Marcia Langton’s pro mining lectures raise questions about corporate funding of university lecturers
Langton failed to disclose mining company funding The Age, Gina McColl 2 March 13, LEADING environmentalists have criticised the ABC and Professor Marcia Langton after revelations her recent ABC Boyer Lectures, in which she praised the mining industry’s role in the emergence of an Aboriginal middle class and delivered a broadside against the green movement, drew on research partially funded by big mining companies.
Santos contributed $45,000, Woodside $30,000, and the federal government’s Indigenous Affairs Department $300,000 to a four-year research project led by Professor Langton into economic empowerment in indigenous communities.
Rio Tinto contributed an undisclosed sum to the $480,000 project, while Marnda Mia, a company that represents local indigenous communities in deals with Rio, offered non-cash support.
Scientist and former Australian of the year Tim Flannery, whom Professor Langton accused in one lecture of racism, said the lectures ”take on a different light” since the big resource companies’ contribution was highlighted by website Crikey. Professor Flannery said the views expressed were consistent with those of the mining industry in their criticism of environmentalists and advocacy of indigenous development and mining expansion going hand in hand.
”This goes to the heart of the credibility of the Boyer Lecture series,” he said. ”There should be requirements for disclosure of this sort of thing and they should be abided by.”
While detailed on the University of Melbourne website, where Professor Langton is foundation chair of Australian indigenous studies, the industry funding was not disclosed to listeners when the lectures were delivered in the ABC’s Brisbane studios late last year, broadcast on Radio National or extracted in Fairfax Media……. an academic with experience researching the Western Australian mining regions said the commercialisation of research did raise questions about independence.
Dr Sarah Holcombe, at the Australian National University, said access to staff and mine sites are controlled by the companies, and that accommodation outside of their mining camps is often non-existent.
How the Australian government betrayed Servicemen affected by Pacific and Maralinga nuclear tests
With the enthusiastic connivance of the Australian Government (more precisely, prime minister Robert Menzies, who bypassed his cabinet), the British detonated about a dozen nukes in our backyard. More than 8000 servicemen were involved in the tests and the measures for their safety were perfunctory at best and criminal at worst.
‘Death ash’ rains on betrayed men, Courier Mail Terry Sweetman , The Sunday Mail (Qld) February 24, 2013
ONE of the great ironies of history is that the Japanese fishing boat that took 23 men into the fiery breath of America’s first hydrogen bomb was called the Lucky Dragon No 5.
That was on March 1, 1954, which is ancient history to most Australians, but there is a tragic echo right here and right now.
Lucky Dragon was fishing off Bikini Atoll, outside the declared danger zone, when the Castle Bravo thermonuclear device was detonated.
Oops. The blast was about twice as powerful as the boffins had calculated and the Lucky Dragon was showered with radioactive dust, which the Japanese poetically called death ash.
Soon the fishermen began to suffer nausea, pain and skin inflammation and, in September, radio operator Kuboyama Aikichi died.
It was a shocking incident but more shocking was the initial cover-up and official disinformation. Continue reading
Corporate mining giants funded Aboriginal leader, Marcia Langton’s pro mining lectures
Marcia Langton defends non-disclosure on mining cash before Boyers, Crikey.com, ANDREW CROOK | FEB 22, 2013
The academic background to last year’s Boyer Lectures was funded by global miners Rio Tinto and Woodside. But the audience was none the wiser. Should she and the ABC have disclosed?
Indigenous leader Marcia Langton and the ABC have defended a lack of disclosure over last year’s Boyer Lectures, despite tens of thousands of dollars in cash for Langton’s academic research being sourced from resources giants Rio Tinto, Woodside and Santos.
The series of five Boyers, titled “The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom”, were delivered late last year by Langton at the ABC’s Brisbane studios and beamed around the country on Radio National.
They argued the boom had substantively benefited indigenous communities, with Langton lauding the work of a number of corporate behemoths — notably Rio — in providing job opportunities and friendly chop-outs. One lecture featured a full frontal attack on the “conceit” of anti-mining greenies.
But what listeners weren’t aware of was that two of the companies Langton praised were also bankrolling her. Continue reading
Ben Zygier was betrayed
Ben Zygier didn’t betray his country. Ben Zygier was betrayed. Between his two home countries, he was placed in a situation he couldn’t deal with.
Israel allowed itself to cross three boundaries: a Mossad man was asked to retain Australian citizenship – leading to a dual-loyalty dilemma; the identity that he was instructed to use as a cover was his real Australian identity; and, worst of all, he was sent to operate in his homeland.
The prime minister must send a letter to the Zygier family – that have been broken by their son’s breakdown – saying, “Your son was not a traitor.”.
Ben Zygier was no traitor, he was betrayed, Haaretz, 22 Feb 13, By Sefi Rachlevsky He wanted to contribute to Israel and did not mean to betray both his homelands, or his father for that matter. Israel cast him into a situation from which he could only be liberated by death..
… The fundamentals of its [Israel’s]power have not changed since David Ben Gurion established them: might, the support of friendly powers, the mobilization of world Jewry that can also influence their home countries, and the memory of the Holocaust. But the Zygier affair highlights how in an existential moment, Israel isn’t “only” immoral, but tramples arrogantly over these fundamentals without observing any boundaries…..
Deep and stubborn silence by Australian and Israeli governments about Ben Zygier’s death
Ben Zygier: the silence surrounding Prisoner X The Conversation, Felix Patrikeeff 22 February 2013, When Melbourne man Ben Zygier, an alleged agent of Mossad, or perhaps a double agent, died in December 2010, his end was barely perceptible.
He had been held anonymously in solitary confinement at a high-security prison in Israel. A notice of his death appeared on the Internet, and then promptly disappeared. His name was not made known at the time.
It had to be secured by Australian investigative journalists. Continue reading
Mystery of Ben Zygier’s death: Australia calls on Israel to explain
“I need to know what the contact was between Australian agencies and those of Israel, and I need to see what the Israelis want to tell Australia,” Carr stated. “The key is to get all the information.”“…The Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday that Israel has agreed to pay millions in compensation to Zygier’s family.
A source told the newspaper that Israel agreed to pay millions of shekels several weeks ago, after an investigation concluded that Zygier’s death had been a suicide and before the affair was exposed by the Australian media….”
Australia wants Israel to provide details on death of ‘Prisoner X’ Feb 17, 2013 PressTV Australia has called on the Israeli regime to provide details about the death of an Australian-Israeli ‘Mossad agent’ who allegedly committed suicide in an Israeli prison in 2010.
Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Sunday that the ministry was seeking answers in a “formal report” from the Tel Aviv regime over the circumstances surrounding the suspicious death of 34-year-old Ben Zygier known as ‘Prisoner X.’
On February 12, reporter Trevor Bormann revealed on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the prisoner who had worked for Mossad for ten years was “found hanged in a cell with state-of-the-art surveillance systems” near Tel Aviv in December 2010. Carr told reporters in Sydney that the Australian government had “asked” the Israeli regime “for a contribution to that report.”
The Australian foreign minister said Canberra wanted Tel Aviv to “submit… an explanation of how this tragic death came about.”
“I need to know what the contact was between Australian agencies and those of Israel, and I need to see what the Israelis want to tell Australia,” Carr stated. “The key is to get all the information.”
Following the ABC revelation, the Tel Aviv regime was forced to admit that Zygier had been jailed under a false identity “for security reasons” despite nearly two years of Israel’s efforts to cover up the secret.
on February 14, a report by the New York Times said Zygier was among the 26 suspects in a murder plot in which Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas official, was tracked and killed in his hotel room hours after his arrival in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in January 2010.
The assassins had reportedly used fake passports from Australia, Britain, Ireland, Germany and France, among other countries.
The report added that ‘Prisoner X’ had provided the officials in Dubai with “names and pictures and accurate details” in exchange for protection.
However, the Israeli regime kidnapped him from his hideout and jailed him over treason nearly a month after the operation over the speculation that he had been on the verge of exposing Tel Aviv’s secrets about the passports. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/17/289354/israel-should-explain-prisoner-x-death/
Was Australian Ben Zygier about to blow the whistle on Israel’s Mossad?
Mossad agent known as prisoner X linked to killing of Hamas leader: Report http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/15/289034/prisoner-x-linked-to-hamas-chief-murder/ 15 Feb 13, The Australian-Israeli ‘Mossad agent’ who has become known as ‘Prisoner X’ may have been linked to the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai in 2010, the same year he was found dead in a maximum security jail near Tel Aviv, a report says.
According to a report by the New York Times quoting the Kuwaiti daily Al Jarida on Thursday, Ben Zygier, identified as Prisoner X, was among the 26 suspects in a murder plot in which Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas official, was tracked and killed in his hotel room hours after his arrival in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in January 2010.
The assassins had reportedly used fake passports from Australia, Britain, Ireland, Germany and France, among other countries.
The report added that ‘Prisoner X’, who apparently spent a decade working for Mossad, had provided the officials in Dubai with “names and pictures and accurate details” in exchange for protection.
However, the Israeli regime kidnapped him from his hideout and jailed him over treason nearly a month after the operation over the speculation that he had been on the verge of exposing Tel Aviv’s secrets about the passports.
Australian media also quoted a security official familiar with the case as saying that Zygier “may well have been about to blow the whistle, but he never got the chance.” Continue reading
ASIO urges govt to tighten security on Internet servers
cyber-risk that worries agencies is the emergence of anarchic
non-state organisations motivated to dislocate our way of life to
express dissent about public decisions. The most high-profile example
is Anonymous, a cellular and leaderless group of hactivists.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has referred the proposals to the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. She
recognises that a signal issue remains – “whether the government needs
to obligate the telecommunications industry to protect their networks
from unauthorised interference”.
It’s global cyber war out there, Financial Review, Christopher Joye, 1
Jan 13, “……with the privatisation
of so many utilities over the past three decades, government has
unwittingly delegated national security to business. …..ASIO
believes national security reforms need to be made to the regulations
governing essential infrastructure, including telecommunications….. Continue reading
Australian government considering changes to communications and privacy laws
Australia’s electronic spy agency, the Defence Signals Directorate, (DSD) is Australia’s equivalent to America’s National Security Agency( NSA) and has no qualms advertising its twin missions: “One is collecting foreign intelligence by interception. The other is working to stop people doing the same to us,” Burgess says….. The ordinarily shadowy DSD has published a detailed study on its top 35 cyber “mitigation strategies”.
Under Operation Australia, which has protested new data retention proposals, Anonymous shut down more than 10 Australian government sites, including ASIO’s, in July last year using denial of service attacks.
ASIO advocates reforms to communications and privacy laws to provide basic cyber-insurance.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has referred the proposals to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
It’s global cyber war out there, Financial Review, Christopher Joye, 2 Jan 13,
“..Australia’s most experienced spy master, the director-general of ASIO, David Irvine, has a lot on his mind
…… with the privatisation of so many utilities over the past three decades, government has unwittingly delegated national security to business.
This is why ASIO believes national security reforms need to be made to the regulations governing essential infrastructure, including telecommunications.
“The more rocks we turn over in cyberspace, the more we find . . . the internet and increased connectivity has expanded infinitely the opportunities for [these threats]”, Irvine says. Continue reading
Spying operations targeted Australian businesses
BHP and Rio’s networks were infiltrated by Chinese hackers. The campaign also expanded to both companies’ advisers.
The Wikileaks cables revealed that BHP boss Marius Kloppers told a US consul-general in Melbourne that he was so fearful of Chinese spying that he shifted his export contracts to market prices because arms-length negotiations were impossible
It’s global cyber war out there, Financial Review, Christopher Joye, 2 Jan 2013, “:……….OPERATION AUSTRALIA There are a range of cyber-menaces that keep Australia’s spooks awake at night. The first is the usual state-on-state espionage. When officials refer to the “big C”, they are not talking about cancer.
Notwithstanding rhetoric from businesses keen to promote prosperous relations with the Middle Kingdom, the national security community says China is responsible for cyberthefts of Australian assets at every imaginable level. Continue reading
Do not be taken in by the lies in the pro nuclear Zero Carbon Option report
This report emanates from Australia’s top nuclear lobby group. Their web titles are Decarbonise South Australia, and Brave New Climate.
Based in South Australia, and with Barry Brook as their prime spokesman, they pose as Climate Change activist sites. But , after you’ve got through all that worthy climate and renewable energy stuff – comes the real message – nuclear power for Australia (and the world)
Below some points from the Zero Carbon Options report. Do not be taken in by these lies
“Capacity Factor: Renewables – 30%. Nuclear – 85%
>
>Job Creation: Renewables – 360 permanent jobs, 1300 jobs in construction.
>Nuclear – 520 permanent jobs, 1600 jobs in construction.
>
>Lifespan: Renewables – 25 years. Nuclear – 60 years.
>
>Cost: Renewables – $8.1 billion. Nuclear – $4.8 billion
>The Zero Carbon Options report, amongst other things, seriously questions why BZE ignores the option of nuclear power if their aim is to decarbonise Australia.
Some on the left also include the demand of “100% renewable energy” in their day to day campaigns. The Zero Carbon Options team, amongst others, have warned that relying on only one form of technology to produce zero carbon power is unwise, and could even be irresponsible. “ – Christina Macpherson 12 Dec 12,
In disastrous uranium market climate, uranium companies in cut throat competition
Did rivals try to scupper BHP’s uranium sale to Cameco?Mining.com, Frik Els | November 23, 2012 The West Australian reports rumours have been circulating in the state’s mining community that Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) and Paladin Energy
(TSX:PDN) attempted to sabotage BHP Billiton’s (LON:BHP) $448 million sale of uranium property Yeelirrie to Canada’s Cameco (TSX:CCO)….. The paper said Rio denied the rumours while none of the other parties commented, and that the deal is likely to be OK’d in any event.
Spot uranium prices have been drifting towards the $40 per pound level this year – well below the $66.50 prior to Fukushima disaster in Japan and down from historic high levels above $130 in 2007.
Last year nuclear power consumption declined 4.3%, the largest drop-off on record, said BP in its annual study of global energy use. Japan cut back nuclear power by 44.3%, and Germany reduced nuclear consumption by 23.2%.
http://www.mining.com/did-rivals-try-to-scupper-bhps-uranium-sale-to-cameco-87504/
Rio Tinto and Paladin Energy try to scuttle Cameco’s uranium mining plans in W.A.
there’s speculation the miners, who own their own uranium deposits, did not want Yeelirrie developed because of the already weak fundamentals in the uranium sector.
Paladin and Rio attempt to block BHP deal
http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/paladin-and-rio-attempt-to-block-bhp-deal 23 November, 2012 Andrew Duffy Rio Tinto and Paladin Energy have attempted to scuttle BHP Billiton’s $430 million sale of the Yeelirrie uranium deposit to Canadian giant Cameco. Continue reading
Australia’s public liars being exposed
IPA falsifiers fear fact checking fad Independent Australia 19 November, 2012 Serial deceivers, the Institute of Public Affairs, appear decidedly nervous about the prospect of fact checking coming to Australia, reports Alan Austin.
WATCHING the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) become appalled at the threat of fact checking coming to Australia has been one of this year’s more entertaining media experiences. Writing on The Drum online last week, IPA research fellow and (according to his bio on The Drum*) editor of the IPA Review, Chris Berg claimed fact checking – that is, ensuring what is written is actually true – is
‘…appealing in principle. It is disappointing – even futile – in practice.’
Well, of course it is ― to the IPA. Its Review almost rivals The Australian for distortions and falsehoods. Almost. Its writers almost match Andrew Bolt for fabrications. Well, no, not really………
Even pro-Republican Fox News called Romney and Ryan out on their multiple fabrications.
Steve Benen’s influential website meticulously documented Romney’s porkies throughout the 2012 presidential campaign. He ended up with a total of 917 by election day ― a tally that would make even Australia’s “Lying Rodent” blush.
Most commentators assess this to have been a factor in the huge win for President Obama. How significant it was, of course, impossible to measure.
More urgently for Australia’s IPA, recent focus on the lies of their pal, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, has coincided with a dramatic fall in his approval rate to new record lows. Just coincidence? Again, hard to be certain. But the IPA is nervous……
Fact checkers are required primarily for calling out lies — deliberate statements of falsehood, made knowingly by politicians, the media and public commentators.
Australia, the USA and Britain today are rife with fabricators.
Journalists lie about public figures, about climate change and about Aboriginal people.
The IPA routinely fabricates and distorts in its advocacy on behalf of its undisclosed clients on tobacco marketing, internet privacy, climate change, controls over shonky charities and many other matters.
These are profound challenges facing Australia, the USA and Britain. Fact checkers can help us deal with them. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/ipa-falsifiers-fear-fact-checking-fad/
Is the Australian government manipulating Aboriginal Northern Land Council on nuclear waste dump plans?
Government got it wrong on Muckaty, commission needed to reach radioactive waste solution 07 Nov 2012 | Scott Ludlam The Greens have called on the Federal Government to come clean on whether it is behind moves by the Northern Land Council to nominate a new site on Muckaty station for a Radioactive Waste Dump.
“The Government is clearly terrified it may lose a Federal Court action launched by Traditional Owners of the area. Remarkably, just when the Commonwealth’s desperate proposal finally comes apart at the seams, NT Chief Minister Terry Mills has surrendered and now claims to support the dump. Chief Minister Mills has met with Minister Martin Ferguson – cutting a deal in Canberra to the exclusion of the local community.
“In March 2012 the Greens moved amendments for an independent commission on radioactive waste but hit a wall of opposition from the Labor Party and the Coalition.
“This Commission would apply world’s best practice to responsibly deal with Australia’s radioactive waste inventory, which may have to involve a more sophisticated management regime than dumping the waste containers in a shed on a cattle station.
“This latest move for an alternate site replicates the same tactics that sparked the Muckaty debacle in the first place. It is time to change the strategy. We need an approach that is democratic, fair, and scientifically sound.”
1 This month
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