Climate reality needs more than thoughts and prayers
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It has an eerily similar ring to it: “Thoughts and prayers”. Australians rightly mock this platitude when it’s rolled out by politicians after a mass shooting in the US, but now our own Prime Minister saw fit to present this meaningless line for victims of the bushfires on the mainland. Like how the US does nothing to end their deadly problem, our government also appears determined to cover its ears to the stark reality now facing us: Australia is drier than ever, hotter than ever, and less prepared than ever. This is no fault of our fire services. In fact, it appears to be in spite of our fire services. Former NSW fires chief Greg Mullins and 22 other former emergency chiefs were refused an urgent meeting with the PM multiple times this year, and NSW frontline firefighting has been slashed in the eternal quest for a surplus. In Tasmania, the TFS is well aware of the risks. In Launceston this year, their State Conference was titled “Not the Norm”: because the changing climate is putting humanity in a completely unpredictable position where every year is worse than the last. There is no “norm” anymore – as evidenced by the last fire season. Did we learn anything from that fire season? It waits to be seen, but a failure to enact all recommendations from a review into those fires would be reckless. Yet while Australia faces unprecedented fires (and this is not the only “unprecedented” weather event of recent times, with floods, drought and ocean heatwaves increasing in severity year on year), politicians continue to mislead on carbon emissions, or use rubbery accounting tricks to meet our emissions targets. Yet while Australia faces unprecedented fires (and this is not the only “unprecedented” weather event of recent times, with floods, drought and ocean heatwaves increasing in severity year on year), politicians continue to mislead on carbon emissions, or use rubbery accounting tricks to meet our emissions targets. And the similarities don’t end there.
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Climate dispute between Scott Morrison and the Greens
Climate dispute breaks out as Scott Morrison visits bushfire-hit areas, SBS 11 Nov , “……war of words has broken out about the link between climate change and the unprecedented bushfire emergency that has hit NSW and Queensland.BY CLAUDIA FARHART Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has lashed out at Greens MP Adam Bandt over “stupid and callous” comments linking the government’s inaction on climate change and bushfires that have claimed three lives in New South Wales.
On Saturday, Mr Bandt tweeted that “words and concern are not enough … the Prime Minister does not have the climate emergency under control”.
Bandt tweeted: I’m deeply saddened by the loss of life. Hearts go out to all affected & to brave firefighters. But words & concern are not enough. The PM does not have the climate emergency under control. Unless we lead a global effort to quit coal & cut pollution, more lives will be lost……
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian dodged more questions about climate change as they visited fire-hit areas in northern NSW on Sunday.
Mr Morrison was heckled by a climate change protester during a briefing from firefighters.
“Climate change is real, can’t you see,” the protester yelled, before being escorted out of the building. HTTPS://WWW.SBS.COM.AU/NEWS/CLIMATE-DISPUTE-BREAKS-OUT-AS-SCOTT-MORRISON-VISITS-BUSHFIRE-HIT-AREAS
The movement to save Julian Assange – his father in Ireland
Will you come and help?’ Father of Julian Assange on campaign to free his son, Irish Examiner, MICHAEL CLIFFORD November 09, 2019 At 80, John Shipton thought he would be enjoying his retirement, he tells Michael Clifford. Instead, he is touring European capitals campaigning for his son, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
A parent’s work is never done. John Shipton entering his ninth decade. He’d like to kick back, maybe learn a few recipes, stroll at a leisurely pace towards the declining years.
But his son needs him. His son’s health is in serious danger and his future looks dark, with the prospect of spending decades, if not the remainder of his life, in prison.
His son is Julian Assange. It’s a name that is familiar to most people, although many would, at this remove, find it difficult to couple his celebrity standing with his talent or achievement.
Assange is an Australian who has been a serious thorn in the side of the powerful. His Wikileaks organisation was responsible for disseminating information that showed what exactly the US and its allies were getting up to in foreign wars.
Wikileaks exposed war crimes. It was the receptor for whistleblower Chelsea Manning’s treasure trove of documents that painted a picture of torture and maltreatment by US forces in Iraq, among other crimes.
Vanity Fair described the resultant stories as “one of the greatest journalistic scoops of the last 30 years… they have changed the way people think about how the world is run”…….
Assange is a category B prisoner, which means he’s not considered an immediate danger to fellow human beings or society in general, but his conditions of detention are still onerous.
“He’s locked up 22 or 23 hours a day,” his father says. “It’s a grade A maximum security prison. Because those in it are treated like terrorists, that’s what Julian is being subjected to.”
Shipton was in Dublin recently on a flying visit that now forms part of his current “job”. That entails lobbying, meeting, and publicising on behalf of his son. Shipton is on a tour of European capitals trying to round up support……
Assange is in a bad way, there is no doubt about that. Both physically and psychologically, his condition is deteriorating. The prison conditions are onerous but they come following eight years cooked up in the embassy, at times under serious stress. The day before arriving in Dublin Shipton had been in to see his son.
“As you would expect after nine years of persecution, he’s a bit down in the dumps,” he says.
“The report of the UN rapporteur on torture says it all really, pointing out that he has every sign of having suffered torture with both physical and mental results…..
The UN rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, did visit Assange with two doctors in June in Belmarch and were highly condemnatory of the conditions in which he was being kept.
Last week, Melzer issued a further statement, saying Assange’s life was at risk and that he must not be extradited to the US as a consequence of “exposing serious governmental misconduct”…..
Melzer goes further and offers an opinion on what is driving the harsh treatment.
“In my view, this case has never been about Mr Assange’s guilt or innocence, but about making him pay the price for exposing serious governmental misconduct, including alleged war crimes and corruption,” he says. “Unless the UK urgently changes course and alleviates his inhumane situation, Mr Assange’s continued exposure to arbitrariness and abuse may soon end up costing his life.”…..
Since coming to power, Trump has railed against many forms of the free press. And his government has requested Assange’s extradition to stand trial for spying.
If he is extradited, his father doesn’t have much confidence in the prospects of a fair trial.
“The espionage law courts are held in Elizabeth, Virginia,” says Shipton. “It’s a town where all the constituents are from the intelligence community. Every judgement in the espionage courts they say just go to jail. It’s not theoretical. If he’s tried he will go to jail.”
The next hearing on extradition isn’t scheduled until February and on the basis that he previously did skip bail while awaiting an extradition hearing he is unlikely to get bail. For his family and close friends, the most immediate issue is his health rather than the political and legal vortex into which he has been drawn.
At a recent court appearance on October 21, he was described by eyewitnesses as appearing “distressed and disorientated”.
He is subject to a legal process, but few could argue that it is anything more than political. Assange published leaked material. In that he was performing an act of journalism.
Manning, for instance, was prosecuted and served seven years of what was originally a 35-year sentence. But Assange’s role was that of publisher.
Much of Wikileaks most serious material was presented in collaboration with leading global newspapers, including the New York Times and The Guardian.
His father believes that the attack on the press through Assange is not fully appreciated.
“It’s in the self interests of all journalists and news corporations to ensure that this is fought,” he says…… https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/views/analysis/michael-clifford/will-you-come-and-help-father-of-julian-assange-on-campaign-to-free-his-son-962776.html
Massive bushfires in New South Wales are NOT “part of a normal cycle” – fire-fighting expert.
This is not normal: what’s different about the NSW mega fires, SMH, By Greg Mullins, November 11, 2019 —I write this piece reluctantly, because there are still possible fire victims unaccounted for; people have lost loved ones; and hundreds of families have lost their homes. My heart goes out to them. I don’t want to detract in any way from the vital safety messages that our fire commissioners and Premier will be making about Tuesday’s fire potential.
In the past I’ve have heard some federal politicians dodge the question of the influence of climate change on extreme weather and fires by saying, “It’s terrible that this matter is being raised while the fires are still burning.” But if not now, then when?
“Unprecedented” is a word that we are hearing a lot: from fire chiefs, politicians, and the weather bureau. I have just returned from California where I spoke to fire chiefs still battling unseasonal fires. The same word, “unprecedented”, came up.
Unprecedented dryness; reductions in long-term rainfall; low humidity; high temperatures; wind velocities; fire danger indices; fire spread and ferocity; instances of pyro-convective fires (fire storms – making their own weather); early starts and late finishes to bushfire seasons. An established long-term trend driven by a warming, drying climate. The numbers don’t lie, and the science is clear.
If anyone tells you, “This is part of a normal cycle” or “We’ve had fires like this before”, smile politely and walk away, because they don’t know what they’re talking about..… https://www.smh.com.au/national/this-is-not-normal-what-s-different-about-the-nsw-mega-fires-20191110-p5395e.html
Scott Morrison wants to shut down moderate climate action group, Market Forces, BECAUSE IT’s TOO EFFECTIVE
Inside Market Forces, the small climate group Scott Morrison wants to put out of business, From humble beginnings, Market Forces is now in the crosshairs of the Coalition’s war on environmental boycotts, Guardian, Adam Morton Environment editor @adamlmortonMon 11 Nov 2019 When Market Forces, a small climate activist group, was singled out as the target of the government’s push to stop environmental campaigns that advocate boycotts of fossil-fuel companies, its leader was briefly taken aback but not disappointed.
“You know you’re doing something right when the Morrison government tries to bring you down,” Julien Vincent, the group’s executive director and founder, says from its base in Melbourne. “It’s unpleasant, but it’s only happening because we are getting results.”
From Vincent’s perspective, those results include the Commonwealth Bank and insurers QBE, Suncorp and IAG pledging they would soon no longer work with or underwrite developments that use thermal coal, and the group’s part in the campaign that frustrated attempts by Indian company Adani to find investors for its proposed Carmichael coalmine.
In terms of winning the government’s attention, it is likely the results also included a recent profile in the Australian Financial Review, the newspaper of the business community. Under the headline “How activists pushed CBA out of coal in five years”, it talked up Market Forces’s successes and methods, including a deal-making meeting with the bank’s chairwoman, Catherine Livingstone.
Coincidentally or not, the attorney general, Christian Porter, last week nominated Market Forces as a poster child “radical activist group” trying to impose its will on companies through coordinated harassment and threats of boycotts. Porter said it was “simply not OK” that mining and resources businesses were being targeted on ideological grounds by activists that wished them financial harm.
It followed Scott Morrison telling the Queensland Resources Council that activists who campaigned for secondary boycotts against miners and small businesses that work with resources companies potentially posed a “more insidious threat” to jobs and the economy than street protests……
With the details in the wind, Morrison’s push has led to some confusion among Coalition MPs about what is proposed and how it will avoid impinging on freedom of expression, though none spoke publicly. The Business Council of Australia has backed the prime minister; legal academics have warned changes to reduce the influence of environmental campaigns could breach the constitution.
Environmental and civil liberty groups noted the apparent hypocrisy in the government floating a secondary boycott ban given Canavan had urged his constituents to stop doing business with Westpac after it ruled out financing the Adani mine …… https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/11/inside-market-forces-the-small-climate-group-scott-morrison-wants-to-put-out-of-business
Australia’s over-exploited water supply – an issue being ignored
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Although Australia is a land often devastated by drought, if you live in the city, it’s very unlikely that you’ll turn on the tap and find no water comes out.Even during the Millennium Drought nearly a decade ago, we avoided coming close to a Cape Town-style ‘Day Zero’. And given about 70 per cent of Australians live in major cities, it’s easy to forget just how good most of us have it. Whether it’s for cooking, drinking or bathing, we don’t have to collect water from a well, or pump it ourselves, or worry about it being dirty or unsafe. The sources of our water supplies are out of sight, out of mind. But it hasn’t always been that way — and we need to stop and think about where it comes from. If we don’t, we risk being unprepared for when the next prolonged drought comes around. ‘Liquid sausage meat’ It’s important to note that not all Australians have access to safe drinking water: spare a thought, for example, for remote Indigenous communities, or for the people trucking drinking water to small drought-stricken towns…….. [The author gives a history of Australia’s water sources, water use, and restrictions] We have to start thinking about our waterMore than a decade has passed since those tough restrictions on household water use. As our cities grow and the climate changes, it’s no longer reasonable to wash our hands of the water question. For our hotter and drier cities of the future, building more dams won’t be the answer. Seawater desalination plants aren’t without their problems: desal is energy-intensive and its salty brine is damaging to the local marine environment. Although some cities like Perth are making headway with wastewater recycling, the cheapest and easiest option for all of us is to change our water behaviour, and to better live within our means. Relying on technology alone is not the answer. The development of urban water supplies and sanitation over the past century or so has brought incredible benefits to our lives, while technology and infrastructure allows us to consume that water in the blink of an eye. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, households in the Northern Territory (349kL) and Western Australia (241kL) use the most water each year, while Victoria (166kL) and Tasmania (147kL) use the least. Climate, soils and pricing all play a role here, but these statistics suggest that some cities have much thirstier habits than others. Thinking more carefully about where our water comes from — and at what cost — is vital to making sense of living in Australian cities now and in the future. Dr Ruth Morgan is an environmental historian at Monash University, and an ABC Top 5 humanities scholar for 2019.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-11/changing-australian-water-attitudes-for-conservation/11647258 |
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First offshore wind farm in Australia being tested
Testing begins for first offshore wind farm in Australia, The Age, By Benjamin Preiss, November 10, 2019 —Scientific testing begins this month for Australia’s first proposed offshore wind farm, near Gippsland, which could provide enough power for more than 1.2 million homes.
The testing comes as the union movement launches a campaign to lobby the state and federal governments to smooth the way for the project to proceed.
The Star of the South wind farm is expected to provide up to 2000 megawatts of power − about 18 per cent of the state’s power demand − and is set to cost between $8 billion and $10 billion.
Within weeks, the company will begin detailed studies of the wind and wave conditions at the 496-square-kilometre area off the south coast of Gippsland. It will also conduct environmental studies on marine and bird life.
If considered feasible, the wind farm is slated to provide “full power” by 2027.
Unions hope the wind farm will provide secure jobs for electricity workers in the Latrobe Valley, where the economy has relied heavily on coal-fired power generation.
The Latrobe Valley was hit hard by the closure of the Hazelwood power plant in 2017, and remaining coal-fired power plants are scheduled to begin closing in coming decades.
The broader region is bracing for more job losses with the state government phasing out native timber logging by 2030, sparking a furious response from the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union.
Previous estimates indicated the Star of the South wind farm could include 250 turbines but that is yet to be determined. Its proposed site is between 10 kilometres and 25 kilometres from Port Albert.
Last week a group of unions and Victorian Trades Hall Council launched a report calling for a “direct transition” to help redeploy workers in fossil fuel industries to jobs at Star of the South.
They want the commonwealth to establish a “transition authority” and a master plan to develop offshore renewable energy……
The Victorian government has set a renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2030…..https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/testing-begins-for-first-offshore-wind-farm-in-australia-20191110-p53970.html?fbclid=IwAR2pEmquJ0zzGw5egjYDTM1H6loOXZBaaTWIPAY0brsixjmlUuwiU4r-_lg
Australian Government propaganda promoting nuclear waste dump to a rural community
Another pack of 15 glossy brochures arrived in our mail last week. Only one was new, all the rest were sent last year.
• How many people actually read them all cover to cover last year?
• How many just had a quick flick through, looked at a few photos and read a few lines?
• What did people do with the first lot?
• What happens with this lot – stack them on the bookshelf next to the others?
Those who support the dump don’t need to read them because they don’t need any more convincing.
Those who don’t support the dump don’t need to read them again because nothing has changed. The site was geologically and culturally unsuitable last year. That hasn’t changed.
So why send all this stuff again? Is it good use of tax payers’ money when the whole of the east coast is burning and the country is in the grip of potentially the worst drought in recorded history?
What do these brochures cost to compile, print and produce, in colour and on highest quality paper?
Imagine the benefit to our region if all these publishing resources had been directed at promoting our magnificent Flinders Ranges? Of course, a campaign like that would cost millions!
This dump has been a con job from the start and no one knows where the finish line is – the judge makes the rules!
Matt Canavan and ANSTO lying to Kimba community about true level of planned nuclear waste
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Susan Craig Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA
Visual Storyteller 9 Nov 19
Resources Minister Matt Canavan refers to Intermediate Level Waste as “medial waste.” This is a lie. How can communities make informed decisions based on misinformation? (Extract from The Advertiser November 8. Page 5) Zac Eagle The reprocessed, vitrified waste returned from Europe is classified High Level in every country except Australia. Kazzi Jai Honestly, if it is so safe, safe, safe…..then why are they treking it over 1500 kms plus away from Lucas Heights which produces over 90% of Australias nuclear waste? And the determination of the best place for this waste is by an individual nominating their own land? For an all-above-ground dump? The cheapest way to deal with all of this waste! Not the best….but the cheapest! This is how desperate the Feds are to rid themselves of this waste! Not the most scientific and geological stable site, not the least flood prone or least earthquake prone site…..but by a landowner nomination….. And then dividing a small rural community – whether Kimba or Hawker – and feeding them half -truths and bribing these little struggling communities with bribe money into accepting this waste which remains dangerous for hundreds of years, and the compulsory tag-a-long intermediate level waste for thousands of years! And saying that it is an industry! When is radioactive landfill for Lucas Heights an industry? It is simply a licence for Lucas Heights to generate as much waste as they like, and have no responsibility for it, since it is shafted over onto South Australia and becomes SOLELY South Australia’s liability and problem! Disgraceful! Anton Thony since when is medical waste intermediate level waste? https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/ |
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Fuel tanker fire on highway near Kimba – just as well it wasn’t a nuclear waste transport
Emergency services responded to reports a fuel tanker rolled and caught alight on the Eyre Highway at Kelly, about 15 kilometres east of Kimba just after 7am on Thursday 31 October.
Fortunately, the tanker driver was not injured in the crash.
The fire caused damage to the road surface and required repairs by Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure.
The highway is open, but speeds are currently restricted to 40 km/h at the scene of yesterday’s fire.
Australia’s out of control bushfires (all along the region where the nuclear lobby wants to put reactors!)
‘Uncharted territory’: Dozens of out of control bushfires burn across New South Wales and Queensland, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/uncharted-territory-dozens-of-out-of-control-bushfires-burn-across-new-south-wales-and-queensland Hot, windy conditions are wreaking havoc across New South Wales and Queensland.
Australian firefighters warned they were in “uncharted territory” as they struggled to contain dozens of out-of-control bushfires across the east of the country on Friday.
Around a hundred blazes pockmarked the New South Wales and Queensland countryside, around 19 of them dangerous and uncontained.
“We have never seen this many fires concurrently at emergency warning level,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told the ABC. “We are in uncharted territory.”The RFS said on Friday afternoon it received multiple reports of people being trapped in their homes at several locations.
Homes have also been destroyed, the RFS added.
A mayor on New South Wales’ mid-north coast said on Friday the bushfires ripping through the region were “horrifying and horrendous beasts”.
MidCoast Council mayor David West said a fire near Forster threatened a council building on Thursday night.
“It was literally a wall of yellow, horrible, beastly, tormenting flames,” the mayor said.
The mayor was particularly concerned about an out-of-control fire burning near Hillville south of Taree.
Hardly “broad support” as 40% of Kimba locals reject nuclear waste dump
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More than 60 per cent of Kimba locals support nuclear waste dump in their region https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-07/majority-of-kimba-residents-support-nuclear-waste-facility/11680774
By Casey Briggs A clear majority of Kimba residents have voted in favour of a nuclear waste dump being built in their region.
Key points
Federal Resources Minister Matthew Canavan has released the results of a month-long indicative postal ballot, confirming 61.6 per cent of the 734 ballot papers were in favour of the dump. The non-binding ballot — which was conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission — was a key factor in the Federal Government’s decision on where to build the facility, but native titleholders have challenged the validity of the process. Two sites near Kimba, halfway between Australia’s east and west coast, were shortlisted as possible locations for the country’s first national nuclear waste facility. A third site in Hawker, near the Flinders Ranges, was also shortlisted, and a vote of that town’s residents will begin next week. The proposal would see the Kimba site storing Australia’s low- to medium-level radioactive waste, which is currently housed at more than 100 sites, including the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney. The Federal Government said it would pay up to four times the value of the property on which it chooses to build the facility. Mr Canavan said the result showed a “clear level of support” for the proposal.
But No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA Committee spokeswoman Kellie Hunt said the result showed the community was still divided. “Minister Canavan has always promised that the National Radioactive Waste Facility would not be sited where broad community support did not exist, and with nearly 40 per cent of residents saying no, this clearly cannot be proven in Kimba,” she said. She said the Government had wasted “unacceptable amounts of time, money and recourses attempting to coerce our community into accepting this facility”. “The stress his flawed and divisive process has caused is clearly evident in our once-cohesive town,” she said.  Local resident volunteers property
Landowner Jeff Baldock volunteered his property as a potential location for the facility.”This is a way that we can hopefully get a new industry into town that doesn’t rely on rainfall,” he said. Kimba resident Audrey Lienert is opposed to the nuclear dump, and said the issue had divided the town.
“The 45 people they talk about coming to work here, they’re not going to buy the houses, they’re only going to be working to dig the holes.” On the other side of the debate, Kerri Cliff said the benefits to the community were “obvious”. “Whichever side people are sitting on, I think the vote has been something we’ve wanted all along,” she said. “Whether it gets us the actual facility, we’ll have to wait and see.” Native titleholders run separate ballotOnly local residents were permitted to vote in the ballot, infuriating the region’s native titleholders, the Barngarla people. The Barngarla people lost a court battle to stop the vote, but vowed to appeal to the Federal Court. “The decision will also affect all of Barngarla’s rights over their native title land whether they are for or against it,” a spokesperson for the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation said in a statement. The Barngarla people said they had also run their own vote through an independent company, and wanted the results included in the official vote.
“This means, that if the total number of people in the Kimba and BDAC ballots vote no, then we will seek to enforce this result legally.” |
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In reality Kimba’s support for nuclear waste dump was only 49.94% of those eligible to vote”
 ENuFF South Australia, No Nuclear Waste Dump Anywhere in South Australia, 7 Nov 19Barndioota SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) published
“Having stated in the Senate that he would require a number in the vicinity of 65% of the community voting to progress with the proposal, Minister Canavan chose to push Kimba into phase two of the process with a supporting vote of 57%. This |
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In Kimba 62% of locals vote in favour of nuclear waste dump
Kimba locals back nuclear waste dump. The Advertiser, 7 Nov 19, Kimba residents have backed a proposal to build a radioactive storage site near the Eyre Peninsula town.
The Australian Electoral Commission conducted a five-week ballot on the issue, on behalf of Kimba Council, with votes being finalised today.
The ballot found 62 per cent of voters backed the proposal.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan said the results showed “significant” community support for the project, which involves building a storage site for low and intermediate level medical waste.
The Government is considering building the storage site at either “Napandee” or “Lyndhurst” near Kimba, or “Wallerberdina”, near Hawker in the Flinders Ranges.
Mr Canavan said he would consider the results alongside other feedback and technical information relating to the project, once a separate ballot in the Flinders Ranges was complete.
Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson said a nuclear waste site would provide much needed jobs and economic stimulus for the region.
If approved in the area, 45 people would work at the waste site once it was built, and the community would receive a $31 million package from the Federal Government including some money already earmarked for local projects in the lead up to the vote.
“In times of drought, you just get reminded again how reliant we are on agriculture,” Mr Johnson said.
“An alternative industry would be good for the town. Whether this is the right one or not, we’ll find out shortly.”
Mr Johnson said he was “incredibly proud” of his community following four years of consultation.
“To have a 90 per cent participation rate shows how strongly engaged our community has been,” he said.
Kimba farmer Peter Woolford, who has been campaigning against the waste dump plan, said the result showed there was still a lot of opposition to the project.
“The Eyre Peninsula is such an amazing place,” said Mr Woolford, chair of the lobby group No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA.
“Why would you expose your export industry here to any risk at all?”
Mr Woolford said there had been little increase in public support for the project over the past four years, despite the community receiving $4 million in Federal funding for projects as part of the campaign to find a site.
Hawker’s voting period begins on Monday, after the council voted to delay its ballot until a risk assessment was completed.
Mayor Peter Slattery said the council was keen to gauge the public’s views after months of uncertainty on the project’s future.
“If we find they’re opposed to this, we know it’s game over and we can all quietly relax,” Mr Slattery said.
“And if the community are supportive of this that gives us the direction to move forward. “Given how difficult and divisive it’s been, we’re really looking forward to having some direction and resolution.”
The votes had been delayed since last year, when two Aboriginal associations said they would take legal action to stop the ballots, because traditional land owners who did not live in the districts were excluded.”
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/…/6a04b1b53b6fc5f00b69031be1…
Bangarla Aboriginal people conducted their OWN ballot on nuclear waste dump plan for Kimba, South Australia
Kazzi Jai shared a link. Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste In The Flinders Ranges, 6 Nov 19 On ABC 639 news this morning…..The Barngala People have conducted their OWN ballot through the AEC (the Kimba ballot is being done by the AEC as well) and will forward the results to Canavan once tallied.
News segment 02:32:14 to 02:33:00
Podcast will only stay up for 6 days.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/northandwest/programs/breakfast/breakfast/11661112
1 This month
4 November – Will AUKUS keep us safe – at what cost?
the Commissioners of the AUKUS Public Inquiry present their findings at the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra. iview.abc.net.au/show/national-press-club-address
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
