Bernardi seeks to lift ban on nukes, THE AUSTRALIAN, MICHAEL OWEN, SA Bureau Chief, Adelaide, 12 Nov 17
Senatorr Cory Bernardi will introduce a bill in parliament today that seeks to lift a ban on nuclear power plants and enrichment and processing facilities…….
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has asked Malcolm Turnbull to give Aborigines the “final right of veto” over any site chosen by the federal government for the planned national radioactive waste dump.
Senator Bernardi, who plans to run candidates under his Australian Conservatives banner at the South Australian election in March, said he would introduce a bill today to remove bans on an Australian nuclear fuel cycle, particularly as they apply to nuclear power plants……
Last month, former prime minister Tony Abbott called for laws to allow for the construction of nuclear power plants……
Bernardi said the proposed legislation did not fully deregulate the nuclear fuel cycle, but if passed would “send a powerful signal to the world that we are … open for an Australian nuclear industry”.
The bill would remove sections of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act (1998), which ban construction of nuclear power, fuel fabrication, enrichment or reprocessing plants, and any authorisation of such facilities…….
High-level international nuclear waste storage would require approval from federal parliament, which the Turnbull government had indicated it was prepared to support.
Federal Labor has a longstanding constitutional opposition to nuclear waste storage.
Mr Weatherill has written to the Prime Minister about the federal government’s plans to establish a national low-to-medium-level dump for domestic nuclear waste, with three SA sites under consideration: two near Kimba and one near Hawker.
The Greens believe they have put a difficult year behind them, and are seeing their ‘Cassandra’ foresight picked up by other parties. Saturday Paper, How the Greens drive policy, Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe , 11 Nov 17, Even in Richard Di Natale’s office they refer to the middle months of 2017 as the “winter of discontent”. It was as bleak a season as the federal Greens party has known.
But there is more than a whiff of spring in the air now, and if a few things go right over the next few weeks, maybe glorious summer. So Di Natale hopes.
……..One example is the giant coalmine proposed by the Indian conglomerate Adani in Queensland. Most Australians don’t want it. A Morgan poll last month showed that among those who had a view – and almost a quarter didn’t – opinion ran against the mine’s development by more than three to one.Says Bob Brown: “That poll showed that supporters of every political party from [Pauline] Hanson and the Nationals, across to the Greens, has a majority opposed to the mine. But the popular mood is not echoed in the big party rooms.
“It’s a classic example of how a small powerful lobby can work wonders with the big parties. It takes a very restive public to change their minds.”
And right now we are seeing that change happen. The Queensland public is very restive on the Adani project and only now, two weeks out from a state election, has the penny dropped within the Labor government of Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Until last Friday, her government supported a proposal for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to loan Adani $1 billion to help build rail infrastructure for the project, on the basis that it would help generate jobs – and harvest votes – in north Queensland.
Then came the announcement that state Labor would no longer support the loan. Palaszczuk offered a convoluted and un-credible rationalisation, based on the claim her political opponents were planning a smear campaign about a conflict of interest involving her partner, Shaun Drabsch, who works for PwC, which is involved with the project.
The near universal view is that the decision was really based on simple electoral calculus: Labor stood to lose more votes than it would hold if it continued to defy public opinion. The Greens, the only party to have consistently opposed Adani, have hopes of picking up several seats in Brisbane.
We’ll soon see how much damage Labor has done to itself, and, more importantly for Di Natale, whether it translates into significant gains for the Greens.
Di Natale sees the Queensland election as one of a couple of “defining moments” in the near future, which will indicate whether the party really has put the winter of discontent behind it.
Another such moment will come even sooner, at next Saturday’s byelection for the inner Melbourne state seat of Northcote. The demographics of the seat favour the Greens, and Daniel Andrews’ Labor government is going all out to hold on. On the policy front, that has entailed a raft of changes, by which Labor has aligned itself with Greens positions……https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2017/11/11/how-the-greens-drive-policy/15103188005492
LNP puts Greens last, One Nation ahead of Labor on how-to-vote cards, SMH
Rachel Clun, 10 Nov 17 The LNP will put the Greens last on its how-to-vote cards for the state election and also preference One Nation over Labor in a majority of seats where all three parties have candidates.
“The only way for Queenslanders to get the positive change they want is to vote for their local Liberal National Party candidate. And the only way for you and your family to get ahead is to vote for your local Liberal National Party candidate,” Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said in a statement issued on Friday night…… The Greens have already announced they will put One Nation last, and the LNP second last, on their how-to-vote cards……http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/lnp-puts-greens-last-one-nation-ahead-of-labor-on-how-to-vote-cards-20171110-p4ywxy.html
Queensland election: Naif testimony casts doubts on claim Adani loan can bypass state. Annastacia Palaszczuk gets support from former LNP MP Vaughan Johnson, who says she made the right call on loan, Guardian, Joshua Robertson, 7 Nov 17, The Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility cannot bypass the Queensland government and award Adani a $1bn loan, according to Senate testimony from its own executives that casts doubt on fresh suggestions funds could be fast-tracked before the state election.
Annastacia Palaszczuk’s belated pledge to veto the Adani loan if Labor holds government remains a campaign flashpoint, with the treasurer, Curtis Pitt, forced to refute a report that his office said the state would process the loan.
But Palaszczuk also gained an unlikely supporter in the former LNP MP Vaughan Johnson, who said she made the right call amid “mudslinging” from Canberra. The Guardian has been told that Labor’s decision to commit to a veto involved strategic input from the former Adani lobbyist Cameron Milner, who cut ties with the miner to devote himself to the party’s campaign.
Why Adani may still get its government loan, The Conversation, Brendan Gogarty , Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Tasmania Even though Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced she would be vetoing the around A$1 billion loan to Adani for a rail link to its proposed Carmichael coal mine, funds could still flow to the company.
Currently in caretaker mode for the Queensland election, the premier would need the consent of the opposition party to exercise such a right. That is very unlikely given the LNP’s longstanding support of Adani’s mine.
This means any veto could not be exercised until late November, or more realistically, December 2017.
As the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) loan doesn’t need state approval (but rather explicit veto) it could also mean the money will make its way to Adani, without any direct action by the state government.
How would Commonwealth money make its way to Adani?
The NAIF body was established in 2016 and administers A$5 billion in Commonwealth funds. It’s been empowered to award grants to the northern states and Northern Territory for infrastructure projects. Practically, however, these jurisdictions are used as financial conduits to pass this money to large corporations operating in northern Australia.
The NAIF is established under the “tied-grants” provision of the Constitution, Section 96, which states:
…the [Commonwealth] parliament may grant financial assistance to any state on such terms and conditions as the [Commonwealth] parliament thinks fit……….
Does Palaszczuk have a ‘veto’ power?
The premier’s reasoning for the veto is a continuation of her government’s legacy of having “no role to date in the federal government’s NAIF Loan Assessment Process for Adani” and no “role in the future”.
These statements seem to be contrary to earlier ones by the Queensland treasurer, Curtis Pitt, that the government would “do what is required” to facilitate Commonwealth funds going to Adani. In fact, as early as November 2016, Pitt declared in state parliament:
Since we came to office, we have been working very closely with the Commonwealth government to facilitate … the NAIF – in North Queensland… It is through the NAIF facility, which the state wholeheartedly supports, that Adani can get the infrastructure support that it needs.
As a result, it would seem that everything needed to pass the NAIF funds to Adani is provided for. The only thing to actively stop it is a formal, written statement by Palaszczuk to the NAIF refusing the loan (not to the prime minister as she claimed). Given Palaszczuk’s statement that she intends to write this statement, it is clear that no formal notice has yet been issued to the NAIF……..
unless the Queensland opposition takes the very unlikely step of agreeing to a veto, Palaszczuk would appear to lack the power to issue one herself until after the election.
Adani mine: Annastacia Palaszczuk’s loan veto decision ‘jeopardises mine project and jobs’ ABC, AM By Katherine Gregory, 6 Nov 17, The Queensland Premier’s announcement that Labor would not support a concessional Federal Government loan for the Adani coal mine could stop the multi-billion-dollar project and jeopardises the thousands of jobs it would create, the Federal Coalition says.
Annastacia Palaszczuk made the shock announcement last night to eliminate any perceived conflict of interest after it was revealed her partner had links to the loan application.
Ms Palaszczuk has revealed her partner, Shaun Drabsch, worked on Adani’s application to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund (NAIF) with his employer, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which acted for the Indian mining company.
She said he worked on the project after it had received government approvals and although she had followed advice of the Integrity Commissioner, she said it was her decision to exercise her government’s “veto” to not support the loan.
The Indian mining giant is seeking $1 billion from the NAIF to build a rail link for its planned Carmichael coal mine in north Queensland.
The Premier, fighting for re-election on November 25, said she made the announcement because the Liberal National Party (LNP) in Canberra was poised to launch a smear campaign against her……..
Federal Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan said the Premier’s decision could jeopardise the mine.
Adani: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk withdraws Government involvement in mine funding Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced her Government will have “no role in the future” of an assessment of a $1 billion loan to Adani for its Carmichael coal mine. ABC News 3 Nov 17
The Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund (NAIF) is considering an application by the Indian company for concessional Commonwealth funds for a rail link.
Ms Palaszczuk late on Friday revealed her partner, Shaun Drabsch, worked on the application to the NAIF with his employer, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which acted for Adani.
She denied there was a conflict of interest and said her decision to exercise her government’s “veto” to not support the loan came as the Liberal National Party (LNP) in Canberra was poised to launch a smear campaign against her in the run-down to the November 25 state election.
“This afternoon I announce that my Government has had no role to date in the Federal Government’s assessment process for Adani — now we will have no role in the future,” she said.
The Abbott government was accused of attempting to set the Paris talks up for failure by insisting on legally binding emissions targets – something it knew the United States in particular wouldn’t swallow.
At the Bonn talks, Australia will cop (sorry) some flak for its lack of reductions ambition, and action.
It will win its usual disproportionate share of those “fossil fool” awards so beloved of activists.
Bonn voyage: climate diplomats head into another round of talks, The Conversation, Marc Hudson
COP this This year’s “Conference of the Parties” (COP) is happening in Bonn, Germany, (where the UN’s less-publicised “in between” climate meetings happen). But it is chaired by Fiji, which is not holding the meeting on its own (threatened) shores because of the logistical difficulty of hosting the tens of thousands of delegates.
Earlier this year Australia threw in A$6 million to help the Fijians with organisational costs.
But anyone who follows climate diplomacy knows that Australia has a chequered record at COP meetings, and hasn’t always been so generous when it comes to the negotiations themselves. So how has Australia fared at previous summits, and what’s on the table this time? Continue reading →
1st November 2017, Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch The Greens Bill to finally end wasteful government spending on the proposed South Australian international nuclear waste dump passed through the upper house late tonight. As the Bill had support from the Government, we expect it to also pass the lower house in coming weeks.
“I’m delighted that this sorry saga of wasted public funds is now over”, said Mark Parnell MLC, Greens SA Parliamentary Leader. “Now that the dump has been comprehensively dumped, it is important to draw a line under any further public spending on this ill-conceived project. We don’t have final figures on what was spent on this folly but at least $14 million is a conservative estimate.
“The Greens’ Bill strengthens existing laws against using public money to “encourage or finance nuclear waste storage facilities” by removing the reference to spending money on further public consultation and debate over the dump. Of course, if a future government wants to spruik the merits of turning SA into the world’s nuclear dumping ground, they can always come to Parliament for approval. In a democracy, that’s the right approach.
Importantly, the Greens’ Bill does not prevent the Government managing or sharing the information that has been gathered over the last 2 years or engaging with the Federal Government over plans for a separate national nuclear waste dump in South Australia.
“The Greens will continue to oppose plans to send Lucas Heights’ intermediate-level nuclear waste to the Flinders Ranges or Kimba pending a proper review of Australia’s stores of domestic nuclear waste and how to deal with them. The State Labor Government in the past has fought tooth and nail to stop the Federal Government dumping domestic nuclear waste in our State. Spending public money to deal with other State and Territory governments in relation to nuclear waste will still be allowed.
The Greens now urge all political parties to focus on supporting industries and opportunities that will enhance our State, rather than those which risk South Australia’s economy, environment and reputation”, concluded Mr Parnell https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/
Of course, the big number that swayed the government was the promise of 10,000 jobs, regularly discredited and just as regularly repeated. Adani’s own expert admitted that the modelling behind the claim was spurious and the true figure was closer to 1,500, but that hasn’t stopped the spruikers.
More importantly, these claims ignore the fact that the public money needed to get Adani started could be used to create more, and more socially productive jobs than those generated by a fly-in-fly-out (Fifo) mine and a largely automated railway. As I showed in work for Farmers for Climate Action, the agricultural sector alone could generate more jobs than the Adani project.
Palaszczuk faces an election campaign where she will be dogged by anti-Adani protesters on the one hand and doubts about her enthusiasm for the project on the other. The LNP faces no such problems. But should they win, their difficulties will start when the project falls over, as it almost certainly will.
Queensland Labor sits in the uncomfortable position of pleasing neither the pro- nor anti-Adani camps he Adani Group’s proposed mine-rail-port development linking a massive new coalmine at the Carmichael site in the Galilee basin to an expanded port at Abbot Point near Bowen was always going to be an electoral negative for the Palaszczuk Labor government.
One the one hand, Labor’s Liberal National party and One Nation opponents are enthusiastic backers of the Adani project, and will use this fact to campaign in marginal seats in Townsville and Rockhampton. On the other hand, the Greens, backed by the majority of the Australian public, are strongly opposed. The Adani issue could well cost Labor the inner-city seat of deputy premier Jackie Trad, and possibly others.
Lined up behind the Greens is all the environmental and economic evidence that the project should be abandoned. The mine, if it went ahead, would represent a disastrous increase in the global supply of coal. And, since it can only proceed with massive financial support from Australian governments, it will be an economic disaster as well. Continue reading →
could it be that our own government is walking into the middle of an economic contest between China and India for control over industry and infrastructure?
Surely our government wouldn’t be using public money to subsidise Adani’s mine, undermining its own country’s interest and supporting China to strengthen its grip on power and infrastructure in countries neighbouring India?
Last month I claimed that using a $900 million, publicly funded loan to bail out Adani’s otherwise unviable Carmichael coal mine proposal was the height of absurdity.
The Australian government has been equally desperate, creating an agency and filling it with taxpayers’ money so we can fund a project opposed by the majority Australians.
But the government’s efforts to support Adani stretch well beyond the financial.
Market Forces executive director Julien Vincent said more than a dozen commercial banks had ruled out involvement in the Carmichael mine and rail project due to its “financial and reputational risk”.
“To know that NAIF and EFIC are aware of these risks should underscore the argument against giving a $900 million loan to Adani,” he said.
Mr Vincent pointed to the Infrastructure Facility’s investment mandate, which says it “must not act in a way that is likely to cause damage to the Commonwealth government’s reputation”.
The emails, obtained under freedom of information laws, have fuelled the mine’s opponents, who say granting the $900 million loan would pose unacceptable risks to taxpayers and the Commonwealth.
Indian mining giant Adani has proposed a $16.5 billion Carmichael coal mine in Queensland’s Gallilee Basin, sparking legal challenges and widespread protests.
Australia’s big four banks have ruled out funding the project, and Adani has sought a federal government loan to build a railway line from the mine to the Abbot Point coal terminal, near the Great Barrier Reef.
The loan is being considered by the Turnbull government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, a taxpayer-funded concessional loan scheme. Critics have derided the facility as a Turnbull government slush fund.
Emails obtained by environmental campaign group Market Forces show officials involved in assessing the loan proposal have for months been weighing up Adani’s environmental and financial history.
Much of the content of the emails has been redacted. However one dated November 24 last year has the subject line “NGBR [North Gallilee Basin Rail] Project – Proponent’s environmental track record”.
Attached to the email is a Greenpeace briefing paper titled Adani’s record of environmental destruction and non-compliance with regulations.
The email was sent between senior officials at Australia’s export credit agency, Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, which is providing support to the Infrastructure Facility. Continue reading →
Adani coal mine: Townsville City Council under fire for pumping $19m into airstrip, ABC,
7.30 By Peter McCutcheon 1 Nov 17, Townsville City Council’s decision to help fund an airstrip for the proposed Adani coal mine has come under fire from locals.
The council agreed to contribute up to $18.5 million to finance the airstrip at the proposed Carmichael mine site, about 300 kilometres south of the city.
Rockhampton Regional Council also agreed to contribute to the project, which is estimated to be costing about $30 million.
Under the arrangement with Adani, the Indian company would source the bulk of its mine and construction fly-in-fly-out workforce from the two cities.
“Why does a billionaire want two councils in Queensland to pay $36 million for an airstrip?” Peter Newey, convenor of the Townsville Residents and Ratepayers Association, said. “He [Gautam Adani] would be able to afford at least two dozen of them and then gold plate them. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
More than 50,000 people have signed an online petition — started by Mr Newey — calling for Townsville City Council to withdraw its support for the airstrip.
A member of the council’s city image committee, business owner Lucy Downes, also had concerns. “I despaired to be honest, because that money could have been used to reactivate the CBD,” she said…..
Townsville wants guarantee from AdaniTownsville City Council is seeking a bank guarantee from Adani to refund any losses, should the Carmichael coal and rail project not proceed. Mayor Jenny Hill told 7.30 she would like construction on the airstrip to start this year, despite Adani not yet securing bank finance for the $16 billion project……..
Adani waiting for loan Adani said it may not secure bank finance until next March, and it postponed plans last month for a ground-breaking ceremony…….Adani also said it is critical that it receives a loan from the Federal Government’s North Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).
‘ … The Wangan and Jagalingou people, who are also fighting a court battle to retain their right over their land, are of the view that if the Adani coal mine is built, their cultural heritage will be destroyed beyond repair.
‘“The land, the springs, the waterways, the mountain ranges, are not just physical forms for us.
They are remnants of our ancient culture.
‘If the mine is built, there will be no record of us ever having been there”,” said Adrian Burragubba, spokesperson of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Family Council.
‘They said that they are prepared to battle it out for as long as it takes.
‘“Every inch of that land is mine. Every blade of grass, every drop of water, each leaf on a tree, each bird, each animal, is mine. And I am going to fight for it. I want to tell Adani – I am not your slave,” an animated Burragubba said when I met him in Brisbane in late July. … ‘
‘Kabir Agarwal is an independent journalist whose writings have appeared in
The Kashmir Walla, The Times of India, Mint, Al Jazeera English and The Caravan.
He can be found on twitter @kabira_tweeting.’ thewire.in/author/kabir-agarwal
Antinuclear 