China not a military nuclear threat to Australia
Compared with China’s 200 nuclear warheads, the US has 2150 operational strategic nuclear warheads together with 2850 warheads in reserve that are relatively quickly deployable…
…. let’s not frighten ourselves to death by drumming up the next military threat to Australia and basing our defence policy on the likelihood that we are going to be attacked by China.
Knocking on nobody’s door, THE AUSTRALIAN, Paul Dibb , July 18, 2011 “……..Since its first nuclear explosion in 1964, Beijing has struggled to develop a minimum nuclear deterrent force. Unlike the US and Russia, it has no credible nuclear war-fighting capability. Continue reading
Australia chairing IRENA – Yey! Martin Ferguson involved – Boo!
Australia To Chair International Renewable Energy Agency, By Ross Kelly Jul 13, 2011, NASDAQ , SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)– Australia has been elected as the inaugural chair of the International Renewable Energy Agency, established to promote the increased adoption of green energy worldwide, Energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson saidThursday.
Established in 2009, IRENA held its inaugural assembly in Abu Dhabi in April this year. It has 77 members, while 149 states and the European Union have ratified its statute.
“International cooperation is vital in accelerating the deployment of new technologies by driving down costs,” Ferguson said in a statement. “Australia’s election to this leadership role reflects our commitment to developing renewable energy.”
Australia on Sunday released details of a plan to impose a tax on carbon emissions of A$23 per metric ton from July 1, 2012. It also announced A$13.2 billion in government support for renewable energy projects.
Australian company to mine uranium in World Heritage Wildlife Sanctuary
Australians open Uranium mine in the Selous Game Reserve, Work World 11 July 11, Mantra Resources will begin uranium mining in the Selous Game Reserve at the end of next year. The Australian mining company will be operating in the south of Tanzania on a UNESCO heritage site, the second largest wildlife sanctuary in the African continent……..http://www.worktheworld.co.uk/blog/australians-open-uranium-mine-in-the-selous-game-reserve_2550
World Heritage Parks not necessarily immune from uranium mining
Don’t let’s get too complacent about UNESCO naming Koongarra as a World Heritage
National Park. The French nuclear company AREVA is still ruthlessly pursuing its goal of mining uranium there. And look what an Australian uranium company is doing in a UNESCO Heritage Park in the magnificent Tanzanian ecology.
Aust firm mines uranium in game reserve, Sydney Morning Herald, July 5, 2011, Australia’s Mantra Resources will start mining in late 2012 in the southern part of the 54,600-square kilometre park estimated to have 24.4 million kilogrammes) of uranium oxide deposits……
Tanzania will begin uranium mining in its southern Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s second-largest wildlife sanctuary and a UNESCO heritage site, the energy minister said……
he voiced optimism about getting clearance from the national environmental authorities and added that a UNESCO team would visit Tanzania for verification…..Environmentalists argue that the road project will endanger wildlife and disrupt the annual migration of millions of wildebeest and zebras from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara in neighbouring Kenya….http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/aust-firm-mines-uranium-in-game-reserve-20110705-1h0w9.html
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Call to governments for a nuclear-free Asia Pacific
Nuclear power has no part in building a climate-friendly and sustainable future.
A large and growing number of scientific studies have detailed the wide range of energy supply and energy efficiency options that can be deployed to meet energy demand while sharply reducing greenhouse gas emissions…..
Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific is calling for Government‘s in our region like Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Australia to transition into nuclear free societies.
Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific region will pursue a nuclear free world as a region and in our individual countries.
Nuclear Free Asia, The Hankyorah, 30 June 11, Activists from 15 countries participating in the Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific meeting held at the Haja Center in Seoul announce a declaration for Nuclear Free Future, June 30.
The statement as follows: Overcoming Fukushima’s Nuclear Crisis – Creating Nuclear Power Free Asia Pacific region
Several months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, we are beginning to get a sense of the likely long-term impacts. Continue reading
IAEA’s inadequate report on Lynas’s rare earths project’s safety
“the report seems to say things are okay, but read between the lines. The IAEA is trying to say in a very nice way that Malaysia cannot do it.”
Fuziah, who is PKR vice-president, said that she would provide an alternative report with the help of an Australian radiation consultant.
Fuziah ‘tears up’ IAEA report, Free Malaysia Today , Tashny Sukumaran, June 30, 2011, KUALA LUMPUR: Kuantan MP and staunch anti-Lynas protester Fuziah Salleh today “tore up” the IAEA report, claiming that it had glossed over several important aspects related to the Lynas Corp rare earth plant in Gebeng, Kuantan. Continue reading
Nuclear company AREVA tries to stop Koongarra’s Heritage Listing
federal Labor made an election promise last year to incorporate Koongarra into Kakadu, removing the possibility of future uranium mining there. Areva formally requested Australia to withdraw its nomination for heritage listing from the agenda of the 35th World Heritage Committee meeting, which will be held in Paris this week
French uranium challenge to Kakadu heritage listing, Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin, The Age, June 20, 2011
A FRENCH government-owned company attempted to block countries discussing an Australian request to expand the World heritage-listed Kakadu National Park to include land that contains uranium worth billions of dollars. Continue reading
Australian company Lynas faces resistance in its plan to dump thorium wastes in Malaysia
Democratic Action Party, have been warning that Lynas has the potential to create the same kind of environmental and public health problems that the workers and residents of Bukit Merah endured….| Lynas Malaysia and the rare earth controversy, Asia Sentinel by John Berthelsen , 14 June 11 |
Medical Association of Malaysia says No to Lynas’ radioactive wastes
Then there is the uranium-laced REE ore to be imported from Lynas Malawi mines.To all this the Medical Assn. of Malaysia has said NO WAY. NO environmental nor health studies were done. Our team have all dumped all their Lynas shares
by ThomasT | June 13, 2011 The thorium laced ore safe transport is safe, until there is an accident. Accidents happen. Chernobyl, Fukushima, 3 Mile Island, USA, Sellafield UK, Brazil, Germany, France etc. Storage of waste ores is not discussed here. Malaysian Govt said only temporary on-site storage. Lynas said no, permanently on site. Does Lynas think it is running the M Govt. just because they may have paid-off a few Pahang State officials? Continue reading
Danger and deception in Lynas’ plan to leave radioactive wastes in Malaysia
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, experts will evaluate this plant, BUT only for radiation, and that, during normal operations! They are the same experts who declared Fukushima safe, even with NO protective wall around the cooling pumps.
The Lynas chairman Nicholas Curtis claims that they have permission from the government to store the waste onsite forever. On the other hand, AELB’s (Atomic Energy Licensing Board) director general Raja Datuk Abdul Aziz Raja refutes that claim in saying that the plant can only store waste temporarily
Rigmarole : The Star Online: May 30, 2011 An Australian Co., Lynas, is building the REE refinery in Malaysia. However, that refinery can never be deemed as safe, because accidents happen. It is not only the thorium 232 radioactive alpha particles, those from the ores and the waste, that could accidentally be released into the air as dust, (lung cancer), and into water, (liver cancers etc.), but there is the possiblility of accidental release of highly toxic gases that are REE refining by-products, such as fluorine, radon, (radio-active), and sulphur dioxide. Continue reading
China’s bad record on rare earths radioactive contamination
simonthongwh, 2 June “………, China has secured more than 95 per cent of the rare earths market. …..Though China denies 
exploiting its market position, it has created stockpiles, is seeking overseas involvement in companies such as Lynas and operates an export quota system, comparable to that used by the OPEC oil cartel…….
though abundant in the Earth’s crust, extracting earths individually from a ”cocktail” of earths within ores, sands and clays is – at any price – ”a difficult, time-consuming, costly and dirty business”.
Until recently, at least, China’s pre-eminence in the business has been built on cheap labour and, according to critics, minimal health, safety and environmental precautions. China has now moved to impose stricter standards, and cracked down on illegal mining and smuggling, but the social, health and environmental legacy of existing projects is horrific.
Malaysian community want INDEPENDENT assessment of Lynas rare earths plant
ome of the points brought up were to force the government to do a DEIA 
(detailed environmental impact assessment) by a completely independent body…
. right now the main priority was to stop Lynas from operating in September.“This is the most important time, from now until the end of June. Once they receive their license, trying to stop them will take years,”
All out effort to stop Lynas rare earth plant Free Malaysia Today Tashny Sukumaran | May 30, 2011 Residents and environment groups have hammered together a six-point plan to stop construction of the plant. KUANTAN: Residents and anti-Lynas groups are making a concerted effort to stop the RM700 million rare earth plant in Gebeng, Pahang. Continue reading
Australian company faces Malaysian opposition to radioactive waste dumping
crucial questions remain unanswered especially regarding the safe disposal of radioactive waste…… officials from the nuclear watchdog would be pro-nuclear and therefore fail to produce a fair assessment of the Lynas plant.
Calls for local and environmental groups to be represented in the monitoring team have also gone unheeded…’Whatever their findings, our final agenda – which is our ultimate goal – is to stop Lynas.’..
Malaysia’s new rare earth plant provokes radiation fears – Monsters and Critics, By Julia Yeow May 29, 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In the quiet town of Gebeng in Malaysia’s central state of Pahang, a new rare earth plant has evoked fears of radiation contamination as residents desperately seek to stop the construction of the world’s largest such refinery. Continue reading
Australian govt silent on Lynas dumping radioactive waste in Malaysia
“Mitsubishi took advantage of the non-existence of authorities checking licencing facilities of this nature in Malaysia,” …… “Lynas has a similar modus operandi. It would not be cost-effective to produce in Australia, and more importantly there is lax enforcement in Malaysia and so Lynas is able to operate here…..”The Australian government is silent knowing full well that the rare earth ore will be brought from Mount Weld in Australia to be processed in Gebeng and the finished products will be exported overseas while the radioactive waste dumped in Gebeng,”
Down To Rare Earths Newmatilda.com, 20 May 11, “………Why are the residents so concerned? The process of rare earth refinery has radioactive by-products, including thorium — which is why Lynas can’t process the mineral closer to the mine in Australia. Residents are concerned about the cost to the environment and to the health of citizens of dumping huge amounts of radioactive waste. Continue reading
Malaysian protest – Lynas, take back your radioactive wastes to Australia
300 Malaysians protest plant on radiation fears TODAYonline May 20, 2011, KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – About 300 Malaysians have staged a peaceful protest against plans for an Australian-built rare earth refinery amid fears of radioactive pollution.The plant being built by Australian miner Lynas in eastern Malaysia ………..Protesters including opposition lawmakers marched Friday from Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Twin Towers to a street near the Australian High Commission. Some carried banners that read “Go back to Australia” and “Malaysia not a radioactive waste dump site.”…..TODAYonline | Business | 300 Malaysians protest plant on radiation fears
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.
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Australians deserve the truth
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AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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