Moount Isa Mayor McGrady, on the board of 2 uranium companies – wants Mt Isa to be a “uranium hub”
New Mount Isa Mayor on uranium push,ABC News By Chrissy Arthur May 01, 2012 Mount Isa Mayor Tony McGrady has says he will be talking to the Queensland Government “at every opportunity” about developing a uranium industry in the state’s north-west..
…. The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) says there is nothing legally wrong with Mr McGrady keeping his role with two uranium companies.
Victoria’s Baillieu government YES to coal, NO to wind – despite the facts
— A wind farm cannot be built within two kilometres of a person’s home without their consent. But a coal mine can be opened within 100 meters of a home without the owner’s consent.
— Wind farms are now excluded from ‘no go’ zones stretching across the state. But coal mines face no such ‘no go’ zones: the only place they are excluded from is national parks (for now).
— All wind farms require planning approval from the local council. Coal projects, on the other hand, can avoid the need to obtain certain planning approvals at all in some cases.
— Wind farms must comply with environmental laws like any other project. Coal projects, on the other hand, are exempt from parts of key laws like the Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic).
Coal or wind in your backyard? http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/coal-or-wind-your-backyard Michael Power, 30 April 12, If you’re going to ‘pick winners’ from the energy market, you at least want to choose wisely. So it’s hard to see why Victorian laws treat coal and coal seam gas more favourably than renewable energy.
The Environment Defenders Office (Victoria) (EDO) released a report last week that finds Victoria’s laws give the mining industry privileged treatment that few other industries enjoy. In particular, they now make it easier to obtain approval for a coal mine than a wind farm in Victoria.
The planning rules for wind farms introduced by the state government last year are some of the toughest that apply to any type of development anywhere in the country. No new wind projects have been proposed in Victoria since they have been introduced.
At the same time, the government has moved to relax the laws that apply to new mining projects, developing a strategy to encourage brown coal export in Victoria, and initiating a Parliamentary Inquiry to identify and remove barriers to further ‘Greenfields’ minerals exploration and mining. Continue reading
South Australian Government grants lease to (weapons connected) Four Mile uranium mining project
Four Mile uranium mine gets lease Adelaide Now, by: Julian Swallow April 27, 2012 ALLIANCE Resources and its joint venture partner Quasar Resources have been granted a 10-year mineral lease over their Four Mile project, ending months of negotiations. Mineral Resources minister Tom Koutsantonis said on Friday that South Australia was a step closer to its next major uranium mining development. However, no timetable or funding commitment has as yet been made by the venture partners, who remain locked in a legal dispute…… Continue reading
Tony Abbott the man for a fossil fuel future for Australia
the Coalition’s refusal to recognise the CEFC as anything more valuable than a political football has been obstinate and single-minded…… Only a leader willing to ignore the threat Australia faces from its dependence on fossil fuels could so easily ignore the value of a body whose sole purpose is bringing down the cost of renewable power for all Australians.
Abbott clings to a fossil fuel future, CLIMATE SPECTATOR, Andrew Bray, 24 Apr 2012 In Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan, Lord Darlington pins the cynic as “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
As Tony Abbott tries to paint himself as an environmentalist, it’s worth asking the question: does he understand the value of renewable energy sufficiently to outweigh his finely honed sense of political opportunity?
While his address to the Australian Industry Group last Friday made not a single mention of renewable energy, greatly increased levels of renewable energy are a crucial part of any scenario that protects Australia’s environment into the future while also boosting our economy. Continue reading
Tony Abbott will not be able to destroy the Clean Energy Finance Corporation
Abbott-proof fence around clean-energy funds, The Age, David Wroe April 18, 2012 THE Gillard government will fireproof its $10 billion green technology fund against an attack from any future Coalition government by forcing Tony Abbott to repeal legislation in order to shut down the flow of money.
Ensuring its clean energy policies are carved in stone even if it loses next year’s election, Labor indicated yesterday that the funding for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation would be ”specifically appropriated” in legislation to be introduced to Parliament next month. Continue reading
Australia’s generous compensation to citizens, as it brings in the carbon tax
One million Queenslanders to receive extra welfare payments to offset rising costs fuelled by carbon tax by: Steven Scott The Courier-Mail April 14, 2012 “…..New data from the tax office and welfare agencies reveals just under one million Queenslanders will receive some form of extra welfare payments to help offset rising costs fuelled by the carbon tax.
Almost 1.6 million Queenslanders who are likely to earn less than $80,000 next year will get a tax cut. About 1.3 million of those will receive a cut of more than $300 a year. About 121,000 more Queenslanders are likely to pay no income tax next year when the tax-free threshold is tripled as part of the carbon tax compensation package.
As Labor braces for a backlash to the carbon tax, which will take effect on July 1, the Government will roll out increases to pensions with initial lump sums in May and June…. About 675,000 Queensland pensioners will get an extra $338 a year if they are single and up to $510 a year if they are a couple, while 45,000 of the state’s self-funded retirees will get an extra $380 a year.
More than 350,000 families will enjoy boosts to payments, including up to $110 extra a year for each child for families on Family Tax Benefit A and up to $60 a year for those on Family Tax Benefit B…
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/one-million-queenslanders-to-receive-extra-welfare-payments-to-offset-rising-costs-fuelled-by-carbon-tax/story-e6freoof-
Australia’s carbon tax benefits will kick in in May 2012
Carbon tax’s family dividends http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/04/14/318411_tasmania-news.html
DAVID KILLICK | April 14, 2012 HUNDREDS of thousands of Tasmanians will shortly benefit from increased welfare payments and tax cuts under the Federal Government’s new carbon tax regime. Increases in family payments, pensions and benefits will start with lump-sum payments next month, followed by benefit rises which take effect in the new year.
Tax cuts also kick in on July 1 and 14,000 Tasmanians will no longer have to pay tax at all, thanks to a tripling of the tax-free threshold. More than 100,000 Tasmanian pensioners will receive up to $510 a year more in benefits, 44,000 families will get $110 per child and self-funded retirees will be $380 a year better off. Around 17,000 jobseekers will be paid another $218 for singles and $390 for couples, the state’s 8500 single parents will receive $234
more a year and 7500 students will be $218 a year better off. And 179,000 Tasmanians on less than $80,000 a year will receive tax cuts. Continue reading
Senator Christine Milne – a strong voice for rural Australia and progressive business
Tough negotiator Milne to carry cause into the regions, BY: SID MAHER The Australian April 14, 2012 “…….Senator Milne, in accepting the leadership from her predecessor, nominated climate change as the key issue confronting the nation in the 21st century and signalled she would seek to build support for the Greens in rural and regional areas in her new role.
She lashed the “rapacious” mining industry, arguing “we are seeing the biggest assault on the environment in Australia that we have seen for a very long time”. She attacked the willingness of the ALP and the Coalition to “cave in to the few who want to push out of the way environmental protection”. Rallying the party faithful, Senator Milne said the departure of Senator Brown represented an opportunity to recommit to the Greens and commit to the party’s objectives. She said
the party would build on Senator Brown’s legacy and praised his compassion and advocacy of the “need for a more caring, inclusive
society”. She said Australia needed an economic narrative that involved sustainable environmental outcomes and to “support the kind of society we want”.
Senator Milne said rural and regional Australia had a critical role to play in terms of providing food security in a global context, also citing its potential to participation in the provision of renewable energy and energy sustainability.
Senator Milne, who grew up in rural Tasmania, said: “I’m going out there as a country person, to say to other country people it’s time that the Greens and country and rural Australia really worked together.” She flagged working more closely with “progressive business”, signalling she will seek to encourage renewable energy companies to be
more vocal and boost corporate social responsibility. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tough-negotiator-milne-to-carry-cause-into-the-regions/story-fn59niix-1226326234831
$Billions of investment money at risk, as New South Wales Liberal government calls for scrapping of renewable energy target
Investment fears over ‘attack’ on green energy SMH Anna Patty April 14, 2012 THE NSW government’s decision to withdraw support from clean energy schemes was criticised yesterday as a retrograde step that would threaten billions of investment dollars.
The Energy Minister, Chris Hartcher, has said the government would not be supporting green schemes that require a subsidy and is calling for the closure of the federal government’s renewable energy target. He called for the closure of the renewable energy target – legislation that is supported by the federal opposition.
The NSW opposition spokesman for energy, Luke Foley, said yesterday the tribunal’s determination found that green energy schemes had not contributed to electricity price increases. Power bills are forecast to rise between $182 and $338 a year from July 1. Mr Foley said the state government had ended bipartisan support for the 20 per cent renewable energy target after calling for the target to be removed, despite adopting the target in its state plan released
last year. ”The O’Farrell government has launched a relentless attack on renewable energy, with chilling investment signals sent by the government throughout its first year in office,” he said.
”Solar in NSW has been stopped dead in its tracks. The draft wind guidelines are designed to chronically handicap the expansion of the wind industry.
”Renewable energy is already contributing to lower wholesale electricity prices. The Australian Energy Market Commission recently reported that new wind energy projects in Victoria will mean that increases to wholesale electricity prices in that state will be lower than in NSW. Rather than attacking wind farms, the O’Farrell
government should require its own planning review to come up with a sensible and workable planning regime for the development of the wind industry in NSW.”
The acting chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, Kane Thornton, said it was a “worrying sign that the NSW government would seek the removal of one of Australia’s most significant energy policies without considering the impact this would have on investors who have put billions of dollars into clean energy projects in NSW. The renewable
energy target is scheduled to run until 2030 and these projects would face collapse if it was removed.”
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/investment-fears-over-attack-on-green-energy-20120413-1wysv.html#ixzz1s3udpo35
Unlike Labor and Liberal, the Greens conduct a gracious leadership transition
She conducted a complicated dual negotiation last year on the carbon package, selling the deal to the party’s
hardliners ….also winning a $10 billion clean energy finance corporation from the Gillard government
”This is our opportunity to build on Bob Brown’s legacy,” – Christine Milne
A warrior for the wilderness, Brisbane Times, Lenore Taylor April 14, 2012 Bob Brown built the Greens into a powerful force in Australian politics. His successor faces a challenge in keeping it there.
It was the kind of civilised leadership transition no major party has pulled off in recent history – the popular long-serving leader stands down at a time of his own choosing ”to make way for new talent” and his loyal deputy is unanimously elected in his place. No rancour. No back-stabbing. Plaudits all round.
But Bob Brown – the father of Australia’s Greens – and its new federal leader Christine Milne have been tag-teaming like this through-out their careers. Brown the fearless trailblazer, Milne the organiser, the negotiator, the campaigner, not far behind. Continue reading
Senator Bob Brown to resign. Senator Christine Milne to take over Greens leadership
Brown’s protests and causes in his trailblazing career, ABC News, April 13, 2012 After 16 years at the helm of the party he founded, Bob Brown has retired as Greens leader and will stand down as a senator in June. His resignation ends a trailblazing career in federal politics which saw him become Australia’s first openly gay member of Parliament.
Since his early career as a doctor, Senator Brown adopted left-leaning causes and was passionate about the environment and human rights.
In 1976 he held a fast for one week on top of Mt Wellington in protest of the arrival of the nuclear-powered warship USS Enterprise……
Senator Brown was an advocate for a range of human rights and green issues, introducing bills for forest protection, to ban mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children and to block the dumping of nuclear waste.
Parliamentary rebel He was an opponent of the war in Iraq and campaigned for justice for David Hicks, the Australian who was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. Senator Brown was famously suspended from Parliament in 2003 when he
disrupted a speech being delivered by visiting United States president George W Bush.
During Mr Bush’s speech Mr Brown demanded the American “return Australians” respect Australians. He was barred for 24 hours but he and Mr Bush shook hands afterwards despite the altercation.
Later, when US president Barack Obama visited Australia in 2011 Senator Brown said he did not intend to interrupt his speech to Parliament. “We’ve got a president now who knows a lot more about equality and respect than his predecessor, George W Bush,” he said…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-13/brown27s-trailblazing-career/3948578
Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to weaken Australia’s environmental protection
The ‘Green Tape’ Furphy, New Matilda By Ben Eltham, 13 April 12, Reducing ‘green tape’ is on the COAG agenda – but fast-tracking environmental regulation will end up hurting productivity in the long term, writes Ben Eltham“……..Yesterday’s roundtable ended with a statement from those assembled which pledged to cut some of the burdensome duplication of regulatory approvals between state and Commonwealth levels. “The Government has agreed to develop bilateral arrangements with the states to fast-track state assessments and approvals,” it reads. “This means states will be accredited to do certain Commonwealth assessments.” There will also be a commitment to form inter-governmental taskforces for major projects, “so approvals are administered by a single state agency and unnecessary duplication is removed.”
But the Greens maintain that federal environmental legislation is sometimes the only thing that prevents pro-development state governments from giving bulldozers the green light. “All the big environmental wins of recent history have been when the federal government stepped in to protect an area from development the state government had approved,” Queensland Greens Senator Larissa Waters pointed out.
Waters is right. Federal legislation is generally the last line of resort for blocking big projects that impinge on sensitive habitats or threatened species, but which have been waved though by state authorities. The experience of Tasmania shows how, in a small state, the interests of a powerful industry can often subvert the interests of the broader environment, as happened when regulatory approval the Bell Bay pulp mill proposed by Gunns was rammed through parliament with little due diligence. It was the Commonwealth that stepped in protect the Franklin in the early 1980s, and the Commonwealth that stepped in to protect Coronation Hill. More recently it is the Commonwealth that has provided world-leading benchmarks for no-fish zones in the Great Barrier Reef…. http://newmatilda.com/2012/04/13/greentape-furphy
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman wants his State to have open slather on environmental assessments
Premier Campbell Newman says Julia Gillard’s move to remove duplication on environmental approvals with the states falls short Courier Mail, by: Steven Scott From: The Courier-Mail April 13, 2012 CAMPBELL Newman has demanded the Federal Government hand over complete control of environmental assessments to the state in a move designedto cut business costs.
But Julia Gillard has vowed to retain the final say over high-risk and World Heritage area developments, warning Mr Newman’s plan could allow Queensland to build a nuclear reactor without any input from the rest of the country……
Liberal premiers including Mr Newman say they want the carbon tax on the table as part of the talks, which will continue at the Council of Australian Governments summit in Canberra today.
But Mr Newman has gone further than other Premiers and called for complete control over environmental assessments in the Sunshine State….. Ms Gillard said her plan to streamline environmental rules with states
would mean developers “don’t go through double assessments”. But she said the Federal Government still had to oversee developments in World Heritage areas in Commonwealth waters and nuclear power.
Ms Gillard said Mr Newman’s proposal would stop the Federal Government having a say if there was a plan for another nuclear reactor like the Lucas Heights plant in Sydney…..
the Greens said the plan to streamline assessments could cut environmental protection….
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/deal-will-cut-green-tape/story-e6freoof-1226325279269
BHP and South Australian government keen to remove Federal oversight of environmental assessment
Sounds innocuous, doesn’t it? – “streamlining the environmental impact process”
But, it’s exactly this process which threatens to hold up BHP Billiton digging the biggest man made hole in the world, and creating the biggest pile of radioactive waste in the world, while taking up the biggest amount of Australia’s groundwater.
You see, the current legal action against approval for the new Olympic Dam uranium mine hinges on the Federal environmental approval for the mine to go ahead.
Of course BHP Billiton and its lackey South Australian Government would want all environmental control of such huge ventures to be limited to that lackey State. Even though Olympic Dam’ s effects – such as radioactive dust clouds will reach other States and State capital cities.
If Australia’s Federal Government abdicates from its power of environmental jurisdiction over mining, and other big enterprises, it will be open slather for any big corporation with a subservient State Government. – Christina Macpherson
Premiers to slash green tape, inefficient climate schemes, Sydney Morning Herald, Lenore Taylor, Phillip Coorey April 12, 2012 Before today’s first pre-Council of Australian Governments meeting between business leaders, the Prime Minister and the premiers, the federal and state governments indicated the business push to streamline environmental approvals would be endorsed…..
In a joint submission for today’s meeting, the nation’s peak business and industry groups complained the environmental impact process, which involves separate state and federal government assessments, needed to be streamlined…..
The South Australian Labor Premier, Jay Weatherill, who, as the chairman of the Council for the Australian Federation, will represent the state and territory leaders at today’s meeting, welcomed the initiatives proposed by the business groups. He singled out as having ”great merit” the proposal to remove the state-federal jurisdiction from the environmental impact assessment process….
Twenty-six business leaders will attend the meeting, including business group heads and chief executives such as BHP’s Marius Kloppers, Cameron Clyne of the National Australia Bank and Westpac’s Gail Kelly. The business leaders will make recommendations to tomorrow’s COAG meeting. : http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/premiers-to-slash-green-tape-inefficient-climate-schemes-20120411-1wsd7.html#ixzz1rswQiHA7
Rooftop solar energy to turn out to be an election winner for Gillard?
it could also have a big impact on established energy utilities, both generators and retailers, and has the potential of changing the political rhetoric as the next federal poll is fought on cost-of-living issues, mostly retail electricity prices.
A new surge in the deployment of rooftop solar in Australia could have an impact on generators, who are already worried about the impact it is having on their profits…. AGL highlighted the potential for this to happen in Australia, which is why it is lobbying to slow down the growth in the solar industry in Queensland, the last state to have a significant feed in tariff.
The Clean Energy Future can indeed be clean, exciting (new technology), and cost a lot less than sticking with polluting fossil fuels.
Zero-cost solar: Will this be Gillard’s election secret weapon?, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 2 April 2012 Australian solar installers are racing to become the first companies to offer long-term leasing arrangements that will allow householders to install large rooftop solar installations at zero up-front cost and hedge against rising electricity prices. Continue reading
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 