An authoritative new renewable energy news site for Australia
An Aussie clean technology news site launches, Crikey.com January 24, 2012 , by Amber Jamieson, RenewEconomy, a new online publication created by former Climate Spectator editor Giles Parkinson, launched yesterday. The site aims to cover clean technology and a green economy, with new articles appearing daily and a free email newsletter available.
Prior to Climate Spectator, Parkinson served as business editor and deputy editor at The Australian Financial Review and penned columns for The Australian and The Bulletin.
There’ll be more of a focus on technology over the politics of climate policy in this new venture, Parkinson tells Crikey….. Parkinson predicts readers will come from industry, government, media, academia and think tanks, telling Crikey ”it’s a reasonably focused audience, it’s not the general public.” Having said that, Parkinson noted that topics like solar panels and electric cars are capturing the attention of the wider public and there’s a growing interest in the business community…… http://blogs.crikey.com.au/rooted/2012/01/24/an-aussie-clean-technology-news-site-launches/
Aborigines will march for land rights on Invasion Day 26 January
Aborigines plan street protest to revive calls for sovereignty, SMH, Debra Jopson, January 21, 2012 ABORIGINES angry about having neither a place in the constitution nor a treaty are set to use Australia Day to revive street protests like those of 40 years ago that gave birth to the Canberra tent embassy, a leader of the nation’s peak indigenous body has warned.
”Next week people will be asked that question: will they want to start up political action, particularly with a hostile government, and go back to street demonstrations of 1972? And the answer is likely to be yes,” said Les Malezer, the co-chairman of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.
Mr Malezer, a firebrand who was elected as the co-chairman of the new body alongside the more moderate former NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs head Jody Broun, said that the report commissioned by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, recommending constitutional change would ignite a bigger debate.
But as thousands are expected to head to Canberra next week to commemorate the Australia Day occupation of the Parliament House lawns four decades ago, the government showed no intention of wanting to discuss wider issues of sovereignty, treaty and land rights, Mr Malezer said.
The congress, established by indigenous people themselves to succeed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission as a national voice, is reviving long-time calls for sovereignty and self-determination with a two-day Canberra ”people’s forum” from Tuesday to coincide with tent embassy anniversary celebrations……
grassroots activists are planning a fresh sovereignty campaign and will march for land rights in Canberra on Thursday morning, the 224th anniversary of the First Fleet’s landing.
”The government is in for serious confrontation from the Aboriginal people this year … The political movement will be ramped up and will be more aggressive,” said an organiser, the tent embassy veteran Michael Anderson.
The only man living of the four protesters who first squatted on Old Parliament House lawn on Australia Day in 1972, he will sleep on the ground again in the tent city that will spring up for the commemoration.
On Thursday and Friday, campers from all over Australia will join separate men’s and women’s ”talking circles” to discuss sovereignty, a treaty and land rights, and will issue a charter of demands, Mr Anderson said.
Mr Malezer said native title had produced only small results in recognising Aboriginal ownership over lands and instead had often resulted in agreements with other groups such as mining companies over shared management……..
New danger of Rupert Murdoch gaining even more control of Australia’s media
Murdoch’s Dream Come True , AVAAZ.org 18 Jan 12, Free reign to control every last newspaper, TV and radio station in Australia — Rupert Murdoch’s fantasy could become a frightening reality unless we stand in his way right now.
A government review is recommending we eliminate ownership limits — exactly what Murdoch asked for. But we have two weeks to flood the review with objections to their plan during the public comment period before they finalise the report. Unless thousands of us speak out, the recommendations could go forward unchallenged.
Nobody — especially not Rupert Murdoch — should be allowed to own all of our media. Let’s wake up the review with our call — and prevent the Murdoch Mafia from growing even larger. Send your urgent message directly to the review. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_rupert_murdochs_dream_come_true/?cl=1513645046&v=12063
Dire economic outlook for Japan damaging Australia’s uranium industry
Japan Earthquake Update: Economic Outlook Now Appears Dire Oil Price.com, By Mad Hedge Fund Trader | Tue, 17 January 2012 “….Japan’s economic outlook now appears far more dire than I anticipated only a day ago….. The Tokyo Stock Exchange absolutely took it on the nose on Monday morning…… Prime Minister Naoko Kan has asked the Bank of Japan “to save the country.” The central bank responded promptly with ¥15 trillion, or $187 billion worth of credit
market purchases….
Uranium miners in Australia took a particular pounding, as the nuclear crisis casts a long shadow over this reviving energy source…. It looks like we are seeing the first multiple partial nuclear meltdowns in history…. Small amounts of low radiation cesium and iodine have already been released, which should be measurable on American roof tops in about ten days. Neighboring countries are enforcing radiation testing of all food imports from Japan….
http://oilprice.com/Finance/the-Markets/Emergency-Japan-Earthquake-Update-Economic-Outlook-Now-Appears-Dire.html
Mining Corporations’ lackey Martin Ferguson undermining Australia’s democratic rights
His moves to spy on peaceful anti-coal protesters is a clear case of ideology politics trumping democratic principal.
Let’s hope that he comes to feel the impact of his political manoeuvres on Election Day.
Democratic freedoms under attack from Ferguson, The Drum, James Norman, 17 Jan 12, In Australia in 2012, it seems that all pernicious roads lead to Martin Ferguson. Whether it’s selling uranium to India, dumping radioactive waste on Indigenous people in the Northern Territory or spying on peaceful protesters – chances are it has his fingerprints all over it.
In a Machiavellian twist, it seems Mr Ferguson is better able to advance his rapacious anti-environmental, pro-resource extraction agenda within Gillard’s Labor Government than his counterparts on the other side of politics – even though the Coalition would seem a better fit.
The latest revelations that Martin Ferguson has authorised spying on environmental protesters is just his latest salvo to undermine the right and might of peaceful protesters to take a stand against Australia’s continued reliance on fossil fuels……. Continue reading
Carbon emissions from Australia’s biggest polluting companies will be published
Biggest polluters face being named, SID MAHER , The Australian January 11, 2012 THE details on carbon emissions of about 500 of the nation’s biggest polluters will be published from July 1, when the carbon tax regime comes into operation.
The decision was enshrined in the legislation passed by parliament establishing the Clean Energy Future package and will be overseen by the Clean Energy Regulator….. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/biggest-polluters-face-being-named/story-e6frg6xf-1226241190799
Costly cleanup faced by mining company over Northern Territory train spill
Mining company ordered to clean up train spill, ABC Rural Radio By Matt Brann, 10/01/2012 A mining company has been ordered to clean up the site of a train de-railment on a river near Katherine in the Northern Territory. About 1,200 tonnes of copper concentrate was washed out of a freight train and into the Edith River during a flash flood a couple of weeks
ago.
NT WorkSafe has given Oz Minerals until the end of the month to clean up the mess and transport any remaining material to the South Australian border. Executive director Laurene Hull says materials which are not in the immediate vicinity of the de-railment site are not subject to the Direction. She says the company will face penalties if the job is not completed
by February.
“Yes they will be in breach of the law, but we didn’t make this direction without discussing it with them (Oz Minerals) and they’re confident they can do the job within that time.” The Country Hour has contacted Oz Minerals for comment.
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201201/s3404912.htm
Australian energy lawyers advising on renewable energy enterprise in South Africa
Aus lawyers advise on South African renewable energy programme 11 January 2012 | by The New Lawyer Lawyers in DLA Piper’s Australian practice have advised more than half of the 28 successful bidders for Phase 1 of South Africa’s Independent Power Producers (IPP) Procurement Programme. DLA Piper is the only law firm to use lawyers from its Australian practice to advise on the programme.
The renewable energy IPP Procurement Programme is a landmark project for South Africa and has been designed to stimulate the country’s renewable energy sector. The goal is to generate 42 per cent of all new electricity from renewable energy sources over the next 20 years. Technologies under consideration include solar, wind, hydro, biomass and biogas.
In advising 16 of the successful bidders, DLA Piper’s Australian team worked in partnership with DLA Cliffe Decker Hofmeyr, a member of the DLA Piper Group and one of South Africa’s largest business law firms. The globally integrated team comprised lawyers from Melbourne, Sydney, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Damian McNair, head of finance and projects in Australia led the DLA Piper team, said the firm is delighted with the recent announcement of preferred energy bidders.
“This is a prime example of a global law firm providing clients with a truly international service by putting forward integrated international teams with specific energy expertise,” McNair said. DLA Piper’s Australian team will continue to advise bidders for Phases 2 and 3 of the programme.
http://www.thenewlawyer.com.au/article/Aus-lawyers-advise-on-South-African-renewable-energy-programme/533044.aspx
Martin Ferguson helps coal lobby in setting up private spy company
a lack of evidence doesn’t seem to have stopped the federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, from successfully advocating for heavy-handed laws framed in the language of anti-terrorism, but designed to repress political advocacy.
not only does the coal industry appear to be manipulating our political and legislative processes, it continues to pollute, expand, and cause death and massive damage with impunity. For years, it has successfully curtailed government action to combat climate change.
It is the coal barons, not activists, who threaten society, The Age, Shaun Murray, January 10, 2012 Anti-coal activists pose a political threat. That’s why we’re being spied on. I’d like to know how the government can justify employing a private
company to spy on me. As an anti-coal activist, and member of one of three main community groups in Australia campaigning against the coal industry, I was alarmed by revelations in The Saturday Age that the Australian Federal Police has singled us out as a potential threat and is employing a private company to spy on us.
As peaceful community activists, we collectively have no history of or motivation to disrupt energy supply. We pose no threat to society – unlike the coal industry, which wields massive political influence and holds the greatest responsibility for the hundreds of thousands of deaths, extinction of species, and billions of dollars of damage annually that climate change is causing…. Continue reading
Australia’s climate policies – vested interests rule
Common sense is in the eye of the beholder, The Drum, 9 Jan 12, “……Climate and energy: Australian energy policy is another example of vested interests trumping the national interest. For decades, our strategy has essentially been about digging cheap energy out of the ground – and burning it.
Australia is abundantly supplied with cheap, accessible coal. As a result, three-quarters of our electricity comes from burning the brown or black stuff, in vast power-plants that spew millions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere annually.
If burning coal had no consequences for the future of the planet, there would be no problems with this state of affairs. Unfortunately, coal is made from carbon, and burning it is warming the planet. A warming climate is starting to seriously affect Australia’s agriculture, tourism and insurance industries. Australia faces a stark choice in the way it generates its energy: continue down the high-carbon path, or seek to decarbonise our economy.
At this point, the usual arguments against decarbonisation are trotted out. Climate change isn’t real. Or, Australia is too small to make a difference. Or, renewable energy doesn’t work. Or simply that it’s all too expensive. None of them stack up.
Climate change is not just real, but well underway, as the melting glaciers and permafrost attests. Australia contributes around 1.5 per cent of the world’s emissions, so we can’t solve the problem on our own. But we can work diligently in international negotiations to persuade big polluters to join us to make a difference, and we can’t do that if we aren’t walking the walk.
Finally, renewable energy can’t provide base-load power now, but it certainly could in the medium-term future. Renewable technologies are rapidly maturing, particularly in large-scale wind and solar photovoltaic, and could rapidly expand if given the right incentives.
Ultimately, energy policy is a subset of more general problem of perverse incentives in our economy. Fossil-fuel energy users don’t pay anywhere near the true cost of their damage to the environment, and hence this energy is unfairly cheap. But making dirty energy more expensive means taking on hugely influential vested interests in mining, business and the media. It also means forcing consumers to pay more for their electricity. Neither option is politically palatable. But the true costs to the economy of the changing climate are likely to be much greater….. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3762920.html
Shares falling in Australian polluting companies
Share market stumbles as euro woes return, ABC News, By Alicia Barry, January 05, 2012 “……BHP Billiton finished the session 1.1 per cent lower to $35.82…..
Also in the resources sector, rare earth miner Lynas Corp says it will know by the end of this month whether it can switch on a processing plant in Malaysia. The project has been targeted by environmental protesters about radiation fears. Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board will decide whether or not to grant Lynas a temporary license for the plant on January 30.
Shares in Lynas fell 4.5 per cent to $1.07….”http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-05/local-shares-close/3760144/?site=melbourne
Australian Greens aim to stop Future Fund investing in tobacco and nuclear weapons
Future Fund urged to go green and clean, SMH, Clancy Yeates, January 9, 2012, THE Future Fund’s investments in tobacco and companies involved in nuclear arms production face growing scrutiny this year, as the Greens step up calls for tighter rules on what assets the fund can buy. With the government facing a legal fight with tobacco firms over new plain packaging laws, the Future Fund last year said it held $147 million worth of shares in cigarette producers.
The Greens, which Labor depends on to pass legislation in the Senate, plan to increase the pressure on the fund to ditch this stake and a separate $179 million worth of shares in companies involved in nuclear weapons production….. The Future Fund last year sold its holdings in cluster bombs and land mines, including the defence giant Lockheed Martin, before a new treaty on the bombs came into force.
When the Future Fund’s general manager, Mark Burgess, was questioned about the fund’s tobacco and nuclear investments in October he said it was updating its environmental, social and governance strategy. It is understood that some government MPs are sympathetic with the Greens’ argument but the Finance Minister, Penny Wong, has stressed the need for the fund to make arm’s length investment decisions. : http://www.smh.com.au/business/future-fund-urged-to-go-green-and-clean-20120108-1pq0t.html#ixzz1izlMr6py
Oz Minerals may be prosecuted for its latest toxic spillage in Northern Territory
Toxic spill may lead to legal action BY: VERITY EDWARDS : The Australian January 02, 2012 THE Northern Territory government will consider legal action against the companies responsible for a train derailment that saw up to 1500 tonnes of copper concentrate containing uranium spill into the Edith River on Tuesday.
The copper concentrate, which is worth up to $8 million, contained up to 100kg of uranium comprising .008 per cent of its load….. SafeWork SA and the Northern Territory’s Worksafe granted OZ Minerals an exemption to carry the copper concentrate in containers known as kibbles and covered by tarpaulins after national regulations on transporting environmentally hazardous materials were introduced on April 1.
The exemption expired on December 31, four days after the train derailed in floodwaters while crossing the Edith River, 40km north of Katherine…..The Environment Centre NT co-ordinator, Stuart Blanch, said the spillage was the second time OZ Minerals’ copper concentrate had entered a Territory waterway and the company needed to be held to
account.
Spillages were reported during loading at the Port of Darwin between November 2009 and April 2010, but Oz Minerals was not prosecuted.
“On the one hand to try and prosecute them and (then) for Worksafe to give them an exemption to use tarps makes us look like Nigeria or a third world country,” Dr Blanch said.
He questioned whether the decision to grant the exemption was based on economics rather than environmental protection.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/toxic-spill-may-lead-to-legal-action/story-e6frg6nf-1226234417819
Australian renewable energy companies urged to invest in China
China shifts focus to green industry BY: ROWAN CALLICK, ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR The Australian January 02, 2012 CHINA is opening new areas of its economy to foreign investors and putting more emphasis on emerging sectors such as green energy, while downgrading support for traditional industries such as the automotive industry……
These key central government agencies say China wishes to encourage investment in strategic emerging industries. They include energy saving and environmentally friendly technologies, new-generation information technology, biotechnology,
high-end equipment manufacturing, alternative energy, advanced materials, recycling and alternative-fuel cars…..
Frank Tudor, national president of the Australia China Business Council, told The Australian the easing of controls on foreign investment was welcome news. “Australian companies operating in the areas of renewable energy and sustainable development should be assessing opportunities in this space,” he said….
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/world/china-shifts-focus-to-green-industry/story-e6frg90o-1226234392377
Salute to the passing of Australia’s champion for the rights of nuclear veterans
Ric entered hot [i.e. radioactive] zones shortly after bomb detonations, to recover target response vehicles. His duties included steamcleaning of contaminated vehicles, and for many years was the sole survivor of his squad. The direct memory of the futility of steam cleaning vehicles – forcing hot particles deeper into cracks, creases and crevices of vehicles and machines, some of which were later sold to the general public, remained with him..
.. A person of deep conviction, he was fearless in his expression of his views. Though rendered a civilian by nuclear service induced illness, he conducted himself over many years with the bearing any serving soldier would be expected to display. This standard of discipline marks both the standard of the Association he headed and the policies it pursued in the fight for justice.
The Passing of Ric Johnstone, President of the Australian Nuclear Veterans Association, Christmas Day, 2011 Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 27 Dec 11, Ric presented the case for nuclear veterans and victims without fear and with endless energy and great emotional and rational investment.
Though he was one of the very few veterans in Australia to attain some justice through successful action, he did not rest upon his own favour. Rather, he invested his life to the welfare of others, increasingly widows of veterans and their children. He never ceased explaining the case for the veterans and the case against the authorities.
Though Australia is a large country, with veterans thinly spread far and wide, and possessing diverse views, all will miss Ric badly for his total dedication to the cause. A cause made more urgent by the day.
Until nuclear veterans are fully acknowledged, the decisions of government will be made upon a false premise. 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 