Victorian govt leads the way from renewable energy, towards brown coal, then nuclear
the massive 3,700 sq km lease EL4416 to Dr. John White’s Ignite Energy Resources. Cutting a swathe right across southern Gippsland’s prime coastal and tourism region, it runs the entire length of the spectacular 90 Mile Beach from the top of Wilsons Promontory to the Gippsland Lakes, half circling the towns of Bairnsdale, Sale and Traralgon.
when action on global warming can no longer be delayed, what will the Victorian government’s exit strategy be for brown coal? How will it placate community concern over food security and energy in a warming planet? In the absence of any willing investors left for wind or solar, are Victorians the first to be softened up for the nuclear debate we’re yet to have?
White is more than just a valued friend of the Liberal Party and former head of Prime Minister John Howard’s Uranium Industry Framework. White is a serious player in the international nuclear stakes and was the brainchild behind the “cradle to grave” business plan for President George Bush’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
Victoria goes dirty brown, Independent Australia, 25 Nov 11 IA INVESTIGATION: The new Victorian Government has abandoned any concerns for the environment in a rush to turn Victoria into a big, dirty, brown coal mine. Environment editorSandi Keane reports “…. Under recent legislation, new coal-fired power stations can be built 1km from the nearest residence (or just over 1km in the case of the Anglesea Primary School) – but not for a windfarm, which needs to be at least 2km away from the nearest complaining resident….the grab for arable land is on…..Over 40 per cent of Victoria is now under licence — a “ticking time bomb” according to Environment Victoria’s Make Wakeham. Its new website, CoalWatch, allows users to see at a glance which areas of Victorian have been leased to mining companies for the mining of brown coal….. Continue reading
Poll shows Queenslanders reject uranium mining, and uranium sales to India
Queenslanders reject Julia Gillard’s uranium sales to India, Galaxy Poll finds, by:Steven Scott , The Courier-Mail November 21, 2011 PRIME Minister Julia Gillard’s plan to allow uranium sales to India has been rejected by a majority of Queensland voters. And only a third of the state’s Labor voters back Ms Gillard’s controversial plan, a Galaxy poll conducted exclusively for The Courier-Mail found….A meeting of left-wing Labor MPs in Canberra yesterday vowed to use the conference to fight against Ms Gillard’s plans to sell uranium to India because it has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. “It is a sell-out of everything we’ve stood for as a party over the last 40 years,” Left faction convener Doug Cameron said.
About 56 per cent of the state’s voters are opposed to selling uranium to India, according to the poll of 800 people on November 16 and 17. Opposition to the plans is even higher among Labor supporters, with 61 per cent rejecting it. The plans have pitted Ms Gillard against Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who has refused to lift a ban on mining the state’s considerable uranium reserves….. http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/poll-backs-ban-on-uranium/story-fn7kjcme-1226200652135
Labor senator speaks out on nuclear weapons danger of Australia selling uranium to India
India possesses nuclear weapons but is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and current Labor policy prohibits selling uranium to any country that is not a signatory. But Senator Gavin Marshall says there is no doubt it will be used directly in India’s nuclear weapons program or to free up domestic supplies.
“Either way, Australian uranium assists in a nuclear arms race in that part of the world,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a responsible thing for this government to do.” He also does not buy the Prime Minister’s argument it would be good for jobs and disputes it would reduce poverty…..
Senator Marshall says those fighting the policy shift could still win the argument. The left convenor will meet with his other faction colleagues tomorrow. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-19/labor-left-fears-uranium-backflip-will-fuel-arms-race/3681338/?site=newcastle
Kevin Rudd to vote against uranium to India, at Labor Party conference?
Kevin Rudd drops a bomb over India uranium exports, by: Gemma Jones Herald Sun, November 18, 2011
“……..Kevin Rudd stood by previous statements that it would be a bad idea to sell uranium to any country that is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. However, he pledged his backing for Ms Gillard’s appeal to the Labor Party national conference [to debate the issue]…..
Senator Doug Cameron said the debate would be “significant and serious”.
“The Prime Minister has indicated she would operate in an open and consultative manner. I would have expected that position to be taken with the backbench on such an important issue and I am disappointed that it didn’t take place,” he said. …
Tony Abbott will not be able to wind back Australia’s carbon tax
The political uncertainty is impairing the long-term investment decisions needed for a sizeable renewable-energy sector to take shape, but Gillard says: “My prediction would be we are seeing the maximum drama right now, but it will abate over time. The reality is, Tony Abbott knows you can’t go back.”
John Grimes, chief executive of the Australian Solar Energy Society, says the odds are stacked against Abbott being able to wind back Labor policies. Continue reading
Australia has four options on nuclear disarmament and uranium sales
Promises and U-turns of the nuclear kind, The Drum, Jim Green, 19 Nov 11“…..What steps could Australia take to extricate us from the current mess – the South Asian nuclear arms race, and the broader problem of nuclear proliferation?
Option #1 is to leave uranium in the ground. It’s not as radical an idea as it might sound. Uranium accounts for a paltry 0.3 per cent of national export revenue and 0.03 per cent of Australian jobs. Few would notice if the industry vanished and still fewer would miss it.
Option #2 is to apply current government policy – restricting supply to countries that have signed the NPT. A variation of that option would be to restrict supply to NPT signatories that are serious about their non-proliferation and disarmament obligations – that would require a rethink of supply to, for example, the US and China since they have not ratified the CTBT. Continue reading
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
1 This month
17 October, Free Public Talk on Nuclear Issues in South Australia
David Noonan will speak on public interest concerns over the new Roxby Downs Indenture Act 2026 on BHP copper-uranium mining and ore processing in SA, and on how AUKUS may face SA with a High-Level nuclear waste agenda.
Dr Jim Green will discuss international developments in the field of nuclear power including ‘small modular reactors’ and Generation 4 ‘advanced’ nuclear reactor concepts.
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