UK “reviewing” files on nuclear bomb tests in Australia- this smacks of a cover-up
“To now withdraw previously available documents is extremely unfortunate and hints at an attempted cover-up.”
“worrying that properly released records can suddenly be removed from public access without notice or explanation.”
Review or ‘cover up’? Mystery as Australia nuclear weapons tests files withdrawn https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/11/australia/uk-australia-nuclear-archives-intl/index.html, By James Griffiths, CNN
More than 65 years since the UK began conducting secret nuclear weapons testing in the Australian Outback, scores of files about the program have been withdrawn from the country’s National Archives without explanation.
The unannounced move came as a shock to many researchers and historians who rely on the files and have been campaigning to unseal the small number which remain classified.
“Many relevant UK documents have remained secret since the time of the tests, well past the conventional 30 years that government documents are normally withheld,” said expert Elizabeth Tynan, author of “Atomic Thunder: The Maralinga Story”.
“To now withdraw previously available documents is extremely unfortunate and hints at an attempted cover-up.”
Withdrawal of the files was first noted in late December. Access to them has remained closed in the new year.
Dark legacy The UK conducted 12 nuclear weapons tests in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly in the sparsely populated Outback of South Australia.
Information about the tests remained a tightly held secret for decades. It wasn’t until a Royal Commission was formed in 1984 — in the wake of several damning press reports — that the damage done to indigenous people and the Australian servicemen and women who worked on the testing grounds became widely known.
Indigenous people living nearby had long complained of the effects they suffered, including after a “black mist” settled over one camp near Maralinga in the wake of the Totem I test in October 1953. The mist caused stinging eyes and skin rashes. Others vomited and suffered from diarrhea.
These claims were dismissed and ridiculed by officials for decades — until, in the wake of the Royal Commission report, the UK agreed to pay the Australian government and the traditional owners of the Maralinga lands about AU$46 million ($30 million). The Australian authorities also paid indigenous Maralinga communities a settlement of AU$13.5 million ($9 million).
While the damage done to indigenous communities was acknowledged, much about the Totem I test — and other tests at Maralinga and later at Emu Field — remained secret, even before the recent withdrawal of archive documents.
“The British atomic tests in Australia did considerable harm to indigenous populations, to military and other personnel and to large parts of the country’s territory. This country has every right to know exactly what the tests entailed,” Tynan said. “Mysteries remain about the British nuclear tests in Australia, and these mysteries have become harder to bring to light with the closure of files by the British government.”
Alan Owen, chairman of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, which campaigns on behalf of former servicemen, said “the removal of these documents affects not only our campaign, but affects the many academic organizations that rely on this material.”
“We are very concerned that the documents will not be republished and the (Ministry of Defense) will again deny any responsibility for the effects the tests have had on our membership,” Owen told CNN.
Unclear motives Responding to a request for comment from CNN, a spokeswoman for the National Archives said the withdrawal of the Australian nuclear test files was done at the request of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which has ultimate responsibility over them.
The NDA said that “a collection of records has been temporarily withdrawn from general access via The National Archive at Kew as part of a review process.”
“It is unclear, at this time, how long the review will take, however NDA anticipates that many of the documents will be restored to the public archive in due course,” a spokeswoman said.
Jon Agar, a professor of science and technology at University College London, said the withdrawal “is not just several records but two whole classes of files, many of which had previously been open to researchers at the National Archives.”
“These files are essential to any historian of the UK nuclear projects — which of course included tests in Australia. They have been closed without proper communication or consultation,” he added.
Agar shared correspondence he had with the NDA in which a spokeswoman said some files would be moved to a new archive — Nucleus — in the far north of Scotland. However the Nucleus archives focus on the British civil nuclear industry, and it is unclear why files on military testing would be moved there, or why those files would need to be withdrawn to do so.
Nucleus also does not offer the type of online access to its records as the National Archives does.
“Why not just copy the files if the nuclear industry needs them at Nucleus for administrative reasons? Why take them all out of public view?” Agar wrote on Twitter.
Information freedom In correspondence with both CNN and Agar, the NDA suggested those interested in the files could file freedom of information (FOI) requests for them.
Under the 2000 Freedom of Information Act, British citizens and concerned parties are granted the “right to access recorded information held by public sector organizations.”
FOI requests can be turned down if the government deems the information too sensitive or the request too expensive to process. Under a separate rule, the UK government should also declassify documents between 20 and 30 years after they were created.
According to the BBC, multiple UK government departments — including the Home Office and Cabinet Office — have been repeatedly condemned by auditors for their “poor,” “disappointing” and “unacceptable” treatment of FOI applications.
Commenting on the nuclear documents, Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, a UK-based NGO, said it was “worrying that properly released records can suddenly be removed from public access without notice or explanation.”
“It suggests that the historical record is fragile and transient and liable to be snatched away at any time, with or without good reason,” he added.
Bureau of Meteorology’ reveals Australia’s record-breaking month of climate change
The stunning chart revealing Australia’s record-breaking run of rising temperatures https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/the-stunning-chart-revealing-australia-s-record-breaking-run-of-rising-temperatures-20190110-p50qk1.html By Nicole Hasham10 January 2019
If there was any question Australians are enduring a more extreme, topsy-turvy climate, look only to the month just gone.
In early December, Cyclone Owen unloaded 678 millimetres of rain in one day on the tiny North Queensland town of Halifax. It was a new December daily rainfall
By mid-December, a month’s worth of rain fell in parts of Victoria in 24 hours. On December 20 it was Sydney’s turn when a monster thunderstorm dropped giant hail stones – some the size of cricket balls. The insurance bill is nearing $675 million.
Then, the sun came out. By month’s end, much of Australia was baking under torrid temperatures. Marble Bar in Western Australia reached 49.3 degrees – the third-highest December temperature recorded anywhere in the country.
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The record-breaking events are outlined in the Bureau of Meteorology’s 2018 climate statement released on Thursday, which confirmed the nation experienced its third-warmest year on record in 2018. The bureau attributed the year of meteorological extremes to both climate change and natural variability.
The national mean temperature in 2018 was 1.14 degrees above average. Nine of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2005.
The bureau’s senior climatologist Lynette Bettio said every state and territory experienced above-average day and night temperatures last year.
“The average maximum temperature for the country as a whole was particularly warm, sitting 1.55 degrees above the 1961-1990 average, making 2018 Australia’s second warmest year on record for daily high temperatures,” Dr Bettio said.
Australia’s September rainfall was the lowest on record. Nationally, rainfall in 2018 was the lowest since 2005 and 11 per cent below average, while rainfall in some areas was significantly further below normal.
“Large areas of southeastern Australia experienced rainfall totals in the lowest 10 per cent on record, which exacerbated the severe drought conditions,” Dr Bettio said.
“NSW had its sixth driest year on record, while the Murray-Darling Basin saw its seventh-driest year on record.
“We did see some respite in the final three months of the year with decent rainfall in the east of the country.”
In other significant weather events last year, Broome broke its annual rainfall record just two months into the year and Tropical Cyclone Marcus was the strongest to affect Darwin since Tracy in 1974.
In August and September, up to 100 bushfires were active across NSW, Queensland and Victoria when warm, dry conditions brought an early start to the bushfire season
The Morrison government has been riven with internal tensions over climate change policy. Under the Paris climate accord, Australia has vowed to reduce greenhouse emissions, based on 2005 levels, by 26 per cent before 2030.
The government says Australia will meet that target “in a canter” however this claim has been contradicted by international bodies and the government’s own data.
Most recently, figures released by the Department of Environment and Energy last month showed that on current trends Australia will reduce emissions by just 7 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030, a massive 19 percentage points or two-thirds of the way short of the Paris agreement.
A major report prepared by the United Nations body for climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in October said coal-generated electricity must be phased out globally by 2050 if the world is to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of global warming, including the total destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.
The bureau said Australia was strongly influenced by both natural variability and climate change in 2018. Natural drivers included sea surface temperatures in the southern Tasman Sea which rose to “exceptionally high levels” in late 2017 and early 2018, contributing to warm overland conditions.
The report said Australia’s climate “is increasingly influenced by global warming” and the nation has warmed by just over one degree since 1910. Most warming has occurred since 1950.
Australia could use a little-known loophole to help meet up to half its Paris climate commitments in a move that analysts warn could undermine the global accord.
It said radical, swift efforts must be taken to curb greenhouse gas pollution and keep the global temperature increase below the critical 1.5 degree threshold.
“The background warming trend can only be explained by human influence on the global climate,” the bureau said.
Climate change: Victoria’s iconic Great Ocean Road at risk from sea level rise
Great Ocean Road at risk from surging sea , Canberra Times, By Royce Millar, 10 January 2019 Key sections of the Great Ocean Road are at risk of being washed away, raising safety fears and calls for the Andrews government to reroute parts of the world-recognised tourist road.
New studies of dramatic beach erosion around Apollo Bay over the last two years highlight the mounting problem of erosion, flooding and sea level rise along Victoria’s coast.
In a report to the State government released exclusively to The Age, leading coastal geomorphologist Neville Rosengren and engineer Tony Miner recommend urgent action to protect the foreshore of Mounts Bay next to Apollo Bay, after major erosion there in 2017.
They warn the national heritage-listed road could be “compromised” within five years.
A second report on erosion at Apollo Bay by engineers GHD also recommends the eventual “realignment” of the road outside township areas at Apollo Bay. It notes that five metres of erosion at Apollo Bay beach during a June 2018 storm put the road “at risk”.
The studies point to erosion at critical levels at the very time the state’s south-west is hosting ever greater numbers of visitors, now more than five million a year.
Similar problems are being faced along the wider coast, from Port Fairy in the south-west to Inverloch and the Ninety Mile Beach and Lakes Entrance in the south-east and east……..
findings raise the prospect that rising seas due to climate change are now proving a real problem for vulnerable coastal locations.
Mr Rosengren said rising sea levels contributed to the erosion at Mounts Bay.
“You’re witnessing the effects of a complex of processes of which sea level is one,” he said.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) current projection for sea level rise, based on high emissions, ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, is almost 90 centimetres by the year 2100, relative to an average sea level for the period 1986-2005.
That projection will be updated, most likely upwards, in the IPCC’s special oceans report due for release this year.
Other peer-reviewed studies have forecast a much steeper rise in sea level by 2100.
……… While possible, realignment of the road would be difficult and expensive at Mounts Bay because the Barham River runs along the landward side of the road, making the area also susceptible to flooding.
…….. A quandary for all concerned is that sea walls of any form will alter the character of a coastline renowned for its rugged, natural beauty. Sea walls also interfere with the coast’s ecology and its ability to naturally replenish itself.
Bankrolled by public donations, the 243-kilometre Great Ocean Road was built by World War I veterans between 1919 and 1932 as a memorial to soldiers killed in the war, and to open the south-west coast to tourists and daytrippers. It was built as close to the ocean as possible.
……… A Victorian Department of Environment Land Water and Planning spokesperson said accounting for sea level rise was now “embedded” in the Victorian planning system.
The Age has sought an interview and comments from federal Environment Minister Melissa Price about the Morrison government’s policies on, and plans for, sea level rise. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/victoria/great-ocean-road-at-risk-from-surging-sea-20190110-p50qjb.html
Australian govt manages Kakadu National Park, and must upgrade it, and the town of Jabiru
Show Kakadu the money, insists Moss,https://www.news.com.au/national/northern-territory/show-kakadu-the-money-insists-moss/news-story/d3494eb0e5093466e2becebe1b1ad9bf– 11 Jan 19
IT is time the Federal Government made clear what its funding plans are for Kakadu National Park and the town of Jabiru, Tourism Minister Lauren Moss said yesterday
IT is time the Federal Government made clear what its funding plans are for Kakadu National Park and the town of Jabiru, Tourism Minister Lauren Moss said WEDNESDAY.
Ms Moss said she is regularly quizzed about the Federal Government’s intentions.
“We have been advocating for a really long time and we have a blueprint that we presented to the Federal Government that has been done in conjunction with Aboriginal traditional owners and we want to make that we see the tired infrastructure upgraded and the complete transformation of Jabiru,” Ms Moss said. “The township is transitioning out of being a mining town into a really pumping tourist town that supports the surrounding communities.
“In line with this we continue to encourage the Federal Government to put the badly needed investment into Kakadu.
“It is a park that is managed by the Federal Government and more needs to be done in Kakadu.
“We love our parks and that’s why we are making investments in Litchfield, Nitmiluk and a whole range of other park estates.
“Kakadu National Park is important to Australia and to our Top End tourism operators. It’s an incredibly important cultural and natural asset for the Territory. This is recognised by its heritage listing.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has committed to working with the Territory Government and Traditional Owners “to ensure the future of Jabiru is settled as soon as possible”, but has not committed to a timeline
ANSTO’s duplicity on what is or is not “High Level” nuclear waste
Anthony Clark Isn’t High Grade reclassified to Intermediate radiation, in order to calm the multitude?
After this stuff is sent overseas for ‘processing’ it returns as ‘waste’.
So either they have to be honest about high level waste being generated in Australia or accept that Australia is accepting waste that is generated overseas.
If it isn’t called waste when it leaves Australia and is called waste when it returns, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t ‘waste generated overseas’.
Jillian Marsh to lull the uneducated into thinking ‘its just hospital grade waste and quite harmless’ and to justify government endorsement of a plan to turn our country into the world’s dumping ground …. Happy New Year? i think not if that’s what the people of this nation are supporting. absolutely crazy https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
Climate change denier Peta Credlin for Liberal preselection? That would finally blow up the Liberal Party!
The Liberal party is suffering an existential crisis. And no other issue defines this crisis like the looming threat to our safety and security caused by inaction on climate change. Credlin understands this and has used her position as a climate change-denying, hard-right mouthpiece of the Murdoch empire to advance her own political interests, and the interests of the coal industry.
She’s consistently claimed climate change is a political hoax, and used her position in the media to undermine a sitting prime ministerand any energy policy supported by the Coalition party room that does not involve more coal and the end of renewables.
She doesn’t represent real liberal views, and if she appeals to what’s left of the “base”, then many people who used to vote Liberal will keep moving for the exits.
Inspired by Donald Trump, Credlin has argued Australia should tear up the Paris agreement, tear up any sensible national energy guarantee. Credlin has demanded taxpayers’ money go to the Adani coalmine and be used to build new coal-fired power stations. It’s madness.
Australians don’t want this. We would prefer a Great Barrier Reef, renewable energy and a future we can survive and thrive in.
These views are so ignorant – their political manifestation through Tony Abbott, Craig Kelly and their ilk – that it presents a grave economic and security threat to Australia’s future. And it could be the final death knell to the Liberal party.
Credlin’s demonstrated lack of understanding of the serious climate emergency we face, or even the basic economics of power production costs are breathtaking. She promotes the view that climate change is some leftwing conspiracy and that the science is rubbish.
These views need to be called for what they are: dangerous.
In her media roles, Credlin has even attacked the scientific foundation for energy and climate policy. From the desk at Sky, she announced her displeasure that former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull asked chief scientist Alan Finkel for real consideration of the climate change transition and energy policy. Instead she demanded a manufactured report devoid of reality………
Australians know it’s getting hotter every summer and see the increases in extreme weather. Report after report, overflowing with scientific evidence, traditionally a solid foundation for investment and public policy making, has been abandoned by the federal Liberal party. We understand how this will threaten our families, economy and security, and we must act to provide people with a real liberal alternative.
Credlin, Abbott and the rest of the hard-right’s “commitment to coal” is entirely political. The calculation they’ve made is that their short-term political interests, and the interests of the coal industry, are more important than the future of our country, our people and holistically the environment we all share.
It is essential now that real liberals stand against this reckless game of Russian roulette the hard right are playing with our future. If not, they too will adorn the walls as climate change deniers, who, despite all the evidence, refused to act.
• Oliver Yates is a member of the Liberal party and former chief executive of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/09/peta-credlins-preselection-could-be-the-spark-that-blows-up-the-liberal-party
The global nuclear lobby co-opts academia- now they’ve got University of Tasmania
IAEA and University of Tasmania Sign Practical Arrangements Agreement to Enhance Cooperation in Human Health, Agriculture, Environment and Marine Sciences , On 12 December, the IAEA and the University of Tasmania (UTAS) signed a Practical Arrangement which provides a framework for closer collaboration in the areas of health, agriculture and the marine environment. The agreement – the first signed between the two organizations – covers the period of 2018 to 2021.
Pangea, reborn as ARIUS, waiting in the wings for the Australian govt to privatise a nuclear waste dump
Kazzi Jai Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste In The Flinders Ranges, PANGEA was leaked to the Australian Media in 1998. Although it has since changed its name to ARIUS in 2012, it still remains active, as shown clearly by the Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle recently, and the very heavy push for an International Nuclear Dump by invested interests.But South Australia said NO MEANS NO!
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the ENDGAME.
The fact that this current proposal by the Federal Government does not address the Intermediate Waste final disposal AND that the Intermediate Waste will be part of the dump – as “temporary storage” has all of the hallmarks of a Claytons INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR DUMP. …..All it needs is a stroke of a pen, PRIVATIZATION, and WHAM, BAM – THERE YOU GO! https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
STAND UP TO NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP BULLIES
The Federal Liberal Govnt Nuclear Waste Dump Process is subjecting people to intimidation, insults, threats and bullying.
The Federal Liberal Govnt process has been appalling and is feeding the bad behaviour of pro nuclear waste dump bullies.
The Federal Liberal Govnt nuclear waste dump process has fractured the communities in the Flinders Ranges and Kimba regions (near the proposed nuclear waste dump sites) and has encouraged intimidation, insults, threats and bullying.
Pro nuclear waste dump bullies have also come to my facebook page and insulted me and insulted my facebook friends because we express views they disagree with.
Pro nuclear waste dump bullies can insult me as much as they like, but it wont change the Facts :
A Radioactive Nuclear Waste Dump facility study in 2005 conducted by URS Australia for the EPA (SA) and SA Govnt, found the Flinders Ranges and Eyre Peninsula regions unsuitable for a low level Radioactive Nuclear Waste dump, let alone intermediate level nuclear waste – which the Federal Liberal government have obviously ignored.
The Flinders Ranges proposed nuclear waste dumpsite near Hawker, is on a floodplain, 5.5kms from the nearest ranges, 6.5 kms from extensive natural springs and 3 kms from Hookina Creek.
The Flinders Ranges and Outback contributed $425 million in tourism to South Australia in 2017 and projected $452 million in 2020 (SATC regional profile). How will establishing a nuclear waste dump in the Flinders Ranges affect tourism??? – Will the one off payment of 30 million carrots (20 million carrots to become available after the dump is established) compensate for lost tourism numbers and revenue???
The Flinders Ranges proposed nuclear waste dump site is in a seismically active region, on a floodplain, that flows into Lake Torrens – remnants of past major flooding and seismic activity are obvious.
The Eyre Peninsula proposed nuclear waste dump sites, near Kimba, are on farmland and next to Lake Giles Conservation park.
The Eyre Peninsula farming region contributes a third of all the grain grown in South Australia, worth $1.7 – $2 billion annually to South Australia – why would you even contemplate establishing a nuclear waste dump on farmland ??? – and if there is a nuclear waste accident – what then ???
Recent ABC News : “Lucas Heights facility fails modern nuclear safety standard, independent review finds”. ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Org), the organisation that manages the Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor facility near Sydney, the same organization that will manage the National Nuclear Waste Dump facility, was found to have a culture of “make do and mend”.
The Federal Liberal govnt propose to transport radioactive nuclear waste thousands of kms, from all over Australia, to a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia. Not only will South Australians and all future generations be burdened with the nuclear waste dump for eternity, so will communities along the transport route. And just like 99% of South Australians, those communities along the transport route will have no say. Spencer Gulf cities will become nuclear waste dump transport central, with radioactive nuclear waste being transported several times a week (for the first 4 years) to the proposed nuclear waste dump, through Spencer Gulf ports, roads and rail.
There was nothing scientific about the way the proposed sites were chosen – land owners were asked to nominate their properties for a nuclear waste dump and get paid 4 times what the property owners say the property is worth – and no need to consult with neighbours or the community. And the cattle property owner at the proposed site in the Flinders Ranges (long term lease) is an ex Federal Liberal president (doesn’t live at the property), who chaired a failed attempt in the 90’s to establish a nuclear waste dump in South Australia.
Even after 30 years, high-level nuclear waste is still 10,000 times more radioactive than uranium ore and will take 10 million years to get to the same radioactivity as uranium ore.
No Respect – No Trust : How can we trust a Federal Govnt that keeps on stabbing their leaders (prime ministers) in the back????
Why on earth would the Federal Liberal govnt want to dump nuclear waste (intermediate-level and low-level) in the Flinders Ranges, on a floodplain, in a seismically active region, bordered by natural springs, in an iconic tourism destination, or on Eyre Peninsula farmland, near Kimba and next to Lake Gilles Conservation Park?????
Each state should establish their own low-level Nuclear Waste Dump and the intermediate-level and high-level radioactive nuclear waste produced at the Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor should stay on the grounds at Lucas Heights until a permanent solution can be found. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/
TEACHER ATTEMPTS TO DERAIL PATH TO ECOCIDE TO ENSURE FUTURE FOR STUDENTS
 Frontline Action on Coal , 8 Jan 19
Early this morning, 37 year old teacher Jesse Secomb brought coal trains to a halt in protest of the proposed Adani Carmichael coal mine. Securing himself to a concrete barrel located on the railway tracks, Jesse has blockaded the transport of coal into Abbott Point Coal Terminal situated just outside of Bowen in Queensland. Jesse’s protest marks the first of its kind against Adani for 2019, following a magnitude of demonstrations in previous years as part of a nationwide movement against the mine after growing concern on the impacts the proposed mine will have on the environment and climate. Jesse stated that concerns about recent planned work by Adani on the mine inspired him to take urgent action. After declaring that work on the mine would start by Christmas, Adani has yet again failed to meet a self imposed deadline, instead blaming the QLD Governement after a recent request to review and resubmit their groundwater management plan after concerns were raised. When asked why action was needed, Jesse said “Working as a teacher, you really grow to care for your students and want to support them in realising their hopes and dreams. But what’s the good of dreaming about the future, if the future of the planet is in crisis? If the Adani mine goes ahead it will pump an extra 705 million tons of deadly carbon into the air, making it almost impossible to make the necessary changes over the next 12 years to avert a climate catastrophe.” He refers to the recent IPCC report by the worlds leading climate scientists which states that we only have 12 years to act on climate change and keep global warming within 1.5C, avoiding extreme heat, droughts, floods and poverty. Despite recent claims by resources minister Matt Canavan that communities of “David’s” were facing huge battles with Goliath’s of green activists, many of those protesting the mine are every day Australian’s who don’t want to see the even more Australians suffer from further drought, fires and heat as a result of inaction on climate change. |
Adani tries to bankrupt Wangan and Jagalingou man, Adrian Burragubba, I
It’s the multi-billion dollar mega-mine set for Queensland. But one man is trying to stop it going ahead. And he isn’t going away. news.com.au Adrian Burragubba has been a thorn in Adani’s side for years and now the mining giant has had enough. Last month Adani filed an order seeking to bankrupt the Wangan and Jagalingou man by demanding payment of more than $600,000 in legal costs.
The extreme action follows numerous failed court actions that Mr Burragubba has been party to since 2015 to stop Adani’s coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin from going ahead.
Mr Burragubba is part of the W&J People, who have a native title claim over about 30,000sq km of land in central Queensland, west of Rockhampton, including the townships of Clermont, Alpha, Rubyvale and Capella.
He’s a vocal member of the W&J Family Council disputing the validity of the indigenous land use agreement (ILUA) which Adani has secured from the traditional owners of the land.
The W&J had been negotiating with Adani since 2011 but were unable to reach an agreement so the company applied to the National Native Title Tribunal to grant them two mining leases.
The tribunal can order that mining leases be granted even if an agreement with traditional owners has not been reached.
In October 2013, the Queensland Government gave notice it intended to grant the leases and a six-month negotiation process started between the mining company and native title holders.
Australia’s first Indigenous silk Tony McAvoy has previously criticised the native title system because the tribunal rarely rejects applications for mining leases.
Mr McAvoy is a W&J traditional owner and he said Aboriginal people were being coerced into agreements with mining companies because if an agreement was not reached, they lost their opportunity to negotiate compensation or royalties.
“If we don’t agree, the native title tribunal will let it go through, and we will lose our land and won’t be compensated either. That’s the position we’re in,” Mr McAvoy told The Guardian.
…….At the meeting, which Mr Burragubba has claimed is not valid, there were 294 votes to approve the agreement and only one against.
But Mr Burragubba said the company failed to explain that once native title is relinquished it cannot be reclaimed.
“Our position has always been the same — that there has never been any free or informed consent with any agreement with Adani,” Mr Burragubba said in August.
However, legal action challenging the registration of the land use agreement was dismissed on August 17, 2018.
The decision was delivered after the Federal Government passed legislation to override a separate Federal Court ruling that all members of a native title group had to approve of an agreement for it to be valid.
The law change was important for Adani because its agreement did not get approval from all 12 families represented.
At that point, state and federal governments had already granted Adani all necessary state and federal approvals, although it still needs to submit groundwater and other plans.
But Mr Burragubba has refused to give up.
Another appeal was filed on September 7 and is due to be heard in May.
Adani tried to stop the most recent action, which was originally scheduled for February, by asking the court to force W&J representatives to pay $160,000 in security costs or have their appeal dismissed.
Adani’s lawyers said it had tried to recoup payment of $637,000 in legal fees from previous cases and had been unsuccessful. While the court agreed to the payment, it reduced the amount to $50,000 that must be paid by the end of January.
The decision was a blow to Adani, partly because its move also saw the court case delayed further and it will be heard in May instead.
After weathering years of legal actions from the W&J Family Council and other environmental activist groups, Adani appears to have had enough and is playing hardball. https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/adani-tries-to-bankrupt-wangan-and-jagalingou-man-adrian-burragubba/news-story/46aefeeca5f02c61f73b3840cfdddad1?fbclid=IwAR1NuyfNRGivxa72zmUl0lBVb91I074dPmTeHqGzIfA6If0_ukjHTkVqepQ
Caloundra, South East Queensland an ionising radiation hotspot
Australia records 6,543,223 c.p.m. radiation counts 1-5-2019
Paul WaldonFight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA 7 Jan 19 – Caloundra, a hot spot.
This is no less than three times that I know of, where this town of more than 42,000 people have been hit with a radioactive cloud, however this time its at a whopping 6,543,223 cpm.
ARPANSA failed to give me an explanation with the previous contamination. Did the media report on it, I don’t know.
I don’t know the cause, but when they can’t control nuclear, they try their best to control the media.Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA https://www.facebook.com/groups/373984659617522/
Nuclear arms race danger is increasing – Australia endorses it
Nuclear arms race risk grows, amid US and Russia tensions, Newcastle Herald , Damon Cronshaw , JANUARY 7 2019, The risk of a new nuclear arms race appears to have significantly increased through “fractured relations between the US and Russia”, a University of Newcastle academic says.
The Trump administration’s stated intention to develop a new generation of American nuclear weapons was “highly inflammatory”, said Associate Professor Amy Maguire, a senior lecturer in international law at the university.
She also considered the intention to be “disingenuous”.
“The US continually enhances its nuclear capability – it is not as though the US has had warehouses full of old bombs gathering dust for decades and now they are starting afresh,” she said.
Nevertheless, she said the global stockpile of nuclear weapons had been reduced significantly to 14,700. The Cold War arms race led to a stockpile of an estimated 70,000 weapons.
“However, arms control agreements that have been key to achieving this reduction are increasingly under pressure,” she said.
She said the US and Russia had repeatedly accused each other of violating various arms control treaties.
“In October this year, President Trump announced that the US will withdraw from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles [commonly known as the INF treaty].”
The US said Russia had violated the treaty by developing a new cruise missile. The US was also concerned about having no response to Chinese missiles. China is not part of the treaty.
“If Russia’s doing it and if China’s doing it and we’re adhering to the agreement, that’s unacceptable,” Mr Trump said in October.
Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev cited withdrawal from the INF treaty and the Iran nuclear deal as evidence that the US had declared a new nuclear arms race.
“This is of particular concern given the massive and growing rate of military spending globally,” Associate Professor Maguire said.
She said Australia’s refusal to endorse the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons “indicates how we see ourselves in relation to the world’s nuclear powers, none of which has endorsed the prohibition treaty”.
“Australia is one of 30 states that are regarded as nuclear weapons-endorsing states. This bloc of states rely on what they regard as the nuclear protection of allies.
“Australia’s government argues that a ‘building blocks’ approach to disarmament is preferable to the prohibition required by the treaty.”
But by refusing to participate in the drafting of the prohibition treaty, she said Australia “missed an opportunity to contribute positively to nuclear disarmament”. “The treaty is far from perfect, not least because it does not include the nine nuclear-armed states. Had countries like Australia participated in the drafting more productively, a different agreement could perhaps have been reached,” she said.
“Such an agreement might, for example, have allowed for a phase in which weapons stockpiles were reduced prior to full elimination and prohibition.”………. https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5833974/the-revived-menace-of-nuclear-arms-a-newcastle-researchers-take/?cs=12
Despite Tony Abbott, renewable energy investment has been promoted by Labor and the crossbench
Senate crossbench gave renewables $23bn boost by thwarting Abbott’s plan https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/06/senate-crossbench-gave-renewables-23bn-boost-by-thwarting-abbotts-plan, Paul Karp@Paul_Karp Sun 6 Jan 2019
Decisions by Labor and crossbench to save clean energy agencies encouraged investment, report says The Senate’s decisions to stop Tony Abbott abolishing clean energy agencies helped create renewable energy projects worth $23.4bn, a new report says.
The Australia Institute says decisions taken by Labor and the crossbench between 2013 and 2015 to
save the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) have now secured $7.8bn in public funding and investment for clean energy.
Together with the renewable energy target – which was retained but reduced to 33,000GWh by 2020 – these measures will cut greenhouse gases by 334m tonnes over their lifetime, compared with 192m tonnes through the Coalition’s emissions reduction fund.
The Australia Institute released the Saved by the Bench report alongside polling that showed Australians supported the Senate’s role as a check on government power but were split on whether it blocked government legislation too often. Continue reading
Victoria’s bushfires could burn for weeks
Bushfires across Victoria could burn for weeks, The Age, By Rachael Dexter, Liam Mannix, Rachel Wells & Simone Fox Koob, 5 January 2019, Firefighters will use a brief reprieve from the hot weather to try to get on top of a major bushfire in Gippsland – before temperatures start to rise again.
The bushfire at Rosedale, suspected to be deliberately lit, ripped through more than 10,000 hectares of scrub and forest before it was brought under control about 2.30am Saturday.
After a cool change following one of the hottest days in years on Friday, the mercury is forecast to rise to 31 degrees on Tuesday. Another cool front will bring relief Wednesday and Thursday with temperatures of 23 and 25 degrees.
But the fire, which is burning through a state park and pine plantation, could take weeks to extinguish. Gippsland will get a week of cool weather, before the temperature starts to get into the 30s next weekend. Firefighters hope to have it well under control by then. ……..
The Rosedale fire was the largest of more than 200 that burnt across Victoria on Friday, as high temperatures and fast winds combined to apply a blowtorch to the state. Melbourne recorded its hottest day in five years with a top temperature of 42.6 degrees…….. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/bushfires-across-victoria-could-burn-for-weeks-20190105-p50prw.html
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
Submissions to the federal government’s new draft framework close on the 13th November 2026.
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
