Senator NIck Xenophon missing amongst anti wind political stars
Wind taken out of protesters’ sails in Canberra Independent Australia 19 June 13 Callum Davidson and deputy editor Sandi Keane report from Melbourne and Canberra on a tale of two cities and three rallies — or rather two and a sorry fizzer “…….Other speakers at the event included a few rogue MPs – Liberal Senator Chris Back and retiring National Senator, Ron Boswell, DLP Senator John Madigan – as well as local Indigeneous elder, Shane Mortimer, and Alan Moran of Australia’s climate skeptic factory, the Institute of Public Affairs. The much-touted Nick Xenophon was nowhere to be seen having made his non-appearance decision quite clear yesterday on his Facebook. Seems Independent Australia was one of the few in the media who bothered to check. Organisers of the antis, Stop These Things, didn’t and still trumpeted his attendance on its website. That’s the problem when you’re so secretive. No-one knows how to contact you. Senator Xenophon’s media adviser, Sharon Smith, certainly didn’t know who Stop These Things were, who funded them or where they were based when she spoke to Independent Australia earlier in the week….http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/wind-taken-out-of-protesters-sails-in-canberra/
National Party Senator Boswell says wind and solar power are a fraud
Huff and puff as Alan Jones leads wind farm protest, SMH, June 18, 2013 – Heath Aston “……Mr Jones said if there was no health risk posed by turbines, they should be put on Parramatta Road or outside his apartment on Macquarie Street, Sydney…….The protest group, drawn mainly from concerned resident groups from country NSW, held placards including, “we are wind refugees” and “stop the spin”.
There were differing views between individual protesters and some of the speakers. A woman held a placard behind Queensland senator Ron Boswell urging “yes solar, no wind farms”.
At the same time, senator Boswell was lambasting “fraudulent” renewables of all kinds. “The world belongs to those who turn up and today you have turned up and you are going to make your opposition to this fraudulent wind, solar power, renewable energy … heard,” he said.
Senator Boswell, a National Party member, called the 20 per cent renewable energy target, which the Coalition is committed to along with Labor, as “ridiculous”. “The wind farms only work 30 per cent of the time, but when you really need the power, in the peak periods, it’s only about eight per cent of the time. So it doesn’t work. In anyone’s language it is just a fraud,” he said.
Organisers of the event included Max Rheese of the Australian Environment Foundation, a front group for the right-aligned, climate sceptic Institute of Public Affairs. A pro-wind rally held in Canberra’s city centre at the same time drew a larger crowd of up to 500, according to organisers.
Greens leader Christine Milne said the party wanted to see a “100 per cent renewable” target as soon as possible.”What is extraordinary is wind farm sickness only affects people who speak English. How come the Danes, Spanish and Germans don’t suffer from wind farm sickness?” she asked.”The renewable industry is providing a solution to greenhouse gas emissions as well as providing new jobs, new industries and giving a better future for our children.” http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/huff-and-puff-as-alan-jones-leads-wind-farm-protest-20130618-2ogd5.html#ixzz2WdkyD6PU
Property Council of South Australia’s Nathan Paine,Theo Maras, Chris Burns push for importing nuclear waste
Christina Macpherson, 15 June 13, In 1980, Senator Jean Melzer warned about Australia becoming “the quarry and waste dump of the world” . The Australian Labor Party soon got rid of her. In 2007 Kevin Rudd came into power as Labor appeared to be opposing a nuclear waste dumping industry in Australia.
You might think that this nuclear waste importing idea has gone away. But it never did. And Australia has a global agreement that could swing it into action faster than you can swing a cat – the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation(IFNEC)
You might think that this noxious idea is not getting any support from the Australian public.
If so – you thought wrong.
In South Australia, the Property Council of SA, and several businessmen with more dollars in their eyes, than brains in their heads, are now pushing that same old nuclear barrow.
Here’s how they were reported in Adelaide Now today: “Some also call for the development of a domestic nuclear power sector that Property Council of SA executive director Nathan Paine predicts could turn us into the “Dubai of Asia”….
He said: “You’d almost be able to give every South Australian … when they turn 18, a cheque for $50,000 and a house.”……
, Mr Burns said SA should develop a nuclear sector. He said: “What we’ve got unique resources for in this state are for nuclear energy. We have the resources in the ground; we should be digging it up and processing it. Never sell it, only lease it and bring it back here to bury it. I think that’s the industry for the state.”
SA has 40 per cent of the world’s known uranium reserves. Mr Maras said if the government championed a nuclear industry, business would soon come on board…..
They even want South Australia’s “mums and dads” to invest in developing such ideas in the We’re for Jobs in SA campaign
The Solar Scorecard gives you the renewable energy position of your local Member of Parliament
http://www.solarscorecard.org.au/ The Solar Scorecard lets you find out where your local politicians stand on renewable energy. Use it to help make sure that no matter who wins the election on September 14th, renewable energy wins as well.
ABOUT THE SOLAR SCORECARD Solar energy is on the agenda this election year. With one and a half million Solar Homes across the country Australians are turning to the sun. We’ve developed the Solar Score Card so you can see where your MP stands and 
how they compare on key solar criteria.
The Solar Score Card has been put together by 100% Renewable, an Australian community campaign for a sustainable future. The scorecard is designed as a tool for those on the ground. That means you! You can compare MPs across parties and electorates to see who’s looking forward and who’s looking back. Even better you’ll be able take the Scorcard to your MP and show them what they’re getting right and what they’re getting wrong.
Each MP has a profile complete with scores on 7 key criteria and one wildcard. The wildcard is their chance to shine, or not. If you know of something wonderful or disastrous your MP has done for solar in Australia leave a comment and let us know!
Australian Greens dispute Senate Committee’s claim that nuclear energy is “clean”
No one need be killed or injured for want of a wind turbine or solar panel and for this reason it is appropriate to call renewable energy peaceful and clean. Every country has abundant indigenous sources of their own renewable energy. The Indian Ocean Region has abundant solar radiation that could power solar thermal power plants, providing sustainable, reliable and independent energy. Australia providing that form of technology and assistance, rather than uranium, would provide tangible and material benefits to both Australia and the countries of the Indian Ocean Rim
Dissenting Report Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam 14 June 13 The Senate Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee inquired into The Importance of the Indian Ocean rim for Australia’s foreign, trade and defence policy . http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=fadt_ctte/indianocean/index.htm
The Greens dissented on some statements about nuclear power and uranium
These dissenting remarks are restricted to citations or comments in the Committee’s report that exaggerate the prospects of the uranium market in the Indian Ocean Region or which erroneously refer to nuclear as a clean energy source.
The Department of Resources and Energy falsely states that uranium is the “sleeping giant of Australian export commodities.” While the indestructible optimism of the Department may have therapeutic value, it is simply not grounded in reality. Uranium accounts for only 0.29 per cent of national export revenue and less than 0.015 per cent of Australian jobs in the decade to 2011. Further, companies like BHP and Cameco are mothballing their uranium projects.
The fact is that the nuclear industry has been badly shaken by the global financial crisis, its spiralling costs, the ongoing Fukushima disaster and overwhelming competition from renewable energy. Continue reading
Tony Abbott is a danger to clean energy in Australia
Tony Abbott’s proposed main business adviser just revealed that he thinks efforts to build more clean energy in Australia should be scrapped.
Top Abbott business adviser wants renewables target scrapped Maurice Newman, chairman of Coalition’s proposed business advisory council, doubts scientific case for global warming Lenore Taylor, political editor guardian.co.uk, 13 June 2013 The chairman of Tony Abbott’s proposed business advisory council, Maurice Newman, has called for the renewable energy target (RET) to be scrapped because he believes the scientific evidence for global warming and the economic case for renewable energy no longer stack up…….
Whether the Coalition will change their policy on the RET is up to them … I believe it should be removed because the basis upon which we accepted in good faith that we needed it is no longer there…..
- when we look at the science it no longer supports the global warming theory and when we look at the health and economic effects of windfarms and the obscene wealth transfer from poor to rich we have to ask: why are we persisting with them? I think it is a crime against the people.”….
Guardian Australia contacted Newman after seeing minutes of a meeting of an anti-windfarm group called the Crookwell District Landscape Guardians at his southern highlands property on 28 April.Newman appeared to warn the 56 attendees they might not sway the Coalition……
other anti-windfarm activists are preparing for a 18 June rally at Parliament House, effectively trying to use the same “people’s revolt” strategy encouraged by Abbott against the carbon tax to try to push the Coalition leader to drop the RET and stop new windfarms.
A slick, anonymously-run website called Stop These Things (STT) urged readers to attend the June rally because “while it’s safe to assume the Coalition will cruise to victory in September, don’t assume they are on our side”. It added: “It’s time to put them in the spotlight and find out precisely where they stand … the main game is in Canberra where the RET policy was started and where it has to end. The Coalition need to get the message loud and clear – and the message is simple. Australia simply can’t afford the great wind power fraud…… Continue reading
Labor and Liberal in happy agreement pro uranium mining
States sign agreement on uranium ABC News, Jun 12, 2013 The New South Wales and South Australian governments have signed an agreement to encourage mining and exploration along the border of the two states.
The memorandum of understanding was signed at a uranium mining conference in Darwin yesterday.
Uranium exploration has only recently been allowed in NSW, while it is already being mined at Honeymoon and Beverley over the border…… “They want to see politicians whether they’re Liberal, Labor or National all working together and we are.”
Mr Hartcher says the agreement does not open the door to uranium mining in NSW….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-12/states-sign-agreement-on-uranium/4748452
Liberal Coalition in the grip of front groups opposing wind energy
Windfarm industry fears consequences of Coalition turbine noise policy, Guardian UK Lenore Taylor, political editor, 12 June 13, Firms say they face crippling costs if forced to monitor in ‘real-time’ noise some blame for health problems The Coalition will impose new noise monitoring rules on windfarms that the multibillion dollar industry says will inflict crippling costs, provide no useful information and represent another victory for an anti-noise campaign by concerned citizens backed in part by the climate sceptic lobby.
The yet-to-be-released resources policy is set to require all windfarms to provide “real-time” noise monitoring, with the findings immediately publicly available, so nearby residents concerned about the alleged health impact of windfarms can compare the results with strict state government noise controls. The Coalition resources spokesman, Ian Macfarlane, will also try to introduce the measures before the election with a private members bill.
People living close to windfarms have reported symptoms including headaches, sleeplessness and nausea. Several residents experiencing the symptoms have given evidence at inquiries, but a recent study by Prof Simon Chapman of Sydney University found incidence of the sickness was far more prevalent in communities where anti-windfarm lobbyists had been active and suggested it might be a psychological phenomenon caused by the belief that turbines make people sick. “As anti-windfarm interest groups began to stress health problems in their advocacy, and to target new windfarm developments, complaints grew,” said Chapman. Continue reading
Greens’ Alex Bhathal likely to take over federal seat of pro nuclear Martin Ferguson
Alex Bhathal has worked tirelessly for 4 years on issues concerning her local electorate of Batman. Not that Bhathal is forgetting national and global concerns, either. The electorate of Batman deserves a highly intelligent and committed representative to represent this community, while furthering issues of benefit to the nation.
This could be a big change from having Martin Ferguson a celebrity-star puppet of the nuclear and fossil fuel industries as Member of Parliament for Batman
Greens set sights on Batman http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/greens-set-sights-on-batman-20130607-2nuso.html June 7, 2013 Aisha Dow It’s meant to be the safest Labor seat in the nation.
But as the party bickers over preselection for the Melbourne electorate, the Greens have declared “Batman’s next” and pronounced themselves a genuine chance to snatch a surprise outright victory.
In her fourth time running as the Greens’ candidate for Batman, Alex Bhathal said she has been flooded with community donations.”I’ve had aged pensioners donating, people in public housing giving me five dollars, it’s just extraordinary people’s belief in the Greens and what we stand for,” Ms Bhathal said.
Instead he said the battle for Batman will be a two-horse race between the Greens and a Labor party he said no longer represented the progressive views of the electorate.
In the last federal election Ms Bhathal, a Preston social worker, achieved a swing of 6.3 per cent, pinching most of those votes off retiring former Labor frontbencher Martin Ferguson. She’ll need an even bigger swing, of about 8 per cent, if she is to turf out Labor in September.But on Ms Bhathal’s past form, which has seen the Green’s primary vote rise by almost 20 per cent within a decade, Bob Brown challenged the perception Batman was in fact as “safe” as it has been touted.
“It’s been seen as the safest because the Liberal vote is so small. The Greens vote is growing rapidly and the bean counters tend to look at the two big parties and don’t see the Greens coming,” he said. “It’s happened in Cunningham, we won the first seat in the lower house and it’s happened in Melbourne. “Batman is next.”
Best to vote Green – global warming concerns Liberals Malcolm Fraser and John Hewson
Former Liberal PM Malcolm Fraser reckons you should vote Green in September! The Australian Greens 8 June 13 Former PM Malcolm Fraser just asked his twitter followers to vote Green, after a discussion on global warming & funding schools through the Gonski reforms.
On Lateline last night, former Liberal leader John Hewson called on Australia’s $80+ billion Future Fund to cut global warming risk in their portfolio – just after Christine Milne launched our plan for the Fund to leave coal companies behind.
Two Coalition leaders in 24 hours. Do you think Mr Abbott might get onboard with tackling global warming and funding public schools too?
No? Better vote Green on September 14, then.
VIDEO: Senator Ludlam asks Minister Carr about Wikileaks and Bradley Manning
Assange no concern of ours, says Carr, The Age, 7 June 13
- The Australian government has washed its hands of Julian Assange as prosecutors at the trial of US soldier Bradley Manning have openly targeted the WikiLeaks publisher as a conspirator engaged in espionage.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr has told a Senate budget estimates committee that the government would make no more representations to the US on Assange’s circumstances because his case “doesn’t affect Australian interests”.
Senator Carr’s declaration that he would not “over-service” Assange’s consular needs came after US military prosecutors left no doubt that they regard the WikiLeaks chief not as a journalist dealing with sources but as a conspirator in the theft of classified information. Continue reading
Tony Abbott’s climate views a danger to our children’s future
Christine Milne: Abbott’s climate stance jeopardises the future of children Lenore Taylor, political editor guardian.co.uk, 6 June 13, Greens leader plans ‘keep the bastards honest’ campaign, casting party as Senate curb on Coalition excesses Milne talks to Guardian Australia The Greens leader, Christine Milne, has suggested Tony Abbott is not fit for leadership because of his stance on climate change, but she is preparing a Democrats-style “keep the bastards honest” election campaign to stop Abbott’s “excesses” in the Senate, on the assumption he will be prime minister.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Milne said the Liberal leader’s personal politics were threatening the planet. “Tony Abbott has been so irresponsible in terms of addressing global warming,” she said. “He has chosen to jeopardise the future of children, of generations henceforth, of species, by putting his own political perspective ahead of actually addressing global warming. Continue reading
Greens push to cease Future Fund’s investments in fossil fuel industries
Greens push to end Future Fund fossil fuel investment http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/greens-push-to-end-future-fund-fossil-fuel-investment-20130606-2nr45.html#ixzz2VVM2J100 Peter Hannam Carbon economy editor, 6 June 13,
The Greens will on Thursday launch a campaign to get the $85 billion Future Fund to sell its holdings in fossil-fuel industries, starting with coal. The fund’s energy holdings now total about $3 billion, and are exposed to a ”carbon bubble” as nations shift towards low-carbon fuels, Greens leader Christine Milne said. The International Energy Agency last year estimated that two-thirds of proven fossil-fuel reserves would have to remain in the ground if the world is to avoid global warming of 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
”It’s good for the planet, good for people and good for long-term financial management to get out of coal,” Senator Milne said.The Greens are hoping to match the success of the anti-tobacco push, which led to the Future Fund deciding in February to dump its $222 million holdings of tobacco-related investments.
The Future Fund ”takes a very serious approach to environmental, social and corporate governance issues”, spokesman Will Hetherton said. However, exiting coal or other fossil fuels ”is certainly not on the current agenda”.
Senator Milne is hoping the campaign will spread to other superannuation funds, mimicking the push among US universities and other institutions to divest fossil-fuel investments. Tom Swann, a spokesman for Fossil Free ANU, said his university’s council recently discussed plans to set up responsible investment guidelines and will seek public input.
ANU has more than $80 million invested in coal, coal seam gas and other fossil investments out of about $260 million in equities, he said.
“The divestment campaign has really taken off in the USA, with campuses and city governments as large as Seattle and San Francisco dropping their investments in fossil fuels because people understand that if it’s wrong to wreck the climate, it’s wrong to profit from the wreckage,” said US environmentalist, Bill McKibben, ahead of a speech at ANU on Wednesday. ”Divestment had a real impact in the fight against apartheid, something Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu recognise, and it’s an important part of tackling climate change
Queensland’s electricity consumers copping huge costs paid to State Government
Qld’s financial bonanza from networks – paid for by consumers REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 4 June 2013As Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and his senior ministers continue their campaign to vilify rooftop solar, a new report has thrown further light on the real reason behind the massive increases in electricity bills in recent years – the huge increase in money pocketed from the network providers by the state government.
A report prepared for the Queensland CaneGrowers association by Melbourne-based energy consultancy CME says receipts pocketed by the state government from its network operators has more than doubled each year – from $47 million in 2007/8 to $970 million in 2011/12 – and this has been paid for by the consumers. Continue reading
Where does Northern Territory’s Chief Minister Giles stand on NT becoming nuclear waste dump host?
Nuke waste for Barkly? Tennant and District Times, By By Barkly MLA Gerry McCarthy May 31, 2013, “……..The Federal Court hearing in relation to Muckaty Station as Australia’s first nuclear waste management facility should become the Chief Minister’s ‘yard-stick’ as the decision reflects, can a small family group make a decision about Aboriginal land allowing development that adversely impacts on the extended clan, moiety and tribal owners including traditional owners from surrounding Aboriginal land?
Chief Minister Adam Giles, has not declared his position or the CLP Government’s position on the NT becoming the repository for Australia’s nuclear waste including intermediate to high level waste from nuclear fuel rods and decommissioned nuclear reactor from Sydney’s Lucas Heights.
However where do Mr Giles and his Government members stand on the Muckaty nomination as Territory Labor’s position has not changed in opposition to Federal colleagues imposing Australia’s first nuclear waste dump on the NT! http://www.tennantcreektimes.com.au/story/1540673/bali-for-tiwis-nuke-waste-for-barkly/?cs=1261
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 