Finally, recognition for Australia’s atomic veterans
Atomic veterans to be recognised after 61 years, Mandurah Mail, 8 May 17, The service of veterans exposed to British atomic testing off the coast of Western Australia in the 1950s is to be recognised in the federal budget on Tuesday.
On Sunday Canning MP Andrew Hastie announced $133 million would be spent giving the men who served in the Montebello Islands, where three nuclear weapons tests took place in 1952 and 1956, access to Department of Veterans Affairs gold cards.
Mr Hastie said the gold cards, which entitled the veterans to free public and private health care, were an acknowledgment the men had served in dangerous circumstances.
“It says to them that the Australian government, on behalf of the Australian people, care about them and are going to see their responsibility to care for them through,” he said.
“For these men it is recognition they did serve in hazardous conditions, that they were exposed to nuclear radiation after atomic testing, so for them it means a lot, especially since quite a few of them have suffered from cancer.”
Only 51 of the 89 servicemen who were conscripted to assist with the atomic tests are still alive.
Half of those who have since died succumbed to cancer……..
Many of the veterans said they had not been told of the dangers of nuclear radiation and were not issued protective gear.
“We got up there and didn’t even know what was happening, all we knew is that something big was happening so we got out on the upper deck and the count down came down,” Australian Ex-Services Atomic Survivors Association secretary Jim Marlow said.
“We were told to turn our backs, so we turned our backs and there was a blinding flash and a push of wind and a whole lot of noise and we turned back again and saw the smoke going up.”
Mr Marlow said he was back working in the ship 10 minutes after the blast.
He said the survivors association had been lobbying for recognition for more than a decade. http://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/4647184/atomic-veterans-to-be-recognised-after-61-years/
Senate should not reward Brandis’ native title bill scam
http://wanganjagalingou.com.au/senate-should-not-reward-brandis-native-title-bill-scam/9 May 2017
Proper consultation with Indigenous Leaders needed
Adani shouldn’t determine Native Title reform agenda
“The Attorney General George Brandis has cut corners and conducted a shabby consultation process on the Native Title Bill to be debated in the Senate this Wednesday, failing to include
Traditional Owners across Australia, say Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners fighting Adani’s coal mine in Central Queensland.
“Senior spokesperson for the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J)Traditional Owners Council, Mr Adrian Burragubba said, “The Attorney General has whipped up a false sense of urgency so he can push through this Bill, which is designed for everyone but the Traditional Owners whose rights it is meant to uphold.
““Brandis has engineered a cursory and limited consultation process which is grossly inadequate for amendments which will have such a significant and long term impact on our rights. …
“The Labor Party, who were the original architects of native title laws under Prime Minister Paul Keating, understood that good native title laws are built on direct consultation with a broad group of Aboriginal leaders, and are meant to right an historic wrong.
““We are encouraged by reports that the Opposition, in this 25th anniversary year of the Mabo decision,
is troubled by the Government’s handling of this Bill,
and is seeking to ensure proper consultations with Traditional Owners.
We have urged all Labor, Green and Xenophon Senators not to pass this bill. …
“Youth spokesperson for the W&J Traditional Owners Council, MsMurrawah Johnson, said, “As Traditional Owners we have a right to determine our own future and make our own decisions about our lands and waters. It is not up to unelected CEOs and lawyers who are talking to the Government.
““The Government has failed to make a case for why this Bill is urgent, or make a convincing argument why it needs to overturn the Federal Court’s decision in McGlade. …
Finally, some justice for Australia’s nuclear test veterans
https://nick.nxtmps.org.au/media/releases/finally-some-justice-for-
australias-nuclear-test-veterans/7 MAY 2017 Negotiations with the Nick Xenophon Team were instrumental in finally securing the Gold Card benefit for Australian veterans who served in the British Occupation Forces in Japan from 1945-1952 and also those involved in the British nuclear tests in Australia from 1952-1967.
Until the Federal Government’s announcement today, Australian nuclear veterans were not eligible for the Gold Card – which covers medical expenses and treatment for all of a veteran’s medical conditions.
It is automatically available for all veterans who served in theatres of war – but inexplicably was denied to those who were subjected to a nuclear blast.
Until now, Australia’s nuclear veterans had to jump over the onerous hurdle of proving their illness and medical conditions were directly linked to the exposure to radiation.
Senator Nick Xenophon has pursued this issue for over six years in the Senate, moving amendments to extend the Gold Card to nuclear veterans, including those Australians who served in the British Occupation Forces in Japan from 1945-1952, involved in the clean up and occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
More recently he has been joined in advocacy for the veterans by his NXT colleagues in Canberra, particularly Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore.
“Ignored, and treated with contempt by successive governments since the 1950s, these nuclear veterans will finally get the recognition and assistance they so strongly deserve,” Nick said.
“Getting access to the Gold Card will make a very big difference to the surviving veterans – many of whom have suffered terrible health and illnesses as a result of their exposure to radiation.”
Of the 17,000 Australian soldiers and civilians directly involved in the British nuclear tests in Australia, at Emu Field and Maralinga in SA and Monte Bello Islands off the coast of WA, it is believed only about 1,100 are still alive. “This has been a shameful episode of Australian history. This at least is a belated recognition for the hazardous warlike service these veterans endured,” said Nick.
Health dangers from climate change are already with us
Health and climate change, The Saturday Paper, The World Health Organisation’s director-general describes climate change as ‘the fifth horseman’ of the apocalypse, as doctors are encouraged to speak out more about illness and death caused by extreme weather. By Marie McInerney. 6 May 17, “……….The World Health Organisation is clear, declaring climate change “the defining issue” for this century. The WHO’s director-general, Dr Margaret Chan, has described it as “the fifth horseman” of the apocalypse, a new threat riding across the public health landscape.
The health risks posed for Australia have been catalogued by the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA), a coalition of health and social policy groups that has developed a framework for a national strategy on climate, health and wellbeing in the absence of government or departmental leadership.
At the top of the list of risks are increasing frequency and ferocity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods and storms such as cyclone Debbie. A warmer climate and changing rainfall patterns will increase the range and prevalence of food, water and vector-borne diseases. The evidence also warns of mental health impacts, worsening allergies and asthma, disrupted food and water supplies, and health issues for people who work in the outdoors or respond to escalating disasters.
Groups such as CAHA say a big struggle on climate change has been to persuade people that it’s not just an environmental issue, and that the health urgency is personal and immediate.
That’s where Dr Bastian Seidel sees a role for GPs as “climate witnesses”. Seidel moved to Tasmania a decade ago from Germany and was recently elected president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australia’s largest medical organisation.
He says not a day goes by in his rural Huon Valley practice that he doesn’t hear about a climate change impact for his patients. Seasons are now pretty much unpredictable. He sees cherry farmers struggling to get crops out at Christmas, graziers dealing with prolonged drought, salmon producers worried about unseasonably hot weather. Hayfever cases now seem to go all year round.
The trouble is, he says, that not enough questions are being asked – by politicians, the media, public service, and also the medical profession – about what is causing these shifts and what health services need to do about them.
Seidel points to the recent thunderstorm asthma outbreak in Victoria that resulted in nine deaths and overwhelmed services – Victoria’s health minister Jill Hennessy likened it to 150 bombs going off in different places at once. While the government’s report into the event briefly acknowledges the influence of climate change on key conditions, Seidel says there was barely any scrutiny of its role.
“It looks like climate change has almost become the Voldemort of health impact research and policy – it shall not be named,” he says.
Seidel says GPs have to be bold enough to nominate climate change as a cause of illness and to campaign to have health policies “blueprinted” against climate change effects.
A priority example, he says, is the federal government’s Closing the Gap report. While many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities are at heightened risk from climate change, he says the term is only mentioned once in the 2017 report – in reference to the number of Indigenous employees at the Climate Change Authority.
While others may still shy away from the debate, Simon Judkins sees speaking out on climate change as a growing professional responsibility based on two core principles of healthcare: that prevention is better than cure, and that doctors have a duty of care for patients such as Ruby and others most immediately susceptible to climate change effects.
“Obviously there is the science to support, and we are scientists,” he said. “But we also need to advocate for the people we look after. The people who are going to be most affected by climate change are those who need a very robust public health system and GP support system because they can’t buy their way out of this. We do have a voice that is hopefully respected and I don’t think we use that voice enough in this space.” https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2017/05/06/health-and-climate-change/14939928004580
Queensland 20,000 jobs in solar power proposal
Queensland
20,000 jobs in solar power proposal
A US firm is scouting sites in Queensland for up to six solar thermal power stations, each of which would cost about $600m to build and need 4000 construction workers…..
http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/solar-power-queensland-plans-for-up-to-six-solar-thermal-stations/news-story/500edfdd61cdd0603bb876a8a558e3b0
News on fracking in Australia
Renowned scientist Tim Flannery warns NT against investing in gas
The former chief commissioner of Australia’s Climate Council says the NT should take heed of the risks posed by hydraulic fracturing when considering gas projects such as the proposed Jemena pipeline.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-06/tim-flannery-warns-against-nt-pipeline/8502186
Western Australia
Tribunal rules against Indigenous anti-fracking protestor in WA
An Aboriginal man who has spent more than two years protesting mining companies from a makeshift camp in northern WA declares victory, despite a tribunal ruling likely to end his campaign.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-05/tribunal-rules-against-anti-fracking-protester/8501544
Some pretty good news for Australia on renewable energy
There’s just too much news on renewable energy! Unable to cope, I give you some brief notes.Why grid based battery storage is already a no-brainer in Australia
BNEF says grid-based battery storage already very much in the many in Australia. It is a stunning cost fall that has caused AGL to reassess the future and join the CSIRO and the network owners in talking about 100 per cent renewable energy scenarios by 2030.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/why-grid-based-battery-storage-is-already-a-no-brainer-in-australia-85967/
CEFC backs two new waste-to-fuel plants with $30m loan
CEFC taps Australia’s $2-3.3bn waste to fuel market, with $30m loan to ResourceCo to build two new Processed Engineered Fuel plants.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/cefc-backs-two-new-waste-fuel-plants-30m-loan-46901/
Tesla says Powerwall 2 battery storage deliveries have begun
Tesla says installations of its Powerwall 2 home battery systems have begun in Australia, and will ramp up this month.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/tesla-says-powerwall-2-battery-storage-deliveries-begun-15268/
South Australia’s Anzac renewables bonanza
South Australia enjoyed a bumper harvest from its wind and solar plants last week. Such days will become more common as more projects are built.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/graph-day-south-australias-anzac-renewables-bonanza-22144/
WA to close Muja coal units, in first signs of major shift to renewables
As WA’s new Labor government announces closure of Muja AB coal-fired power station the state will have no choice but to turn to wind and solar.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/wa-to-close-muja-coal-units-in-first-signs-of-major-shift-to-renewables-58637/
Victoria’s big renewable energy plans face major network hurdle
Victoria’s ambitious renewable energy plans – to source 40 per cent of its demand from renewables by 2025 – face a potential significant hurdle because of network constraints in the west of the state.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/victorias-big-renewable-energy-plans-face-major-network-hurdle-50930/
6 May Australia: climate and Adani news
Unable to keep up with all this – but here are some headlinesDaniel Gocher
If gas is the transition fuel to a low carbon economy, then why on earth does Santos base its business plan on a catastrophic 4°C pathway?
http://reneweconomy.com.au/4-degrees-separation-santos-proves-gas-not-climate-solution-87779/
The impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef.
The corals of the reef have been bleached white for a second year in a row
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-995200128361633114
Help for coral at tipping point
Tourists have been pitching in underwater to save coral damaged by Cyclone Debbie on the Great Barrier Reef.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/helping-hand-as-coral-hits-tipping-point/news-story/0c863220c57a4108a2eef6291e51b300
The Australian Workers’ Union has backed the provision of a $900 million concessional loan for the Adani rail link.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/shorten-isolated-as-unions-back-adani-loan/news-story/64540cbf645a9ac09ab4b5923cdf4c18
Warning that North Korea could ship a nuclear device to Western Australia
North Korea can ship nuclear device to WA https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/north-korea-can-ship-nuke-to-wa-ng-b88463758z, Gary Adshead, 4 May 2017 A Perth-based former Australian Federal Police officer has issued a chilling warning about a potential threat posed by North Korea to Australia that does not involve launching missiles.Chris Douglas, who specialised in terrorism financing and organised crime, believes the rogue country is more than capable of smuggling a nuclear device into an Australian port via shipping routes.
“A fanatical regime facing extinction wouldn’t think twice about sending a container bearing a nuclear device to the US or an allied country and detonating it,” he said in an article published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Mr Douglas told The West Australian those ports could included Fremantle and that concealing the device would be easy and it would be foolish to focus only on the possibility of North Korea launching a missile into Australia if current tensions escalated.
“It’s time to check our thinking about what North Korea’s counter-attack response might be,” Mr Douglas said. “Nuclear weapons could be smuggled out of North Korea … and then be placed into containers on a cargo ship for transport to a port anywhere in the world.”
Last month, the state-run Democratic People’s Republic of Korea news agency warned Australia could hit by missiles. “If Australia persists in following the US moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK and remains a shock brigade of the US master, this will be a suicidal act of coming within the range of the nuclear strike of the strategic force of the DPRK, ” it said.
Mr Douglas suggested another terrifying scenario would involve several nuclear devices in different sea containers. “With over 17 million shipping containers in circulation, weaponised containers would be hard to detect,” he said. “A failure in imagination in any assessment of North Korea’s options to respond to a US attack could have a devastating impact not only on the US, but the rest of the world, involving significant loss of life and global economic ruin.”
A United Nations report in 2010, highlighted the lengths North Korea has gone to while pursuing its nuclear ambitions. A weapons expert doesn’t believe North Korea has capability to reach Darwin with one of their missiles
Private jets were hired through offshore companies and shipping containers were falsely labelled. In a separate UN report this year, North Korea was accused of “flouting sanctions through trade in prohibited goods, with evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication”. Mr Douglas said North Korean ships had been used previously to transport drugs near the Australian coast.
The Global Uranium Industry and Cameco’s Troubled History
The Global Uranium Industry & Cameco’s Troubled History, May 2017, Jim Green − Friends of the Earth, Australia http://tinyurl.com/cameco-may-2017
Table of Contents
- INTRODUCTION
- THE GLOBAL URANIUM INDUSTRY
Australia’s Uranium Volume and Exports – 2006-2015
Australia’s top export revenue industries – Compared to uranium
“It has never been a worse time for uranium miners”
If there is a recovery, it will be a long time coming
Explaining the uranium market’s malaise
- CAMECO BATTLING URANIUM DOWNTURN, TAX OFFICE, TEPCO
- CAMECO’S URANIUM DEPOSITS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA ‒ A BRIEF SUMMARY
- CAMECO’S INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS: 1981‒2016
Firstly: the miserable state of the global uranium industry. For several years, the uranium prices (the spot price and long-term contract price) has been well below the level that would incentivise new mines. There is no end in sight to the industry’s current malaise ‒ as acknowledged by numerous industry insiders and market analysts.
has two uranium projects in Western Australia ‒ Kintyre (70% Cameco / 30% Mitsubishi) and Yeelirrie (100% Cameco).CAMECO’S URANIUM DEPOSITS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA ‒ A BRIEF SUMMARY
The Global Uranium Industry & Cameco’s Troubled History May 2017 Jim Green − Friends of the Earth, Australia http://tinyurl.com/cameco-may-2017
“…….. Kintyre (70% Cameco / 30% Mitsubishi) The Martu Aboriginal people have fought against this proposed uranium mine since the 1980s. The deposit sits between two branches of a creek called Yantikutji which is connected to a complex network of surface and groundwater systems. It is also in an area that was cut out of the Karlamilyi National Park, WA’s biggest National Park. Kintyre is home to 28 rare, endangered and threatened species. The project would include an open pit 1.5 km long, 1.5 km wide, it would use 3.5 million litres of water a day and leave behind 7.2 million tonnes of radioactive mine waste over the life of the project.
In June 2016, Martu Traditional Owners led a 140 km, week-long walk to protest against Cameco’s proposed uranium mine at Kintyre. Aboriginal Traditional Owners are concerned the project will affect their water supplies as well as 28 threatened species in the Karlamilyi National Park.
Joining the protest walk was Anohni, the Academy Award-nominated musician from Antony and the Johnsons. She said: “It’s a huge landscape – it’s a really majestic place. It’s really hard to put a finger on it but there’s a sense of presence and integrity and patience, dignity and perseverance and intense intuitive wisdom that this particular community of people have. There is almost an unbroken connection to the land – they haven’t been radically disrupted. They are very impressive people – it’s humbling to be around these women. In many regards, I think the guys who run Cameco are desolate souls, desolate souls with no home, with no connection to land, with no connection to country.” www.ccwa.org.au/kintyre
Yeelirrie (100% Cameco) Yeelirrie in the local Wongutha Aboriginal language means ‘place of death’. The local community has fought against mining at Yeelirrie for over 40 years. There was a trial mine in the 1970s which was poorly managed: the site was abandoned, unfenced and unsigned with a shallow open pit and tailings left behind. The project would include a 9 km long, 1 km wide open pit, it would use 8.7 million litres of water a day and leave behind 36 million tonnes of radioactive mine waste over the life of the mine. There are many cultural heritage sites under threat from this proposal. The project was rejected by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Agency in 2016 because of the threat that 11 species of underground microfauna would become extinct. The WA Environment Minister ignored the EPA advice and approved the project anyway. www.ccwa.org.au/yeelirrie
All about renewable energy and climate in Australia
I can no longer keep up with thisAn electricity market “about as bad as you can get” has helped put household solar – and storage – back in the spotlight of Australia’s renewables shift, prompting forecasts of “massive growth.”
http://reneweconomy.com.au/nuts-electricity-market-drives-new-rooftop-solar-boom-side-battery-storage-60456/
Business Supports Mandatory Sustainability Reporting – CSR Survey
More than half of the respondents to an annual study of corporate social responsibility practices say sustainability reporting should be mandatory – and for the first time Australian banks have fallen off the list of top 10 CSR companies.
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/05/business-supports-mandatory-sustainability-reporting-csr-survey/
Climate change litigation is emerging as a significant risk for companies across all sectors of the economy.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/companies-must-take-climate-change-litigation-risk-seriously/news-story/85838f96e57407a8d67c41c7dee40011
Giles Parkinson
Greens challenge Labor to get new modelling to justify its support for an emissions intensity scheme, as attention turns to what’s next for energy policy now that the renewable critics have egg on their face over predictions the RET could never be met.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/if-renewables-target-is-met-this-year-whats-next-for-wind-and-solar-65994/
Perth is about to become the first Australian capital city to have “smart benches”, where people can charge their phones and access wifi for free.
https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/smart-bench-a-perfect-plug-in-ng-b88462793z
Electricity bills to fall thanks to renewable energy: forecaster
There could be relief in sight for households grappling with rising electricity bills, with a leading energy analyst forecasting new renewable projects will prevent more hikes in power prices within three years.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-03/electricity-bills-to-fall-thanks-to-renewable-energy:-forecaster/8494154 Australian households to install one million batteries by 2020
Morgan Stanley is still expecting around one million households in Australia will install battery storage by 2020.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/australian-households-install-one-million-batteries-2020/
Record $7.5bn renewables spend puts RET well within reach
Stunning $7.5 billion surge in investment in large scale wind and solar projects means Renewable Energy Target is well within reach, and could be filled by commitments this year.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/record-7-5bn-renewables-spend-puts-ret-well-within-reach-37388/
Tables – large scale renewable energy projects being built, or about to start
A table summarising the large scale renewable energy projects completed, under construction, or about to start in 2017.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/tables-large-scale-renewable-energy-projects-built-start-46760/
BNEF says falling solar PV costs mean it will be cheaper to build a new large-scale solar than to burn coal by 2032.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/new-solar-will-cheaper-old-coal-2032/
Christian Roselund
Climate Policy Initiative stresses flexibility and shows how energy storage and limited gas generation can support a power system dominated by renewables at a lower cost than conventional generation.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/report-near-total-renewable-energy-systems-cheaper-gas-2030/
Leanne Minshull
Tasmania is potentially set to become an energy superpower
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-playing-to-our-advantages-in-renewable-energy/news-story/17e537810acfb30ca165b1a45258e38d
All about the Adani coal mine expansion plan
I can no longer keep up with thishttp://www.afr.com/news/politics/adani-admits-overseas-steel-cheaper-but-still-prepared-to-buy-local-20170503-gvyfc9
GREEN groups will go to war with the Commonwealth Bank this week after documents revealed a continuing relationship with Adani that helped the controversial Carmichael mine gain approval for a water licence.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/green-groups-to-target-commonwealth-bank-over-potential-adani-financing/news-story/94d9701fe05b3801612015bd33bfb9ae
ADANI is facing a new investigation by the Queensland Government into its operations after water released at its Abbot Point facility was found to contain eight times the permitted level of sediment.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/adani-coal-port-under-investigation-from-queensland-government-for-sediment-runoff/news-story/b51d7e9667c5dd7f08b4f4ff8027b736
Survey shows 41% of people support bank’s decision to rule out funding Adani’s Queensland mine, with only 14% against, as the resources minister vows to switch banks
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/05/westpacs-adani-decision-finds-public-support-despite-canavans-disapproval
A PROMISE to source $74 million worth of steel from Arrium has been welcomed by the State Government, but Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis warns it won’t be the “saviour” of the Whyalla steelworks.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/jobs/adanis-deal-to-buy-74-million-in-steel-from-arrium-no-saviour-for-whyalla-says-sa-treasurer/news-story/e89ffd0e26a4662b174e1ff281358aff
Adani faces possible multi-million-dollar fine over Abbot Point sediment water discharge
Mining giant Adani faces a possible multi-million-dollar fine after sediment water eight times above authorised levels was discharged from the Abbot Point coal terminal last month, the ABC can reveal.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-03/adani-faces-multi-million-dollar-fine-over-sediment-water/8494398
A QUEENSLAND politician has slammed opponents of coal power, claiming if you don’t support coal, you can “sit under palm trees and weave baskets for a living”.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-government/gladstone-deputy-mayor-chris-trevor-slams-latte-sippers-who-are-against-coal/news-story/ef369f68cba0f34799928affcadf26e2
David Peetz, Griffith University and Georgina Murray, Griffith University
As the cost of renewable energy falls, funding a new mine is a risky investment.
http://theconversation.com/the-government-is-swimming-against-the-tide-on-westpacs-adani-decision-76950
Adani wards off Whyalla wipeout
The proposed $16.5bn Adani Carmichael mine project has thrown a lifeline to South Australia’s steel industry.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/adani-to-ward-off-whyalla-wipeout-with-pledge-to-use-arriums-steel/news-story/ac0acfb6b7d5f51e63417301ce65e1c1
Australian Energy Market Operator chief, Audrey Zibelman on the urgent need for new energy business model
AEMO chief says clinging to old energy business models is “insane”http://reneweconomy.com.au/aemo-chief-says-clinging-to-old-energy-business-models-is-insane-66776/ By Giles Parkinson on 3 May 2017
In a speech to the Australian Solar Council conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, and in earlier in-depth interview with RenewEconomy, Zibelman says the pace of change in the energy industry would be rapid, would focus on consumers and their use of rooftop solar and battery storage, and on demand management.
Zibelman advocates major reforms in the market, particularly in the proposed 5-minute rule, which she says would help make wind and solar “predictable”. She says it is clear that Australia will lead the world in shifting from a grid focused on centralised generation and passive consumers to one based on distributed resources and two way system.
This, she says, will require a new approach from all involved, including incumbent utilities, network operators, regulators, and AEMO itself. Continue reading
Federal Resources Minister, Senator Matt Canavan, is misrepresenting Wangan and Jagalingou people again
“Federal Resources Minister, Senator Matt Canavan, is misrepresenting Wangan and Jagalingou people again, as he and his National Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, come down hard on Westpac.
The big four bank announced a new policy which cuts Adani out of any future lending.
“It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious, the National Party talking climate action and Aboriginal rights, and giving economic advice to a commercial bank.
Here is the great ‘pork barreling’, coal burning and anti-land rights party of Australian history
arguing for Aboriginal advancement, and lecturing banks on climate policy and how to do business.
“All part of doing Adani’s bidding of course… Chairman Gautam Adani, made an unannounced visit to Queensland this weekend to reassure politicians “the decision would have no impact on plans for the multibillion-dollar mine.“ He met with Canavan.
“Quid pro quo, no doubt, for the Federal Government bending over backwards to change the Native Title Act to suit Adani’s interests.
“Canavan of course, like Mundine the week before, trotted out the convenient fiction as cover for trashing Aboriginal rights. Canavan claims Westpac “have also turned their back on the indigenous peoples of Queensland by this decision, because this mine in the Galilee Basin is supported by the Wangan and Jagalingou peoples. They met last year and voted on the mine, they voted on the mine 294 to one in support of it, yet that’s not good enough for Westpac”, he claimed in The Australian.
“Westpac didn’t make a decision based on Aboriginal rights one way or the other. W&J was the last thing on its business mind, sadly.
“But one more time for the record…
“Adani didn’t ‘negotiate’ and achieve the free prior informed consent of the W&J people. … “
1 This month.
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 