Behind closed doors, South Australian govt and uranium miners do Indenture Act deal
BHP’s Marius Kloppers flies in to meet Premier, Adelaide Now, by:State editor Greg Kelton ,October 27, 2011 IN his last
week as premier, Mike Rann flew to Melbourne to negotiate the Olympic Dam expansion with BHP boss Marius Kloppers.
But this week the BHP Billiton chief executive will fly to Adelaide to meet new Premier Jay Weatherill to discuss progress on the mine expansion indenture. The face-to-face meeting follows a telephone discussion at the weekend between Mr Weatherill and Mr Kloppers and a meeting yesterday between Mr Weatherill and BHP Billiton’s president (uranium customer sector group) Dean Dalla Valle…..
Legislation to ratify the agreement was introduced in Parliament last week by former treasurer Kevin Foley, who was minister assisting the Premier on the dam expansion….. On Tuesday the Liberal party room completed two days of briefings on the Olympic Dam project. It will have a joint party room meeting on November 8 to decide its position on the indenture.
The Greens yesterday accused the Government of turning scrutiny of the Olympic Dam indenture into a farce.
Greens leader Mark Parnell said a special parliamentary committee, which has to examine the agreement, was planning to hear from only three witnesses and prevent the media and public from attending the hearings.
Mr Parnell said the only groups invited to present evidence to the committee were the Government, BHP-Billiton and the Chamber of Mines.
“No advertising has been done and the hearings are set to be held behind closed doors,” he said, accusing the Government and Opposition of concocting the committee process. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/bhp-flies-in-to-meet-premier/story-e6frede3-1226177764951
Western Australian govt will be cracking down on anti nuclear and other peaceful protestors
Barnett’s jail threat to human rights activist, SMH Courtney Trenwith, October 24, 2011 – A Perth protester says he has been officially threatened with jail if he enters a CBD exclusion zone during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting week. Seamus Doherty said WA Police notified him this morning that he was named on an excluded persons’ list and faced up to a year in jail if he entered designated security areas…..
“Naturally we’re worried about what we’ve seen in Sydney and Melbourne. No one can look at the footage of what the police actions were and say it was reasonably or justified actions by police.
“We’ve always said that our protest is a peaceful protest. All we’re planning to do is exercise our democratic right to assemble.”….”It is outrageous that non-violent, human-rights activists should suffer this kind of treatment by WA authorities.”..Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/barnetts-jail-threat-to-human-rights-activist-20111024-1mfpc.html#ixzz1bpHdO3Q1
CHOGM powers to haul in kids has watchdog snarling, THE AUSTRALIAN, BY:DEBBIE GUEST , October 20, 2011 THE inspector of Western Australia’s powerful corruption watchdog is worried about extraordinary police powers granted for next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The new laws — which take effect in Perth from today until November 5 — will allow police to haul children as young as 16 before a Corruption and Crime Commission examination…. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/chogm-powers-to-haul-in-kids-has-watchdog-snarling/story-e6frgczx-1226171
Interstate police officers arrive in Perth for CHOGM, ABC News Newcastle 19 Oct 11, “……Two planes carrying officers from South Australia and New South Wales arrived at Perth airport this afternoon. Those officers were the first of more than 700 extra police from across Australia and New Zealand who will arrive in the next few days for CHOGM…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-19/chogm-police-arrive-in-perth/3579850/?site=newcastle
Mike Rann sold South Australia short on Olympic Dam uranium mine
A case of Olympian incompetence by South Australia, THE AUSTRALIAN, BY:PAUL CLEARY ,October 21, 2011 THE royalty agreement negotiated by South Australia for BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam expansion has robbed the state’s citizens and all Australians of the opportunity to share in the profits of what will become the world’s biggest mine. (at left, Marius Kloppers CEO of BHP BIlliton, and Mike Rann, retiring Premier of South Australia.)
This deal is a monumental example of state government incompetence when it comes to acting as custodian of the nation’s mineral wealth.
South Australia has agreed to a regime based solely on percentages and even cents per tonne of the mine’s production. Mike Rann, who stands down today as Premier, has done South Australians a disservice that will cost them dearly for almost half a century. Continue reading
South Australia’s outgoing Premier contradicts Labor Party policy on uranium to India?
Rann changes tack on uranium sales to India, The Australian, October 20, 2011 “…….The long-serving South Australian Premier, forced by Labor to hand his premiership over to Education Minister Jay Weatherill tomorrow morning, said it was time to think about agreeing to India’s desire to import uranium from Australia……. Mr Rann’s remarks came a week after he signed off on approvals for BHP Billiton’s proposal to expand the Olympic Dam mine in the state’s far north. “It will be the world’s biggest uranium mine,” he said.
Mr Rann was a longstanding opponent of uranium exports to India, and had called potential sales a “grave mistake” and “extremely foolhardy”. While India is Australia’s third-biggest export market, Labor is opposed to exporting uranium to a nation that has not signed the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In September, Tony Abbott said the government had made a “great mistake” in reversing the Howard government’s decision to sell uranium to India……
Speaking from France, Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said the federal government’s policy was clear. “We will only supply uranium to countries that are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have signed a bilateral agreement with Australia,” he said…..
Australian Uranium Association chief executive Michael Angwin said it was not the Premier’s role to determine which countries uranium could be exported to.
Australia’s Liberal Party’s new platform – Against renewable Energy
the Coalition is becoming an anti-renewable energy party
Abbott opens new front in climate war, Unleashed, 19 Oct 11, This week Tony Abbott and the Coalition opened up a new front in their ideological war against climate change action and carbon pricing.
In a move reminiscent of the US Tea Party, renewable energy has become the new target of Australia’s conservative party.
Not content with the ‘blood pledge‘ to repeal the carbon price, Abbott lieutenants Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb announced that a Coalition government would scrap the Clean Energy Finance Council (CEFC). If well designed and administered, the body is a potentially useful aid for Australia’s transition to a 21st-Century clean economy. The plan to abolish the CEFC threatens $10 billion of investment: $5 billion exclusively for renewable energy and the remainder available for cleantech manufacturing, energy efficiency and enabling infrastructure.* Continue reading
South Australian Premier Mike Rann having a bet each way on his uranium “legacy”
Two faced Premier Mike Rann, previously elected as S.A. Labor Party’s spokesman AGAINST uranium mining, went on to be a fervent servant of BHP Billiton. Now he wants to have his “legacy” as having approved. the monster Olympic Dam open cut uranium mine.
BUT – that mightn’t work out. Olympic Damn has a good chance of becoming an environmental and economic nightmare for South Australia. So, just in case, Mr Rann is now piously giving himself the credit for saving Arkaroola Wildreness from uranium mining. (Bad luck, Marathon Resources, your Premier dumped you for BHP.) – Christina Macpherson
Arkaroola protection bill going to SA Parliament ABC News, October 17, 2011 Premier Mike Rann has visited Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary to promote this week’s introduction of legislation to permanently protect the area from mining.
The South Australian Premier sees Arkaroola’s protection as some of his last business before he steps out of the limelight…
His Government signed the Olympic Dam indenture with BHP Billiton last week, another key project Mr Rann leaves as his legacy….. New laws will ban all types of mining at Arkaroola and come four years after exploration waste was dumped at Mount Gee in the area by explorer Marathon Resources. Arkaroola also has been provisionally listed on the state heritage register and will be nominated for national and world heritage listing…
Marathon Resources had spent millions of dollars exploring at Arkaroola and its share price has fallen since the mining ban was flagged.It is negotiating with the SA Government for compensation. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-17/arkaroola-wilderness-legislation-mining-ban/3574300
Sydney’s Hunter’s Hill uranium radioactive wastes might be dumped in western suburb
Sydney’s uranium waste could still go west, Josephine Tovey, October 18, 2011 The Premier, Barry O’Farrell, will not rule out sending waste from a former uranium plant in Hunters Hill to western Sydney, despite the Coalition campaigning against the move when it was in opposition.
The Keneally government had signed a contract with SITA Environmental Solutions at Kemps Creek to dispose of the waste but withdrew from it last year after an outcry from the community.
Liberal candidate for Mulgoa Tanya Davies, who won the seat, had accused the former government of using her electorate as “dumping ground for Sydney”…. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/sydneys-uranium-waste-could-still-go-west-20111017-1ltfb.html
Grandiose uranium mine depicted as a tourist attraction!
As well as a giant open pit, the company will leave behind a small mountain of unused rocks and a large tailings storage facility, which will need to be fenced off with warnings of the potential for radiation exposure.
Once mining stops, the pit is expected to fill with rising groundwater, creating a vast outback lake that would be up to 350m deep.
BHP Billiton says backfilling is not a feasible option and has suggested the South Australian Government resume control of the pit and turn it into a managed tourist attraction. It says the government would be responsible for building and maintaining viewing platforms and controlling access by tourists, students and scientists.
It suggests the rock storage, where it will dump the ”overburden” of surface rock and soil which will take about five years to remove, should be returned as crown land and could also be used for tourism….
The expanded mine is planned to be productive for 40 years……
Anti-nuclear groups and the Greens have criticised the conditions for not going far enough, but are equally concerned about what will be left behind.
The Australian Nuclear Free Alliance said almost nine billion tonnes of radioactive waste would remain in northern SA. A spokeswoman said if that was acceptable to the SA Government, then it was setting the bar ”extremely low”.
”The radioactive waste will remain on Kokatha and Arabunna country long after BHP Billiton packs up its business and moves on,” she said, referring to traditional indigenous landowners of the region…. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/mine-could-one-day-be-a-tourist-attraction/2320845.aspx
Obscenity of BHP Billiton’s Control of Huge Water Resources in Olympic Damn Uranium Mine Deal
VIDEO Mine expansion draws more water from basin ABC News, Paul Klaric, October 14, 2011 Scientists are concerned that the the proposed Olympic Dam mine expansion will put a strain on Australia’s greatest underground water supply. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-14/mine-expansion-draws-more-water-from-basin/3572500
GREEN LIGHT FOR OLYMPIC DAM EXPANSION THE BLOGGER IS A BHP BILLITON SHAREHOLDER. On 13 May 2011 the company announced a proposal for six-fold expansion of Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia – to extract the most valuable single mineral deposit in the world. The mine will consume up to 42 million litres of water a day from the Great Artesian Basin for plus 40 years.
USE OF THE GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN BY THAT MINE IS THE ISSUE WHICH THIS BLOG ADDRESSES
On 10 October 2011 the South Australian (SA) Government granted approval for the BHP Billiton (BHP) Olympic Dam expansion. The Indenture Bill, signed on 12 October by representatives of BHP and the State Government, will now be submitted to vote in the SA Parliament. The SA government will not terminate or suspend the current licence which entitles BHP to take 42 million litres of water each day for Olympic Dam from the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) – but BHP will in the future pay for GAB water. This failure of the SA Government to protect the best interests of the GAB represents an enormously significant strategic win for BHP.
Australia’s carbon tax has a symbolic and leadership value in international effort against global warming
The passage of this initiative is still hugely important, if for no other reason than that it shows Big Coal can be rolled. The coal industry is an even larger part of the Australian economy than it is of the American, and it has an enormous amount of political power. And just like here in the U.S., there are plenty of shrill politicians in Oz who claim that any new tax will lead to economic ruin.
Gillard told Members of Parliament that they would be judged on their vote by every Australian, “because the final test is not are you on the right side of the politics of the week, or the polls of the year.”
“The final test is this: are you on the right side of history?”
Australian Carbon Tax Vote: A Very Big Deal, ROLLING STONE, : OCTOBER 13, By JEFF GOODELL So maybe there is hope for us yet. After what one Aussie columnist calls“the dirtiest and most dishonest campaign ever waged before the Australian public,” with millions of dollars spent on media ads and climate skeptics flown in from around the world, Australia’s House of Representatives voted yesterday, 74 to 72,to levy a tax on carbon pollution. The proposal, which was pushed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, will impose a price of $23 on a ton of carbon pollution, starting in 2015. After 2015, an emissions-trading scheme will be introduced, with the goal of cutting total carbon pollution 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020. The legislation still needs to pass the Senate, but because Greens control the balance of power there, that is not likely to be a problem. Unless something dramatic happens, in a few months Australia will have taken an important first step toward saving itself from the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
This is a big deal. Continue reading
Australia’s House of Representatives passes The Australian Clean Energy legislative package,
Australian clean and renewable energy legislation passed, Reinforced Plastic 13 October 2011 The Australian Clean Energy legislative package, which put a price on carbon emissions and promotes renewable energy, has been passed by the House of Representatives. By Kari Williamson The 19 Bills comprise the Clean Energy legislation and the Steel Transformation Plan Bill, which put a price on carbon emissions, promote investment in renewable and clean energy technologies, and support action to reduce carbon pollution on the land.
The legislation will now be introduced to the Senate, and aims to be passed through the upper house by the end of the year. According to media reports, there could be over US$13.2 billion on the table for renewable energy and other low-carbon investment if the legislation passes the Senate.
Australia is currently one of the top 20 polluting countries in the world. http://www.reinforcedplastics.com/view/21326/australian-clean-and-renewable-energy-legislation-passed/
How Australian governments gave BHP special treatment, and free groundwater
Public resources for private profit: free water for the largest open-pit mine in the world Coober Pedy Regional Times, by: Nectaria Calan, 13 Oct 11 In August mining giant BHP Billiton announced record financial results for the 2011 financial year, recording a total net profit of US$23.95 billion, nearly double its 2010 figure of US$13.01 billion.Soouth Australia’s Mike Rann gives freehold to BHP over Olympic Dam uranium mining lease
“They have a code of silence at that mining lease that’s stronger than any code in downtown Calabria,” “They even have the government tied up because when BHP says jump, the government says how high.”
Yesterday, Rann again signed off on BHP’s powerful proprietary interests over the site. BHP gets freehold over the extended Olympic Dam mining lease. Few mining companies have this ultimate level of control.
The estimated mining royalties for South Australia ($350 million) from the “world’s biggest mine in human history” are around one tenth of what Western Australia pulls every year from iron ore.
Mike Rann delivers Kloppers’ Kingdom in Melbourne, Crikey, by Kevin Naughton of InDaily, 13 Oct 11,
“…….Rann was in Melbourne at BHP Billiton’s headquarters to sign the indenture agreement that specifies several of the terms under which BHP can expand its mine at Olympic Dam. Marius Kloppers, the busy global boss of the company with more than $72 billion turnover, held the whip hand on the Premier of a state with annual turnover of about $13 billion.
The indenture agreement goes before Parliament next week where there will be some token debate, but little in the way of exhaustive analysis of the terms of a deal that gives BHP 45 years of certainty, control and exclusive access rights that make this mine site look more like Kloppers’ Kingdom than a part of South Australia. Continue reading
Unlikely to succeed – Tony Abbott’s “pledge in blood” to repeal carbon tax law
Abbott’s gory pledge would be a legal bloodbath , Crikey.com 13 Oct 11, by Fergus Green, a lawyer and policy analyst specialising in climate change Abbott’s hyperbole has certainly attracted the headlines, but it betrays a curious tactic. By using such uncompromising rhetoric John Howard gave us the “non-core promise”. Now Tony Abbott has added a new category to the hierarchy of political commitment with his “pledge in blood” to repeal the carbon tax, which passed the lower house of Parliament yesterday (unless, of course, that was just an “unscripted remark” made “in the heat of verbal combat”.)
Abbott has left himself no room to move if repealing the nascent scheme becomes legally impossible or popularly unpalatable.
No amount of blood-pledging, pinkie-swearing, or scout’s-honouring will change the constitutional and political obstacles that an Abbott government would face if it tried to repeal (what will soon be) theClean Energy Act and its 18 associated acts of Parliament….. http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/10/13/abbotts-gory-pledge-would-be-a-legal-bloodbath/
Not all smooth sailing for BHP’s plan to expand Olympic Dam uranium mine
agreement is conditional on the Indenture Act passing through South Australia’s Parliament. And with the Greens and Opposition poring over the details, that progression is far from assured.The company has signed a preliminary agreement with the state’s Premier Mike Rann. BHP Billiton now has a year to reach a final investment decision. Mr Rann says today will go down in history.
But the Opposition says he has compromised important negotiations. Nance Haxton reports. Continue reading
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