Australia’s radiation protection agency is far too cosy with ANSTO and the nuclear industry
A Homegrown Fukushima, New Matilda, By Jim Green, 23 Aug 2012 “…..In Australia as in Japan, there are patterns of inadequate safety practices stretching back for decades. In Australia as in Japan, whistleblowers have provided a great deal of information about nuclear accidents and safety problems.
If nuclear regulation has been found to be substandard in Japan, it is clearly substandard in Australia. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has been compromised from the start. The CEO of ANSTO was allowed to sit on the panel which interviewed applicants for the ARPANSA CEO job when the organisation was created in the late 1990s. ANSTO’s communications manager/spin doctor John Mulcair could only say, “There are two views about that. There’s my view and 
then there’s the official ANSTO view.”
There is a revolving door between ANSTO and ARPANSA, further undermining regulatory independence. At times ARPANSA has employed as many as six ex-ANSTO employees, perhaps more. Recent controversies have been complicated by a relationship between an ANSTO employee and an ARPANSA employee.
ARPANSA’s handling of the “clean up” of the Maralinga nuclear test site was its first test and it was a failure. ARPANSA’s handling of ANSTO’s applications to build and operate a new research reactor was problematic in many respect Continue reading
Revealed: Assange ‘rape’ accuser linked to notorious CIA operative
RS By David Edwards , December 6, 2010 One of the women accusing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of sex crimes appears to have worked with a group that has connections to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
James D. Catlin, a lawyer who recently represented Assange, said the sex assault investigation into the WikiLeaks founder is based on claims he didn’t use condoms during sex with two Swedish women.
Swedish prosecutors told AOL News last week that Assange was not wanted for rape as has been reported, but for something called “sex by surprise” or “unexpected sex.” One accuser, Anna Ardin, may have “ties to the US-financed anti-Castro and anti-communist groups,” according to Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett, writing for CounterPunch.
While in Cuba, Ardin worked with the Las damas de blanco (the Ladies in White), a feminist anti-Castro group.
Professor Michael Seltzer pointed out that the group is led by Carlos Alberto Montaner who is reportedly connected to the CIA………
In August, Assange told Al-Jazeera that the accusations were “clearly a smear campaign.”
“We have been warned that, for example, the Pentagon is planning on using dirty tricks to destroy our work,” Assange told the Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet.
The WikiLeaks founder said he was told to be careful of “sex traps.” Had Assange fallen for one of those traps? “Maybe. Maybe not,” he said.
Catlin observed that both Ardin and Sofia Wilén, the second accuser, sent SMS messages and tweets boasting of their conquests following the alleged “rapes.”….
“The exact content of Wilén’s mobile phone texts is not yet known but their bragging and exculpatory character has been confirmed by Swedish prosecutors. Niether Wilén’s nor Ardin’s texts complain of rape,” Catlin said.
Ardin has also published a seven step guide on how to get revenge on cheating boyfriends. … http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/06/assange-rape-accuser-cia-ties/#.UDEM4yk0cbk.twitter
USA out to get Assange, with the tacit support of Australian government
US in pursuit of Assange, cables reveal,The Age, August 18, 2012, Philip Dorling AUSTRALIAN diplomats have no doubt the United States is still gunning for Julian Assange, according to Foreign Affairs Department documents obtained by The Saturday Age. The Australian embassy in Washington has been tracking a US espionage investigation targeting the WikiLeaks publisher for more than 18 months.
The declassified diplomatic cables, released under freedom of information laws, show Australia’s diplomatic service takes seriously the likelihood that Assange will eventually be extradited to the US on charges arising from WikiLeaks obtaining leaked US military and diplomatic documents.
This view is at odds with Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s repeated dismissal of such a prospect.
Australia’s ambassador to the US, former Labor leader Kim Beazley, has made high-level representations to the American government, asking for warning of any moves to prosecute Assange. However, briefings for Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Senator Carr suggest the Australian Government has no in-principle objection to Assange’s extradition.
On Thursday, Ecuador granted Assange political asylum at its London embassy on the grounds that if extradited to Sweden to be questioned about sexual assault allegations. He will be at risk of further extradition to the US to face espionage
or conspiracy charges. Continue reading
Auxstralian Foreign Minister Bob Carr gets the prize for hypocrisy about Julian Assange
Yes indeed – or is it just stupidity? – I don’t think so. It’s the public who are stupid, thinks Carr.
In today’s Age, Bob Carr is quoted: “I’d just say again – if America were interested in Julian Assange they could have sought his extradition from the UK at any time in the last two years.”
So Carr is continuing the Australian Government’s disgraceful line ‘ WE DON’T KNOW NUFFINK ABOUT USA PLANNING ESPIONAGE CHARGES AGAINST JULIAN ASSANGE’
Carr surely knows full well that it is a relatively easy matter for the USA to get Assange extradited from Sweden, but it would be a difficult and embarassing matter for USA to try to extradite him from Britain.
If the Justice Department were actually to issue charges against Mr. Assange while he was still in Britain there could be potentially a decision for the UK government whether to extradite him to Sweden or to the United States, and that could get to be a complicated clash between the two different requests which would put the UK government in a difficult position. – John B. Bellinger III on Fox News
Sweden has not opposed extradition to the US since 2000, SvD, 22 December 2011 . in Assange’s case, he will be put in detention indefinitely upon arrival. Having Assange in custody since 7 December 2010 in the UK (house arrest) and then in Sweden facilitates the extradition procedure once it is put in motion by the United States (although there are suggestions that a sealed indictment has already been issued).
Hackers attack Australian spy agency website August 10, 2012 (CNN) — Australia’s national intelligence agency acknowledged Friday that its public website may have encountered problems after hackers said they had subjected it to a sustained campaign of cyber attacks.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization “is aware that there may have been some technical issues with its public website,” a spokesman for the organization said…. The hackers, who appeared to have links to the loose collective Anonymous, said they had been launching attacks on the ASIO site and those of other Australian government agencies over the past few days, according to Twitter accounts under the namesAnonymous Australia and OperationAustralia.
In recent years, Anonymous has been involved in some of the most high-profile cyberattacks on the Web — hobbling the websites of governments and businesses, hacking into sites to reveal private data and, along the way, getting dubbed cyberterrorists by the authorities in the United States and elsewhere.
The network’s motto is “We are Legion,” and it describes itself as “a decentralized network of individuals focused on promoting access to information, free speech, and transparency.” http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/10/world/asia/australia-hacking/index.html
Australian government’s secret study on nuclear war between USA and Societ Union
Nuclear study unveiled ( Why did The Age remove this story from the Internet?)
The Australian government finally declassifies its most secret study of the potential impact on Australia of a nuclear war between the US and the former Soviet Union.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/nuclear-study-unveiled-20120803-23l9y.html
Nuclear study unveiled http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/169021/nuclear-study-unveiled/?cs=8 By Philip Dorling Aug. 4, 2012 More than three decades after it was written, the Australian government last week finally declassified its most secret study of the potential impact on Australia of a nuclear war between the US and the former Soviet Union.
Australia’s peak intelligence agency largely dismissed any danger to Australia from global radioactive fall-out or stratospheric distribution of smoke from burning cities.
In the top secret intelligence assessment released by the National Archives of Australia, the Office of National Assessments also questioned whether Australian cities would be targets for Soviet missiles, suggesting the US’ southern hemisphere ally would be a ”low priority” in a global nuclear exchange. But it acknowledged that direct attacks were a possibility.
Secret negotiations as Australia is drawn into USA’s war machine
none of these negotiations have been shared with the Australian public
Nuclear drumbeat grows as US eyes Australia, Crikey, by Harley Dennett , 3 Aug 12, 
Australian policymakers could not be getting a clearer picture of what our US ally expects of us. Nuclear weapons and joint military bases aimed at containing our largest trading partner will, sooner or later, be put in our backyard — and we’ll be expected to pay for the privilege.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies report making headlines over a proposal to establish a US base in Perth to host nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and manned and unmanned ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) drones is but the first report commissioned by this Congress. The second — as revealed by Crikey in May — will focus on positioning nuclear force in the Pacific.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s denials overnight were revealed as word trickery by the comments of the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans Robert Scher in Congressional hearings early this morning, who pointed out that “no US bases” really means they expect Australia and other allies to share the costs of hosting large numbers of American troops at these so-called “shared facilities”: Continue reading
The plot to frame Julian Assange
Australian TV Program Exposes Julian Assange Frame-up http://www.democraticunderground.com/101636930 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/assa-j28.shtml “Four Corners”, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program, this week broadcast what amounted to an exposé of the frame-up of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange on allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden. Assange remains inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, seeking political asylum from the threat of being removed to Sweden, which would in turn facilitate extradition to the US.
By tracing the chronology, the program also clarified the connection between the Swedish witchhunt and the Grand Jury operation underway in the United States to charge Assange with espionage for WikiLeaks’ exposures of US war crimes (see: “Sex, Lies and Julian Assange”).
The program provided substantial evidence that the allegations against him were false and politically motivated. The unproven accusations were used to blacken his name in Sweden and around the world, and counter the widespread public support that he and WikiLeaks had won for courageously exposing the crimes and machinations of the US and other powers.
Assange has still not been charged with any crime.
Julian Assange’s mother claims to have documentary evidence of USA’s intentions to prosecute him
Assange’s mother says U.S. bent on extraditing WikiLeaks founder The Star, By Eduardo Garcia QUITO (Reuters) 31 July 12, – Julian Assange’s mother said she handed evidence to Ecuador’s government on Monday indicating Washington is bent on extraditing her son to the United States, where she fears the WikiLeaks founder could face execution….. Neither U.S.
nor Swedish authorities have charged Assange with anything. Swedish prosecutors want to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two WikiLeaks supporters in 2010…
.. Christine Assange is due to meet with Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa later this week. She described the socialist leader as “very brave” and said she trusts that Correa will not allow his country’s sovereignty to be manipulated by foreign interests.
Both Correa and Julian Assange have alienated Washington. Correa is an ardent critic of what he calls U.S. “imperialism,” and U.S. authorities accuse Assange of damaging its foreign relations with his leaks http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/31/worldupdates/2012-07-30T220338Z_3_BRE86T0R9_RTROPTT_0_UK-ECUADOR-ASSANGE&sec=Worldupdates
Ecuador asked Sweden to question Julian Assange in London
Assange suffering, mother says THE AUSTRALIAN, AP July 31, 2012 THE mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says her son’s health is suffering after more than a month confined to Ecuador’s embassy in London. Christine Assange is in Ecuador to meet with officials about her son’s political asylum request.
Ecuadorian officials have said they will not announce a decision until after the London Olympics end in mid-August.
Christine Assange told an Ecuadorian TV station on Monday that her son, owing to his cramped living conditions and inability to exercise, has extreme psychological stress. The activist who published secret US documents took refuge in the
embassy on June 19 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about allegations of sexual misconduct.
Assange says he fears Sweden will extradite him to the United States. Meanwhile, Ecuador says it has asked Sweden to question Mr Assange in London…… The WikiLeaks founder fears that from Sweden, he could subsequently be re-extradited to the United States to stand trial for espionage, on account of the trove of leaked US diplomatic cables and military logs that were published on his website…..
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/assange-suffering-mother-says/story-fn775xjq-1226439239285
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) unfair monopoly on selling radiopharmaceuticals
He alleges the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation used “duplicitious” and 
“uncompetitive” tactics to push Cyclopet out of the NSW marketplace.
a report by the Productivity Commission’s Australian Government Competitive Neutrality Complaints Office that backs his allegations,
PET peeve provokes a stoush BY: LEIGH DAYTON The Australian July 28, 2012 Cyclopharm’s James McBrayer believes Cyclopet could have flourished in a fair playing field. JAMES McBrayer is not a happy man. Since 2006, the company he heads has spent nearly $10 million on establishing a business producing and supplying a radiopharmaceutical used in positron emission tomography, or PET scans. Continue reading
USA keeps Australia in the dark on its plans for Julian Assange
US pushed to clarify Assange intentions, The Age, July 25, 2012, Dylan Welch THE West Australian Labor MP Melissa Parke has called on the US Attorney-General, Eric Holder, to make a categorical statement ruling out that America is seeking to extradite the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to prosecute him for espionage.
Her call comes amid persisting public debate about whether the US has secretly convened a grand jury in Virginia with the purpose of prosecuting Mr Assange and others for a ”conspiracy to communicate or transmit national defence information”.
”In the light of the public information regarding a grand jury investigation, it would be helpful if the US Attorney-General would categorically state that the US has no intention of seeking the extradition of Julian Assange from Sweden,” Ms Parke told the Herald yesterday.
It was revealed in April last year a grand jury had been formed in Virginia with the likely aim of prosecuting people involved in the release of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables in February 2010. A former US army intelligence analyst, Bradley Manning, has been charged with the theft and is about to face trial.
There have been no other arrests, but the US government has served orders on Twitter seeking the records of three WikiLeaks supporters and subpoenaed several people to testify before the grand jury. : http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/us-pushed-to-clarify-assange-intentions-20120724-22nkr.html#ixzz21gRP6UgM
Review confirms bullying and coverup at Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
N-plant spill probe ‘seriously flawed’ BY: LEIGH DAYTON, SCIENCE WRITER The Australian July 18, 2012 A DAMNING review by global consultant KPMG has again highlighted safety and bullying concerns at Australia’s nuclear facility.
The review by KPMG’s forensic unit was conducted for the national regulator, the Australian Radiation Protection & Nuclear Safety Agency, and obtained by The Australian yesterday.
It found an ARPANSA investigation into a September 2007 contamination incident at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation involving radioactive Yttrium-90 was seriously flawed. Continue reading
Australian uranium company alleged to fraudulently use land in Tanzania
named the exploration companies as, Uranium Resources PLC and [Australian uranium company] Western Metals Limited. (Western Minerals Limited changed it name to Indago Resources Ltd in 2009 )
Hunting firm illegally leased block to uranium miners’ BY PATRICK KISEMBO, 12th July 2012 The Opposition camp yesterday told the National Assembly about an alleged scam involving two uranium exploring companies and a hunting firm. They are said to have entered into a fraudulent contract apparently facilitating the subletting of the blocks contrary to the law and regulations. Continue reading
Hypocrisy of Australian govt in helping USA against Julian Assange
The Australian government has liaised closely with the US from the beginning of the US WikiLeaks investigation, which rapidly gathered steam following Bradley Manning’s arrest in Iraq in March 2010.
the released cables showed that the Australian embassy had confirmed through US officials that the US Justice Department was conducting an ”active and vigorous inquiry into whether Julian Assange can be charged under US law, most likely the 1917 Espionage Act”.
ever anxious to demonstrate its loyalty to the US alliance, the Australian government has not uttered any objection to the prospect that Assange may be prosecuted for espionage.
Ministers cagey over Assange, The Age, Philip Dorling, June 2, 2012, Julian Assange fears extradition to Sweden to be questioned about sexual assault allegations.
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon and Foreign Minister Bob Carr all sang from the same hymn sheet this week on the continuing legal saga of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. But they chose their words very carefully.
The issue was whether the United States intends to charge and extradite Assange – the Australian journalist labelled by US Vice-President Joe Biden as ”a high-tech terrorist” – with criminal offences for WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic reports…..
Well aware of successive polls that show a high level of support for WikiLeaks and Assange across the Australian political spectrum, the Australian government has been insistent this week that it has no knowledge whatsoever of any intention by the US to prosecute and extradite the WikiLeaks publisher……. 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/2352741955560
15 April – Zoom –Nuclear Power is Not the Solution
Apr 15, 2026 01:00 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) on Tuesday, April 14th for a timely webinar exploring the risks associated with nuclear power and challenging the myth that it offers a simple, safe, carbon-free solution to the climate crisis
21 April Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-04-21 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-04-21 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
Event Type: Virtual
A virtual link will be communicated before the event.
Host Contact Info: australia@icanw.org
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 