Indigenous owners put Minister Frydenberg on the spot about nuclear waste dump
Indigenous owners appeal to Minister’s ‘human side’ to shelve proposed nuclear waste site, ABC News By Alex Mann, 27 May 16
Wallerberdina Station part-owner Grant Chapman did not consult the neighbouring Adnyamathahna community before nominating his land as a nuclear waste site. Opposition to the Federal Government’s proposed nuclear waste facility in the Flinders Ranges is heating up, with traditional owners travelling to meet with Federal Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg to demand the Government shelve its plans.
Traditional owner Regina McKenzie said she hoped travelling the more than 1,000 kilometres to Melbourne would appeal to the Minister’s “human side” and get him to change his mind.
“It’s always, every waste dump is near an Aboriginal community,” she told 7.30.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit confronting for us? When it happens to us all the time?”
Ms McKenzie is also a member of Viliwarina Yura, the corporation that was granted the land neighbouring the proposed waste site in 2000. Now she has teamed up with veteran anti-nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney to take her message across the country.
Mr Sweeney told 7.30 that as the national anti-nuclear campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, and with more than 20 years experience in nuclear issues, he would use his connections, contacts and ability to amplify the story.
“It just feels disturbingly familiar, and disturbingly like we’re replicating past mistakes,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg declined 7.30’s request for an interview but acknowledged in a statement that “legitimate issues have been raised about the Indigenous heritage in the broader area”. As a result, he said the Government would undertake a “comprehensive and independent heritage assessment and further consult with key stakeholders before any final decisions are made”.
But the traditional owners maintain that nowhere would be acceptable.
Local Indigenous owners not consulted
This is just the latest front in a battle around nuclear waste that has raged for decades…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-26/local-indigenous-owners-protest-hawker-nuclear-dump/7449124
We can ask every candidate about climate policy, and not vote for the polluters
Our democracy has been bought. To win on climate, we have to take it back, Guardian, 26 May 16 Christine Milne “…… In an era of partisanship, these vested interests are bipartisan in providing lucrative post-politics careers. Tony Abbott made this blatantly clear when he said recently he hoped the mining industry would demonstrate their gratitude to Ian Macfarlane in his years of retirement for his magnificent achievement in scrapping the mining tax.
APPEA, the voice of the oil and gas industry, has already appointed former Labor energy minister Martin Ferguson as chair of its advisory board. Interestingly, Ian Macfarlane introduced the generous frontier tax arrangements and royalty payments for oil exploration that Martin Ferguson extended such that BP will be able to claim 150% of drilling costs in the Great Australian Bight. That’s bipartisanship for you.
The fossil fuel industry currently donates millions of dollars to both major parties, and in return secures billions in tax breaks and subsidies – not to mention preferential treatment when applying for mining and gas lease and oil drilling approvals and favourable decisions under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
If donations aren’t enough, then hostile advertising is held over prime ministers as a threat. This tactic worked for them in destroying the mining tax and the carbon price and they are banking on it working again in 2016.
But how do they get away with it given the level of community concern about global warming? The concern that continues to grow in the wake of the terrifying fires, extreme droughts, and devastating storm surges people are living through.
How did the fossil fuel industry get away with all their subsidies intact in this year’s budget when hospitals and schools are defunded? This includes keeping their lucrative fuel tax rebate, which is worth $2bn a year while single parents and community legal centres are done over. Why didn’t Labor raise the roof about this and why didn’t they reject utterly the LNP’s billion dollar Arena cut?
Because it is not just the Liberal party that is captured by dirty money. Labor, Liberals and National parties have proven that they are utterly captured by this pervasive and polluting industry, that is rapidly condemning our planet to burn. And they are getting away with it because politicians on both sides of the aisle – with the exception the Greens – are unwilling to stand up to the big miners.
There is an unspoken bipartisan agreement supported by the mainstream media that the continuation of the coal, gas and oil industries is a given and will not be debated. The approval of Adani’s Carmichael mega coal mine still stands……
We can make a choice to stay lukewarm and lose any possibility of keeping warming below dangerous levels or we can ask every candidate for a yes or no answer and not vote for anyone who props up the big polluters and lets dangerous climate change runaway on their watch. It’s the only way to start reforming a broken system. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/26/our-democracy-has-been-bought-to-win-on-climate-we-have-to-take-it-back
Turnbull govt’s election gamble: ignoring climate change at their political peril?
have Hunt’s strategies worked on the Australian electorate? Not according to a recent ReachTEL poll of 2,400 respondents on May 9, which revealed that 56% believed the government needed to do more to tackle global warming.
64% said they would be more likely to vote for a party that has a plan to source 100% of Australia’s electricity from renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro in the next 20 years.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull seems to have switched off his personal barometer on climate as an issue that is too politically fraught.
The Greens, for their part, are making many more inroads into this election than the last. They certainly have thestrongest climate policy, with a renewable energy target of 90% by 2030. The ReachTEL poll referred to earlier shows the Greens have four times the primary vote than the National Party.
The Greens know that for under 30 voters they are already matching the primary vote of the major parties, and that a core platform of strong action against global warming is a big part of this support. Whether the major parties can ignore this support that springs from climate will be one of the biggest gambles of this election.
Why has climate change disappeared from the Australian election radar? http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/05/23/comment-why-has-climate-change-disappeared-australian-election-radar Two weeks into a protracted election campaign, it is looking ever-more likely that climate change is to be placed way down the order of business – at least for the major parties, writes David Holmes. Source: The Conversation 23 MAY 2016 DAVID HOLMES, MONASH UNIVERSITY
The contest over climate change that characterised the previous three elections seems to have disappeared off the political radar despite the issue being more urgent than ever. Since the Paris climate summit, global average temperatures continue to break month-on-month records.
Just a few weeks after the summit, the North Pole was briefly not even able to reach freezing point – in the middle of winter. And just this month, Cape Grim surpassed a 400 ppm baseline minimum.
Then there is the truly frightening climate spiral developed by Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading. It shows what an El Niño amplified global temperature has climbed to. The spiral assumes a tight-knit but ever-expanding ball until April 2015, when the spiral line starts to separate dramatically from the ball. This year it careers dangerously close to the 1.5℃ threshold.
The diminishing political and media spiral on climate
While global temperatures may be spiralling out of control, the opposite appears to be happening with the climate issue attention cycle in Australia. Continue reading
First impressions of South Australian government’s “Citizens’ Jury”
Well, they will provide to the jury members meals, $500 compensation, travel assistance and accommodation if needed. This is all fair enough. If the jury members were not compensated in this way, we’d be likely to end up with a bunch of volunteered pro nuclear shills.
They apparently don’t assist with child care – probably eliminating young mothers from the jury.
The jury is asked to produce an independent guide to help every South Australian understand the recommendations raised by the Royal Commission’s report.
No change to Labor’s policy against importing nuclear waste – National President Mark Butler
Labor National President Mark Butler raises doubts about international nuclear waste dump proposed for South Australia, Adelaide Now , 19 May 16 LABOR national president and Port Adelaide MP Mark Butler has poured cold water over the proposal for an international nuclear waste storage facility to be located in South Australia.
The State Government will need federal approval if it decides to adopt Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce’s recommendation for the international waste dump.
Labor’s national policy platform prohibits further Australian involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle beyond uranium mining — including the importation of foreign nuclear waste.
Mr Butler, federal Labor’s environment spokesman, said Wednesday the case was yet to be made for a waste dump in SA.
“I think it’s still a very open question about whether the South Australian community will accept that or not,’’ Mr Butler said during a debate with Environment Minister Greg Hunt at the National Press Club in Canberra.
“Our position as federal Labor is that no case has been made to change our longstanding platform about this issue.’’….http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/labor-national-president-mark-butler-raises-doubts-about-international-nuclear-waste-dump-proposed-for-south-australia/news-story/12626f088948b5b9e72953e65ac2dd30
Remind Labor Party of their staunch policy against nuclear industry expansion
2015 National Policy Platform states:
- Labor will:
- Vigorously and totally oppose the ocean dumping of radioactive waste;
- Prohibit the establishment of nuclear power plants and all other stages of the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia;
- Fully meet all Australia’s obligations as a party to the NPT; and
- Remain strongly opposed to the importation and storage of nuclear waste that is sourced from overseas in Australia.
It would be good if people could contact Butlers office and welcome this comment. And as many as possible contact Labor contacts, candidates and connections to make them aware of this and call for them to echo it.
Australia’s political leaders ignoring climate change, in lead-up to election
Climate policy silence: Can’t our leaders handle the heat?, ABC, 19 May 16 By Greg Jericho We’re way past the point of pretending the world isn’t warming, so the question really should be why the major parties are so silent on their climate policies during an election campaign, writes Greg Jericho.
One aspect of having an election during winter is that even though temperature records are being broken, climate change is largely out of voters’ minds.
While there is fierce debate over housing affordability, jobs and industrial relations, the debate on climate change has largely been put to the side by Labor and only used by the Government as a fear tactic to cover their own policy failure.
On Monday, NASA announced that April this year was the hottest April on record, marking the seventh month in a row the monthly record had been broken, and the third month in a row of the record being broken by a record amount…….
Since 1880 the record average temperatures for January-April has been set 17 times (including 1880). The average increase in the record has been .07C, and there has never been an increase in the record of more than 0.2C. And yet in the first four months of this year the average temperature was 0.38C above the previous best – an increase 5.3 times greater than the average increase:…..
The temperature in April also meant that the previous 12 months was the warmest 12 month period on record – beating the previous best which was set in March, which beat the previous best which was set in February, which beat the previous best which was set in January, which beat the…
……On the Friday after the budget the Department of Environment released the latest quarterly update on our nation greenhouse gas emissions.
It showed that for the sixth quarter in a row, annual electricity emissions had risen. Continue reading
Great Barrier Reef should be a central election issue – Tim Flannery
Saving Great Barrier Reef from climate change should be central election issue, says Tim Flannery http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/17/saving-great-barrier-reef-climate-change-should-be-central-election-issue-says-tim-flannery
Scientist says lack of attention to climate change is ‘staggering’ given it is Australia’s last chance ‘to close down coal-fired power stations and save the reef’, Guardian, Calla Wahlquist, 17 May 16, Tim Flannery says preserving the Great Barrier Reef from coral bleaching linked to climate change should be a central issue in the federal election campaign.
Flannery, a scientist and member of the Climate Council, said the lack of attention paid to climate change so far in the eight-week campaign was “staggering”.
“This needs to be the reef election,” he told Guardian Australia. “This is the last moment I think that we can realistically expect that we can enact some policies … to close down coal-fired power stations and save the reef.
“Other issues are still going to be there in another four years. This one won’t.”
A study in April found that almost 93% of the Great Barrier Reef had been affected by global bleaching, part of a global coral bleaching event that scientists say was caused partly by El Niño and partly by background global warming.
The aerial survey, conducted by James Cook University, found the bleaching was most severe in reefs north of Port Douglas, where about 81% of reefs were assessed as having severe bleaching. Prof Terry Hughes, head of the National Coal Bleaching Taskforce, told Guardian Australia last month that the mortality rate in coral reefs in that area was already at more than 50%.
Hughes said it was five times worse than the last two bleaching events, in 1998 and 2002, when 40% of the reef escaped bleaching.
Coral bleaching has also been recorded in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, where between 60-90% of some reefs are reported to be bleached. Continue reading
Parry Agius – founding member of Uranium lobby group – should not be on “independent” Nuclear Advisory Board.
The South Australian government will make the decision on whether or not to make that State become the world’s nuclear toilet.
However, they’ll still go through a process of informing and consulting the community, beforehand. That will be the job of the new Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Agency :-
It will “draw upon existing government expertise and expertise from the Royal Commission itself to to increase awareness of the Royal Commission’s report and facilitate the community consultation process.”
The other one, Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Advisory Board, will oversee the Agency throughout the consultation process. That’s the one chaired by John Mansfield, and with Adjunct Professor Daniela Stehlik, Rebecca Huntley, Professor Deb White, and Parry Agius.
I don’t think that Parry Agius should be on this supposedly independent Board. He is a founding member of the Australian Uranium Association’s Indigenous Dialogue Group. He’s also been a member of the Resources Industry Development Board in South Australia.
South Australian Premier creates two new Nuclear Advisory Agencies
Premier Jay Weatherill, 17 May 16 Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Agency and the appointments to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Advisory Board…
Last week I announced that the Government would establish these two bodies, and today I confirm that Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Agency and the appointments to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Advisory Board.
The purpose of the new agency, which will draw upon existing government expertise and expertise from the Royal Commission itself, will be to increase awareness of the Royal Commission’s report and facilitate the community consultation process.
The independent Advisory Board will oversee the Agency throughout the consultation process.
The Board will be chaired by the Honourable John Mansfield, Member of the Order of Australia and retiring Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, who will commence the role immediately after his retirement from the Federal Court.
The other members of the board will be:
- Parry Agius, former Chief Executive Officer of the South Australian Native Title Service; – 3 –
• Adjunct Professor Daniela Stehlik, Griffith University, is one of Australia’s leading social scientists in the fields of sustainability, human services and social cohesion with a particular focus on families and communities.
• Rebecca Huntley, Social researcher and former Director of The Mind & Mood Report, Australia’s longest running social trends report;
• Professor Deb White, Director of Cancer Research at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)
The outcomes of this community engagement process will help inform the government’s response to the Report, which I intend to deliver to the Parliament by the end of this year…. http://www.premier.sa.gov.au/images/speeches/NuclearFuelCycleRoyalCommission.pdf
South Australia sets up parliamentary inquiry on proposed nuclear waste importing
SA to set up inquiry into nuclear dump https://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/a/31626088/sa-to-set-up-inquiry-into-nuclear-dump/ AAP on May 17, 2016, The South Australian government will set up a parliamentary inquiry into whether the state should host a nuclear waste dump.
Premier Jay Weatherill says a joint select committee will help inform the government’s response to the nuclear fuel cycle royal commission, which recommended the state pursue building such a facility.
A citizen jury will also be selected by an independent panel to identify key questions about the issue, while a second jury will be asked to produce a report outlining community views.
Jay Weatherill could now be in a dither over nuclear waste dump proposal
Jay Weatherill: Nuclear waste and citizens’ juries, Independent Australia 17 May 2016 Jay Weatherill has announced the establishment of “citizens’ juries” to debate the Royal Commission’s recommendation in favour of a nuclear waste dump for SA— and angered both sides of politics in the process. Noel Wauchope reports.
NEITHER the Left nor the Right is happy with the South Australian Premier’s plan for “citizens’ juries” on the question of importing nuclear waste.
Jay Weatherill will surely be remembered as the quintessential flip flop Premier. In past years, Weatherill was a Labor Left faction opponent of the nuclear fuel cycle and a strong supporter of renewable energy. In the face of the collapse of the car industry in SA and the uncertainty around the shipbuilding and submarine contracts, he was enticed by the nuclear lobby to do an about turn on the nuclear industry.
He went off to the Paris climate summit, preaching about “low carbon electricity” — which is nuclear lobby code for nuclear energy, not “renewable” energy. However, he had earlier described nuclear power as not being viable.
Weatherill went on to set up the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, led by pro-nuclear Kevin Scarce and with a team in which nuclear power experts predominated. It produced – no surprises here – the recommendation for South Australia to set up a nuclear waste importing industry, in thewords of Kevin Scarce, ‘as soon as possible’.
So, the hasty programme for nuclear waste importing is underway. The first step is to be citizens’ juries. In a process run by New Democracy, 2,500 invitations are being mailed this week to potential participants — 50 will be selected for the first meeting in a month’s time and 350 for the next one in October. There are other initiatives too. The Government is launching an advertising campaign entitled, NuClear, with advertisements to be run on radio, television, print and social media. They also have a consultation website, YourSAy. All very good for the nuclear waste import plan.
But now, the plan does seem to be running into a bit of trouble.
The Advertiser ran a poll early last week was a negative result for the nuclear waste cause….
There must be sufficient anxiety in the South Australian Government and the Liberal Opposition to warrant consideration of a referendum on the subject:……..Previously, a referendum was not considered an option. …..
Meanwhile, the immediate trouble lies with this citizens’ jury plan.
Spruiking about citizens’ juries, Jay Weatherill sounds like an old style Liberal:…….In his press release about the nuclear waste plan, Weatherill said:
‘This first Citizens’ Jury will guide the debate by identifying the key issues that need to be considered during the state-wide consultation phase.’
This is not to the liking of today’sLiberals, nor today’s pro-nuclear Laborites, nor even the anti-nuclear camp.
The pro-nuke response was best expressed by Chris Kenny, in Adelaide Now:
‘Forget the citizens jury, Mr Weatherill — just make a decision. That’s what you were voted in to do!’
Liberal Opposition Leader Steven Marshall fumed:
‘This is the largest decision in the history of the state, and Jay Weatherill’s plan is to outsource it to 50 randomly selected individuals. It’s just outrageous.’…….
….. Meanwhile, on Facebook pages, and in some comments on other sites, the anti-nuclear people were up in arms, certain that the process would be stacked with pro-nuclear experts and participants would be brain-washed with nuclear advertising.
It looks as if Jay Weatherill started out on all this in socialist mode — with political and technical experts running the show. Then he aberrated into old “wet” style Liberal mode, towards participatory democracy. In the process, he seems to have pleased nobody…..https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/jay-weatherill-nuclear-waste-and-citizens-juries1,8998
Australian environment groups unite to oppose govt plans to cut their charitable status
Federal election 2016: climate survey fires up green council of war Graham Lloyd THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 17, 2016 Peak environment groups have prepared a co-ordinated election blueprint on climate change, the Great Barrier Reef and fossil fuels, staring down threats to cut the charitable status of organisations that play politics.
The groups, including Greenpeace, WWF, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Wilderness Society, have spent the past fortnight planning a strategy against the background of a parliamentary report that set out a road map to punish critics of the government and resource industry.
Established by Environment Minister Greg Hunt, it recommended groups be required to spend 25 per cent of fundraising on tree planting and land repair or lose tax-deductible status. It also said organisations should be made liable for illegal actions of members, supporters or volunteers.
The lower house committee recommendations were not supported by Labor members and the report included a dissenting statement from Liberal member Jason Wood. Mr Wood listed potential casualties, including Beyond Zero Emissions, Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Environment Victoria, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace Australia, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, The Wilderness Society, EDOs of Australia, Australian Orangutan Project and Environmental Justice Australia.
Wilderness Society national campaign manager Lyndon Schneiders said: “They are also saying to a bunch of rednecks that they will deal with environment groups’ campaigns against controversial oil and gas projects.”
Former Greens leader Bob Brown said making groups responsible for the actions of members and volunteers “would be right at home in Vladimir Putin’s Russia”. Climate Change organisation 350.org said the recommendations were anti-democratic and “an unnecessary witch-hunt”.
The Wilderness Society said it made more sense to spend money lobbying to stop trees being cut down that to replant them……http://www.theaustralian.com.au/federal-election-2016/federal-election-2016-climate-survey-fires-up-green-council-of-war/news-story/b8af615de95a65ca71c609ae8990700b
Australian govt’s “Direct Action” ineffective, could even increase Co2 emissions
it was entirely possible some projects would end up, perversely, funding emissions increases.
Direct Action funds ‘spent on projects that would have happened anyway’, http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/may/16/direct-action-funds-likely-spent-on-projects-that-would-have-happened-anyway Guardian, Michael Slezak, 17 May 16,
Payments to greenhouse gas emitters more likely to go to reduction schemes that would have taken place without government funding, says economist. The government’s $2.55bn emissions reduction fund, which pays greenhouse gas emitters to pollute less, will inevitably pay for reductions that would have happened anyway, for the same reason that secondhand car markets are full of lemons, an economic analysis has concluded. Continue reading
Nuclear “Citizens’ Juries” and new South Australian campaign “Nu-Clear”
( an unfortunate title for the nuclear lobby – “Nu-Clear” – all too close to the UK’s incisive anti-nuclear publication NuClear News )
Citizens’ juries to consider SA’s nuclear future, The Mandarin, Citizens’ juries show potential as a way for governments to take the heat out of contentious issues, with evidence-informed consideration of contentious policy by regular people having the ability to reshape often staid debates.
So as South Australia is tossing up whether to create a nuclear waste dump to take spent fuel from around the world, the state government has decided to convene two citizens’ juries to consider the future of the nuclear fuel cycle in the state…….
Premier Jay Weatherill says the citizens’ jury deliberations will help South Australians have an “informed discussion” about the nuclear fuel cycle, based on the body of evidence presented in the royal commission report.
The work of the citizens’ juries and other consultation processes “will play a key role in informing the decisions we make”, he stated yesterday:
“I know that some people are worried about safety and the environment whilst others see the economic opportunities. This is why before the government decides, we want South Australians to understand the choices and to be able to put their perspective on this issue.”
Deliberations will begin next month, when a group of about 50 South Australians will be asked to identify the key questions that need to be considered during the debate.
Invitations will be sent this week to 25,000 randomly selected citizens seeking an expression of interest for their participation in the jury, with members selected by an independent, non-political organisation.
Later, in October, a second citizens’ jury of about 350 people will be convened to evaluate the feedback from the state-wide consultation and weigh up the choices and options on the important issues raised by the royal commission.
In November, this second jury will produce a report summarising the community’s position for the government to consider in its response to the royal commission’s report by the end of the year.
New agency to ‘facilitate’ debate
The government will introduce a range of other consultative measures to help it come to a decision.
An independent advisory board to guide the consultation process will soon be appointed, and a state government nuclear fuel cycle agency established to help facilitate the discussion.
A campaign titled “Nu-Clear” was launched on Tuesday to promote discussion and encourage people to explore the facts on the nuclear fuel cycle, with advertisements to be run on radio, television, print and social media.
Citizens are able to comment on the royal commission report on the state’s YourSAy consultation website.
The key questions identified by the citizens’ jury will guide a number of community consultation activities from July, which will include meetings held across the state, as well as social media engagement, information centres and a free call 1800 service.
A specific program of Aboriginal engagement will also be undertaken across SA with the guidance of Aboriginal community leaders. http://www.themandarin.com.au/64738-64738/
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
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 