Gillard government takes its orders from USA – uranium to India
Gillard is helping to destabilise the sub-continent by fuelling a dangerous arms race involving India’s rivals, China and Pakistan.
The Labor government’s about face on uranium sales to India under Gillard was carried out on Washington’s orders. In November 2011, the US ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, publicly called on Canberra to “sort out” its issues with India, as the US had done when it resolved the “thorny point” of uranium sales through the 2008 nuclear deal that exempted India from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Australian PM visit to India bolsters new “strategic partnership” WSWS, By Patrick O’Connor 20 October 2012 Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s three-day trip to India this week was aimed at deepening military, diplomatic, and economic ties between the two countries.
Washington has encouraged the closer relations as part of its aggressive drive to undermine the influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region. Gillard met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. High on the agenda was progress towards Australian uranium sales to India, Continue reading
Julia Gillard and Manmohan Singh in harmony over uranium sale plan
Gillard and Singh on song on uranium, The Age October 18, 2012 Adam Gartrell, AAP India’s leader has personally praised Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her government’s revised stance on uranium sales and has declared a “new chapter” in the bilateral relationship.
Manmohan Singh and Ms Gillard have formally agreed to start negotiations on a nuclear safeguards agreement to allow Australia to start selling uranium to India….
Australian uranium sales to India, fraught with hypocrisy and danger
If we really want to assist Indian communities who currently lack access to electricity – and we should – it would be far more effective to prioritise exporting Australian expertise in regional renewable energy systems.
the admission this week from India’s own auditor that the country’s nuclear industry is “dangerously unsafe, disorganised and, in many cases, completely unregulated” – only compounds concerns.
When Australian uranium leaves our waters it effectively disappears from the radar. This is a profound concern for a fuel that can power either nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. High-level Indian officials have stated that they need to source uranium from overseas in order to free up their own uranium for military purposes
No smooth passage to India for Australian uranium http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/10/18/3612800.htm DAVE SWEENEY, ABC 18 OCT 2012 PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD is in India this week and amid the staged handshakes and solemn exchanges of signed papers. The uranium sales plan is being heavily promoted. But there is growing concern both here and in India about the implications of the move and the fast-tracking of nuclear-armed India into the global atomic club.
No doubt Julia Gillard will be employing the age-old tactic of highlighting a problem that no reasonable person could ignore and then seeking to ‘own’ the solution. Proponents of the sales deal point to the estimated 200 million Indians who do not have reliable access to electricity as a rationale for the sales deal. But to link Australian yellowcake with lights and cookers in remote Indian villages is to draw a very long bow. Continue reading
Legal challenge by Pacific Nations against sale of uranium to India?
Pacific nations could challenge Australian uranium sales to India, ABC News, Stephanie March, Oct 12, 2012 Until last year, the Labor government in Australia had refused to sell uranium to India because it isn’t a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and is a nuclear weapons producing state A move by Australia to allow the export of uranium to India could face a legal challenge from Pacific nations…….International law expert Professor Donald Rothwell has told Radio Australia’s Asia Pacific program that could lead to a challenge under a 1985 treaty which governs nuclear testing and the use of nuclear materials from the region.
“Australia therefore has an obligation to ensure that its sale of uranium mined from within Australia is dealt with consistently with the provisions of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty,” he said.
“To that end, there’s very much an expectation that any sale would be only to countries that meet the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty obligation and that immediately raises an issue, because India, of course, is not a party to the NPT.”
The South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, or the Treaty of Rarotonga was signed in 1985 by 12 nations in the Pacific and Australia.
Any objection under the Treaty of Rarotonga would have to be brought by one of the Pacific Nations that are signatories to the agreement.
Mr Rothwell says due to its history, the South Pacific does have a very strong record of being anti-nuclear
“The region fiercely contested France’s nuclear weapons testing program in the 1970s and as recently as the 1990s,” he said.
“So any concerns that might be raised by Australia’s conduct could well come from within the region and given the history of the region, it shouldn’t be completely ruled out…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-12/an-australian-uranium-sales-to-india-could-face-pacific-challen/4311024?section=business
Prominent Indian citizens appeal to Australian Prime Minister against selling uranium to India
CNDP Appeals To The Australian PM Against Uranium Export to India http://www.countercurrents.org/cndp161012.htm 16 October, 2012
Dear Prime Minister,
We urge you to reconsider the decision to supply uranium to India. This uranium will fuel the massive expansion of nuclear power programme that the Indian government is undemocratically pushing on poor people of India, criminally overlooking the concerns of safety, environment, livelihoods of surrounding populations and the financial implications.
Supplying uranium to India also amounts to legitimizing its status as a nuclear weapons state. Continue reading
Gillard to India, to QUIETLY arrange uranium sale deal: uranium industry to lobby opponents
Uranium controls point to India deal, Financial Review, 4 Oct 12 “…..When she visits India in a fortnight, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will hold top level discussions that are expected to open the way to a uranium safeguards agreement that would contain strict requirements on the safe use of the fuel.
The strategy is intended to neutralise opponents who highlight that India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The final safeguards agreement will take some time but sources close to the negotiations said it was expected to boast the same regulations as the NNPT as well as strict rules on access to nuclear facilities in the world’s biggest democracy…….
Australia has previously refused to sell the nuclear fuel to India because the South Asian country hasn’t signed the treaty. Resource Minister Martin Ferguson in February 2011 opened up political debate on India uranium sales, saying Australia should be able to negotiate on a country by country basis rather than have a blanket ban on those who hadn’t signed the treaty.
That paved the way for Ms Gillard to prevail at Labor’s December national conference to overturn the party ban, amid opposition from cabinet ministers, including Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, Schools Minister Peter Garrett and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese…..
Ms Gillard will travel to India from October 15-17 and is expected to meet the government’s most senior officials about energy, trade and economic ties. Australia is going into its fourth round of negotiations on the Closer Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement…..
A final uranium safeguards agreement with India would first be analysed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, which can make recommendations to the government. “Once the government puts the treaty to parliament the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will have a certain amount of time look at it,” said committee chair and Labor MP Kelvin Thomson.
“On a contentious issue like this there would be public hearings before we make recommendations to the government and 
the parliament.
“Generally, I think it is important we promote the nuclear non proliferation treaty, Australia is of course a signatory to that.”….
Mr Angwin said. “I think the implication between any agreement between Australia and India is to put pressure on those governments and political parties which have so far have not given their support to the expansion of the uranium industry.”
USA Green Party joins with Australian, Canadian, New Zealand Greens to oppose Trans-Pacific Partnership
US Green Party signs international Green statement against “secret” Trans-Pacific Partnership pact October 1, 2012 WASHINGTON, DC — The Green Party of the United States has joined Green Parties of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand in a “Joint Statement on Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement” that strongly criticizes the proposed international trade pact.
The text of the Joint Statement, which the Green Party of the United States has endorsed, is appended below.
“The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was negotiated in secret by the Obama Administration, is meant to privilege corporate profits and enhance corporate power in the nations that rim the Pacific, including the U.S. This pact is a threat to jobs in the U.S. It contradicts claims by both President Obama and Gov. Romney that they want to put Americans back to work,” said Cheri Honkala, the Green Party’s vice-presidential nominee (http://www.jillstein.org).
“Every voter should know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Unfortunately, both Obama and Romney support it, which means it won’t be discussed in the presidential debates. Only Green candidates, including my running mate, Jill Stein, are talking about the Trans-Pacific Partnership publicly. This is why it’s so crucial that Dr. Stein participate in the debates,” added Ms. Honkala. Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Joint Statement on Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
http://www.greenparty.ca/statement/2012-08-21/joint-statement-trans-pacific-partnership-agreement
Australia would back USA and Israel attacking Iran, just like it backed attack on Iraq
Gillard’s statements on Iran were a declaration of Australian support for war.
Gillard asserted that Iran “refuses to take the urgent steps necessary to build confidence that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.”
In fact, Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities have repeatedly uncovered no evidence of the development of nuclear weapons—any more than UN inspectors found “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq.
Australian PM demands UN rubberstamp war on Syria and Iran World Socialist Website By James Cogan 28 September 2012 Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, demanding that the UN endorse imperialist intervention into Syria and rubberstamp a US bombardment of Iran… Continue reading
Australian company Mantra Resources duped Tanzania out of taxes for its uranium profits
the transfer of Mantra Resources Limited to ARMZ enables its former shareholders to pocket $1.04 billion without paying capital gains to the Tanzanian government…. Mantra Resources Limited of Australia was supposed to have paid capital gains tax to Tanzania.
Sh320bn loss looming over uranium project , 29 September 2012 By Felix Lazaro, The Citizen Dar es Salaam. Tanzania risks losing about Sh320 billion in mining taxes because of weak legal checks, particularly when it comes to uranium.
Local mining experts said yesterday that the country must go back to the drawing board and put in place a watertight policy and regulations before it allows uranium mining.Earnings from the mineral are believed to have the potential to turn around the lives of thousands of poor Tanzanians.
The chief concern right now, though, is that some subsidiaries of multinational firms licensed to explore uranium in Tanzania are capitalising on a weak legal and institutional framework to transfer ownership to affiliated companies. In the process, there are missed opportunities to collect revenue. Continue reading
Australia getting dangerously locked in to USA military operations in the Pacific
An Australian General, Major General Richard Burr, has become a deputy commander of United States Army Pacific. He will be responsible for planning and advising on the further expansion of American armed forces throughout the Western Pacific.
Australia hostage to the politics of the US in the Asian Century, The Drum, MALCOLM FRASER, 27 Sept 12,
This week Malcolm Fraser delivered a speech on Australia-US relations in the Asian Century. In this edited extract, the former prime minister says our Government has made us hostage to the politics of the United States. Australia has, under this Labor Government and with apparent consent of the Coalition, become the southern bastion of America’s re-arming in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. This is an extraordinary consequence of Australian Government ineptitude and of military planning, which might recognise America’s interest, but pays little account of our own.
It makes us complicit in any military activity that the Americans might undertake. Continue reading
USA classifies Julian Assange on same level as al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban
US Vice-President Joe Biden labelled Mr Assange a “high-tech terrorist” in December 2010 and US congressional leaders have called for him to be charged with espionage. Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee – both once involved in presidential campaigns – have both urged that Mr Assange be “hunted down”.
Mr Assange’s US attorney, Michael Ratner, said the designation of WikiLeaks as an “enemy” had serious implications for the WikiLeaks publisher if he were to be extradited to the US, including possible military detention.
US calls Assange ‘enemy of state’, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/us-calls-assange-enemy-of-state-20120927-26m7s.html#ixzz27joofxHc SMH, September 27, 2012 Philip Dorling THE US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States – the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency.
Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with “communicating with the enemy”, a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death. The documents, some originally classified “Secret/NoForn” – not releasable to non-US nationals – record a probe by the air force’s Office of Special Investigations into a cyber systems analyst based in Britain who allegedly expressed support for WikiLeaks and attended pro-Assange demonstrations in London. Continue reading
Australia in danger, as part of USA’s military machine
Is it time to downgrade US defence? Business Spectator, Jackson Hewett , 26 Sep 2012 Malcolm Fraser says it is time we end our “dangerous and foolish” complicity with US military policy in the Asian region and renegotiate the ANZUS treaty.
He calls Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s assertion that joint US Australian military operations are not bases as “political spin of the worst kind”, something that Professor Richard Tanter, the Director of the Nautilus Institute for security studies agrees with.
Fraser says that the 2500 marines on permanent rotation in the Northern Territory, proposed US surveillance bases in the Cocos Islands and expanded roles of Pine Gap linked to US bomber command in Hawaii, send a clear message that Australia is becoming the “the southern bastion of America’s re-arming in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia” – something that “spells danger for the entire region”. If citizens fully understood the level of US control over
military operations here, there would be “rage across Australia”.
Fraser is calling for a complete review of the ANZUS treaty and says that we have failed to work within the treaty’s stated aim of “consultation” on defence, and instead we have become “supplicants” who uncritically take part in American wars.
It is time, Fraser says, to show “the guts, the grit and the gumption” to communicate to the region that we are independent of America. Under current American policy, Fraser believes, our unwavering alliance with the US puts us in more danger than not….. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/us-alliance-america-australia-china-foreign-policy-pd20120926-YH2Q9?OpenDocument&src=sph%20&src=rot
Malaysian protest against Lynas rare earths plant – not going away, in fact – it’s the reverse
“The world will witness one of the biggest civil disobedience events in this nation”
Mr Ibrahim has demanded that Australians ”hear the frustrations of Malaysians” over the project.
First Weld war looms – Malaysians mobilise to fight Lynas plant, The Age, September 
13, 2012 Lindsay Murdoch ACTIVISTS are planning a multi-pronged attack to try to stop the Australian miner Lynas Corp opening a rare earths
processing plant in Malaysia.
Opposition parties, led by Anwar Ibrahim, are also planning to make the $230 million plant a key issue of the country’s national elections, which must be held by April next year. They have vowed to shut the plant if they oust the government. Continue reading
Australia to be part of ASEAN discussion on nuclear power for the region
ASEAN ministers explore nuclear power as a long-term option 11 September 2012 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/1225292/1/.html SINGAPORE: Ministers from the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will explore nuclear power as a long-term option for the region’s energy needs when they meet on Wednesday, 12 September at the 30th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said they will discuss collective efforts to develop ASEAN’s nuclear safety
capabilities, as well as a coordinated approach on regional nuclear emergency preparedness and response mechanisms with international partners.
As with previous years, the ASEAN ministers will be joined by their key energy Dialogue Partners and International Organisations, namely Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, the US and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Continue reading
Yeah, why not have Australia fuel Pakistan’s nuclear bombs, as well as India’s?
Australia willing to help Pak combat energy crisis, Pakistan Observer, Amanullah Khan, 9 Sept 12. Karachi—Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward has said there are certain technical requirements to ensure that nuclear capability would be used for domestic energy need and not for military purpose and if Pakistan fulfills such condition Australia may think of exporting uranium to Pakistan…. Speaking on the occasion Mian Abrar Ahmad , President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Pakistan needs to build civil nuclear capability to meet its energy requirements since ours is an energy hungry country……. http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=173330
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