International Monetary Fund recommends Australia’s carbon tax
IMF backs carbon price, http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/imf-backs-carbon-price-20120618-20k9k.html#ixzz1yCfgqQEj Adam Morton June 19, 2012 A CLIMATE change policy guide by the International Monetary Fund has broadly backed the federal government’s starting point, recommending a minimum initial carbon price of about $20 a tonne. Continue reading
recommendations for BHP Billiton’s planned new copper/uranium mine at Olympic Dam
Olympic Dam / Roxby mine Recommendations 2012, by David Noonan, 18 June 2012:
Prevent South Australia becoming the Radioactive State by requiring BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam / Roxby mine to:
- only trade in copper and other non-radioactive products;
- not export uranium or to sell proposed radioactive copper-uranium concentrates; and
- leave the uranium and all other radioactive waste at the mine site.
Repeal the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982 and the 2011 amendments to the Indenture to: remove the extraordinary legal privileges granted to BHP Billiton including the override of state legislation that would apply to any other mining venture or commercial activity.
Require BHP Billiton to commit to environmental protection measures to:
- dispose of radioactive tailings into the proposed new Roxby open pit and to rehabilitate the pit should it be constructed;
- prevent liquid radioactive waste leakage from tailings piles – including by required lining of the tailings piles;
- use renewable energy for the full electricity supply to the proposed new open pit mine, rather than the BHP Roxby mine plan for a jump of 12 percent in SA’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and to phase out use of fossil fuels for the electricity supply to the existing mine;
- stop extraction of Great Artesian Basin waters from Borefield A as soon as possible and to phase out rather than expand extraction of GAB waters from Borefield B;
- and commit to biodiversity projects that genuinely compensate for the loss of flora and fauna caused by the mine project, proposed new open pit and associated operations.
Protect the unique ecology of the Upper Spencer Gulf and the breeding ground of the Giant Australian Cuttlefish by: prohibiting the construction of a major desalination plant in this fragile region by BHP Billiton.
These Recommendations are based on my recent update of the relevant sections of the “2010 State Election Agenda for SA” (authored by CCSA, ACF, TWS and NCSSA) that I had a lead role in as then ACF national nuclear free campaigner.
NSW govt excited about uranium exploration only, but oh no, not uranium mining?
Map shows the potential uranium mining area in NSW (yellow)
Search for uranium looms closer, SMH, June 15, 2012 THE Energy Minister, Chris Hartcher, has called for
a ”rational debate” about uranium while saying the decision to lift the ban on exploration in NSW was not about providing an alternative energy source for electricity generation.
In February the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, announced the state government would overturn a 26-year-old ban on uranium exploration….
Mr Hartcher told a uranium conference in Adelaide yesterday the decision ”presents an exciting opportunity for NSW” and that the government looked forward to ”a vibrant uranium exploration industry”……
When the legislation is proclaimed, companies will have 60 days to seek consent from Mr Hartcher to apply for a uranium exploration licence. Applications will be assessed by a government ”technical panel” overseen by a probity auditor and those who are successful will be invited by Mr Hartcher to apply for an exploration licence for uranium or thorium in the same manner as other minerals. The system mirrors the one in place for companies wishing to apply for coal exploration licences in NSW……
The Greens MP Jamie Parker said the NSW public did not support the government’s decision.
: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/search-for-uranium-looms-closer-20120614-20d68.html#ixzz1xtHOy27X
Queensland Premier Newman will retain Queensland’s ban on uranium mining
Newman resists calls to lift uranium ban, Brisbane Times, June 13, 2012 Queensland will take note of calls to change its stance on uranium if the prime minister takes up the cause, Premier Campbell Newman says. Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson today urged Queensland to lift its mining ban..
…. But Mr Newman intends to keep his promise to the electorate not to mine uranium. “Our position hasn’t changed, we have no plans to mine uranium,” he told reporters in Brisbane. But the premier says he’d be interested in hearing the view of the wider federal government. “I’m interested particularly on what the prime minister’s position is, will she support it as well?” he said…..
Australian Conservation Foundation uranium campaigner Dave Sweeney says Mr Ferguson is out of touch with community opinion, and that of Mr Newman.
“During the campaign Mr Newman said, ‘the LNP has made it crystal clear that we have no plans to approve the development of uranium in Queensland’,” he said. Mr Sweeney called on Mr Ferguson to focus on reviewing and improving
the performance of the existing Australian uranium industry. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/newman-resists-calls-to-lift-uranium-ban-20120613-209ke.html#ixzz1xnJDcyHV
Tony Abbott pledges his troth to BHP Billiton and its uranium mine expansion
BHP Billiton has revealed it is unlikely to go ahead with all of its major resources projects
Tony Abbott vows to clear way for giant Olympic Dam mine, Courier Mail : By Mark Kenny The Advertiser June 13, 2012
FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has committed to removing all obstacles to the Olympic Dam mine’s expansion and making its success a priority of the Coalition if it wins government.
He also said that Prime Minister Julia Gillard must give BHP Billiton a written assurance that the Minerals Resource Rent Tax will never be imposed on copper, gold and uranium – which are central to the expanded mine’s operations. Continue reading
Martin Ferguson urges Queensland to go for uranium mining
Martin Ferguson calls on Newman to reverse uranium ban vow, BY: SID MAHER The Australian June 13, 2012 RESOURCES Minister Martin Ferguson will today call on Queensland’s new conservative government to lift its ban on uranium mining, arguing it already allows exploration and that Australia is on track to triple its exports by 2030.
In a speech to an international uranium conference in Adelaide this morning, Mr Ferguson will ask Premier Campbell Newman to overturn his pre-election promise to ban uranium mining, arguing the state already has an estimated resource base of at least 37,000 tonnes.
…. Mr Ferguson will argue that uranium exports present a major opportunity for the nation. His call to the Queensland government comes after former Labor premier Anna Bligh resisted calls for uranium mining to be allowed in her state……
Australia’s Carbon Tax: Tony Abbott hopes the sky will fall in
What if Armageddon arrives in three weeks, and nothing happens? Because that is the likely outcome.
The Treasury forecasts that the carbon tax will cut economic growth by 0.1 per cent below what it would be otherwise. Imperceptible, in other words
“Publicly, their leader [Tony Abbott] talks mining stocks down; privately, they snap up the investments … His whole campaign is a complete fraud. As July 1 approaches he is going to get more and more desperate, because he will have no credibility left.”
Merchants of doom, beware, The Age, Peter Hartcher, June 9, 2012 Tony Abbott and the opposition must be careful their wrecking-ball approach doesn’t rebound and hurt them.
It’s strike one against Tony Abbott’s scare campaign on the carbon tax and mining tax. “Australia reported its economy was the fastest-growing in the developed world in the first three months of 2012, sweeping aside growing gloom,” reported The Wall Street Journal this week.
With the new taxes due to take effect in three weeks, the facts on the health of the Australian economy show a very different country to the one that, if Abbott is right, should rightfully be cringing in fearful anticipation.. Continue reading
Majority of industrialised countries have carbon pricing: Australia not alone in carbon tax
Australia not alone on carbon pricing: Combet, SMH, Adam Morton, June 9, 2012 CLIMATE Change Minister Greg Combet will today counter claims that Australia is acting alone on carbon pricing with an analysis that finds more than 50 jurisdictions will have emissions trading schemes in 2013.
The schemes cover a combined population of about 850 million, according to the analysis by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.
They include 30 countries linked under the European Union carbon scheme, regional systems covering 10 US states, including California, and seven pilot schemes in Chinese provinces and cities. Mr Combet said the schemes would cover an estimated 30 per cent of the global economy, showing Australia was joining “the vast majority of the world’s industrialised economies in adopting a policy that reduces emissions in the most economically responsible way”…..
Several European countries, including Britain and Scandinavian nations, have higher prices than Australia on fossil fuel industries once domestic carbon taxes are factored in. Continue reading
Christine Milne calls for positive support for Australia’s carbon tax
As she called for public support from business Senator Milne said understood that it was difficult to attract coverage for 
positive stories because of “the concentration of media ownership”.
“But nevertheless, we have to rewrite the rules that govern our economy so that we move rapidly to a low and then a zero carbon future and sustainable living.”
Greens demand ‘progressive businesses’ attack Tony Abbott, BY: MATTHEW FRANKLIN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT The Australian June 08, GREENS Leader Christine Milne has demanded “progressive businesses”
with investments in renewable energy publicly attack Tony Abbott’s promised direct action plan on carbon change and celebrate the July 1 introduction of Julia Gillard’s carbon tax.
Senator Milne has also criticised the Business Council of Australia for rejecting environmental controls because they might “impede business investment” and attacked the media for not publishing more positive stories about the need for an economic shift toward greater use of renewable energy. Continue reading
Nuclear power not viable for South Australia, says Premier Jay Weatherill
SA Premier rejects nuclear argument THE AUSTRALIAN June 05, 2012 Premier Jay Weatherill says the South Australian Government remains opposed to nuclear energy as an avenue to cutting carbon
emissions…
.. Mr Weatherill says using nuclear energy is not on the table. “It doesn’t represent the policy of this Government,” he said. “Leaving aside the broader objections, there is a practical, financial objective that means that nuclear power for South Australia is unlikely to be viable.”
Martin Ferguson got Australian government to weaken protection of iconic species, the giant cuttlefish
There is no publicly available explanation as to why and on what basis Minister Burke overturned his 
Department’s advice and acted in accordance with lobbying comments by the Minister for Resources and downgraded the recommended required level of protection accorded to the Australian Giant Cuttlefish from any adverse impacts by the operations of BHP Billiton’s proposed desalination plant.
Ferguson lobbying on Olympic Dam & Burke downgrading protection to the Australian Giant Cuttlefish, by David Noonan, 4 June 12 FOI documents reveal that on the same day that Min Burke signed the EPBC Act Approval to Olympic Dam (10th Oct 2011) a final key change was made to the conditions of approval – in accordance with lobbying by the Resources Minister [Martin Ferguson] and against Department of Environment advice that had already taken account of comments by the Resources Minister – to downgrade the recommended level of required protection that the activities covered by the approval must not result in any adverse impact on the abundance and distribution of Australian Giant Cuttlefish and to restrict the department to only prosecute BHP Billiton for non-compliance representing significant adverse impacts on the Cuttlefish breeding population resulting from operations of the proposed Desalination plant at Point Lowly in Upper Spencer Gulf. Continue reading
Unique Australian species – the giant cuttlefish now more threatened by Olympic Damn expansion.
It has also emerged that subtle changes to the wording of the Olympic Dam mine’s approval watered down recommended protection of the giant cuttlefish.
following a meeting with Mr Burke, the department [had] backflipped.
Greens SA leader Mark Parnell, who obtained the documents under Freedom of Information, said it would be much harder for the department to prosecute BHP Billiton if anything went wrong.
Cuttlefish population in decline: BHP, Heather Kennett | Brad Crouch, 4 June 12 http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/cuttlefish-population-in-decline-bhp/story-e6frea83-1226381517382 June 02, 2012 A NEW study has found a serious reduction in giant cuttlefish numbers in the region around Whyalla. Research commissioned by BHP Billiton – which wants to build a desalination plant near Whyalla – has found the cuttlefish population is already in serious decline ahead of hyper-saline brine being pumped from a future plant into Spencer Gulf….
. Tens of thousands of giant cuttlefish head to the Whyalla region each
winter to breed, which has become a tourist attraction. Their annual ritual has also become a pivotal environmental argument against BHP Billiton’s coastal desalination plant, which is part of its planned expansion of the Olympic Dam mine. ….. Continue reading
Tony Abbott and Campbell Newman on behalf of the polluting industries
The move comes as a UNESCO report warned coastal developments in Queensland were posing a risk to the reef.
Tony Abbott’s push to cut green tape would benefit (?) Queensland first by: Steven Scott The Courier-Mail June 04, 2012 QUEENSLAND would become the first state to gain greater control over environmentally sensitive developments if Tony Abbott wins the next election.
The federal Opposition has struck a preliminary deal with the Newman Government to allow it to take control of all approvals under federal environment laws, with the exception of offshore developments. Continue reading
BHP’s decision on Olympic Damn megamine delayed till late 2013?
BHP keeps South Australia waiting on Olympic Dam board decision , BY: MICHAEL OWEN The Australian May 31, 2012 BHP uranium president Dean Dalla Valle says the company “would deal with it then” if a board decision on the expansion of Olympic Dam could not be made by the government’s deadline of December 8.
“There will be a decision at the end of the year and that’s all we can say for now,” Mr Dalla Valle said yesterday….. company analysts now expect that Olympic Dam and other “mega” projects under consideration by the company will not be given the go-ahead until the December half of next year in response to rising economic uncertainty…
Western Australian govt will not allow uranium to be shipped from W.A. ports
WA has no plans to change stance on uranium , Business Spectator, 25 May 12 The Liberal-Nationals government of West Australia has no plans to ship yellowcake uranium to overseas markets due to a lack of suitable ports, “because they are either surrounded by residential areas or do not have container facilities”, according to a report by Federal Labor MP Melissa Parke said that the WA government’s decision recognised “that the people of Western Australia are strongly against the mining and movement of uranium”………. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/WA-has-no-plans-to-ship-yellowcake-pd20120525-UM2U9?OpenDocument&src=hp26,
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)
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