Anti wind farm group’s ‘sprawling and inarticulate’ tactics to try to delay King Island wind project
Judge labels King Island wind farm legal challenge ‘sprawling and inarticulate’ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-01/king-island-wind-farm-legal-challenge-too-27sprawling27/5063722 1 Nov 2013 A legal challenge against Hydro Tasmania’s King Island wind farm proposal has been described as “sprawling” and liable to create additional costs.
The No TasWind Farm group has appeared in the Federal Court in a bid to stop Hydro proceeding with its $2 billion project. Lawyers representing the group say Hydro did not have broad community support for the wind farm and it should not proceed.
Justice Duncan Kerr described the application as massively sprawling, inarticulate and likely to result in significant costs to Hydro Tasmania, without concluding anything. He has ordered the two parties to meet and narrow down the claim before returning to court later this month. Hydro wants to build 200-turbines on the island, creating the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere.
It said the project would not proceed to the feasibility study without the backing of most of the residents. The survey in June found just under 59 per cent support, which Hydro described as sufficient. The close vote prompted the opponents to launch a legal challenge to stop the project. In a statement,
Hydro says a decision on the project’s future will only be made after a feasibility study. Several studies are underway looking at whether the TasWind project is commercially and technically feasible. Hydro says the court challenge will not affect the timing of this phase.
Tribunal awards war widow pension regarding veteran harmed by Monte Bello nuclear radiation
A decision this month by the Veterans’ Appeals division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal upheld the finding that Mr Prior’s death was linked to his work with the British Nuclear Test Defence Service.
Relying on 57-year-old log books of Operation Mosaic – the code name given to the atomic weapons testing at the Monte Bello islands – as well as a witness account of the explosion and design points of the aircraft, the tribunal found Mr Prior would have suffered contamination.
The tribunal heard Mr Prior suffered from a very rare skin condition that could have been caused by ionising radiation.
Specialists said the itching and pain could be so severe as to lead to depression and suicidal thoughts, with itching permeating every aspect of live, including sleeping.
The court found “there was a connection between Mr Prior’s exposure to ionising radiation and his skin condition which caused chronic pain” and upheld the decision to award the pension.
Wife of veteran involved in Monte Bello Island nuclear test wins war widow pension JESSICA MARSZALEK NEWS LIMITED NETWORK OCTOBER 07, 2013 http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/wife-of-veteran-involved-in-monte-bello-island-nuclear-test-wins-war-widow-pension/story-fnihslxi-1226734294281A VETERAN’S wife has won a 10-year fight for the war widow’s pension after she successfully argued her husband committed suicide because of his involvement in atomic bomb testing in Australia.
The retired Air Commodore, who was stationed at Richmond in NSW and served in Vietnam, was 67 years old when he died in October 2001 – a death deemed not to attract the $840 fortnightly war widow payment. Continue reading
Trans Pacific Partnership could override Australian law, but will Abbott resist this?
The progressive think tank, the Australia Institute, put out a statement within hours of the release of the Coalition Trade policy, attacking the Coalition’s
“hidden agenda” which would see “health and the environment sacrificed for free trade”.
It highlights the threat that ISDS provisions pose to pharmaceutical, tobacco and environmental legislation in particular.
“The Howard Government successfully resisted pressure from the US Government but now the Coalition has signalled its intention to sell out Australian sovereignty.”
provisions of the Trans-Pacific partnership are increasingly encountering resistance within other negotiating nations, which are concerned that the American agenda is more about protecting the interests, particularly the intellectual-property interests, of its big corporations than it is about free trade
Abbott: Open For Business — And Multinational Lawsuits The Global Mail By Mike Seccombe
September 20, 2013 ………You’re probably familiar with the fact that a group of tobacco companies including Philip Morris brought a case to the Australian High Court, on the basis that the government had effectively stolen its intellectual property by enforcing plain packaging. It got lots of media coverage.
Less publicised is the fact that having failed in the High Court, the company now is pursuing the matter via a bilateral trade agreement signed between Australia and Hong Kong in the early 1990s, which includes ISDS provisions.
The contempt such an action shows for Australian legal process and sovereignty, says Patricia Ranald, is plain. “They’re saying: ‘We’re going to ignore the High Court, when it says we’re not entitled to compensation; we’re going to go off and find an obscure trade agreement to sue you under’.” Continue reading
Traditional owners’ court case against plan for Muckaty radioactive trash dump
Spurious excuses The rationale for the dump is spurious. There is no compelling scientific or public safety necessity for one to be built.It has been repeatedly claimed that a specialised waste dump is required to safely store low level waste (LLW) and long lived intermediate level waste (LLIW).
Most of the LLW is derived from medical isotopes used in hospitals and clinics, while the LLIW comes almost exclusively from the nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney. It is this latter type of waste that is of most concern because it is highly toxic and radioactive for a lengthy period
No Northern Territory nuclear waste dump!, En Passant Posted by John, September 19th, 2013 Despite clear opposition 
from the Aboriginal traditional owners, the push for a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, continues, write Jon Lamb and Cathy Lawless in Red Flag.
The campaign led by traditional owners to stop the waste dump is gearing up for the next stage in the fight.
On 26 August, the Federal Court set June 2014 for a case to be heard on whether the nomination of the site for the waste dump followed due process. The nuclear free campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, Dave Sweeney, told Red Flag: Continue reading
Abbott government illegal in telling Clean Energy Finance Corporation to cease operations
Clean Energy Finance Corporation could sue over Coalition shutdown It is not lawful for the new government to tell the CEFC to cease operations, says leading barrister Lenore Taylor, political editor theguardian.com, Thursday 19 September 2013
The board of the clean energy finance corporation is legally obliged to ignore a directive from the new treasurer, Joe Hockey, to cease its operation and could take the Coalition government to court if it persisted in attempts to shut the CEFC down before the parliament voted to abolish it, according to advice from a leading barrister. Continue reading
Indigenous Land Under Attack through ILUA Indigenous Land Use Agreement
Australia: ILUA Indigenous Land Use Agreement Equals Indigenous Land Under Attack http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17864:australia-ilua-indigenous-land-use-agreement-equals-indigenous-land-under-attack&catid=24&Itemid=57 Native Title lawyers and anthropologists are deceiving claimants of their true Native Title rights and interests Michael Anderson said from Goodooga on July 2:2013
Ashurst, Paladin, attack this website with legal threats. Reply from Ashurst
Among other things, the Ashurst letter accused the anti-nuclear campaigner of imputing that Mr Walker was ‘’insensitive’’.
In any case, these kinds of threats to muzzle free speech are on the rise. At a time when the mainstream media is under pressure from falling revenues, lawyers are threatening and shutting down websites around the country at an alarming clip.
Anti-nuke campaigner braces for legal blast, The Age, December 19, 2012 Michael West Ashurst is at it again.
Acting on instructions from its clients, the big law firm last month was threatening a farmer who had the hide to express his opinion on electricity prices.
This month it has been instructed to threaten a 75-year old pensioner who has spoken out against the alleged exploitation of African workers by an Australian uranium miner. Noel Christina Macpherson Wauchope, who runs the website www.antinuclear.net under the name Christina Macpherson, told Business Day she was not in a position to hire lawyers.
“I think they must have thought AntiNuclear Australia was a big organisation, but it is just me,” she said. She was particularly worried that the letter of demand said “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL NOT TO BE PUBLISHED” until we explained that there was no legal basis for expecting confidentiality from somebody who simply bobbed out of the blue with a bunch of threats and told you to keep quiet about it.
If you already had some kind of confidential or contractual arrangement with the other party, it might be different…… The price of Noel Wauchope’s concern for the people Karonga was a long and intimidating letter of demand from Ashurst on behalf of the uranium company Paladin Energy and its general manager of international affairs, Greg Walker. If she did not comply with these demands, warned Ashurst, she would face court action.
Curiously, big companies with more than 10 employees are not permitted to sue for defamation yet the concerns notice sent to Noel Wauchope complains about defamation of Paladin.
…… the Ashurst defamation partner responsible for the letter was unavailable for comment….. and did not respond to
questions. Neither did Ashurst’s public relations department. Paladin chief executive John Borshoff said he was unaware of the
letter. “I’m not aware about a 75-year old lady,” said Borshoff, “All I know is that these NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) and they are
absolutely maligning us, and we sent them legal letters”.
Neither was Borshoff aware that Paladin was unable to sue for defamation……
Among other things, the Ashurst letter accused the anti-nuclear campaigner of imputing that Mr Walker was ‘’insensitive’’.
In any case, these kinds of threats to muzzle free speech are on the rise. At a time when the mainstream media is under pressure from falling revenues, lawyers are threatening and shutting down websites around the country at an alarming clip.Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/business/antinuke-campaigner-braces-for-legal-blast-20121219-2bm74.html#ixzz2FeGIYe9h
Legal Firm Ashurst replies to the article above
27 August 2013
Dear Ms Wauchope
Thank you for giving me ths opportunity to respond to the article which you have posted on your websites. I trust that you will post this letter with equal prominence. Fairfax is no longer publishing it, has accepted that I and Ashurst acted ethically and competently at all times, and has withdrawn and apologised for the suggestions in the article to the contrary.
Your article contains a number of errors and says a number of false and damaging things about me. In particular, when I sent you the letter on 10th December 2012, I had no way of knowing who you were, as we were sending it to you as a domain name registrant. Your site appeared to be published by an organisation. Further, I at all times acted in accordance wit proper legal practise, and my professional obligations to my client.
I hope that you will rethink your decision to continue to publish incorrect and harmful allegations about me.
Kind regards
Ashurst lawyer
Editor’s note: I don’t understand why Fairfax withdrew the article from their online publication, as I thought that the article was true. I understand that the journalist who wrote that article stands by the story and has not accepted the claims made by Ashurst’.
June 2014 date for Muckaty nuclear waste dump plan court hearing
Date set for court fight over Muckaty nuclear waste dump http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-26/court-date-set-for-nuclear-waste-dump-fight/4912730 26 Aug 2013, A date has been set in the Federal Court case of Aboriginal traditional owners fighting plans to use their land as a nuclear waste dump.
The site on Muckaty Station near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory is the Federal Government’s preferred site for Australia’s first radioactive waste facility. Beyond Nuclear Initiative spokeswoman Natalie Wasley says the month-long trial has been listed for June 2014.
“After eight years that’s a big relief for traditional owners and the community who have had this nuclear cloud hanging over their heads,” she said.
She says submissions being made this week will determine whether pre-trial evidence needs to be taken. Ms Wasley says those involved are hoping the trial would be held near the proposed site.
“It’s very important for people that they give the best evidence possible, and of course that it’s close to the site that’s being discussed,” she said.
Legal case drags on, as Aboriginals fight for their land, against radioactive trash dump
Court date marks eight-year NT nuke fight http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/court-date-marks-eight-year-nt-nuke-fight/story-fni0xqi4-1226679665473 16 July 13 FOR Dianne Stokes, it was fitting that the eight-year anniversary of a fight to stop a Northern Territory nuclear dump was marked by a brief and frustrating court appearance.
Ms Stokes, an elder with the Yapa Yapa people, is one of the traditional land owners taking action to stop the federal government dump proposal, which is earmarked for Muckaty Station. She was present on Monday when the Federal Court heard a delay in an anthropologist’s report may push back a 2014 trial date.
Ms Stokes says the traditional land owners’ complaints to the government had for years fallen on deaf ears. “It’s been a long struggle, many years of struggling to say we didn’t want the waste to come to our land when no one is listening,” she said outside court in Melbourne.
But she said new Resources Minister Gary Gray had agreed to visit the site and meet community members – a move she welcomes. “We’re going to try to hassle him until he comes down,” Ms Stokes said. “It’s a spiritual country, it’s a cultural land and it’s a very strong belief we have in that county.”
The waste dump was originally planned to be built in South Australia, but in the face of local opposition the federal government sought to relocate it to the NT. A site at Muckaty Station, about 110km north of Tennant Creek, was flagged as a possible site.
Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Dave Sweeney said Mr Gray’s visit was a step forward in the conflict, but that it signalled a “change in tone, not necessarily a change in policy”.
Mr Gray declined to comment.
The parties will return to the Federal Court for another directions hearing in August.
Human Rights lawyer seeks justice for Australia’s Maralinga nuclear veterans
Australia: Last chance of justice for nuclear veterans http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/236534/Personal+Injury/Last+chance+of+justice+for+nuclear+veterans 03 May 2013 by Joshua Dale An appeal to the Australian Human Rights Commission by Australian military veterans arising from Britain’s nuclear bomb tests in the Outback is gaining momentum.
Lodged by Stacks human rights lawyer Joshua Dale representing several hundred nuclear veterans, the appeal asks the commission to find the government of the 1950s and 60s breached their human rights by ordering them to be exposed to deadly radioactive fallout. Continue reading
Shakeups in the Assange legal case
to publicly discuss the case.
“If an Australian High Court judge came out and spoke on a case the court expected or was likely to judge, it would be regarded as absolutely outrageous,” he told Fairfax media.
WikiLeaks characterized the judge’s lecture as part of the Swedish government campaign against Assange, following Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt’s recent visit to Australia.
“The head of Swedish Supreme Court campaigning on a case they expect to judge with $ from the embassy in the run up to an election,” the group wrote on Twitter.
Assange legal shakeup: Prosecutor walks, Supreme Court judge to speak out on case RT March 28, 2013 The lead Swedish prosecutor pursuing sexual assault charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is no longer handling the case, media reports revealed. Her departure comes as a top Swedish judge is set to speak publicly on the ‘Assange affair.’ Continue reading
NUCLEAR VETERANS APPEAL TO AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Frank Walker, 21 Feb 13, Lawyers representing 295 military veterans and their families afflicted with terrible health problems due to the British nuclear tests carried out in Australia between 1952 and 1963 are taking the case to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
They argue the Menzies government breached their human rights by ordering them to be exposed to the harmful effects of radiation in full knowledge of the potential damage to their health.
Joshua Dale, a human rights law specialist at Stacks/Goudkamp in Sydney, said the decision to host the nuclear tests and order Australians to be used as virtual guinea pigs breached three articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Australia signed at the United Nations in 1948.
They are:
Article 3: The right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 5: The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 25: The right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services……
“We’ve been fighting for redress for nuclear veterans and their families for years, but after the UK courts rejected an appeal for damages last year we’ve embarked on this one last avenue for justice,” Mr Dale said.
“We hope the AHRC will examine the case and recommend to the government that it right the wrongs that have been done to these people over decades, and provide compensation and the gold card for medical assistance.
“The nuclear veterans have suffered higher death rates, higher cancer rates and worse health problems than the general population. The effects of the nuclear tests are still going on today. Many effects of radiation are hereditary, and children and grandchildren of the nuclear veterans have been afflicted with health problems and deformities.”
NUCLEAR VETERANS CASE BACKGROUND INFORMATION Continue reading
Australian Greens support call to Human Rights Commission, for justice for Maralinga atomic bomb test veterans
Justice for nuclear testing victims is long overdue http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/justice-nuclear-testing-victims-long-overdue 21 Feb 2013 | The Greens today expressed support for the bid by Australian veterans exposed to British nuclear tests in Australia to secure compensation through the Human Rights Commission, and renewed their call for the British to compensate all victims of atomic weapons testing.
Greens spokesperson for nuclear policy Senator Scott Ludlam wrote to the office of British Foreign Secretary William Hague five weeks ago urging him to give Act of Grace payments to the victims and wrote to Mr Hague again today.
“The hopes of Australians exposed to nuclear testing were dealt a blow by a UK court ruling against compensation in January. The people exposed to the testing at Maralinga and other sites have been denied adequate compensation on onerous and fastidious technical grounds. Justice has been delayed too long,” said Senator Ludlam.
“The Menzies Government knew these people would be exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. The findings of the 1984-1985 Royal Commission support the claim that the Australian authorities, along with the British, deliberately put Australian personnel in harm’s way, and certainly showed no regard for the Aboriginal people living in the area.
“The human rights of those subjected to this treatment were violated. They and their children have paid a terrible price in terms of radiation-induced illness. The Australian personnel involved have proven to be 23 per cent more likely to have cancer than the general population, and 18 per cent more likely to die from cancer.
“The people exposed to the tests were done a great wrong and time is of the essence. They should not incur further indignity due to inability to pay medical costs, nor the further expense and delay of the legal pursuit of long-overdue justice.
“This blight on the history of both the United Kingdom and Australia has gone on too long and the opportunity to make things right will pass us by unless taken now.”
Injustice of Britain’s refusal to recognise harm done by atomic bomb testing in South Australia
UK servicemen, Australian soldiers and civilians, including Indigenous people, all exposed to radiation as a result of British atomic weapons testing in South Australia’s outback.
“We had a skin rash, sore eyes, diarrhoea, vomiting and a lot of people got sick, and we couldn’t prove that, because we never had doctors.”
The Australian Greens’ nuclear spokesman Scott Ludlam says the dangers of radiation are well known and it’s unfair to ask Aboriginal people with scant medical records to prove a direct link between exposure to fallout and subsequent sickness.
Senator Ludlam says legalities aside, Britain should do what’s morally right, by way of an Act of Grace – a discretionary payment to remedy the suffering he says is evident.
AUDIO Aboriginal people exposed to British nuclear tests in South Australia during the 1950s are being told they have no hope of compensation. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1729400/Maralinga-compo-collapse-prompts-calls-for-Act-of-Grace 23 JAN 2013, – SOURCE: KAREN ASHFORD, SBS
(Transcript from World News Australia Radio
Aboriginal people exposed to British nuclear tests in South Australia during the 1950s are being told they have no hope of compensation.A British law firm says their cases cannot proceed because medical science cannot conclusively prove that fallout from the tests made people sick. But while legal arguments may not prevail, pressure for a settlement on moral grounds is growing. It’s pressure that the UK government is so far resisting, as Karen Ashford reports. Continue reading
Former Prime Minister Howard aimed to take away any real land rights from Aboriginal people
In his endeavours to protect country for non-Aboriginal people, John
Howard was unclear and ambiguous as to “which land areas should be
classified in the ‘national interest’, but (this) was done with a
clear desire to take away any rights for Aboriginal people”
Australia: Howard Knew Aborigines Had A Sovereignty Based Land Right
Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources, 2012, 3 Jan 2013,
A prominent Aboriginal sovereignty campaigner argues that former prime
minister, John Howard, amended the Native Title Act in 1998 because he
was fully aware of the inherent power of Aboriginal peoples based on
their continuing sovereignty.
“With the passage of time it is now painfully obvious that former
Prime Minister, John Howard, fully realised that Aboriginal peoples
maintain a very powerful position in Australia,” Michael Anderson
writes. Continue reading
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 