Planning report recommends go ahead for Western Australian wind farm
Report gives conditional nod to wind farm http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-11/report-gives-conditional-nod-to-wind-farm/4814128 Jul 11, 2013 A planning report, compiled for a panel that will decide whether a Great Southern wind farm proceeds, has recommended it go ahead with strict conditions.
Moonies Hill Energy’s Flat Rock Wind Farms project would create a 150-megawatt facility in the shires of Kojonup and Broomehill-Tambellup.
The company says the project could power 90,000 homes and inject $130 million into the local economy.
However, it hit a snag earlier this year when the Great Southern Joint Development Assessment Panel refused to give planning approval to the part of the development in Broomehill-Tambellup.
The company appealed against that decision and another hearing is scheduled for next Friday, when the panel will decide whether to accept the Broomehill-Tambellup Shire planner’s recommendation to approve it.
That recommendation includes strict conditions, including noise regulations and that the development begins within four years of the issuing of a building permit.
The primary documents in Australian Aboriginals’ fight to keep their land
50 YEARS ON, YIRRKALA CELEBRATES BARK PETITIONS THAT SPARKED INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS MOVEMENT Yahoo 7 News, 11 July 13, The remote community of Yirrkala in East Arnhem Land is celebrating 50 years since the signing of the historic bark
petitions that paved the way for the Indigenous land rights movement……… Local NAIDOC week coordinator Rosealee Pearson says what
the leaders achieved at a time before Indigenous Australians were even counted on the national census cannot be overstated.
“It’s pretty astounding that a group of people who weren’t even counted as human beings decided to do that,” she said.
“It’s because of them and the fight they fought that I exist as a person.”
The ochre-framed bark petitions were adorned with the clan designs of all that was threatened by mining – from the snakes to the sand dunes. They were first traditional documents to be recognised by the Australian Parliament.
Ms Pearson says the combination of traditional and modern forms of communication helped bridge a gap between the two cultures at the time. The petitions were created in 1963 to protest against the Federal Government’s removal of 300 square kilometres of land from the Arnhem Land reserve so that bauxite found there could be mined…… Despite not achieving the constitutional change sought, the petitions were the spark which lit the flame for the eventual recognition of Indigenous rights in Commonwealth law.
Less than five years later, a referendum was held and the Australian
Constitution amended to count Indigenous Australians in the national census.
Less than a decade after that, the Northern Territory Aboriginal Land Rights
Act was passed…….
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/article/17938240/50-years-on-yirrkala-celebrates-bark-petitions-that-sparked-indigenous-land-rights-movement/
Silverton wind farm delayed on fear of Coalition election
Reviews of the renewables policy should occur every four years, rather than every two years, to give investors more confidence, according to a December recommendation from the Climate Change Authority, which is advising the government.
AGL Delays Australian Wind Farm on Government Policy Concern http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-11/agl-delays-australian-wind-farm-on-government-policy-uncertainty.html By James Paton – Jul 10, 2013 AGL Energy Ltd. (AGK), Australia’s largest developer of renewable energy projects, said it delayed a A$550 million ($509 million) wind farm because of uncertainty over government policy to boost investment in the industry.
AGL will defer hiring an engineering and construction contractor for the proposed Silverton wind farm in Australia’s New South Wales state and review its position in 2014, the Sydney-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.
“This decision does not indicate reduced enthusiasm for the project,” Nigel Bean, the head of power development at AGL, said in the statement.While Australia’s opposition coalition said in March that it’s committed to the nation’s 2020 renewable energy target, it called for a review of the policy in 2014 if it wins this year’s election, which must be held by Nov. 30. Australia plans to generate at least 20 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by the end of the decade as it seeks to reduce its dependence on coal.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s return to the leadership in Australia has sparked a surge in support for Australia’s Labor government, with a poll showing the party has closed the gap with Tony Abbott’s opposition. Labor rose to its highest level on a two-party preferred basis in almost nine months and is tied on 50 percent with the Liberal-National coalition, the Newspoll published July 9 in The Australian showed. Continue reading
Australia helping China to organise its emissions trading cheme
China seeks Australia’s help building emissions trading scheme The Age, July 11, 2013 Heath Aston Political reporter Australia has been drafted in to help design an emissions trading scheme for China, the world’s biggest polluter.
A deal announced in Canberra on Thursday will see the Australian National University take leadership of a program that will analyse pollution data provided by China and allow Chinese university researchers to examine Australia’s experience of the carbon tax and transition to an emissions trading scheme.
China is aiming for a full national emissions trading scheme by 2015.
The program, known as the “Australia-China research program on market mechanisms for climate change policy”, will team Australian researchers with those from three provincial universities in China and the Beijing Institute of Technology. The University of New South Wales and Melbourne University will also take part……. Climate expert and economist Ross Garnaut, a professor at ANU, said the most recent climate science showed a two degree warming of the planet was now a minimum and Chinese leaders understand there is a huge potential impact from climate for that nation. http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/china-seeks-australias-help-building-emissions-trading-scheme-20130711-2prjh.html#ixzz2Ys4PY1At
ERA’s new uranium plan for Ranger mine sheds doubt on proper future cleanup
Ranger uranium mine expansion plan faces scrutinyhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-09/environment-centre-nt-on-ranger-uranium-mine-eis-undergounding/4808406 By Kristy O’Brien Jul 9, 2013 The Northern Territory Environment Centre says it is assessing draft environmental guidelines for the expansion of the Ranger uranium mine.
The draft EIS guidelines from the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority aim to minimise the effects on the surrounding Kakadu National Park of a move from open-cut to underground mining.
The Environment Centre’s Lauren Mellor says the group is opposed to the expansion but is happy to see increased scrutiny of the project.
“What has been proposed here is underground mining, which is something that has never been done before at the Ranger site,” she said. “This is being proposed at a time when the company should be ramping down operations in preparation for rehabilitation, not ramping them up.”
Mine operator Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) says underground mining would extend the life of the operation. Ms Mellor says her group will assess the EIS guidelines to ensure they are appropriate.
“They [ERA] have got a legal obligation to cease mining and mineral processing by 2021 on the site,” she said. “What they are proposing here is to increase contamination, increase tailings and waste at the site, which means rehabilitation is more than likely to be delayed,” she said.
Uranium prices just keep on – going down, down
Spot uranium prices about $39.50/lb with ‘downward’ bias: sources Washington (Platts)- Jim Ostroff -9 Jul2013 The spot price of uranium is around $39.50 a pound, unchanged from last Tuesday, but the ongoing weak demand for U3O8 indicates that prices are more likely to soften further than rise in coming weeks, according to price publisher Ux Consulting and market sources.
Ux, in its weekly report Monday, said the spot U3O8 price was $39.50/lb, unchanged from Friday, but that the market “could see further erosion as the month wears on.” It added, “The overall demand situation may not improve anytime soon,” noting it is unlikely “that Japanese reactors will see a surge in restarts in the near future.”
Ux on Monday reduced its daily Broker Average Price — based on information from Evolution Markets and Armajaro Securities — by 6 cents to $39.38/lb. The BAP bid-offer spread Monday was $39.00-$39.75/lb, with the bid down 13 cents and the offer unchanged from Friday…..”The bias still is to the downside a bit” in the uranium spot market, one market source said in an interview Tuesday. “There remains more supply than demand and nobody seems to be motivated on either side,” to conclude deals, he said. http://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/washington/spot-uranium-prices-about-3950lb-with-downward-21262350
Mining companies in control of Aboriginal land; the battle for land rights continues
“This time it is [for the] economic side of the land rights, [for] the money that comes into the hands of the Aboriginal people through their own country and not to the mining company or contractors,” he said. “We want to develop our country and we want to develop our own soil.”….
Land rights are empty, Yolngu elder tells Rudd on bark petition anniversary Oliver Laughland, guardian.co.uk, 10 July 2013 Galarrwuy Yunupingu throws down gauntlet to PM over ‘economic side of land rights’ at Yirrkala commemoration Fifty years ago the Yolngu people of Yirrkala in remote east Arnhem Land changed history, but to this day respected leaders of the community say not enough is being done for Indigenous land rights.
The Yirrkala bark petitions, signed in 1963 to protest against the federal government’s approval of a bauxite mine on their reserve, were the spark for a land rights movement that engaged much of Indigenous Australiaand resulted in the first formal acknowledgement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in law. Continue reading
Solar air conditioning on show at Brisbane’s Clean Energy Event
Kingtec Solar to Showcase Solar Powerered Air Conditioner in Australia’s Clean Energy Week Event Visit http://kingtecsolar.com for further information Event runs July 24-26 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Australia Melbourne, Australia, July 9th, 2013: Kingtec Solar, a recognized leader in solar powered air condition technology, is pleased to announce its participation in events at the Clean Energy Week, Australia’s largest solar event. Following its exceptional success last year (2012) in Sydney, where over 2500 delegates from local and international organization participated; this year’s events take place at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from July 24th to 26th. …….
Kingtec’s current PV solar air conditioner line-up includes:
K25FT – Solar Split Ductless
K25CJ – Solar Window Air Conditioner
K25DZ – Solar RV Roof Top AC
and have special significance for businesses and homeowners in areas hit by constant blackouts or rolling brownouts.
Kingtec Solar’s unique PV-powered air conditioners are designed with simplicity and economy in mind, and are built to run using free and abundant solar renewable energy. We deliver 100% zero energy consumption for up to 7 1/2 hours on as little as 1000 watts of solar panels for a 16000 BTU AC. These air conditioners feature tri-energy inputs from any combination of solar, grid or batteries and can run in three modes: Energy Saving, Off Grid, or Hybrid.
And while you get a durable renewable energy solution, you not only save the planet by reducing your personal CO2 footprint, but also save on energy bills. Our air conditioners will run 100% on solar with grid or batteries! ……
To learn more about Kingtec Solar and it’s solutions, visit us online at: http://kingtecsolar.com/
Australia’s 3 year clean energy investment plan
Australia to boost clean energy economy with new investment plan http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/795127.shtml#.Ud8Mtztwo6I Australian government-funded organization, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), released its three-year investment plan on Wednesday, which will continue to “drive Australia towards a clean energy economy.” ARENA is a government-funded organization working with industry to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies and increase the supply of renewable energy in Australia. This is the agency’s second General Funding Strategy and Investment Plan, covering the years 2013/14 to 2015/16.
One of the initiatives, which will start with a study, is exploring opportunities for hybrid plants where renewable energy can be cost competitive with fossil fuel generation. Adding renewable energy, such as solar thermal, to fossil fuel based energy production has the extra benefit of boosting generation capacity during times of high demand while producing less carbon pollution.
The Investment Plan also includes a focus on overcoming barriers to commercialisation of renewable energy, expanding research and development activities beyond solar technologies, etc.
“The Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) new Investment Plan builds on over half a billion AU dollars (almost $460 million) of existing funding opportunities already on the table to increase the supply and improve the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies in Australia, and outlines the potential for five new initiatives,” Resources and Energy Minister Gary Gray said.
Solar micro grids and off grid solar power – solutions for Australia
NRG looking at solar-based micro grids in Australia REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson on 10 July 2013 NRG Energy, the largest privately owned power generation company in the US, says it is looking at entering the Australian market with off-grid and micro-grid solutions that will be based around solar and storage……..
Todd Michaels, a senior director with NRG Solar, its newly created subsidiary says some of the company’s large industrial customers, with significant operations in Australia, are looking at solar-based micro grids to reduce costs in their operations.
“They are burning diesel fuel and they want NRG to come up with micro grid solution to address that,” Michaels told RenewEconomy in an interview at the InterSolar conference in San Francisco. “Solar PV will be a large component of that solution.” Continue reading
Australian Labor and Liberal against Aboriginal Land Rights being enshrined in the Constitution
As far as I can see, corporate Australia will get its way, as usual, with a pretty meaningless and toothless reference to Aborignals in the Australian Constitution
Major parties cool on ‘locking in’ land rights, ABC News 9 July 13 By Melanie Arnost The Federal Government and Opposition have both reacted coolly to a call from the Northern Land Council to have the Aboriginal Land Rights Act enshrined in the Australian constitution.
Land council chairman Wali Wunungmurra, speaking ahead of NAIDOC week’s celebrations of the Yirrkala bark petitions, said last week he wanted the act included in the constitution.
“(To) protect it from people watering it down, tearing it apart,” Mr Wunungmurra said…….The Yirrkala bark petitions were presented to Federal Parliament in 1963.
Mr Wunungmurra was one of 12 signatories to the petitions, which are credited with galvanising the land rights debate across Australia.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-08/cool-reaction-to-calls-for-land-rights-act-to-be-put-in-constit/4805192
Recognition of the Aboriginal law system in Australia
In 1971 Justice Blackburn dismissed the Yolngu claim but importantly did acknowledge for the first time in an Australian higher court the existence of a system of Aboriginal law
The Yirrkala Bark Petitions. How an old typewriter helped change the course of Australian history, Crikey BOB GOSFORD | JUL 07, 2013 “………In a small display case in a dimly lit room in Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra – cheek by jowl with a facsimile of the Magna Carta and Australia’sConstitution – sit three panels of richly painted stringy-bark.
It is significant that these documents, all of which inform contemporary law in this country, can be found within metres of each other. The Magna Cartaand The Australian Constitution are fundamental elements of European law in this country. Few Australians know of the content, importance and continuing relevance of the Magna Carta and our Constitution and even fewer know, let alone realise the significance of, these three small pieces of bark, each with ancestral images wrapped around a sheet of yellowing paper with faint text.
The first two of these petitions were presented to the Commonwealth Parliament 50 years ago in August 1963 and represent the first documents received by that parliament that recognised the existence – but not the primacy – of Aboriginal law and claims to ownership of their ancestral lands.
The petitions were unsuccessful – the first was the subject of an extraordinary technical challenge by then Territories Minister Paul Hasluck – but that did not deter the Yolngu traditional owners, who in December 1968 issued writs in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory against the Nabalco Corporation, which had secured a bauxite mining lease from the Federal Government. In that claim the Yolngu claimed unextinguished communal native title to their lands. Continue reading
A warning that some solar panels are inferior
Inferior Solar Panels Invade Australia Energy Matters 9 JULY, 2013: Inferior solar panels are being sold to unsuspecting Australians, with the cost in lost energy production calculated for the first time at $3,261* per household.
It is estimated 397,545 Australian homes have inferior ‘Tier 3’ solar panels installed, which are generally considered lower-grade due to the way they are manufactured. Three tiers of solar panel manufacturers were defined in an independent report by Pike Research in 20112.
Energy Matters’ Nick Brass explains why so many people have installed these ‘Tier 3’ solar systems.
“Unfortunately, people don’t realise they’ve purchased a second rate system. Unlike many consumer electronics that have brands famous for quality, the solar market in Australia is dominated by unknown brands – even though premium Tier 1 panels such as REC and Panasonic exist 3. Tier 2 panels can also be solid performers, but performance can vary wildly between the various brands2.” Continue reading
Edward Snowden reveals Australia’s role in USA’s spying web
Snowden reveals Australia’s links to US spy web Hume Weekly, By Philip Dorling July 8, 2013, United States intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has provided his first disclosure of Australian involvement in US global surveillance, identifying four facilities in the country that contribute to a key American intelligence collection program.
Classified US National Security Agency maps leaked by Mr Snowden and published by US journalist Glenn Greenwald in the Brazilian O Globo newspaper reveal the locations of dozens of US and allied signals intelligence 
collection sites that contribute to interception of telecommunications and internet traffic worldwide.
The US Australian Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap near Alice Springs and three Australian Signals Directorate facilities: the Shoal Bay Receiving Station near Darwin, the Australian Defence Satellite Communications Facility at Geraldton and the naval communications station HMAS Harman outside Canberra are among contributors to the NSA’s collection program codenamed X-Keyscore.
The New Zealand Government Security Communications Bureau facility at Waihopai near Blenheim also contributes to the program.
X-Keyscore reportedly processes all signals before they are shunted off to various “production lines” that deal with specific issues and the exploitation of different data types for analysis – variously code-named Nucleon (voice), Pinwale (video), Mainway (call records) and Marina (internet records). US intelligence expert William Arkin describes X-Keyscore as a “national Intelligence collection mission system”. Continue reading
Radiation leak plans at Olympic Dam uranium mine – 15 years out of date
Olympic Dam mine radiation leak plan 15 years out of date news.com.au by: Miles Kemp The Advertiser July 07, 2013 THE radiation plans for Olympic Dam are more than 15 years out of date because of an administrative bungle, the Environment Protection Authority has revealed.The plans are needed because between 2003 and 2012, BHP-Billiton reported 31 radiation leaks at its Olympic Dam mine, totalling more than 3000 cubic metres of material, or the volume of a large hot-air balloon.
Responding to a Freedom of Information application that exposed the problem, the EPA could only find plans from 1997 and 1998 and has stated: “We acknowledge that an update is overdue and action is being taken to address this situation”. Greens MLC Mark Parnell said he sought a copy of the management plan to monitor how BHP-Billiton dealt with radiation leaks to protect workers and the environment.”Workers at Olympic Dam are at risk because the EPA and BHP-Billiton have failed to update their practices for over 15 years,” he said. “What sort of oversight is there by the EPA at Olympic Dam when the basic management plan required under the National Code is ridiculously out of date?”
The EPA searched its records for 10 months before responding that there was no up-to-date plan and it needed a new one. “All these plans should be available in the public realm and not have to be chased using FOI application,” Mr Parnell said.
He said there had been six triggers since 1998 that should have prompted an updated plan, including an expansion in the mine’s capacity.”Between 1998 and 2013, an extraordinary amount of change has occurred in the regulation of radioactive material, with increasing awareness of the risks to workers and the natural environment and advances in processing,” he said…….. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/national-news/south-australia/olympic-dam-mine-radiation-leak-plan-15-years-out-of-date/story-fnii5yv4-1226675659296#ixzz2YU1PMjCI
1 This month
17 October, Free Public Talk on Nuclear Issues in South Australia
David Noonan will speak on public interest concerns over the new Roxby Downs Indenture Act 2026 on BHP copper-uranium mining and ore processing in SA, and on how AUKUS may face SA with a High-Level nuclear waste agenda.
Dr Jim Green will discuss international developments in the field of nuclear power including ‘small modular reactors’ and Generation 4 ‘advanced’ nuclear reactor concepts.
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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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
