High Court challenge to Tasmania’s anti protest laws – by Bob Brown
Bob Brown challenges Tasmania’s anti-protest laws in High Court ABC News 9 Mar 16 Former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has issued a High Court challenge to the Tasmanian Government’s anti-protest laws.
The legislation which passed Parliament in 2014 allows for on-the-spot fines and tougher penatlities for repeat offenders.
Mr Brown and a number of others were arrested and charged in January, under the new laws, for protesting against the logging of Lapoinya Forest in Tasmania’s north west.
He issued the High Court challenge on the grounds the laws were contrary to the implied freedom of speech on government and political matters under the Australian constitution.
“I know that a challenge in the High Court can be a very expensive thing but I also know that a lot of people are worried about this legislation and the spread of it in other states,” he said.
“The laws will, if not challenged, trap everybody who wants to take a stand against something that’s manifestly wrong going on in our country.” Mr Brown said the Tasmanian Government promised the laws were not aimed at “mum and dad” protesters.
But he said “first up, they trapped a young mother and nurse who grew up in the Lapoinya area and a local grandfather”.
Hobart solicitor Roland Brown said the High Court challenge was a test case.
“This case is unusual because it’s seeking to have made invalid, or declared invalid, legislation that targets people’s political belief and their opinion in relation to environmental, social, cultural and economic factors,” he said………http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-10/bob-brown-flags-high-court-challenge-to-workplace-protest-laws/7236124
Don’t nuclear waste Australia! Make a stand!
Dave Sweeney, Australian Conservation Foundation, 9 Mar 16 Six communities in regional and remote areas around the country are on a government shortlist as possible sites to house Australia’s radioactive waste.
Toni Scott from Kimba in South Australia visited Parliament House last week with farmers, residents and Traditional Owners from every community on the list. “I’m the direct neighbour of a site and I’m here to say to Minister Frydenberg this process is wrong. He needs to stop and start again and get it right. He’s got time to do that.”
Josh Frydenberg, the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, has promised not to impose radioactive waste on a site without broad community support. It is now time to honour this promise.
Public comment on the proposed six sites ends this Friday. Will you make a public comment in the next 48 hours and take a stand with Toni?
I was at Parliament with Toni and the other representatives from the six proposed sites and they’re concerned, suspicious and opposed.
Radioactive waste is caused by splitting atoms. We cannot let it split communities.
Peter Woolford, a grain grower from Kimba, said, “The mental health issues that the process has created, the stress and the anger and the deep division in our community is real. We are here as one to make sure our concerns are heard. The process is wrong and it’s damaging our communities.”
Regina McKenzie, a Traditional Owner from the Flinders Ranges, worries that the Indigenous cultural work done in her community over many years will be lost. “There was no consultation whatsoever. We all found out when it was released on the news and we feel it’s an attack on our belief system.”
Peter Kenny, a Traditional Owner from Walkabout Bore, so wanted to represent his community he travelled out of the Northern Territory and in a large plane for the first time.
Annette Clement from Oman Ama in southern Queensland stated, “We feel it’s been unfairly foisted upon us. We were told it wouldn’t come to a community if we said no. We say no but they continue to coerce us with inferred incentives – money – and guilt.”
Most of Australia’s radioactive waste is currently securely stored in a facility at Lucas Heights in NSW and there is no reason to rush to move it anywhere else. We have the time to finally develop a credible and considered approach to radioactive waste management.
For two decades successive governments have tried to impose radioactive waste on unwilling remote communities. The most recent attempt, at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, was shelved after sustained Aboriginal and community opposition. The current approach must avoid replicating the mistakes of the past.
ACF wants to see responsible radioactive waste management, not more pressure on communities.
How we handle radioactive waste is an issue that lasts longer than this generation. It’s not contained to any single post code. We don’t need to rush, but we do need to get it right.
Restoring social order? Treaty with Alyawarr people first!
“Sir – I am an Alyawarr traditional custodian and I am calling for a treaty on the back ofDr Dennis Jensen MP’s controversial speech in Parliament last week regarding Aborigines. …
Greater autonomy within Aboriginal communities is necessary to address these issues and the way to achieve this is through treaties, and I call for one between the
Commonwealth Government and the Alyawarr people.
Government trashing Australia’s international reputation, with climate study cuts to CSIRO
“our whole reputation is at risk … it’s our international reputation in delivering results”.
A petition signed by 150 scientists attending the conference has called on the Federal Government to reconsider the organisation’s restructure.
Global spotlight on CSIRO cuts as work culture turns toxic, inquiry hears , ABC News, 7 Mar 16 Australia’s top marine scientists are warning that the country’s international scientific standing will be damaged by the CSIRO’s climate restructure.
About 350 jobs nationally are expected to go by mid 2017, including positions from the Oceans and Atmosphere Unit and 100 from land and water research.
A total of 191 staff work in the Oceans and Atmosphere division in Tasmania.
Scientific leaders from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) are giving evidence before the Senate’s Select Committee into Scrutiny of Government Budget Measures in Hobart. Continue reading
South Australian Government pro-nuclear waste dump PR campaign set to roll
The Premier’s announcement today that the State Labor Government will move to repeal part of the 
Nuclear Waste Storage Facility (Prohibition) Act 2000, indicates that a taxpayer-funded pro-nuclear waste dump public relations campaign is on its way.
The Government says the repeal is necessary in order to consult with the community over the Nuclear Royal Commission’s findings.
“That’s just not true”, according to SA Greens Leader and environmental lawyer, Mark Parnell MLC.
“The Act only prohibits the use of public money to “encourage or finance any activity associated with the construction or operation of a nuclear waste storage facility in this State”. It doesn’t preclude genuine public consultation that asks South Australians whether or not they believe SA should host a high-level nuclear waste dump. Genuine consultation with the South Australian community is allowed, even if it uses Government resources. What isn’t allowed is a biased or one-sided PR campaign that “encourages” the construction or operation of a nuclear waste dump.”
“If the Government’s intentions were honourable, it wouldn’t need to repeal this legislation.”
“What is most galling is that the Premier isn’t even prepared to wait for the Royal Commission’s final report in May before legislating to be able to spruik a nuclear waste dump. The Government had said it would wait until the end of the year before deciding what to do with the Royal Commission’s findings. Rushing now to repeal this legislation suggests that it’s mind might already be made up.
“If this legislation is repealed, the Government will be able to legally spend millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to promote SA as the Nuclear Waste State. It will also be able to conduct detailed planning and design work for a nuclear waste dump, with only the final consent requiring Parliamentary approval,” concluded Mark Parnell.
South Australia nuclear law repeal opens door to taxpayer funded spin
Conservation Council of South Australia 7 Mar 16 The move by the Weatherill Government to repeal parts of the SA Nuclear Waste Storage Prohibition Act even before the Nuclear Royal Commission hands down its final report is deeply disappointing.
“This move is cold comfort for communities in Kimba and the Flinders Ranges who are currently in the frame for a national radioactive waste facility,” said Conservation SA Chief Executive, Craig Wilkins.
“With the Royal Commission months from handing down its final report, Premier Weatherill is clearly jumping the gun.
“The South Australian public now has every right to question how genuine the ‘listening’ process in response to the Royal Commission will be over the coming months.
“They will rightly be outraged if the Government intends to free up taxpayer funds to spin an unpopular nuclear waste dump proposal,” he said.
The object of the Nuclear Waste Storage Facility (prohibition) Act is to ‘protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of South Australia and to protect the environment in which they live by prohibiting the establishment of certain nuclear waste storage facilities in this state.’ The Act expressly bans the use of public money ‘for the purpose of encouraging or financing any activity associated with the construction or operation of a nuclear waste storage facility in this State’. This clause is now set for repeal.
Rose Lester, Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman said: “When many Anangu people have clearly expressed opposition to nuclear industry, weakening any protection is not a step in the right direction for reconciliation. It is very disheartening that people who don’t have strong connection to country change laws to suit their ideology rather than acknowledging and respecting the law of the land.”
South Australian Laws to be repealed to allow tax-payer funding for nuclear activity
The State Government will move this week to repeal laws that prevents it from consulting on the merits of a nuclear waste storage facility once the Royal Commission hands down its final report to Government due in May.
Section 13 of the Nuclear Waste Storage Facility (Prohibition) Act 2000, states: “Despite any other Act or law to the contrary, no public money may be appropriated, expended or advanced to any person for the purpose of encouraging or financing any activity associated with the construction or operation of a nuclear waste storage facility in this State.”
Canberra’s renewable energy now paying dividends
ACT government leads the way on renewable energy March 6 2016 The Canberra Times
The ACT government’s commendable commitment to renewable energy has the potential to deliver for this community on a number of levels.
The first, and most obvious, is that Canberrans have shifted further away from dependence on fossil fuel generated electricity than almost any other mainland state or territory.
The second is that while the ACT government’s 2015 commitment to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025 was initially mocked in some circles, the aspirational nature of that goal is now paying dividends.
The territory is expected to reach 60 per cent of power generation from renewables by the end of next year and 90 per cent by 2020. Both of these figures are impressive given the federal government’s much more modest target of 23.5 per cent from renewables by the end of the decade.
That Canberra’s commitment to this path occurred at the same time the federal government was openly hostile to investment in renewables and after former treasurer Joe Hockey said wind farms were a blight on the landscape makes it even more remarkable.
The announcement that, as a result of the “reverse auction” process initiated by the territory, Sapphire has been awarded a contract to build a local 100 megawatt hour windfarm for completion by April 2018, is the latest in a number of positive steps…….
With the Royalla 20 megawatt solar power plant in operation since September 2014 and the 13 megawatt Mugga Lane solar park expected to come on line this year, considerable expertise is already available on the solar power front as well……
It is remarkable that these achievements have been delivered while, at the same time, local power consumers continue to enjoyed the lowest electricity prices in the nation. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/ct-editorial/act-government-leads-the-way-on-renewable-energy-20160304-gnawvc.html
The myth that a nuclear reactor is needed for medical uses
A very comprehensive 2010 OECD Nuclear Energy Agency report found reactor based isotope production requires significant taxpayer subsidies, as the cost of sale does not cover the cost of production.
The report concludes: “In many cases the full impact of Mo-99/Tc-99m provision was not transparent to or appreciated by governments… The full costs of waste management, reactor operations, fuel consumption, etc were not included in the price structure. This is a subsidisation by one country’s taxpayers of another country’s health care system. Many governments have indicated that they are no longer willing to provide such subsidisation.”
What is needed urgently is a debate about how much waste we make. We have a choice: whether we follow ANSTO’s expensive business model to ramp up reactor manufacture (and the long-lived radioactive waste that goes with it), or collaborate with Canada to develop cyclotron manufacture of isotopes that does not produce long-lived nuclear waste.
Debunking the myths around medicine and a nuclear waste dump
The Federal government is seeking a location for a nuclear waste facility. But the provision of information to communities has been problematic, with some major flaws.
Claims have been made that provision of nuclear medicine services is a key reason to build it, but existing medical waste makes up a very small proportion of the total waste requiring disposal.
In addition, little has been said about ANSTO’s business plan to greatly ramp up Australia’s reactor based production of isotopes from 1 per cent to over 25 per cent of the world’s market, which will massively increase the amount of long-lived radioactive waste produced in the future.
A new process may reduce the volume of the waste, but the actual quantity of radioactive material to store will be significantly greater, and will become most of the radioactive waste Australia produces.
In Australia nuclear medicine isotopes are indeed useful, but according to Medicare figures represent less than 3 per cent of medical imaging. They are most commonly used for bone scans and some specialised heart scans. They are not needed (as claimed by government) for normal X-rays, most heart scans and the vast majority of cancer treatments (surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy). Continue reading
Barnaby Joyce shows his ignorance on renewable energy
Memo to Barnaby: If you want cheap electricity, nuclear is not the answer, REneweconomy, By Sophie Vorrath on 4 March 2016 [good graphs] There’s right, and there’s wrong… and then there’s Barnaby Joyce. Joyce – Australia’s LNP minister for agriculture who was recently sworn in as deputy leader of the entire country – was right when he declared the cost of electricity bills to be one of the uppermost issues for Australian consumers, in an interview with the Adelaide Advertiser on Thursday.
He was wrong, however, when he suggested that the answer to the issue of electricity prices was not renewable energy, but nuclear, what he described as the “the ultimate renewable energy”.
Joyce, as we learned in our piece last year, “Barnaby Joyce’s renewable energy target: 100% ignorance” is one of the biggest opponents of wind farms in the Coalition, and it’s a little ironic to see that his electorate is about to became a major renewable energy hub, with two large wind farms and solar farms to be built near Glen Innes.
So it’s not necessarily surprising that he took another pot shot at renewables in the Murdoch media today……….
Back in 2013, he made his feelings clear, when he lamented to the Senate the “insane lemming-like desire to go to renewables” in Australia, and questioned what it would do to the national economy.
What is a little surprising is his endorsement of nuclear as a suitable and cheap alternative for new electricity generation in South Australia, as old coal-fired power is retired, when this is precisely the opposite finding arrived at by various recent and significant studies on the subject, not least of all the SA Royal Commission into nuclear power for Australia. Continue reading
Australian indigenous people do NOT agree to nuclear waste dumping on their land
Diane King, 5 Mar 16 The Government may have agreed to mine uranium and take back the waste for storage, but the People DID NOT. The Government does not own the land, it belongs to the Original Sovereign Tribes, who never ceded their Sovereignty to the Grown or the Government. The ‘Australian Government’ is a separate State, an administrative Corporation, who’s services can be dispensed with on your land, if that is what you want. Reasserting Sovereignty over your land is the way to regain control of your land and your future.
Please learn about Sovereignty at the Sovereignty-Truth website:
http://sovereignty-truth.net/about
If government continues the acts of genocide and ‘crimes against humanity’ against you, such as removal of children, unwarranted incarcerations, removal of services and the creation of conditions designed to destroy in whole or in part, your tribe and your culture, severe mental and physical torture, you can ask the International Criminal Court to prosecute them by submitting a detailed complaint to:
otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int
Please note that they will only prosecute crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed after 2002, and there are strict criteria to be met for an investigation to take place. These are
outlined in Article 6 and article 7 of the Rome Statute:
‘Genocide
For the purpose of this Statute, “genocide” means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article 7
Crimes against humanity
1. For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(j) The crime of apartheid;
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.’
You can download the Rome statute from the UN website. Here is a link to the Jurisdiction of the court:
http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm
Western Australia’s largest solar installation at Perth shopping complex
WA’s largest solar installation generating one-third of Perth shopping centre’s power http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-03/solar-panel-installation-broadway-shopping-centre-wa-largest/7217984 By Kathryn Diss A shopping complex in Perth’s western suburbs is generating one third of its power from the sun after undertaking Western Australia’s largest solar panel installation on its roof.
The Broadway Fair complex has installed 948 solar panels with the capacity to generate 312 kilowatts of power. Broadway Fair general manager Paul Avon-Smith said the move would save the complex about $20,000 a month in power bills, which could be put towards funding capital works.
“We were looking for soft approach for the cost of doing capital works,” Mr Avon-Smith said. “It gives us an alternative to help cushion rent increases and price rises for our tenant base in a pretty tough market, but allows us to finance crucial capital works. “So that allowed us to do a roof replacement project, plus put the solar in, with there being no upward pressure on our rents for tenants.”
Infinite Energy installed the system at a cost of $600,000.
Managing director Aidan Jenkins said the huge fall in the cost of solar panels in recent years has meant the business model now stacked up for commercial-sized installations. “Solar currently represents the cheapest way to generate electricity, so we will start to see these type of systems become the norm over the next couple of years.”
Government grappling with ‘tsunami’ of solar installations
Large-scale solar installation poses a big challenge for the Government, which currently has too much available power in its network. The rapid uptake of rooftop solar panels has been a big contributor to the problem, displacing traditional sources of power like coal and gas.
Energy Minister Mike Nahan has been an outspoken supporter of solar power and said the state is going to experience a “tsunami” of these types of commercial installations in coming years.
“It just adds more generating capacity to an already oversupplied system, but it is something we have to cope with,” Mr Nahan said. “Over the next decade these are going to crowd out traditional, large-scale generation of coal and gas. “As we go down the track, these technologies on businesses and households illustrates that into the future we are going to have to reduce our production of traditional energy sources and that’s the challenge.”
Victorian town Newstead set for 100% renewable energy within 5 years
PowerCor’s Thomson says it is clear that the majority of the population in Newstead are passionate 
about their goal for 100% renewables, and at least five other townships are looking to follow suit.
Newstead could be the host of Victoria’s first solar-powered micro-grid.
The Victorian government is also heavily involved, allocating $200,000 in the hope that the model created for Newstead can be replicable in other communities across Victoria.
Australian first: Newstead aims to run on 100% renewable energy within five years, http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/mar/01/australian-first-newstead-aims-to-run-on-100-renewable-energy-within-five-years Guardian, Giles Parkinson, 1 Mar 16
Agreement with energy company Powercor will see Victorian town move to solar power, save money and perhaps become a model for other towns. The quiet Victorian town of Newstead – population approaching 500 – has a big ambition: to source all its electricity needs without burning any fossil fuels at all. Within five years, it wants all of its power to come from renewable energy sources.
Newstead is not unique in that goal. At least a dozen towns around Australia, including Yackandandah, Tyalgum, Byron Bay and Lismore, have declared a similar ambition, even if most are allowing themselves more time to reach the target.
What makes Newstead’s situation particularly interesting is it is going ahead with the support, indeed the encouragement, of its local network provider, Powercor.
An agreement struck between the network and Newstead 2021 – the local group driving the township’s ambition – is being hailed as a “game-changer” for the way communities and network operators work together to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
Glen Thomson, the head of the energy solutions division of Powercor, says renewable generation is now a reality, and solar, wind power and energy storage are increasingly being integrated into electricity networks. Continue reading
Sapphire Wind Farm to bring huge benefits to Australian Capital Territory’s economy
Latest wind auction winner promises millions in benefits to Canberra economy, SMH March 4, 2016 – Tom McIlroy Legislative Assembly reporter at The Canberra Times The fifth and final winner of the ACT government’s large-scale wind reverse-auction will provide enough power for more than 48,000 Canberra homes.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Simon Corbell has announced Sapphire Wind Farm, 18 kilometres west of Glenn Innes in north-eastern New South Wales, as the latest successful proponent from the government’s second wind auction, promising an estimated $100 million dollars in economic benefits to the ACT
Sapphire has been awarded a feed-in-tariff of $89.10 per mW/h for 100mW capacity. The company will spend $34 million on development of an ACT-based asset and operations management centre, relocating operations from Newcastle.
A spokesman for Mr Corbell said the consortium behind the bid included companies Continental Wind Partners and Wind Energy Holdings.
“By the time Sapphire starts producing energy in 2018, the ACT will be sourcing 80 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources and well on the way to achieving 90 per cent by 2020,” Mr Corbell said.
In August last year, the government called for bids in its second wind auction to power up to 106,000 Canberra homes, seeking 200 megawatts in new capacity to come online within three years.
It follows two previous auctions: in 2013, three solar farms won 20-year feed-in deals, delivering 40 megawatts capacity, and in a wind auction earlier this year three wind farms won similar deals, delivering 200 megawatts among them.
CWP Renewables managing director Alex Hewitt said the auction result had allowed commencement of construction of what will be the largest wind farm in the NSW. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/latest-wind-auction-winner-promises-millions-in-benefits-to-canberra-economy-20160303-gn9n0a.html
Renewable energy micro-grid plannned for Kalbarri, Western Australia
Renewable energy micro-grid could help restore faith in Kalbarri power supply, ABC News, 3 Mar 16 By Bonnie Christian The WA Government has announced it will commit $300,000 to investigate a way to build an energy micro-grid powered by renewables for the coastal town of Kalbarri.
Kalbarri has experienced several extended power outages over the past two years, costing local businesses thousands of dollars in lost trade and tourism.
The outages had been blamed on a build up of dust and salt on the 140-kilometre-long feeder line that delivers power to the town from Geraldton………..
Rebuilding trust in power supply
Western Power chief executive Paul Italiano said if the new grid did go ahead it would be the largest of its kind in Australia.
“What we’re proposing to do here is evaluating the feasibility of building a micro-grid in Kalbarri that has a combination of solar, perhaps wind, and large scale battery storage that work together to create a level of self-sufficiency for the town,” he said.
“This particular trial — if we’re able to pull it off — will be the largest in Australia.
“There’ll be lessons from this that we can apply to the rest of Western Australia. But more importantly for the whole power industry nationally.”…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-02/kalbarri-looks-to-renewable-energy-micro-grid-for-power-solution/7215630
1 This month
Read the Public Inquiry Report, the Commissioners’ report, Surrendering Australia: The AUKUS Deception is available to download for free at aukuspublicinquiry.com. Or just watch the replay of the National Press Club Luncheon.
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
