Uranium should be taxed, too, say the Australian Greens
Greens want Mining Resources Rent Tax on uranium, The West 18 Nov 11, The Australian Greens will seek to broaden the minerals resource rent tax to cover uranium.
As the legislation for the tax is due to be debated in the House of Representatives next week, Greens leader Bob Brown said he was in talks with his party colleagues on moving an amendment to include not just coal and iron ore but uranium.
Senator Brown told reporters in Canberra the decision came after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced she would seek approval of the Labor national conference to back the sale of uranium to India.
Labor has long opposed India being able to buy Australian uranium because it is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty…..
“It seems logical to me, in an age where health care and public education are short of funds right around this country, should we not be taxing the largely foreign ownership of our uranium mines?” Senator Brown said.
“We will be looking at adding that amendment in the light of the huge change that we are seeing not just in the promotion of uranium to India by Prime Minister Julia Gillard but with the uranium prices going up.”
Senator Brown said he had no doubt that Australian uranium “is going into nuclear weapons or making it possible for other uranium to go into nuclear weapons in some of the most volatile circumstances around the world”. He said it remained Greens policy to stop all uranium exports. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/business/11757119/greens-want-mrrt-on-uranium/
Questions: nuclear submarines for Darwin? Greens, China, Indonesia – all want answers
We need more details of US build-up: Brown, SMH, 17 Nov 11, Australian Greens leader Bob Brown fears nuclear submarines could be stationed off the coast of Australia as part of a US military build-up in the Top End……
The expansion of the existing collaboration between the Australian Defence Force and the US Marine Corps and US Air Force will allow America to enhance its presence in the Asia-Pacific region
Senator Brown wants to see more details of the deal, announced jointly by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and US President Barack Obama on Wednesday. He also wants a parliamentary debate on the deal. “I object to Australian people and parliament not knowing what the details are,” Senator Brown told ABC radio on Thursday. Continue reading
Pro nuclear union pushing to lift NSW’s ban on uranium mining, Lithgow not keen
Council airs uranium mining fears ABC News, 16 Nov 11, The Lithgow City Council says it would have concerns about any open-cut mining proposals that might come from a uranium discovery.
The Australian Workers Union has suggested deposits of the material could be found in the Lithgow area, if a ban on exploration was lifted.
Lithgow Mayor Neville Castle says despite wide exploration for other metals, he has never heard of it being found in the region.”Well as far as I’m aware there’s been no identified deposits of uranium and we’ve had obviously a lot of geologists,” he said….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-16/council-airs-uranium-deposit-fears/3674062
Julia Gillard’s new line on uranium to India causes quite a political mess
the discomfort in some quarters about the plan was underlined yesterday when India test-fired a long-range missile, which officials said was capable of carrying a one-tonne nuclear warhead deep inside China.
Gillard’s uranium backlash The Age, Michelle Grattan, Katharine Murphy and John Watson November 16,
2011 PRIME Minister Julia Gillard’s push to sell uranium to India has triggered a fight with her party’s Left, attracted disquiet from Pakistan and infuriated Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who was not consulted about the change. Tensions between Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd are likely to escalate after the snub, which was made worse by Mr Rudd being in India when she made the move. Continue reading
India wants to be treated differently from other nations
The problem with the Prime Minister’s argument, of course, is that the existing policy does not treat India differently at all….The problem is rather the opposite of what the Prime Minister says: it is not that Australia treats India differently, but that India wishes to be treated differently.
If India wants uranium, let it sign the treaty The Age, 16 Nov 11Trade advantage does not make safety negotiable. THE Prime Minister, writing on our opinion page yesterday, complained that ”despite links of language, heritage and democratic values”, Australia continues to ”treat India differently”. The differential treatment, she says, lies in the fact that we do not sell India uranium for peaceful purposes, despite selling it to China, Japan and the United States. It is time, she believes, to abandon this attitude to India, while acting in our own economic best interests.
At the ALP federal conference in Sydney next month, Ms Gillard will propose that the party make an exception to its policy that Australia should continue to adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by allowing uranium exports to India. This will be all right, apparently, because we will ”expect of India the same standards we do for all countries for uranium export – strict adherence to International Atomic Energy arrangements and strong bilateral undertakings and transparency measures that will provide assurances our uranium will only be used for peaceful purposes”. Continue reading
Biggest mining companies the beneficiaries of uranium sales to India
Gillard’s uranium backflip ‘to appease big miners’, WA Today, 16 Nov 11, Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decision to push for uranium exportation to India may be the product of a deal struck with the big miners over the MRRT, Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Neville Power speculated yesterday.
“It’s no coincidence I guess that BHP will be the largest beneficiary of exporting uranium so maybe the deal from the MRRT continues and what we’re seeing is just payback for the support of the MRRT,” Mr Power said. Ms Gillard yesterday revealed she would lobby the Australian Labor Party to change its stance on exportation of uranium to India, a country who is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Mr Power said BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia stood to gain the most if the growing Indian market was opened up. “It is remarkable that Xstrata, BHP and Rio Tinto have not said a thing about the MRRT…..
The WA Labor Party has said it will maintain its blanket ban on uranium mining.…
http://www.watoday.com.au/business/gillards-uranium-backflip-to-appease-big-miners-20111116-1nhze.html#ixzz1durZFCcq
USA pushes Australia on military bases, on uranium sales to India
Australia under nuclear pressure, Independent Australia, 15 Nov 2011 The prime minister announced today that Australia is set to overturn its ban on uranium sales to India, a non-signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The reason why she’s doing this is simple, Barack Obama asked her — because it’s good for the US economy. Noel Wauchope reports……
As Australia’s biggest trading partner, one would expect that China would be receiving top consideration from the Australian government, but hey — Australia has to be nice to USA, doesn’t it? As we all know, it’s traditional that when USA yells “Jump!”, Australia responds “How high!?”
And so it is that, once again, the Australian government is in the process of jumping hurdles, as dictated by USA, however little sense that might make….. Continue reading
Uranium ‘debate’ the ALP will regret
“It deliberately undermines the NPT, the rules nearly every country on earth has signed up for; only India, Pakistan and Israel have refused to sign on. “Australia’s prudent and principled stance for the last 41 years was based on these foundations.
The Prime Minister’s regrettable cave-in on uranium sales to India is the latest in a long and dishonourable line of ALP policy capitulations on uranium and nuclear security issues, Australian Greens nuclear issues spokesperson Scott Ludlam said today. “The mining industry is now setting foreign policy to suit their commercial interests, through their Cabinet representative Martin Ferguson,” Senator Ludlam said. Continue reading
Martin Ferguson, Minister For the Nuclear Industry avoids debate, avoids Aborigines on Muckaty waste dump
Ferguson claims that Muckaty traditional owners support the dump despite clear evidence that a majority do not. Traditional owners have written to him repeatedly voicing their objections. They have repeatedly requested a meeting with Ferguson and he repeatedly refuses. Traditional owner Dianne Stokes said: “Martin Ferguson has avoided us and ignored our letters but he knows very well how we feel. He has been arrogant and secretive and he thinks he has gotten away with his plan but in fact he has a big fight on his hands.”
Traditional owners also initiated ongoing legal action in the Federal Court to try to stop the imposition of a nuclear dump — and Ferguson continues to claim they support the dump!
No Debate On Muckaty For Ferguson, By Jim Green, New Matilda, 15 November 2011 As Julia Gillard pushes to end the ban on uranium sales to India, resources minister Martin Ferguson won’t enter into debate on how we deal with nuclear waste at home, writes Jim Green
Federal resources minister Martin Ferguson issued a media release in September claiming that he welcomes debate on Australia’s radioactive waste management options. Friends of the Earth invited him to participate in just such a debate but we were told by his office last week that he wouldn’t participate.
Small wonder. The government’s ongoing effort to impose a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land in the NT is the most disgraceful example of “radioactive racism” since the Menzies government exploded atomic bombs on Aboriginal land in the 1950s. Ferguson claims that Muckaty traditional owners support the dump despite clear evidence that a majority do not. Continue reading
Queensland to keep ban on uranium mining
Bligh against uranium mining despite Gillard push ABC News, 15 Nov 11 Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says her State Government remains opposed to mining uranium, with no intention of revisiting that policy.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is heading for a showdown with the Left of her party, as she pushes to have Labor drop its ban on exporting uranium to nuclear-armed India……Ms Bligh says her State Government will not change its policy, despite Ms Gillard’s push. “If there is a debate at national conference about whether or not Australian uranium should be going to countries like India, it won’t change the policy that we have in Queensland, which is that we don’t mine our uranium,” she said……
Nuclear advocate Bill Shorten joins Martin Ferguson in rubbishing renewable energy plan
Before the former AWU national secretary Bill Shorten received ALP preselection for federal parliament, he campaigned heavily for nuclear power and the scrapping of the ALP’s no new mines policy. The AWU has been at the forefront of efforts to change Labor’s policy and to lay the groundwork for a nuclear industry in Australia. – C.M.
Shorten joins attack of ‘unrealistic’ renewable target by Greens, The Australian , November 14, 2011 ASSISTANT Treasurer Bill Shorten is the latest Labor MP to attack the Greens over their desire for Australia to move to 100 per cent renewable energy, saying it is not “realistic in the slightest” nor is it Gillard government policy. Mr Shorten’s comments follow Energy Minister Martin Ferguson’s declaring the Greens advocating a move to renewable energy as “living in fantasy land”.
Bob Brown, possibly Australian government’s only sane member, wants scrutiny about USA military bases
Brown wants debate on rumoured US expansion, ABC News 12 Nov 11 Australian Greens leader Bob Brown wants the Federal Parliament to debate the prospect of the United States expanding its military presence in Australia. The White House has refused to confirm reports a deal has been made increasing American access to Australian army bases.
There is speculation an announcement may be made when the US president Barack Obama visits Darwin next week.
The reports say Australia and the US have been working on plans for increased cooperation, including bringing in more US troops to strategic areas including Darwin, as well as increasing the number of joint exercises and training.
Senator Brown says the Australian Parliament has an obligation to debate the pros and cons.”We are putting a clear point of view that Parliament should debate new foreign troop placements in Australia, whether they be in Darwin or Western Australia or anywhere else and that of course is responsible democracy,” he said.
But the Prime Minister Julia Gillard has refused to be drawn on the reports…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-12/brown-wants-debate-on-rumoured-us-military-boost/3662698
Martin Ferguson’s conflict of interest on renewable energy, and attack on Greens
Yes, it’s an awful shame that Australia has a Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism – when there is clearly a conflict of interest in that role
Martin Ferguson has chosen to effectively be Australia’s Minister For Nuclear Power, and Fossil Fuels – sure – they are forms of energy. It’s just a pity that these are in direct conflict with renewable energy, and tourism, for which Ferguson is also responsible. He has a firm grip on disseminatng information to downgrade renewable s, even to having his own stooge representing Australia at IRENA. – C.M.
Ferguson slams Greens on renewable energy, Business Spectator , 11 Nov 2011 The Greens push for Australia to abandon non-renewable energy sources within a decade has prompted Energy Minister Martin Ferguson to say the party is “living in fantasy land” in comments that risk further escalating rifts between Labor and the Greens, according to a report by The Australian.
Mr Ferguson said the Greens’ push to abandon non-renewable energy sources will not be achievable so long as renewable energy is more expensive than traditional energy sources.
“It is time the Greens stopped deliberately misleading the Australian public with their claims that Australia can move to 100 per cent renewable energy within a decade,” Mr Ferguson said, according to The Australian.
“They are living in fantasy land if they think this can be achieved.” The Greens have declared that the federal government’s $23-a-tonne carbon tax, passed by the Senate on Tuesday, does not go far enough on moving towards renewable energy, the newspaper added. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Ferguson-slams-Greens-on-renewable-energy-pd20111110-NGRE4?opendocument&src=rss
Australia might block investment in nuclear weapons, including in Future Fund
Australia to Weigh Powers for Blocking Nuke Investments NTI Global Security Newswire, Nov. 10, 2011 Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith has requested a formal opinion on whether he wields authority under existing statutes to bar the possession of financial stakes in firms involved in nuclear weapons activities, The Australiannewspaper reported on Thursday (see GSN, Oct. 17).
Smith instructed William Blick, a former inspector-general of intelligence and security, to determine “whether the investment of funds in companies that develop, produce, acquire or stockpile weapons of mass destruction should be controlled” by the Weapons of Mass Destruction (Prevention of Proliferation) Act. Canberra has tapped the law in five instances over roughly the last two years to prevent transfers of items with possible WMD applications to Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries including Iran (see GSN, April 5, 2010).
The law’s potential use to prohibit financial interests in nuclear weapon-linked firms might affect a pension fund for Australian government retirees. Australia’s “Future Fund” had $137.7 million in holdings in 15 such companies, including Boeing, EADS, Honeywell and Northrop Grumman, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Sean Parnell, THE AUSTRALIAN, Nov. 10).http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20111110_7447.php
Olympic Dam “Every word of the agreement favours BHP, not South Australians” – Liberal MP
Opposition industry spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith joined the criticism of the deal struck with BHP Billiton. Mr Hamilton-Smith said, “Every word of the agreement favours BHP, not South Australians.”
Greens turn new Premier Jay Weatherill blue, The Advertiser, Sarah Martin , November 10, 2011 “……Mr Parnell agreed that the Greens did not support any expansion of uranium mining in Australia, and argued the mine could be viable without uranium exploration. Continue reading
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