As choice of nuclear waste facility starts narrowing, people of Kimba are either excited or disgusted, http://www.adelaide now.com.au/news/south-australi a/as-choice-of-nuclear-waste-f acility-starts-narrowing-peopl e-of-kimba-are-either-excited- or-disgusted/news-story/ 8460ea159b77d47d915dc0abfc362b 37Erin Jones, Sunday Mail (SA)
January 6, 2018 “………..1998: The Howard Government announces plans for two low-level nuclear waste sites in SA, both at Woomera. Low level nuclear waste includes items like contaminated clothing, rags, tools, medical tubes and swabs.
2003: The SA Government passes a Bill banning the establishment of a low-level waste dump, but the Commonwealth tries to acquire the land at Woomera.
2004: The Federal Court rules that the acquisition is unlawful and the Commonwealth abandons its SA plans.
February, 2015: SA Premier Jay Weatherill announces a royal commission into the role the state could play in the nuclear future, including establishing a high-level waste facility in SA. High level waste includes spent nuclear fuels and waste from the vitrification process.
May, 2015:Mr Weatherill decides upon a citizen’s jury process, to decide whether SA should pursue a high-level dump.
November, 2015:Six sites across Australia, including two at Kimba and one in the Flinders Ranges, are short-listed for a low-level nuclear waste site.
April, 2016: Wallerberdina Station, near Hawker, in the Flinders Ranges, goes to the next stage of the consultation phase — ahead of the five other sites.
November, 2016:The majority of Citizen’s Jury participants vote against a high-level waste dump.
June, 2017 Mr Weatherill formally abandons his high-level nuclear waste push.
■ Two more properties at Kimba nominate to be a low-level nuclear waste site and also progress to the next stage of consultation. http://www.adelaide now.com.au/news/south-australi a/as-choice-of-nuclear-waste-f acility-starts-narrowing-peopl e-of-kimba-are-either-excited- or-disgusted/news-story/ 8460ea159b77d47d915dc0abfc362b 37
January 8, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Federal nuclear waste dump, South Australia |
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Cooking the books on climate change policy, The Age, 7 Jan 18, Eryk Bagshaw
Two reports released on the same day, from the same government department with two very different sets of findings.
The Turnbull government’s climate change policy review would have you believe we are well on our way to reaching our international commitment of a 26-28 per cent reduction by 2030.
wo reports released on the same day, from the same government department with two very different sets of findings.
The Turnbull government’s climate change policy review would have you believe we are well on our way to reaching our international commitment of a 26-28 per cent reduction by 2030.
While the policy review states: “we have a record of meeting and beating our emissions reduction targets and are on track to meet our 2030 target,” the department’s emissions report admits clearly: “Australia’s emissions have risen in the past three years.” …….
An independent analysis commissioned by the Greens suggests the size of the abatement is now so great that it would require us to take all cars off the road or cows off farms, not in a decade, but tomorrow.
The laughable proposition underscores the size of the task in the decade to come.
The first step in addressing that gap is admitting that it exists. Which why the deliberate omission of a chart in a review that clearly shows Australia sailing way above its targets in the climate change policy reviews is so striking.
The department and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg consulted no less than 270 stakeholders and received 357 submissions but the government’s obfuscation in omitting the offending chart from its final policy review is remarkable.
By pretending it doesn’t exist, it has given themselves room to move.
Into that space falls the government’s concessions to “stakeholders”, aka big business, which have been carefully worded to essentially allows companies to increase their emissions if their production does. ……http://www.theage.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/cooking-the-books-on-climate-change-policy-20171229-h0ba0h.html
January 8, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming |
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Ms McKenzie said: “Australian Aboriginal people live in a land that they are the first people, yet our culture belief, our religion is ignored, our heritage and burial sites desecrated, we have never been acknowledged in the constituion. This act of placing a nuclear waste dump on the Adnyamathana nations country is cultral genocide.
“The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Article 29.2 says that governments must get consent from traditional owners to place any toxic substances on country, which never happened
“Please dont impact Aboriginal people like Britons did with Maralinga, when they tested the atomic bomb. Don’t destroy culture.
Video: Aborigine anger over lack of action to stop Scots nuclear waste transfers
Martin Williams ,January 2018
http://www.heraldscotland.com/…/15808815.Video__Aborigine_…/
CAMPAIGNERS have accused the Scottish Government of a lack of decisive action following protests over plans to dump nuclear waste from Dounreay at a sacred Aboriginal burial place.
Ministers have come under fire for failing to review proposals for a sacred area of Wallerberdina, 280 miles north of Adelaide, to become a potential location for Australia’s first nuclear dump.
It came despite Aborigine tribes people providing a video appeal to the officials to stop the dumping.
Campaigner Gary Cushway, a dual Australian-British citizen living in Glasgow, pressed the point in a meeting with the Government which was arranged after he wrote to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over the controversy.
Wallerberdina is said to include Aboriginal burial mounds, fossilised bones and stone tools.
But it has been earmarked as part of a deal that returns spent fuel processed at the nuclear facility currently being decommissioned at the nuclear site in Caithness to its country of origin.
Mr Cushway said he was “disappointed” by the “lack of decisive action” after asking that the Government review the agreement.
Aborigines provided a video appeal to the Scottish Government to stop the dumping in an area identified as a potential location for Australia’s first nuclear waste dump as part of a deal that returns spent fuel processed at the nuclear facility currently being decommissioned in Dounreay, Caithness, to its country of origin.
The video, which came in the form of a documentary, highlighted one Aborigine speaking in the Adnyamanthatha language saying, “the poison, leave it alone” and “we don’t want it”.
The proposed dump site is next to an indigenous protected area where Aborigines are still allowed to hunt, and is part of the traditional home of the Adnyamathanha people, one of several hundred indigenous groups in Australia.
The Dounreay Waste Substitution Policy, agreed in 2012, sees waste from Australia, Belgium, Germany and Italy processed at the Scottish facility to make it safe for storage after being returned to its country of origin. Continue reading →
January 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump |
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Some nuclear-free sleuths on the Facebook site Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia– help unravel the complexities.
While the South Australian Liberal Party’s official position was opposition to the Labor government’s 2016 plan to import nuclear wastes, Liberal politicians as well as Labor were funded by the Taiwanese government for trips to Taiwan to promote the cause of importing nuclear wastes.
MPs and MLCs visiting Taiwan:
During the financial year 2014-2015, Tom Kenyon and his wife received travel, accommodation and food courtesy of the Government of Taiwan. The Members Register of Interests for that year contains the information in the clipping below.
UPDATE – Other Parliamentarians to visit Taiwan and discuss nuclear industry include:
– Tom Kenyon (Newland) in 2006 (funding: GoT)
– Liz Penfold (Flinders) in 2007 (funding: unknown)
– Trish White (Taylor) in 2006-2007 (funding: GoT)*
– Michael Atkinson in March 2011 (funding: GoT)*
– Stephen Griffiths in March 2011 (funding: GoT)*
– Tom Kenyon (Newland) in 2014-2015 (funding: GoT)
– MLC Tung Ngo in 2016 (funding: unknown)
* Those marked with ‘*’ have not had the purpose of their travel confirmed.
Tom Kenyon’s visit to Taiwan in 2006, during which he claims he embraced the idea for South Australia to import spent nuclear fuel for storage and disposal, was paid for by the Government of Taiwan.
The supporting evidence was found in the 2007 Members Register of Interests, held by the SA Parliament.
Thanks to Sandra Kanck for suggesting that the Register might contain such details, and to the administrators at the SA Parliament for making past Members Registers of Interests available at my request.
Dan Monceaux , 6 Jan 18 Trish White also travelled to Taiwan in 2006-2007 at the expense of the Government of Taiwan. It was documented in an Erratum to the Members Register of Interests for that year.
More recently, White was a signatory on the latest Open Letter hosted by Bright New World, calling for the door to be kept open on the consideration of spent nuclear fuel importation to SA.
Her Wikipedia biography states that she was an engineer and project manager before entering the SA parliament. She also worked with DSTO. After leaving the Parliament, she became a senior exec. with engineering consultants, WorleyParsons.
I wonder if she traveled with Tom Kenyon on this occasion?
In an earlier Advertiser report – “Investment and Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith said he was delivered a “clear message” that the tiny island nation would be interested in investing in nuclear storage infrastructure and making ongoing payments to dump waste overseas.” “our neighbours may be in a position to put hundreds of millions, if not billions. into infrastructure” – http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/taiwan-first-country-to-consider-storing-nuclear-waste-at-a-facility-in-sa/news-story/9934181587580b42e35e2276980e299f
January 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
South Australia, wastes |
1 Comment
Is ARPANSA wrongfully regulating and promoting the project? Why did ARPANSA fail to address the safety issues at Lucas Heights that Comcare bought to their attention?
Why does ARPANSA have trouble dealing with people in group discussions?
Is ARPANSA being strong-armed by DIIS, and ANSTO to push a radioactive dump on a community of unwilling people?
Is ARPANSA listening to the majority that are saying “NO”?
Is ARPANSA insensitive to native heritage.? Is ARPANSA ignoring the science of nuclear waste being abandonment in a environment that fails on all the criteria put forward by DIIS?
Is ARPANSA honest and forthcoming with all the issues pertaining to the toxic proposal?
January 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, secrets and lies |
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EPA approves $900m rare earths mine in Central Australia despite radioactive risk, ABC News, By Ben Millington, 5 Jan 18,A proposed $900 million rare earths mine in Central Australia has been recommended for approval by the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (EPA), after an assessment process lasting more than two years.,
Arafura Resources’ Nolans Project at Aileron, 135 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, would mine rare earth materials such as neodymium and praseodymium, used to manufacture strong magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles.
The EPA identified several long-term environmental risks and impacts with the project, but found they could be managed.
“There will have to be a high level of operational management control for this project over a couple of generations, and there’ll have to be a high level of regulatory scrutiny, there’s no two ways about that,” EPA chairman Paul Vogel said.
The primary risks include the permanent storage of naturally occurring radioactive material onsite and the use of significant groundwater resources over the 35 to 55-year lifespan of the project……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/epa-approves-rare-earth-mine-in-central-australia/9306610
January 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Northern Territory, rare earths |
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Whyalla and Port Augusta could be a renewables powerhouse, says local mayor, ABC North and West By Tom Rohde , 4 Jan 18
SA’s clean-energy projects
- A hybrid power station is being built at Coober Pedy. The hope is that the outback community can be powered solely by solar, wind and diesel energy
- Investors have funded a $300m solar battery-power plant at Roxby Downs
- A wind, solar and battery farm is planned at Crystal Brook in the state’s mid north
- A 100 megawatt solar powered facility is being built at Tailem Bend
- US-based company Solar Reserve is seeking federal support for a $650 million solar-thermal project in Port Augusta
- Zen Energy wants to build a solar power plant in the Upper Spencer Gulf
The mayor of a South Australian regional port city built on the steel industry and iron ore mining says it could pair with a neighbouring centre to become the nation’s hub for renewable energy.
Whyalla Mayor Lyn Breuer said she hoped her city could team up with Port Augusta 80 kilometres away to make the plan a reality.
Regional South Australian cities have seen several energy projects announced over the past year, with construction on a new solar thermal power station in Port Augusta to start early this year.
In October last year, Whyalla steelworks owner Sanjeev Gupta announced that he had approved a plan worth up to $700 million for solar, battery storage and pumped hydro, with 200 megawatts of solar photovoltaics at Whyalla……..
Port Augusta’s mayor Sam Johnson said he believed the region was already becoming a hub for renewable energy.
“Port Augusta will, and I believe actually is becoming the renewable capital of Australia and there’s no doubt that Whyalla is a direct link into that.
“There’s some really great synergies between Port Augusta and Whyalla in what’s becoming a new and exciting industry.”…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/sa-cities-could-become-australian-renewable-energy-centre/9306318
January 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
solar, South Australia |
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‘In Commemoration of the 1988 Long March for Peace Justice and Hope,
where 40,000 people showed their support for Aboriginal rights’
‘And also commemorating 80 years since the 1938 Day of Mourning’
Indigenous Peoples Organisation
indigenouspeoplesorg.com.au
‘Aboriginal people across this country are calling for a Treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
that recognises Aboriginal sovereignty as the First Peoples was never ceded,
address the stark disparity in economic social conditions of Aboriginal communities poverty
and the structural racism that continues to repress Aboriginal people.
‘The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
now endorsed by the Australian Government, asserts in Article 3:
Indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination.
‘Yet Australia remains the only commonwealth colonised country
without a Treaty with its Indigenous peoples.
‘Calls for a Treaty were repeatedly raised by Aboriginal communities
during the recent Constitutional Recognition consultations
as a practical means to recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
as the First Nation Peoples and to implement the structural changes
required to establish self-determination.
‘A Treaty builds on the Statement from the Heart’s call for a ‘Makarrata’,
a Yolgnu word for coming together after a conflict, to move forward together.
It also builds on several State based Treaties currently being developed.
‘A Treaty sets a process to legitimately move forward in partnership
between Aboriginal people and the Australian State.’
Read more from IPO’s comprehensive, informative & interesting website:
indigenouspeoplesorg.com.au
January 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL |
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Adani $1b loan bid was likely to fail key criteria for NAIF approval, ABC News, By Josh Robertson, 5 Jan 18, Adani’s bid for a $1 billion taxpayer-funded loan may have been doomed even before it was scuppered by Queensland’s Palaszczuk Government, the Productivity Commission has said.
Key points:
- Qld Govt vetoed critical $1 billion loan for Adani mine
- Productivity Commission says mine may have failed loan criteria anyway
- Qld Govt could also veto rail company loan bid
The miner’s proposed Galilee Basin rail line faced rejection by the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) because it may have failed key hurdles, the commission’s latest bulletin suggested.
However, the commission is yet to analyse a rival NAIF loan bid by rail operator Aurizon, which the State Government will also consider blocking in line with an election promise relating to Adani.
It comes as environmental activists plan to target Aurizon over its rail proposal, which would set up an export route for Adani.
State Labor told lobby group GetUp! during the election campaign in November it would veto “any NAIF loan” that enabled Adani’s coal project.
The Productivity Commission’s December newsletter noted that projects seeking low-interest loans from NAIF must “not otherwise be able attract finance, but would be commercially viable once constructed”.
There must also be “a public benefit from the infrastructure [to justify the cost to the taxpayer of the short-term assistance provided]”.
“Many of the projects suggested in the media as candidates for NAIF funding — such as the rail line to the Galilee Basin and various large irrigation dams — may fail at least one of these criteria,” it said.
This raised the risk of taxpayers throwing good money after bad, the commission suggested.
“If the return on the investment does not cover the operational costs of the infrastructure and the costs of servicing the loan at market rates over the life of the asset, the small initial level of assistance provided by a concessional loan may simply become another case of inefficient resource allocation,” it said……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/adani-loan-bid-likely-to-fail-before-palaszczuk-intervention/9305040
January 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics |
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Pacific rift: When nuclear tests made France a dirty word, SMH, Damien Murphy, 1 Jan 18 “…….the 1985 sinking of the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior by French operatives, union outrage, peacenik panic and maintenance of uranium exports shaped Australia’s response to Paris’ decision to start letting off bombs as far away as possible from La Belle France.
In a June 5 report to cabinet about possible resumption of French tests, the minister for foreign affairs, Gareth Evans and the minister for Pacific Island affairs, Gordon Bilney, said memories of the Rainbow Warrior were strong and New Zealand could be expected to postpone official visits and suspend military-related co-operation with France.
The ministers were concerned about Australia looking as hard-nosed as New Zealand.
“New Zealand will obviously be hoping that Australia’s response is similar to theirs,” the ministers said. “Wellington’s response may have an impact in Australia if it is significantly stronger than ours.”
The ministers advised treading softly so as not to make nuclear testing dominant in the bilateral relationship and stop the French from taking retaliation.
“Three specific areas of current Australian interest could be targeted by the French: Australia’s (United Nation’s) Security Council bid, market access for special Australian products such as kangaroo meat, and Australia’s candidature for the position of secretary-general of the South Pacific Commission.”
On June 13, president Jacques Chirac announced the resumption of nuclear tests in the South Pacific.
The Keating government hardened up its act.
On June 22 cabinet decided to recall Australia’s ambassador and Australian Defence Force staff from Paris, suspend Australian ship and aircraft visits to French territories and ban French ship visits and “not progress” collaboration on military logistics and equipment or exchange classified information.
Cabinet maintained the policy of not negotiating any new uranium contracts with France while it was conducting nuclear tests in the South Pacific.
“These measures are in line with the government’s consistent policy on this issue, which has been to respond in a measured, graduated way, leaving open every avenue for France to respond to South Pacific concerns,” an attachment to a cabinet minute noted.
Later, when 50 per cent of Australian Defence Industries was acquired by the Australian branch of a French engineering firm, presumably time had healed the Pacific rift with France. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/boom-goes-paree-20171213-h04czc.html
January 3, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international |
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Microgrids are in their early stages in Australia, but the country is swiftly taking a world-leading position, making the nation a renewable innovation hub.
Australian towns going off the grid http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/australian-towns-going-off-the-grid-20171219-p4yxvv.html, Cole Latimer, 3 Jan 17, Australia is facing an energy crisis. As prices rose to new highs last year and the ever-constant threat of blackouts hung over the east coast, many Australians looked for energy alternatives. Some turned to solar panels and battery storage technology to solve their bill woes, gain greater control of their own power and make a real change in terms of their impact on the climate.
While they are taking steps at the individual level, others are looking to take full advantage of the push for more renewable energy and shift away from centralised power systems on a larger scale.
This is seeing the rise of microgrids, a unique solution to a very Australian problem.
The vast distance covered by Australian energy distribution networks presents a serious problem: How do you get energy generated from point A to a user at point B, and how much will it cost?
Microgrids circumvent this issue by creating power and keeping it local, and at the same time lowering costs by cutting much of the associated distribution costs. Microgrids are autonomous energy distribution systems that can generate power from its users and operate off the main grid, or connect to existing grids, and support different generation assets and load demand.
This market is forecast to increase to more than $20 billion annually, with around half of all Australian homes expected to have rooftop solar panels installed, by 2024. Continue reading →
January 3, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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Spent nuclear fuel storage http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/spent-nuclear-
fuel-storage-20171215-h0590r.html Damien Murphy,
Spent nuclear fuel storage at Sydney’s Lucas Heights was destined to be full within three years, cabinet was told in a December 1995 minute.
The cabinet agreed the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation should cost proposals to have Britain reprocess their spent fuel in Scotland, return all American spent fuel to the United States and not accumulate spent fuel beyond the capacity of existing storage.
Cabinet wanted the information for consideration in the 1996-97 budget.
The minister for primary industries and energy, Bob Collins, and the minister for industry, technology and commerce, Peter Cook, told cabinet that reducing spent research reactor fuel holdings would be welcomed by the community at Lucas Heights although any operations involving radioactive materials were likely to be opposed by groups that object to nuclear activities.
December 31, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Federal nuclear waste dump |
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Australian Defence Force on heightened alert during Russian military exercise in Indonesia ABC News Defence reporter Andrew Greene, 30 Dec 17, Defence personnel in Darwin were operating at “increased readiness” earlier this month as Russian strategic bombers conducted navigation exercises close to Australia, flying out of an Indonesian military base.
Key points:
- RAAF Base Darwin placed on a “short period” of heightened alert
- Russian Ministry of Defence claims it “carried out air alert mission over neutral waters of south Pacific Ocean”
- Defence Department would have been concerned about Russian intelligence collection, defence expert says
The ABC can reveal RAAF Base Darwin was placed on a “short period” of heightened alert, while over 100 Russian personnel and several aircraft were stationed at the Biak Airbase in Indonesia’s eastern Papua province.
During the five-day stopover two nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers flew their first ever patrol mission over the South Pacific, prompting concerns they may have been collecting valuable intelligence.
The Russian Ministry of Defence claims its strategic bombers “carried out air alert mission over neutral waters of south Pacific Ocean” in a flight lasting more than eight hours………http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-30/australia-on-alert-during-russian-military-exercise-in-indonesia/9293362
December 31, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, weapons and war |
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French nuclear test tensions threatened Olympic Dam expansion plans, declassified Cabinet documents reveal, Peter Jean, The Advertiser, January 1, 2018
THE FRENCH NUCLEAR TESTING
KANGAROO meat and other exports to Europe could be jeopardised if Australia took a hard line against French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, the Keating cabinet feared in 1995.
A ban on uranium exports to France could also have put at risk a potential $1 billion expansion of South Australia’s Olympic Dam.
The resumption of underground nuclear testing in French Polynesia sparked boycotts of French businesses in Australia and plunged the Labor government into a diplomatic and political crisis.
Mr Keating recalled Australia’s Ambassador from Paris and suspended some defence co-operation with France, including ship visits and training arrangements.
In a May cabinet submission ahead of the nuclear tests, Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans and Pacific Island Affairs Minister Gordon Bilney warned that Australia’s interests could be damaged if the Government overreacted.
“Australia’s response should also be shaped so as to limit French retaliation in those sectors of the relationship we wish to see preserved,’’ the submission said.
“Three specific areas of current Au1stralian interest could be targeted by the French: Australia’s Security Council bid, market access for special Australian products such as kangaroo meat, and Australia’s candidature for the position of Secretary-General of the (South Pacific Commission).’’
There were widespread calls for Australia to suspend uranium exports to France but this would have led to the Government having to pay compensation to mining companies with existing contracts.
Australia had already imposed a ban on new uranium export contracts with French companies until France agreed to a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.
Despite this, the cabinet submission noted that Western Mining Corporations was considering whether to spend $1 billion on expanding operations at Olympic Dam and could potentially look to France for new sales……..ww.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/french-nuclear-test-tensions-threatened-olympic-dam-expansion-plans-declassified-cabinet-documents-reveal/news-story/527ebf99b9dedafc1aeec8a8ef1b64e7
December 31, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international |
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The papers note the Australian government was under increasing pressure from Europe and Pacific island nations to take tougher steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The truth was that the “no regrets” policy made Australia’s efforts to cut emissions ineffectual, as officials acknowledged in the cabinet papers.
Among the policy responses considered was a carbon or energy tax
Cabinet papers: Keating MPs considered carbon tax to tackle climate change https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/01/cabinet-papers-keating-mps-considered-carbon-tax-to-tackle-climate-change
Cabinet debated how to cling on to government’s ‘no regrets’ policy while maintaining Australia’s influence at international bargaining table, Guardian, Anne Davies, Australia’s response to climate change and the challenge of meeting its international obligations proved as difficult for the Keating government in 1994 and 1995 as it would for future governments.
Cabinet papers released by the Australian National Archives on Monday show that much of the debate in the Keating cabinet was about how to cling on to the government’s “no regrets” policy while maintaining Australia’s influence at the international bargaining table.
The “no regrets” policy meant Australia would consider only measures that involved cutting emissions without any adverse impact on the economy or trade competitiveness. That ruled out most measures to tax fossil fuels, which would increase the cost of electricity.
It meant Australia relied mainly on creating carbon sinks by limiting land-clearing and planting trees.
Australia had signed on to targets at an international conference in Toronto in 1990 on the basis that the convention would recognise Australia’s high dependence on fossil fuels.
But by September 1994 ministers were told Australia was falling woefully behind the implied target set in the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the interim planning target it had set itself.
Continue reading →
December 31, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming |
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