Australia’s role in wrecking the international climate talks
Australia turns into ‘anti-climate’ force at Warsaw REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 19 November 2013It has taken just 7 days, but already the reputation of Australia as a constructive force in international climate policy has been completely trashed – both in terms of its domestic actions and in the wrecking ball tactics it has sent to Warsaw.
Australia is now seen as an “anti-climate” nation that is actively working against any consensus at these talks, as its domestic policies are translated onto the international stage. Continue reading
Tony Abbott says “NO” to UN plan to help Pacific climate change victims
Tony Abbott rejects Commonwealth climate change risk fund SMH, November 18, 2013 Ben Doherty South Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media Colombo, Sri Lanka: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has rejected a proposal from the 53-nation Commonwealth to establish a new fund to help poor and island countries to combat climate change.
As an extraordinary Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting concluded in Colombo, Mr Abbott joined with Canada in rejecting a decision by the summit to push for a Green Capital Fund to help vulnerable island states and poor African countries address the effects of rising sea levels, prolonged droughts, or catastrophic weather incidents, caused by climate change.
The proposal is for Commonwealth countries to work within the UN climate change network to build the fund for small and poor countries to access.
One of the key themes of the summit was the plight of low-lying, and poor states who are especially vulnerable to climate change, but don’t have the money for adaptation.: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-rejects-commonwealth-climate-change-risk-fund-20131118-2xplc.html#ixzz2l9bFQGcM
New, less safe, nuclear deal between Australia and India?
Nuclear deal: Australia’s uranium deal with India may include weaker monitoring safeguards ABC News, 19 Nov 13, By Stephanie March Australia’s agreement to sell uranium to India could include weaker monitoring safeguards than the nuclear deals Australia has with other countries.
A third round of nuclear cooperation agreement talks are due to take place later this month and both governments say they want the deal settled quickly.
In the past, Australia has required countries to which it sells uranium to track the material more closely than is required by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Andrew Davies from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says the IAEA tracks aggregate quantities of uranium but does not monitor exactly where uranium sent to India from Australia ends up. “For example, if 100 tonnes goes into a civilian nuclear program and 90 tonnes of product comes out, they don’t know where the missing product was diverted from,” he said.
The ABC understands India says it does not have the capacity to provide additional monitoring beyond what is required by the IAEA.
Speaking in New Delhi, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, told the ABC she was reluctant to comment on the talks while they were underway.
“I am not going to get ahead of the negotiations and consider hypotheticals,” she said…… India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and only in recent years started taking steps to separate its military and civilian nuclear programs.
Last year, a report from the Indian auditor-general found the country’s nuclear safety regulator was weak and unable to properly monitor the industry.
Ms Bishop says Australia will support India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-19/australia27s-nuclear-deal-with-india/5101030
Australia backs India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group
Australia supports India’s NSG membership, Live Mint 19 Nov 13 Julie Bishop says Australia’s decision acknowledges India’s emergence as a major producer and potential exporter of nuclear energy and technology Elizabeth Roche New Delhi: In a sign that Australia’s new Liberal Party government headed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott intends to deepen a strategic partnership with India, Australia on Monday announced its support for India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the global cartel that controls the sale of nuclear materials, Continue reading
Abbot government backs USA corporations against Australia’s public interest
Australia backs the US at every turn against its own consumers The Age, November 14, 2013 Peter Martin Economics correspondent In public the Australian government is on the side of consumers. Yet behind closed doors it is siding with the US government to block them at every turn.
The extraordinarily detailed information on negotiating positions released by WikiLeaks shows Australia repeatedly backing the interests of the US against the objections of countries including Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam on questions involving intellectual property. Australia is often the only one of the 12 parties to the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations to do so……..
In 2005 the High Court ruled that it was legal for Australians to use so-called ”mod chips” to bypass the copy-protection measures in Sony Playstations. In June this year a committee made up of both sides of Parliament unanimously recommended Australia amend its copyright law to put beyond doubt ”consumers’ rights to circumvent technological protection measures that control geographic market segmentation”. In other words, Australians would be completely free to modify their DVD machines to play discs made for use anywhere in the world. And to defeat the technologies that allow US giants such as Amazon and Apple to geographically segment their markets and charge Australians more than almost anyone else.
Yet in closed-door negotiations so secret the media was excluded from Australian briefings on their progress, Canberra has backed the US in trying to criminalise such measures. An amendment proposed by Canada and Singapore to the effect that it is legal to sell and import devices whose sole purpose is to defeat region coding, does not list Australia among its backers.
Canada and seven other countries want to make it clear that internet providers such as Australia’s iiNet cannot be held legally responsible for copyright infringement on their networks. In 2012 iiNet went to the High Court to enforce that right. But Australia and the US are listed in the negotiating document as opposing it…….
The WikiLeaks release comes as developments in the US put the Trans Pacific Partnership under a cloud. More than 20 Republican Congressmen have written to President Barack Obama threatening to withdrawing the ”fast track” negotiating authority that allows him to close a deal. An influential group of Democrats is about to do the same.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-backs-the-us-at-every-turn-against-its-own-consumers-20131113-2xh0p.html#ixzz2kgk1SlcQ
Australia snubs United Nations on climate change
Abbott puts Australia out of the Hunt on climate change Independent Australia, 8 November 2013, Coalition has signalled its commitment to climate change action by deciding not to send a minister to high level UN talks on the issue for the first time since 1997. Matt McDonald from The Conversation comments.
THIS WEEK, the Australian Government announced that it would not send a minister to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Poland for the first time since 1997. This announcement came on the back of a cancelled stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, traditionally held in advance of UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (CoP) meetings……..
the climate conference snub is one with troubling implications for climate politics and Australian foreign policy generally. Post-election we’ve seen an assault on climate policy, and lingering suspicion over whether Abbott has genuinely put his denialist tendencies behind him. These negotiations provide an opportunity for the government to signal a commitment to action on climate change, both domestically and internationally.
Australia should be sending the message that it is an engaged and proactive member of the international community, concerned with helping to forge global solutions to global problems. Continue reading
International disappointment at Australia not sending Minister to climate change talks
The UK’s former top climate diplomat at the foreign office, John Ashton, told the Guardian that the decision by Australia was puzzling.
If people draw the conclusion that that this is a country that would rather stick to a business a usual approach rather than building a low-carbon growth model compatible with [temperature rises of] 2C, no one should be surprised.”
Former UN climate chief: ‘Australia should send minister to Warsaw talks’ Adam Vaughan theguardian.com, Friday 8 November 2013 Yvo de Boer stresses importance of COP19 climate change talks as it emerges Australia’s environment minister will not attend Australia should be sending a minister to international climate negotiations starting next week, the UN’s former climate chief has told the Guardian following the revelation that the Abbott administration will not be sending its environment minister to the talks.
The remarks by Yvo de Boer, who stood down as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change standing down in 2010 to take up a position at KPMG, come as the UK’s former top climate diplomat called the move by Australia “puzzling.”
Justin Lee, a diplomat and Australia’s ambassador for climate change, will instead represent Australia, marking the first time the country has not sent a government minister in 16 years. The UK is sending energy and climate secretary, Ed Davey, and more than 50 officials from government. Continue reading
Australian government snubs international climate talks
Australian Youth Climate Coalition 8 November 13 Greg Hunt MP just announced that our Government will not send an Australian Minister to the UN climate talks in Warsaw next week.
Instead they will repeal our only climate change policy.
If they won’t lead we will. November 17th we will show our Government what climate leadership looks like.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop pushes ahead on uranium sales to India
India, Australia inching towards civil nuclear agreement THE HINDU, 2 NOV 13 India moved a step closer to sourcing uranium from Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of the radioactive mineral, with the Foreign Ministers of both countries agreeing to hold the third round of talks on a bilateral civil nuclear agreement towards the end of this month.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to finalise a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement to enable the sale of Australian uranium to India, and announced that the third round of negotiations would be held here in the last week of November. They met in Perth on the margins of a multilateral conference.
The two Ministers also discussed energy security and the possibility of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to strengthen ties. Both sides have laid stress on the security of sea lanes as India and Australia have supplemented their coal-based energy ties with a multibillion dollar contract for sourcing Australian gas…… http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-australia-inching-towards-civil-nuclear-agreement/article5306545.ece
Some important details on the Trans Pacific Partnership
Article 12.8 gives rights holders the right to demand personal information about customers of Internet Service Providers – or other service providers – on a mere accusation. . This is a fundamental attack on the privacy of the citizens of all signatory countries. There is nothing to stop rights holders going on extensive fishing expeditions, searching through millions of users, looking for people to sue. This power is not granted to law enforcement without due process. Handing such powers to corporations without any requirement to show a breach has occurred is an attack upon the process of law. We have a right to not be placed under surveillance by companies based upon their word that illegal activity has occurred
Pirate Party Australia’s Presentation to Trans-Pacific Partnership Stakeholders Meeting in Melbourne March 4, 2012 Here is the speech that was presented by Pirate Party Australia President David Campbell at 11.45am at the TPPA stakeholders meeting in Melbourne. Thanks to Simon Frew (Deputy President) for authoring the speech and Mozart Palmer (Media Relations) for his contributions.
Pirate Party Australia, like many other attendees at the intellectual property section of this Agreement negotiation, first became aware of the proposed intellectual property provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement when the United States negotiating position was leaked last year.[1]
Much of the content of the leak is a wish-list for old media corporations who refuse to adapt to the Internet and instead pay massive “donations” to their government in order to push their legislative agenda against the interests of modern society. This wish-list echoes that of the intellectual property segments of the Stop Online Piracy Act – known as SOPA – and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement – known as ACTA. The US TPPA provisions have been nicknamed “the son of ACTA”. The proposed solutions to online file-sharing will fundamentally change the operation of the Internet, to its detriment.
The extreme position of the leaked United States’ Intellectual Property chapter is highlighted by the unprecedented request for the negotiating texts to remain secret for four years after the agreement is signed. This secrecy is a perversion of democracy. The public would not be given a chance to oppose such a draconian attack on both the Internet and the civil liberties of citizens in all of the signatory countries. All of this to protect the corporate interests of a small sector of one industry? What about the cost to our democratic rights?……..
In Australia, we have seen the harm that tighter intellectual property restrictions can cause through the Australia–US Free Trade Agreement. The Productivity Commission, a body that investigates the economic benefit or hindrance of various Australian economic policies, warned that agreeing to intellectual property provisions in free trade agreements needs to be subjected to a rigorous cost/benefit analysis.
The Australia–US Free Trade Agreement is believed to cost the Australian economy between 88 million and 763 million dollars a year in copyright enforcement alone. This is wealth being directly transferred from Australia to the United States – there is no net benefit to Australia derived from the tighter restrictions.[2]
If the US delegation gets its way, that and more will be forced upon your people and local economy, to what benefit? We urge delegates to reject the inclusion of any intellectual property provisions in your own national interests as they WILL harm your economies. Continue reading
AUDIO: Marshall Islands angry at Tony Abbott’s dismissal of climate change-bushfire link
AUDIO: Marshall Islands angered by Australian PM Tony Abbott’s dismissal of climate change link to bushfires http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-25/an-marshalls-bushfires/5044714 The Marshall Islands Government is unhappy at Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s dismissal of 
a link between the bushfires in New South Wales, and climate change……Senator Tony de Brum, the Minister in Assistance to the Marshall Islands President, said while it is difficult to tie any one event to climate change, his country is concerned at Mr Abbott’s dismissal of the issue…….”We’ve been watching the fires in Australia over the past few years and can say that we’ve been impressed with their ferocity and the threat that they project to our friends in that part of the world,” he told Pacific Beat.
“But I don’t think that we should just wave this thing off as something that is natural to Australia and is part of life in Australia and therefore not connected in any way to climate change.”
Senator de Brum said Australia should first be looking inward to what it is doing to fight against the impact of climate change.
“Just last month with the blessing of the new Environment Minister Greg Hunt, the Australian Government committed to being a climate leader by supporting the Majuro Declaration for climate leadership – this was the key outcome of the Pacific Island Forum,” he said.
“Australia should step up and be a leader in climate change and not be a laggard.”
Australian rare earths company Lynas still on the nose in Malaysia
Residents though remain highly sceptical and opposition candidates running on an anti-Lynas platform won a raft of seats around the plant, in the May general election.
Lynas lost more than $107 million last financial year, and has informed the market that it’s set to report another quarter of reduced output, as it continues to work on the plant’s operational issues.
Deutsche Bank’s Chris Terry says the company’s share price is now around 40 cents, compared with its peak value of $2.30 in early 2011
Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corporation sparks fresh anger in Malaysia ABC News, Kate Arnott for Newsline 9 Oct 13Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corporation is refusing to publicly disclose the location of a permanent waste storage facility for its processing plant in Malaysia.
Earlier this year, Lynas started commercial production of rare earths, which are used in a wide range of high tech equipment, but the plant on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia has been plagued by operational problems. Continue reading
Abbott govt accelerates sale of uranium to India, as India fires another nuclear-capable missile
India, Australia to hold third round of nuclear talks IANS | http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-australia-to-hold-third-round-of-nuclear-talks/427039-3.html?utm_source=ref_article Oct 07, 2013 New Delhi: India and Australia, under the new dispensation of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, are hoping to hold a third round of talks on nuclear cooperation in December this year, said a top official on Monday. Secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry Ashok K Kantha said Abbott has “made positive comments about the need for expediting, accelerating negotiations between India and Australia on nuclear cooperation”.
“We already have held two rounds of negotiations, and we are hoping to hold a third round of negotiations if possible in December this year. 
We have not yet firmed up the dates. But I believe there is a strong desire on both sides to try and bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion at an early date,” said Kantha at a briefing in New Delhi.
India test fires nuclear capable missile from Odisha Tribune, By Web Desk October 7, 2013 ODISHA: India test-fired a nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile from a test range at Chandipur, Odisha on Monday, Express News reported……The Prithvi II missile was inducted into India’s Strategic Forces Command in 2003 and is the first missile developed by DRDO under India’s IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
The missile is capable of carrying 500 to 1000 kilograms of warheads according to The Hindu.
On September 14, India successfully test-fired for a nuclear-capable missile that can reach Beijing and much of Europe. http://tribune.com.pk/story/614650/india-test-fires-nuclear-capable-missile-from-odisha/
Trans Pacific Partnership could override Australian law, but will Abbott resist this?
The progressive think tank, the Australia Institute, put out a statement within hours of the release of the Coalition Trade policy, attacking the Coalition’s
“hidden agenda” which would see “health and the environment sacrificed for free trade”.
It highlights the threat that ISDS provisions pose to pharmaceutical, tobacco and environmental legislation in particular.
“The Howard Government successfully resisted pressure from the US Government but now the Coalition has signalled its intention to sell out Australian sovereignty.”
provisions of the Trans-Pacific partnership are increasingly encountering resistance within other negotiating nations, which are concerned that the American agenda is more about protecting the interests, particularly the intellectual-property interests, of its big corporations than it is about free trade
Abbott: Open For Business — And Multinational Lawsuits The Global Mail By Mike Seccombe
September 20, 2013 ………You’re probably familiar with the fact that a group of tobacco companies including Philip Morris brought a case to the Australian High Court, on the basis that the government had effectively stolen its intellectual property by enforcing plain packaging. It got lots of media coverage.
Less publicised is the fact that having failed in the High Court, the company now is pursuing the matter via a bilateral trade agreement signed between Australia and Hong Kong in the early 1990s, which includes ISDS provisions.
The contempt such an action shows for Australian legal process and sovereignty, says Patricia Ranald, is plain. “They’re saying: ‘We’re going to ignore the High Court, when it says we’re not entitled to compensation; we’re going to go off and find an obscure trade agreement to sue you under’.” Continue reading
So is Tony Abbott going to sign us up to the (rotten) Trans Pacific Partnership deal?
And then there’s the big one, the US-driven Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), now being negotiated
“The Government has not and will not accept provisions that limit its capacity to put health warnings or plain packaging requirements on tobacco products or its ability to continue the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme’ – [Gillard Labor Government]
Abbott: Open For Business — And Multinational Lawsuits The Global Mail By Mike SeccombeSeptember 20, 2013 Labor rejected it outright. Even the Howard government issued America with a rare “no” over the legislation, declaring it contrary to national interests. But now the Abbott Coalition is flirting with a trade agreement that would allow companies, acting increasingly in secret, to sue Australia if they don’t like its regulations…….. the Howard government was at first almost pathetically keen to do a deal with the United States.
In the end, however, Australians’ growing hostility to the trade agreement forced Howard, for once, to say “no” to George Bush.
It wasn’t a blanket refusal of an Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA); a deal was eventually stitched up and began operating in 2005. The “no” was to one of America’s key demands: a provision called Investor-State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS.
What this arcane phrase refers to is the right of foreign companies to sue national governments of the signatory countries, not in domestic courts, but in opaque international forums, if they think some element of that government’s policy is harming their interests.
If a mining company, for example, is unhappy with environmental safeguards which inhibit its operations, if a pharmaceutical company is unhappy with the prices it gets for its drugs, if a chemical company is upset with the banning of an agricultural pesticide, if a tobacco company does not like laws restricting cigarette sales, ISDS provisions in trade agreements give them the means to challenge government policy and to seek compensation. Continue reading
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
.
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
Antinuclear 