220 years on, Australia’s Land War against the Aborigines still goes on
This is The Great Divide, this is the illness that sits on the nation’s psychological and social landscape. Despite all achievements in the past 220 years since the arrival of Captain Cook, it is still a Land War.
Australia is still fighting a land war and it’s the country’s great divide The Conversation, Ali Cobby Eckermann 22 May 14, In Australia there are many different views about the historical and current role of Aboriginal people in the national landscape.
This view fluctuates. ……..The diversity of Aboriginal people is an achievement we could all be proud of. From the traditional ways to the modern we now boast doctors and lawyers, nurses and teachers, builders and designers, and actors, authors, film makers, musicians of world class standards. We can even celebrate opera singers!
Most Aboriginal people work to give back to our community. We work to improve all aspects of life for our children and grandchildren, and to promote a better understanding of our cultural values. We work endlessly to cross the divide. And for us, culture is the key.
Of course there are some people who are not community focused, as in any society. From my personal experience, I can only calculate that this minority comprises those who have rejected culture. This is as confusing for Aboriginal people as it is for mainstream. But I reiterate, this is a minority of our mob.
However, the less enticing stories such as racism in sport, educational failures, and the refusal to include the Aboriginal historical wars in the Australian War Memorial quickly show a divide between black and white Australia. This is The Great Divide we need to address. This is “closing the gap” on a national psychological and social agenda………
The lack of proper consultations with Aboriginal people is a national shame. And even in my later years, when I am less able to travel for work, I will probably have to regress back to a system that does not value me, to die.
The Intervention is one example of all of the above. This was a Federal Government initiative that was conceived in 2007 with little consultation with Aboriginal people, and no regard to our psychological or social welfare. Continue reading
Northern Territory Chief Minister’s secret support for Territory nuclear dump
Territory and National environment groups have called for NT Chief Minister Adam Giles to come clean on his secret support for a Territory waste dump in the wake of revelations by former-Prime Minister Bob Hawke made public today. Mr Giles has previously refused to state his position on the controversial proposal to dump Australia’s nuclear waste at Muckaty, 120 kms north of Tennant Creek until the matter had been settled in a Federal Court trial due to start in June.
Former-PM Minister Bob Hawke has claimed that Giles is “an ardent supporter” of an international dump for high-level nuclear waste in the Territory. The news is an unwelcome announcement to Muckaty Traditional Owners, the Barkly community and Territory health, environment and trade union groups on the eve of a mass community rally in Tennant Creek on May 25.
Lauren Mellor, Nuclear Free NT Campaigner at the Environment Centre NT, said: “The Chief Minister should be fighting Canberra’s plan to make the Territory Australia’s waste dump, not secretly promoting the Territory as the world’s nuclear dump.”
Dr Jim Green from Friends of the Earth said: “The plan to impose a national nuclear waste dump on the Territory is a national disgrace. The Chief Minister cannot even demonstrate that the Territory can safely manage a uranium mine, with processing at Ranger suspended following a serious industrial accident last year.”
Natalie Wasley, Beyond Nuclear Initiative convenor said: “The Muckaty proposal does not have scientific basis, or social licence to go ahead. Muckaty was not short listed in a national site selection study and people across the Territory have been campaigning against the dump for almost 9 years, since the first proposed sites were announced. We call on Chief Minister Giles to publicly state his position on this important issue so his constituents across the Territory are clear where he stands.”
A community rally in Tennant Creek is planned for May 25, marking 7 years since the Muckaty site was nominated by the Northern Land Council. The Federal Court trial will begin on June 2 with hearings in Melbourne, Tennant Creek and Darwin.
Muckaty Traditional Owners and NT environment, health and trade union groups have launched a television advertising campaign calling for waste dump plans to be scrapped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDcliZ_EHLY
For media comment please call:
Lauren Mellor, Environment Centre NT: 0413 534 125
Dr Jim Green, Friends of the Earth: 0417 318 368
Natalie Wasley, Beyond Nuclear Initiative: 0429 900 774 (Tennant Creek)
The beautiful giant cuttlefish is back – thank goodness no desalination plant at Spencer Gulf
Here is some good news. Note that if BHP Billiton’s plans had gone ahead – for the world’s biggest man made hole at Olympic Dam – well, this news might not have been possible. BHP’s grandiose plan involving building a desalination plant at Mount Lowly. That would have altered the delicate balance of salinity and fresh water in upper Spencer Gulf – a balance that is essential for the embryo cuttlefish to survive.
Australia would have lost a unique and beautiful animal – one as special as the koala, kangaroo, platypus – – a gain for the uranium industry, a loss for the tourist industry, and for Australia’s ecology.
Giant Australian cuttlefish swarm back to SA Spencer Gulf breeding site ABC News, 21 May 14, Hundreds of giant Australian cuttlefish have swum into breeding grounds at the top of Spencer Gulf in South Australia, reversing a worrying decline of recent years.
The population had been dwindling and local diver Tony Bramley says he had not been expecting to see any this season, based on that trend.
He says it has been warmer-than-usual weather for the start of the breeding season and more cuttlefish might arrive as temperatures drop.
Mr Bramley says he does not know where the cuttlefish have travelled from as there has been no sign of many gathering offshore in recent weeks…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-20/cuttlefish-swarm-back-to-sa-breeding-site/5463854
Tony Abbott selling out the next generation on climate change, says Senator Christine Milne
‘Selling out future generations’: Christine Milne rounds on Tony Abbott over climate change The Age, Peter Hannam Environment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald 19 May 14, Tony Abbott is the true “inter-generational thief” for boosting fossil fuels at the expense of renewable energy, increasing the likelihood of Australians paying a big price from climate change, Greens leader Christine Milne said.
Both the Prime Minister and Treasurer Joe Hockey have based their budget sales pitch on the need to raise taxes and slash spending to rein-in future debt that had been projected to balloon above $600 billion without policy changes.
“We could not go on running up massive debts for our children and grandchildren to pay,” Mr Abbott told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday. “That would be a form of inter-generational theft.”
Senator Milne, though, said the increases in subsidies for big miners – which rise by $720 million to almost $14 billion over the forward estimates – and efforts to promote more coal seam gas, coal mines and coal ports were the real form of “future theft”.
“Not only is it bad for the environment but these will be stranded assets which the next generation will have to pay for,” Senator Milne told media in Sydney. “Tony Abbott is the one selling-out future generations.”
The Greens will use their votes in the Senate to try to block cuts to health and education as well as plans to scrap the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which promotes emerging clean energy such as concentrated solar power…….
The Greens would welcome a double dissolution election, if the Coalition called one.
“I say bring that on,” Senator Milne said. “The Australian community has been betrayed by the Prime Minister. Nobody signed up for this budget. Nobody knew who the PM was before the election.
“People are well and truly ready to show him what a trust deficit looks like.”
Senator Milne predicted voters would take a more favourable approach to climate-change related policies, including the carbon price, in light of the budget. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/selling-out-future-generations-christine-milne-rounds-on-tony-abbott-over-climate-change-20140519-38jax.html#ixzz32KIblOef
Australian uranium companies strongly part of the callous exploitation of poverty-stricken African nations
THE SCRAMBLE FOR URANIUM IN AFRICA http://www.phantomreport.com/the-scramble-for-uranium-in-africa 19 May 14, Africa’s resources are extracted by outsiders, with benefits only reaching the involved non-African mining companies and non-African end-users of the commodity. Africa is the next frontier to meet energy needs. Oil and gas are being exploited as never before, exacerbating conflict in Darfur and Nigeria, social inequality in Angola, and environmental damage in Chad.
At the same time, renewed demand for uranium is being explored on the continent more than at any other time in history.
Yet the continent’s huge potential for renewable energy is not fully being realised. The government of Malawi granted a uranium mining licence to an Australian uranium mining company without having any legislation on the mining, handling and transportation of radioactive materials. Malawi is now home to twelve potential uranium mines.
In Niger mining companies from Australia, Canada, France and other parts of the world are scrambling for licences to explore uranium in a country which is already the world’s sixth producer of uranium. In the Central African Republic (CAR) there is a scramble amongst Chinese, American and French companies which are all interested in mining the Bakouma region.
In Tanzania the Australian Omega Corp obtained the Mkuju River concessions through its subsidiary, Mantra Resources. Other Australian juniors are represented in Tanzania, including Sabre Resources, Goldstream Mining, Uranex and Deep Yellow.
In Zambia, the Australian Energy Ventures through its subsidiary Africa Energy Resources started drilling the Kariba Valley in May 2008. Another Australian enterprise, Albion Ltd,, is also undertaking exploration.
Western Australian MP ‘s first speech in Parliament makes a strong call for renewable energy
Hughes: future in renewable energy http://www.whyallanewsonline.com.au/story/2290965/hughes-future-in-renewable-energy/?cs=12 By KAYLEIGH BRUCE May 19, 2014, Member for Giles Eddie Hughes made his maiden speech before state parliament recently in which he called for greater federal investment into developing renewable energy in South Australia.
During his parliamentary debut, Mr Hughes focussed on the role renewable energy and mining could have in creating employment and economic growth in the region.
“BELOW THE GROUND WE HAVE MINERAL RESOURCES, BUT ABOVE THE GROUND WE HAVE AN ENERGY SOURCE THAT DWARFS ALL OTHER ENERGY RESOURCES: THE DIRECT SOLAR RESOURCE AND INDIRECT SOLAR RESOURCE THAT IS WIND, CAN TURN SOUTH AUSTRALIA INTO A RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER HOUSE AND, IN THE PROCESS, GIVE US A FAR GREENER MINING INDUSTRY WHILE ALSO GREENING ALL OTHER SECTORS OF OUR ECONOMY.”- MEMBER FOR GILES EDDIE HUGHES
Mr Hughes said the electorate of Giles was already playing a role in wind energy production and noted Whyalla’s role in the manufacturing of wind tower parts by E & A Contractors.
However Mr Hughes said the city was also well-positioned to harness solar energy.
“What we are looking at now – and the process has started, but we have further to go – is developing and applying technology to capture the sun’s energy,” Mr Hughes said.
Mr Hughes took the opportunity to voice his passions to see the region’s role in producing renewable energy further developed.
“Manufacturing communities like Whyalla could increase tower production,” Mr Hughes said.
“Hubs, nacelles and blades are all imported; with investor certainty, local manufacturing facilities could be developed.
“If we captured the wind resource on the Eyre Peninsula and captured the manufacturing opportunities, it would be a big boost to employment.
“Rounding the numbers off, the stage development of 2000 megawatts on the Eyre Peninsula would mean the fabrication of 800 towers, 800 hubs, 800 nacelles and 2400 blades in addition to a wide range of job-generating ancillary services.”
Mr Hughes called on the Abbott government to realise the future of renewable energy in Australia and back the research and development needed to shape the industry. “Companies in the past have expressed their willingness to invest in Australian manufacturing, but each time that desire has been undermined at a federal level, initially when the Howard government failed to increase the two per cent mandatory renewable energy target, and now with the Abbott government’s review headed up by a man who rejects the science behind global warming,” Mr Hughes said.
“A review held just 18 months after the last review found that the mandatory renewable energy target was working to deliver cost-effective clean energy.”
Mr Hughes said with the right support, South Australia could easily achieve outstanding renewable energy production results and be a model example of renewable energy supporting the mining industry.
“The target to reach 33 per cent of the state’s electricity from renewables by 2020 is likely to be met within a year,” Mr Hughes said.
“WHY NOT SET A TARGET TO BECOME THE GREENEST MINING PROVINCE IN THE WORLD, AND WHY NOT MARRY OUR RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE TO OUR MINERAL WEALTH, OR AT LEAST ANNOUNCE THE ENGAGEMENT SO THAT DOWN THE TRACK THEY CAN TIE THE KNOT?”- MEMBER FOR GILES EDDIE HUGHES
Tasmania’s successful renewable energy industry faces loss of investment if Renewable Energy Target is scrapped
Hydro Tasmania warns scrapping Renewable Energy Target will kill off investment http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-19/hydro-tasmania-warns-scrapping-renewable-energy-target-will-kil/5463404 By Lucy Shannon Australia’s largest renewable energy generator Hydro Tasmania has warned major projects will not go ahead if the Federal Government scraps the Renewable Energy Target Scheme.
The scheme, established by the Howard Government in 2001, aims to have 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020.
The Federal Government is reviewing the RET scheme, as required under legislation. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has faced strong internal pressure to scrap the target from both the Nationals and many Liberals who believe it has pushed up power prices.
Hydro Tasmania, a state-owned business, has made its submission to the review panel. Hydro Chief Stephen Davy says the RET has stimulated $18 billion worth of investment across the country. Mr Davy says if the scheme is scrapped the proposed $2 billion dollar wind farm for Tasmania’s King Island will not go ahead.
“It would almost certainly terminate any further investment in large scale renewable energy projects, and put at risk the long term viability of existing renewable energy assets,” he said.
A second electricity interconnector with Victoria would also be unlikely.
Hydro ‘vital to economy’
The submission points to the “vital and ongoing economic contribution” Hydro makes to Tasmania’s economy. It says more than $60 million was spent with Tasmanian businesses to support the construction of the Musselroe wind farm and more than 200 workers will be employed over the life of the project.
Mr Davy says with the expected abolition of the carbon price the RET is the “only long-term, large scale policy that can drive the uptake of zero-emissions energy sources.”
Last year, Hydro Tasmania announced a record pre-tax profit of $238 million dollars largely on the back of the carbon price which added $70 million to its coffers.
The Greens Senator, Christine Milne says Tasmania should be very fearful of the Government’s review.
“It’s been clear from the start that this is a sham, virtually all the people they’ve got on the review are climate sceptics, they support the old fossil fuel sector and they see renewable energy as competition to the old order,” she said. A spokesman for Greg Hunt says the review’s terms of reference specifically mention sovereign risk as an issue that will be considered by the panel.
There is no fixed date yet for when the report will be delivered.
Victoria’s Premier Napthine pledges support fo wind energy: I wish I could believe him,
Napthine pledges continued push for renewable energy investment http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-19/napthine-pledges-continued-push-for-renewable/5461022 19 May 2014, Premier Denis Napthine says he will work with renewable energy companies in south-west Victoria, amid concerns about their future.
The Federal Government axed the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and Clean Energy Finance Corporation in last week’s budget.
It is also reviewing the Renewable Energy Target.
Portland-based company Keppel Prince makes towers for wind turbines and says 150 jobs are at risk.
Dr Napthine says he hopes planned projects go ahead.
“We’ll continue to work with the Federal Government, work with the alternative energy industry, whether it’s wind energy, geothermal energy and wave energy, to see what prospects there are to continue investment in alternative energy under the new frameworks,” he said.
We must not forget Vincent Lingiari and the struggle for Aboriginal land rights
Lingiari’s legacy lost on the young AMOS AIKMAN THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 20, 2014
EVERY morning, the last of the Wave Hill Aboriginal stockmen gather at a place not far from where Gough Whitlam poured sand into Vincent Lingiari’s hands. Beside a dusty parking lot outside Kalkarindji store, where camp dogs and stray children eat breakfast, the old men watch passersby.The famous walk-off of Gurindji people from Wave Hill station in August 1966, protesting against poor pay and conditions, began the land rights movement that Whitlam’s gesture consummated.
Paddy Doolyak, one of the last surviving stockmen, said they walked off “for money, just for money”. Land rights came a “little bit later”.
From the time of the walk-off in 1966 until Whitlam’s historic land rights declaration in 1975, The Australian devoted prominent coverage to the Gurindji demands, commissioning a man who was central to the walk-off, the communist and novelist Frank Hardy, to write feature articles.
“The Gurindji people wanted to abandon contact with the white man and revert to their tribal ways,” Hardy wrote in one of those pieces.
He told of the day that the stockmen and their families, led by Lingiari, walked to Wattie Creek where they remained until their land rights victory so many years later…….
Indeed, they are those of virtually every indigenous group living in the remote bush. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/50th-birthday-news/lingiaris-legacy-lost-on-the-young/story-fnmx97ei-1226923245535#
Glut of uranium, prices plummet, Australian company Paladin’s share price drops 4.6%
Uranium Slides as Banks Reduce Outlook Amid Japan Delays, Bloomberg, 18 May 14 By Ben Sharples Delays in restarting Japan’s nuclear reactors are prolonging a uranium supply glut that’s driven prices to an eight-year low, making banks from UBS AG to Credit Suisse Group AG less bullish on the fuel.
Uranium dropped to $29 a pound on May 2, the lowest since June 2005 and extending this year’s drop to 16 percent, according to TradeTech, a Denver, Colorado-based consultant to the nuclear industry. UBS reduced its 2014 forecast by 9 percent last month as Credit Suisse cut its projection by 7 percent.
Kansai Electric Power Co. (9503) and other utilities are taking longer than expected to restart reactors that closed after the Fukushima disaster in March 2011 as Japan’s nuclear regulator seeks more safety checks. While producers from Australia to Africa shut mines as prices retreated to unprofitable levels, Raymond James Ltd. is among those who say supply will still outstrip demand this year.
“There is too much supply floating around the marketplace and demand is highly limited,” said David Sadowski, a Vancouver-based analyst at Raymond James, a financial adviser, who cut his 2014 forecast by 14 percent to $36 a month ago. “Japanese restarts are the key catalyst to get utilities to resume long-term contracting, which should support prices.”
Uranium for immediate delivery averaged $33.93 this year, compared with $38.47 in 2013 and $46.27 in 2010, the year before the earthquake and meltdown of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant and subsequent closure of Japan’s reactors for safety checks. Uranium closed at $28.40 yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange………
Forecasts Cut
UBS reduced its 2014 forecast for uranium on April 9 to $39, while Credit Suisse cut its estimate to $38.80, according to an April 1 note. The exit of traders such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. from the market is also reducing transactions, according to Roswell, Georgia-based Ux Consulting Co.
Deutsche Bank AG is cutting back parts of its commodities business including uranium, Nick Bone, a London-based spokesman, said by e-mail May 7. Michael DuVally, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs in New York, declined to comment in an e-mail on the sale of its unit trading the fuel………
Prices are below the marginal cost of production of $35 estimated by UBS. Paladin Energy Ltd. said in February it will halt its Kayelekera operation in Malawi while Russia’s Atomredmetzoloto last year shuttered Honeymoon in Australia. Kazakhstan, the world’s biggest producer, said in November it will halt all projects to increase output after the decline.
Paladin, which gets all of its revenue from selling uranium, fell as much as 4.6 percent today in Sydney trading………http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-15/uranium-slides-as-banks-reduce-outlook-amid-japan-delays.html
St George & Sutherland Shire relieved that radioactive trash will go from their area to Northern Territory
Federal Budget 2014: Radioactive waste funding relief St George & Sutherland Shire Leader May 17, 2014 THE federal budget provides $22.6 million to develop detailed design options for a national radioactive waste management site at a location outside Sutherland Shire.
This is the first firm indication that the Coalition government will press ahead with plans for a permanent nuclear waste storage.
It is expected to be welcomed by Sutherland Shire Council, which opposes plans for a temporary storage site to be built at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at Lucas Heights.
It is thought the federal government is considering several sites in the Northern Territory……The allocation of $22.6 million over three years for the design of the permanent nuclear storage site comes under the federal Department of Industry budget.
ANSTO also received a $654 million, four-year funding allocation under the budget.
This includes $76.6 million over five years for the OPAL reactor at Lucas Heights — Australia’s only nuclear research reactor…….http://www.theleader.com.au/story/2282157/federal-budget-2014-radioactive-waste-funding-relief/?cs=1255
Aboriginal traditional landowners condemn Abbott’s policies, and scorn Warren Mundine
Traditional owners slam PM, Sky News, , 16 May 2014 Indigenous traditional owners have slammed Prime Minister Tony Abbott for not following through with his promise to be a PM for First Australians.
It came on the final day of the full meeting of the Northern Land Council in Katherine.
NLC deputy chairman John Daly said “We need Mr Abbott’s ear, not his puppets anymore.”The Government has just buried its head in the sand,” he said.There’s also been a protest over water licences and allegations the NT Government is ignoring traditional custodians.
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion addressed the 78- members today at Katherine, 300km south of Darwin.He was grilled on budget spending cuts to Indigenous Affairs, his use of sections of the Land Rights Act to circumvent going through the NLC, and instead dealing directly with Traditional Owners.
Indigenous leaders also marched on a water summit being hosted by Primary Industry Minister and local member Willem Westra Van Holthe.Mr Van Holthe said water allocations were made to benefit all Territorians.
At the annual general meeting of the Northern Land Council in Katherine on Friday, traditional Aboriginal landowners were clearly unimpressed with what they see as a lack of consultation about the half a billion dollars to be cut from indigenous spending……..
The council also derided the head of Mr Abbott’s Indigenous Advisory Council, Warren Mundine, for not taking up an invitation to visit and meet with traditional owners.
‘Warren Mundine is a poshy indigenous person who has never set his foot in this Aboriginal community,’ said Matthew Ryan, a traditional owner from the West Arnhem region.
He said Mr Mundine didn’t understand what life was like for people living in remote communities.
‘Most of us live with 30 other people in our house, he doesn’t,’ Mr Ryan said.
– See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2014/05/16/abbott-criticised-at-indigenous-meeting.html#sthash.AhWHWJAu.dpuf
Climate research censored by Queensland University?
Queensland University tries to block climate research GRAHAM LLOYD THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 17, 2014 THE University of Queensland has threatened legal action to stop the release of data used in a paper that establishes a 97 per cent scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate changeThe paper, lead authored by John Cook, has been the subject of debate over its methodology since it was published last year…..(subscribers only) ww.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/queensland-university-tries-to-block-climate-research/story-e6frgcjx-1226920713818#
Aboriginal people not participating in govt’s decisions that savagely cut indigenous funding
AUDIO: Indigenous affairs hit by ‘savage budget cuts’ ..http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/05/14/indigenous-affairs-hit-savage-budget-cuts By Darren Mara, 14 May 14 Government to dramatically reduce Indigenous programs, NITV News reports
Before his election last September, Tony Abbott claimed he’d be a Prime Minister for Indigenous affairs.
But in his government’s first budget, Indigenous affairs have taken some of the most savage cuts……..The budget will see 150 Indigenous program areas cut down to five: employment and land, education, health and safety, culture and remote strategies.
Funding for Indigenous languages has been cut by almost 10-million dollars over four years.
Indigenous leader and head of the Indigenous Land Corporation, Dawn Casey, says there are no other elected bodies in Australia that could fill the role played by Congress.
“It means that Aboriginal people aren’t truly making decisions about what ever area they’re dealing in and that should happen. This is the 21st Century. What comes with the decision making comes responsbility and accountability, so don’t take that away from people, given that it’s well over 200 years since Australia was colonised. We should in fact be growing organisations to take on more of those.”
There will be some money going into Indigenous affairs – or perhaps a redirection of funding…..
Clean energy industries will require compensation as Australian govt slashes renewable energy funding
Budget 2014: Clean energy bodies call for compensation as Government cuts green funding ABC Radio Australia, 16 May 2014, Clean energy industry representatives have slammed federal budget cuts in the sector, calling for compensation if legislation is changed. By environment and science reporter Jake Sturmer, Alex McDonald – The Federal Government has taken the sword to renewable energy, cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from various green programs.
“I think it’s a very depressing message for the industry and for the investors in it,” said Miles George, head of the 
country’s largest renewable energy provider, Infigen.
Among the changes is a decision to spread the Government’s $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (direct action policy) over 10 years rather than four.
-……………………“If we actually throw away options, a fear for me is that the energy mix that we currently have just gets ossified,” said ARENA chairman Greg Bourne.
“Infrastructure is hospitals, infrastructure is schools, but infrastructure is also the energy system that you have within a country and without the energy system, your overall system begins to grind to a halt.” Mr Bourne says the current reliance on traditional energy sources is “not fit for purpose in this century”.
The last significant piece of green energy legislation, the Renewable Energy Target (RET), is currently under review. After investing billions in the sector, Mr George warns any changes would be a breach of faith. “If the legislation is now to be changed we would expect to be fully compensated,” he said.
“If [they] took the RET away tomorrow … we would lose 40 per cent of our revenue and our Australian business would fail … along with nearly all wind farms and wind farm businesses in Australia.” Mr George says Infigen has made investments over the past 10 years on the basis of legislation that had “bi-partisan support”.
“If the legislation is now to be changed retrospectively and that has a negative effect on our business, we would expect to be fully compensated,” he said. “This is the way Australia does it. Australia does not wreck existing legislation without compensation.”
The Environment Minister declined an interview but maintains that tough decisions needed to be made in the current economic climate.
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