South Australian Business and Premier want to import radioactive waste
Business groups embrace nuclear industry debate in South Australia ABC News 9 Feb 2015,The prospect of a nuclear industry in South Australia has been embraced by the state’s peak business group as a multi-million-dollar industry. Business SA chief executive Nigel McBride said it would be good for the state and could result in reduced carbon emissions.
“We’re talking about a massive, potential nuclear recycling industry,” he said.
“We’re talking about low energy costs and a huge rise in job opportunities through cheaper manufacturing, cheaper water.” SA Chamber of Mines and Energy chief executive Jason Kuchel said it was “about time” options for the future were discussed.
“One of those things that we would be hopeful for is that we might able to consider enriching uranium in South Australia,” he said.
Mr Weatherill …. indicated that he did not think the establishment of a SA nuclear power plant was on the horizon but said a nuclear waste dump and the creation of a nuclear enrichment industry should be considered……
But the Conservation Council’s chief executive Craig Wilkins described any use of nuclear energy in SA as “unwanted” and “unsafe”.
“It’s old thinking, rather than new thinking and it’s so frustrating to spend time, energy and resources investigating this when we are on the cusp of an energy revolution in renewable,” he said….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/business-lobby-embraces-nuclear-debate/6079348
A warning on greedy businessmen’s push for nuclear chain in South Australia
South Australia takes first step to nuclear power GEORGE LEKAKIS The New Daily, Financial Services Editor 9 Feb 15 “……..The setting up of the Royal Commission follows lobbying by prominent South Australian business figures for an independent evaluation of nuclear power and enrichment proposals for the state……..South Australian Nuclear Energy Systems has been discussing its business proposals with Federal and State politicians, with a view to amending laws that ban nuclear power generation.
Mr Hundertmark told The New Daily last year that the company had identified international capital sources for funding local nuclear projects and had formed connections with global players.
“The funding of the things that need to be done is not a real problem – the problem is to get the legislative changes needed,” he said at the time.
Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman David Sweeney warned that the Royal Commission could merely be a pretext for conditioning South Australians to the prospect of establishing a nuclear waste dump.
“There’s no doubt that a large part of this inquiry is to de-sensitise people to the idea of creating an international radioactive waste dump in the state,” he said.“People need to be wary of the possibility that the inquiry is just a Trojan horse for getting a waste dump built.”
Mr Sweeney said any independent inquiry would find that the economic case for nuclear power did not stack up. “As far as nuclear power is concerned, this is a fanciful exercise because of the outstanding growth of renewable alternatives,” he said.
Mr Weatherill said the government would finalise the terms of reference for the Royal Commission in consultation with experts.
In June last year, The New Daily revealed that a group of high-powered businessmen and scientists led by former News International director Bruce Hundertmark had formed a new company to prepare business proposals for nuclear power stations in South Australia.
Apart from Mr Hundertmark, the board of South Australian Nuclear Energy Systems Pty Ltd, includes Ian Kowalick, the former chief of staff to ex-Liberal premier John Olsen. http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/02/08/south-australia-takes-first-step-nuclear-power/
South Australia could make “$billions” out of nuclear power – Adelaide Advertiser
DANIEL WILLS STATE POLITICAL EDITOR THE ADVERTISER FEBRUARY 09, 2015CONSTRUCTION of a uranium enrichment plant could inject billions of dollars into the South Australian economy and modern waste-treatment facilities could double as cheap power generators if the state’s nuclear capacity is expanded, industry says.
Premier Jay Weatherill has reversed decades of Labor opposition to the state taking a greater role in the uranium industry, yesterday announcing a royal commission to investigate opportunities for nuclear storage, uranium enrichment and power creation.
It has raised immediate ire from the green lobby and been dismissed by the Opposition as a backflip and tactical distraction from health controversies.
Mr Weatherill conceded the announcement was a major reversal from his previous stance on the nuclear industry. He said he now had an “open mind” amid opportunities for jobs and investment, and growing fears about climate change.
“I have in the past been opposed to nuclear power, all elements of it,” he said. “I now have an open mind. “When the facts change, people should change their minds.”
Jay Weatherill (Labor) and Julie Bishop (Liberal) in unison promoting nuclear power
South Australia calls royal commission on nuclear power, SMH February 8, 2015 David Wroe National security correspondent The South Australian government has called the nation’s first ever royal commission on nuclear fuel, raising the prospect of generating nuclear power in Australia and enriching uranium for export……..
The move is significant, as it could open the door to an expanded role for nuclear power in Australia. It follows a recent call by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for a fresh discussion about nuclear power, which she said was an “obvious direction” for any country considering how to cut its greenhouse emissions.
Mr Weatherill likewise cited climate change as a key driver of his decision to call a royal commission on the issue, saying that while he had in the past been sceptical of nuclear power, global warming meant he was taking another look………
Mr Weatherill acknowledged that large-scale nuclear energy generation might not be economically viable but said “technological changes are occurring with much smaller nuclear generation plants”……….
He said there could be “extraordinary economic opportunities” for South Australia in storing medium and high-level nuclear waste and also a potential in enriching uranium,” adding value to the ore we send overseas”.
A spokeswoman for Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said the federal government’s Energy White Paper was considering all options for Australia’s future energy needs…….http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/south-australia-calls-royal-commission-on-nuclear-power-20150208-1390sc.html
Bob Hawke and Jay Weatherill – Labor fans of nuclear power and radioactive waste dumping
Bob Hawke supports SA nuclear dump The Australian, 9 Feb15 FORMER prime minister Bob Hawke has backed siting a nuclear waste dump in South Australia after Premier Jay Weatherill revealed he would hold a royal commission into the state’s deeper involvement in the nuclear industry.
The commission’s findings could also open the door to opportunities for nuclear generation and construction of nuclear-powered submarines in the state, said nuclear physicist Ziggy Switkowski, who led the 2006 commonwealth government inquiry into the viability of a domestic nuclear 
power industry.
Consultation on terms of reference begin today, and are expected to cover the state’s further potential for mining, enrichment, energy generation and storage phases of the nuclear cycle for peaceful uses.
Mr Hawke’s decades-long lobbying for Australia to take the world’s nuclear waste had been a no-go zone with the state Labor government, despite South Australia being a prime storage candidate with a vast, geologically sound backyard. The former Labor PM called the commission a “hell of a good idea” and said the ALP, which has a platform forbidding the establishment of nuclear power plants and all other states of the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia, had previously been open to altering its nuclear policy.
“The Labor Party has shown that it has a degree of flexibility in the nuclear debate, particularly with export of uranium,’’ he said……….
Mr Weatherill said his personal anti-nuclear stance had changed and he was “well along the journey” Continue reading
Australian Youth Climate Coalition condemns South Australian government’s proposal on nuclear issues
Nuclear issues to be examined by SA royal commission, Premier Jay Weatherill announces //www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-08/nuclear-issues-royal-commission-jay-weatherill/6078260Sun 8 Feb 2015,
A royal commission will look at the future role South Australia should play in the nuclear industry, Premier Jay Weatherill says.
The SA Premier called a news conference to make the surprise announcement, telling reporters the inquiry would be a first for Australia.
He said the inquiry would look at SA’s involvement in the mining, enrichment, energy and storage phases in the life cycle of nuclear fuel.
“We believe South Australians should be given the opportunity to explore the practical, financial and ethical issues raised by a deeper involvement in the nuclear industries,” he said.
Mr Weatherill said SA had one of the world’s biggest uranium deposits and had been involved in uranium production for more than 25 years.
“It is now the time to engage in a mature and robust conversation about SA’s future role in the nuclear industry,” he said.
He said consultation would start in the coming day on the terms of reference.
“We need to understand all these issues so that the community can make an informed judgment,” he said.
A number of independent experts would be engaged to support the royal commission’s work, Mr Weatherill said.
The Australian Youth Climate Coalition was swift to condemn the Government’s announcement.
It said the state needed to focus on its renewable energy potential rather than nuclear potential.
ABC political reporter Nick Harmsen said it put the proposition of a nuclear waste dump in South Australia back on the political agenda, after a previous Labor administration fought federal moves.
Australian Labor Party keen to fight Malcolm Turnbull, but not to save Renewable Energy Target?
Would Malcolm Turnbull save the renewable energy target? REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 6 February 2015 “…………What is interesting to note is the response of Labor, who seem petrified by the prospect of Turnbull returning, and stomping over their middle ground. When in power, Labor lost sight of its policy development, and stopped selling its climate package, just so it could try to wedge Turnbull, the then Opposition leader. That worked out badly, for everyone except Tony Abbott and the climate deniers who put him in power.
Now, Labor has tried to wedge Turnbull again, even before he puts up his hand for Liberal Party leadership. This week, environment spokesman Mark Butler issued a press release labeling Turnbull a “fraud” on climate change, including a “best of” list of quotes highlighting Turnbull’s vocal gymnastics as he tried to marry his obvious disdain for Direct Action with his need to follow the party line.
“He might wear a nicer suit, but Malcolm Turnbull is as backwards as Tony Abbott when it comes to action on climate change,” Butler noted.
“This is despite Malcolm Turnbull declaring: ‘I will not lead a party that is not as committed to effective action on climate change as I am’.”
Yes, but getting agreement on the RET – and starting to tap into the $20 billion of investment that is in danger of disappearing overseas would be a good place to start. Labor had the opportunity to lock this issue away in 2012, but refused to take up the CCA’s recommendation that the next review be put off to 2016. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/malcolm-turnbull-save-renewable-energy-target-85370
New South Wales Greens propose using mining tax to fund renewables
NSW Greens would use mining tax to fund renewable energy http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/mining-tax-would-fund-renewable-energy/2535116/
The Greens’ latest policy involves taxing mining companies an extra $250 million a year and investing the money into renewable energy and recycling.
The “Renew Regional NSW Fund” would supply $1 billion over four years for energy and water saving projects, waste management, small-scale renewable energy, and agriculture research.
Mr Buckingham alongside local Greens candidates Adam Guise and Tamara Smith were called on to explain why the coal industry would be needed to bankroll the fund. “We don’t want to base our economy on fossil fuels but what we want to do is make sure that as we make a transition out of coal, that the state benefits,” Mr Buckingham explained.
“The state is getting very, very little; the vast majority of profits go overseas, and we want to see those returned to the whole state, not just the mining regions.”
The mining industry contributes about $1 billion a year to the NSW economy, more than 90% from coal.
The Greens would raise this to about $1.25 billion by lifting royalties on the coal industry by 2%, and 1% on all other minerals.
Mr Buckingham said it was about creating an “alternative economic model” so the state’s economy wouldn’t be shocked when coal inevitably ends, also adding the royalty plunder might hasten its decline.
National Party would stop Turnbull from action on Climate Change
Nationals would rein Turnbull’s progressive instincts THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 06, 2015 Sid Maher National Affairs Editor, Canberra NATIONALS MPs will demand a written guarantee from Malcolm Turnbull that he will not pursue an emissions trading scheme, gay marriage or backtrack on asylum-seeker policy if he topples Tony Abbott to become prime minister.
As Liberal leadership tensions continued, Nationals leader Warren Truss declared yesterday that the Coalition agreement was a pact between the Prime Minister and himself, and a change of leader would require a new agreement.
As Nationals MPs met for the first time this year, in Wodonga in northern Victoria, it emerged that Mr Truss would face backbench pressure to require the moderate Mr Turnbull to provide written assurances on key policies as part of any new agreement if he won the Liberal leadership……..
Some Nationals MPs have privately indicated they would have trouble working with Mr Turnbull, the Communications Minister, if he regained the leadership…..tp://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/nationals-would-rein-turnbulls-progressive-instincts/story-fn59niix-1227209730141
Queensland voters show that environment matters to Australians
Politicians need to realise that it was never just the economy, stupid. The environment matters to Australians, and they’re prepared to make it known at the ballot box.
It’s the environment, stupid! http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/02/05/comment-its-environment-stupid In the fallout of the Queensland election, one thing is clear: Australians don’t just care about their hip pocket. Paul Sinclair In the 1992 US election, Bill Clinton’s Chief Strategist James Carville coined the phrase “it’s the economy, stupid”. The phrase morphed into a form of conventional wisdom; the idea that the economy is the only thing really matters to voters.
But in 2015, this conventional wisdom is myopic. Just as the economy wasn’t the only thing that mattered to voters in 1992, last week’s Queensland election suggests that in 2015, voters are still thinking about wider than simply their hip pocket.
And in this era where all our leading scientific bodies including NASA and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology are warning us of the tangible and atmosphere altering impacts of climate change – the environment is looming larger than Federal politicians seem able or willing to acknowledge. Continue reading
Have climate denialism and the anti renewable energy campaign taken fatal blows in Australian politics?
It will never be clear how much the issue of renewable energy and household solar played in the Queensland election. But with some 400,000 households with rooftop solar, and one-third of these without state-based subsidies, even a moderate impact would have been enough to tip the balance.
But it should not be forgotten that Abbott was installed as leader of the Liberal Party for the sole purpose of rejecting the carbon price, and rolling back environmental and renewable energy policies.
Policy was reduced to those three word slogans and these continued even in government. Australia has embarrassed itself on the national stage, from Abbott’s performance at CHOGM, and then at the G20, to Australia’s no show at Warsaw, its sending of a climate denier chaperone to Lima, and the thumbing of its nose to the global renewable energy industry
Is this the last hurrah for the Far Right in Australia? REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 2 February 2015 The stranglehold of the Far Right over conservative politics in Australia is being broken. The comprehensive repudiation of Campbell Newman tells us that rejecting climate science, trashing renewable energy, and treating the electorate like mugs has no future. Abbott, though, is not listening. Cue Malcolm Turnbull, entering centre stage.
If the Queensland election tells us anything about politics in Australia it is that the stranglehold of the Far Right over the conservative arena in Australia is being broken. Emphatically so.
What we will see at the federal level in coming days, weeks or months – or however long Prime Minister Tony Abbott holds on to his job – may well signal the last hurrah of the Far Right in Australia. Continue reading
Remembering the Howard government and businessmen’s push for nuclear power
Call to’unveil nuclear plans’ http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2007/02/27/call-tounveil-nuclear-plans Labor is demanding the federal government reveal what it knows about plans by three leading businessmen for Australia’s first nuclear reactor. Source: AAP 27 FEB 2007 – UPDATED 22 AUG 2013
Former federal Liberal Party treasurer Ron Walker, Hugh Morgan and Robert Champion de Crespigny are the key shareholders in Australian Nuclear Energy Pty Ltd, a private company reportedly behind the plan. Continue reading
Environmental regulations in fact have benefits for the economy – OECD
They also found market-based environmental policies, such as the scheme to price carbon dumped by the Abbott Government last year, “tend to have a more robust positive effect on productivity growth.”
The way some vested interests complain you’d think Australia’s green tape burden was terribly onerous by international standards. But the OECD’s international comparison of environmental stringency tells a different story.
OECD says green tape is not damaging the economy, The Age January 31, 201 Matt Wade Senior writer Economists are at their best when they challenge conventional wisdom and debunk the spurious claims of vested interests. The boffins at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, one of the world’s top research outfits, have done just that with a ground-breaking analysis of the economic effects of environmental policies, often derided as “green tape.”……….
economists at the OECD have made a surprising discovery: green tape might not cost nearly as much as politicians and business leaders claim. The Organisation has created an index that calculates the explicit and implicit cost of environmental policies. Its economists used this index to assess the strictness of environmental regulations across 24 wealthy OECD members – including Australia – between 1990 and 2012 and to measure the effect of those regulations on productivity. Continue reading
Solar power systems in Australia save money for households, businesses, schools and community organisations
Solar power systems can contribute significantly to reducing energy costs for a household, business, school or community organisation. And with consistent rising electricity prices, the benefits of solar will only continue to accumulate over the 25 year life of an installed system. “The benefits of solar can be multiplied when used in conjunction with other energy-saving measures
Instead of making it difficult, the Government should be making it easier for educational institutions, religious organisations and small businesses to cut their power bills,”
Why Supporting Renewable Energy in Australia Will Save Both Money and the Environment: Geelong Solar Power Company Reveals http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=195168#.VMvuodKUcnk WEBWIRE – Tuesday, January 27, 2015
VICTORIA, Australia January 2015 – When Tony Abbot took his seat as Australian Prime Minister in September 2013, the Liberal Party took a conscious step away from prioritising climate change on the political agenda and backing the Renewable Energy Target scheme (RET scheme). Since then, it has become increasingly clear that the coalition is hesitant to support environmental progression in commercial industries, evidenced by the most recent proposal to cut the solar rebate to small and medium sized businesses, including schools and churches. Continue reading
Queensland election – Party Policy Platforms
Election 2015 – Policy Platforms PAINTING FAKES, 28 Jan 15 “……..Of all the minor parties, the Greens are the ones who have taken policy issues most seriously. The Greens grew out of the conservation movement and are still often perceived as an environmental party. However, over the years they have evolved into a more rounded progressive party. Despite never having had a member elected to the Queensland parliament – and this is not likely to change on Saturday – they have a specific Queensland policy platform that runs to over one hundred pages. This is not developed specifically with this election in mind, but has been put together over a number of years to clarify what the Greens stand for.
It covers a wide range of issues under five headings – Natural Environment, covering biodiversity, water quality, food and agriculture, animal welfare and fishing; Social and Democracy, which includes policies about political accountability, criminal justice, ageing and disability, gambling and gender identity; Economics and Energy, which includes climate change, policies about various industries and policies on government finance; Built Environment with policies about transport and planning; and Human Services which includes education, health, social housing and reproductive rights. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that their policies are fairly consistently progressive or “left” – on environmental issues in favour of conservation, on economic issues in favour of better regulation and more equity and sustainability, on social issues in favour of better services and more public provision, and on “moral” issues in favour of gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia……..
If you were to compare the two major parties solely on the basis of their election promises, you would probably end up feeling depressed at the quality of the alternatives. Most of the policies on both sides are very specific, playing to a particular region or interest group. There is a lot of “rollback” in the Labor policies, a lot of items funded by assets sales (sorry, “leases”) in the LNP’s.
Beyond the question of quality and vision, you have a choice between a moderate, centrist party interested in a notion of balance between economy, equity and environment, and a party that sees government as about economic development, delivering specific items of infrastrucute and a narrow range of mainstream services. Neither really has any kind of focus beyond the next three-year electoral cycle……..http://paintingfakes.blogspot.com.au/
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