and what most would have considered illegal activities within his organisation to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations and to the Australian Senate but eventually the inquiries petered to a standstill.
Ms Pepper said the EPA approval puts at risk human life and also “our largest national park – and would impact on scarce water resources and a number of significant and vulnerable species including the bilby, marsupial mole and rock wallaby.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation’s Dave Sweeney said that uranium mining is “a high risk, low return activity where proven risks far outweigh any promised rewards.”
“Uranium is currently trading at US$28 per lb. CAMECO has stated it will not mine unless the uranium prices reach upwards of $US75 per lb. The EPA is green lighting yellowcake when the company has stated the finances and the plan don’t stack up.”…….. http://fukushimaemergencywhatcanwedo.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/do-martu-peoples-want-uranium-mining.html
Climate Change theme for Pacific Islands Forum – Tony Abbott will not attend
Palau has joined leaders from other Pacific nations, including Marshall Islands and Kiribati, in publicly expressing disappointment with Australia’s climate change position.
Pacific leaders to discuss climate change, sustainable fishing during Pacific Islands Forum in Palau Hundreds of delegates from across the Pacific are arriving in Koror in Palau to discuss climate change, non-communicable diseases and protecting marine life. Australia Network News 28 July 14 The 15 members of the Pacific Islands Forum include several countries made up of atolls that barely rise one metre above sea level. They will be joined at the forum, running from July 29 to August 1, by observers from countries including the United States, China and India.
Palau’s President, Tommy Remengesau Jr., has declared the theme of this year’s forum to be ‘The Ocean: Life & Future’. The president’s press secretary, Keobel Sakuma, says the theme recognises the importance of oceans in everyday Pacific life. “Not only as a form of transportation and food security…but also because it connects many other issues, like climate change, NCDs, invasive species,” he said. “Everything that we’re being faced with today in the Pacific in terms of challenges relates to the ocean.”
Climate change
Last year’s Forum adopted the Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership, which commits the countries to increasing their efforts to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions by turning to alternative, sustainable energy resources.
Mr Remengesau told the United Nations in January the impact of climate change was already being felt in Pacific nations. Continue reading
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/235274195556
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 