Northern Territory Minister convinced by nuclear lobby
We can’t rely on emotions,” Mr Vatskalis said.
Vatskalis breaks ranks to back nuclear power,Northern Territory News, NIGEL ADLAMJuly 23rd, 2010 TERRITORY Resources Minister Kon Vatskalis yesterday seemed to break ranks with the Labor Party and back an Australian nuclear power industry. He said at a mining conference in Perth that support for nuclear electricity-generating plants could grow when people had the “full facts and figures”. Continue reading
Australia’s Greens tell it like it is on Uranium, Nuclear Industry
“Recently we have been hearing a lot about ‘surging uranium prices’ and a ‘global nuclear renaissance’ but you only need to chart uranium miners’ share prices and the world uranium price to see the reality is strangely at odds with the hype,” Senator Ludlam said……..”Worldwide, the global civil nuclear industry is in serious trouble and nuclear weapons disarmament negotiations are suppressing world uranium prices.
Greens step up anti-uranium mining campaign, 21st July 2010, Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam will deliver a straightforward message to uranium miners and investors at the Australian Uranium Summit in Fremantle today
“The industry remains unsafe, unwanted and uneconomic. Pursuing investments in this least sustainable of industries will end in tears,” Senator Ludlam said. Continue reading
Climate Report Card – Australian politics
The Pollute-o-meter awarded the Greens four stars out of five, and found their policies could cut emissions by 26 per cent by 2020. The Greens want to put a price on carbon pollution.
Fails all round on climate report card, Herald Sun, 16/07/2010 With climate change shaping as a key election issue, both major parties have scored a fail from experts. Continue reading
Anti-nuclear Aboriginal is Greens Senate candidate
He says he wants to represent Territorians in the fight against the proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty station and the federal intervention.
Greens choose entertainer as Senate candidate, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Kirsty Nancarrow Jul 14, 2010 The Greens have chosen the award-winning Central Australian entertainer Warren H. Williams as its Northern Territory Senate candidate for the upcoming federal election. Continue reading
Pre election, Abbott dancing around on nuclear power
“We have no plans to promote nuclear power. We have no plans for local plebiscites. Nuclear power is not on the agenda at this time and I have no plans to put it on the agenda,” Mr Abbott said.
Poll-conscious Abbott dodges nuclear issue, Stock & Land, 13 Jul, 2010 OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has been forced to rule out going to the federal election with any plans to promote the use of nuclear power as a solution to climate change despite support by some Liberal and National members of Parliament. Continue reading
Australia’s nuclear lobby needs a carbon price – how embarassing!
John Howard asked Ziggy Switkowski in 2006 to look at nuclear power, and Switkowski told him it couldn’t happen without a carbon price. So, no nuclear power without a “great big new tax”………
No carbon price? You’re being conned | Crikey, 12 July, by Bernard Keane “……..The Coalition is dead keen on nuclear but won’t ever move without Labor giving them cover. But as Crikey showed in November last year, nuclear power is ludicrously expensive and needs massive taxpayer support, otherwise it costs a lot more to build and more to operate than renewables. And that’s before you figure out where to park the waste for a few hundreds of thousands of years or decommission reactors. Continue reading
Greens move to protect Arkaroola Wilderness from uranium mining
close to 95 per cent of South Australia, is available for mining but these precious places do need to be protected.
New step in Arkaroola wilderness mining fight – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Fri Jul 9, 2010 Greens MP Mark Parnell says he is confident of enough support in the South Australian Parliament to protect Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary from mining.
Gillard is pro Muckaty Nuclear Waste Dump, but Protest Grows
ACF last week launched its “Dump the Dump” campaign, raising money to campaign against the Muckaty proposal in the lead-up to the federal election.
Gillard OK with nuclear dump process, Sydney Morning Herald, GABRIELLE DUNLEVY, July 7, 2010 -A process that will see Australia get its first nuclear waste dump against the wishes of the site’s traditional owners will not change under Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Continue reading
Billionaire corporate miners now running Australia’s ship of state
Like the wealth that comes from iron ore and coal, the answer takes some digging but it appears to be corporate, not union, power that steers the ship of state.
Gillard Caves In To Miners, The Age , DAVID MCKNIGHT, July 6, 2010 Corporate, not union, power can frequently drive politicians’ priorities. The struggle to define the victor and vanquished over the new mining tax will continue until the election, but we are left with a larger question, one once scornfully directed at trade unions: who is running the country? Continue reading
BHP and Olympic Dam uranium mining – beyond the laws
BHP Billiton’s power in Australia seems to grow daily.
BHP , Rio Tinto, Xstrata showed their power by intimidating Julia Gillard with the threat of renewing their $100 million advertising campaign. She had to act fast – hence the new, watered-down Resources Rent Tax.
Exempted from Australia’s planned new Resources Rent Tax, and with BHP people in its policy-making, along with their lackey, Martin Ferguson, BHP adds to its achievements in being beyond both Federal and State laws.
Water: In South Australia, BHP’s Olympic Dam uranium mining gets 37 million litres of water daily completely free of charge
SA Roxby Downs Indenture Act . This legislation allows the mine to operate with wide-ranging exemptions from:
Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act
Environment Protection Act
Natural Resources Act
Freedom of Information Act
No Resource Rent Tax for Olympic Dam uranium mine
Done deal for Rann as Olympic Dam emerges unscathed , David Nason : The Australian * July 03, 2010 THE compromise mining tax won’t wring a single extra cent from the country’s biggest proposed mining project in South Australia. BHP Billiton’s $20 billion-plus Olympic Dam expansion in South Australia is exempt from the new tax, Continue reading
Uranium mining exempted from Resources tax, Ferguson fixes it.
Tax deal lifts cloud over miners, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 july 2010, Australia’s biggest miners face paying more tax, but not nearly as much as feared, after winning big concessions from the federal government….
Most importantly, the new tax will not affect BHP Billiton’s $23 billion plan to expand the massive Olympic Dam mine, the world’s biggest uranium deposit ….
Having signed off on the resource rent deal, only one major uncertainty remains for the miners. Will this new tax be approved by Australia’s Senate following an election expected in the next few months? Continue reading
Young voters will judge Gillard on Climate Change action
The new Prime Minister has an opportunity to win voters with a fresh approach to climate change. Last year, 97.5 per cent of the 37,000 young people who voted in Youth Decide, a national youth referendum organised by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, supported stronger cuts in emissions than what was then offered by the ALP…
…At the next election, for the first time, more than one in five voters will be of Generation Y. Young people’s future, and Julia Gillard’s future, will depend on her ability to implement effective climate change solutions.
Gen Y to Julia: Take a bold stance for our climate, Sydney Morning Herald, from Australian Youth Climate Coalition, JOEL DIGNAM, June 28, 2010, Julia Gillard can be more than Australia’s first female Prime Minister: she can be our first prime minister to take the necessary steps to tackle carbon pollution.
Now Julia Gillard is in a perfect space to take prompt action to position the ALP as the only major party with a serious climate policy. Continue reading
Prime Minister Gillard will fight for a carbon tax
Gillard to fight for carbon tax, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Jun 27, 2010 Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she wants Australia to have a carbon tax and is prepared to fight for it.
Ms Gillard told the Nine Network this morning she had doubts about the emissions trading scheme because there was no lasting and deep community consensus for it….
Ms Gillard says she will work to get a price on carbon.”I believe in climate change. I believe it’s caused by human activity and I believe we have an obligation to act,” she said. Gillard to fight for carbon tax – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Will Gillard toe Ferguson’s line on Muckaty nuclear waste dump?
“In no way can we allow any state or Territory
government to get in the way of establishing a repository,” said Martin Ferguson
Hendo urges Gillard to dump Muckaty, Northern Territory News, NICK CALACOURAS June 26th, 2010 AUSTRALIA’S new Prime Minister Julia Gillard should rethink her predecessor’s decision to build a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory, Chief Minister Paul Henderson said. 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 