Australia does little for nuclear disarmament, just follows American line
The Rudd and Gillard governments, like those before them, have taken a cautious approach to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. They have been unwilling to push for anything more than the United States will accept. Indeed, Australia’s policies perfectly mirror those of our powerful nuclear-armed ally…
For years, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has urged the Australian government to join the international mainstream in supporting negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear weapons ban – a
nuclear weapons convention. But it has refused to do so, ..
Australia driving the push for nuclear disarmament? Hardly ! Crikey.com November 11, 2011 by Tim Wright Fifteen years ago in The Hague, the International Court of Justice – the highest legal authority in the world – handed down one of its most
contentious advisory opinions. To the chagrin of the nuclear powers, it declared that all governments are legally obliged to disarm, and todo so without unreasonable delay.
“The destructive power of nuclear weapons,” the court remarked, “cannot be contained in either space or time. They have the potential to destroy all civilisation and the entire ecosystem of the planet.” It observed that radiation released by a nuclear explosion would affect health, agriculture and natural resources, and pose “a serious
danger to future generations”. Continue reading
Anti nuclear protest against Obama at Darwin, Australia
Local activists plan Obama protest News.com.au 10 Nov 11 LOCAL activists angry at
US military bases in Australia are planning to protest US President Barack Obama’s trip to Darwin next week. Justin Tutty from Darwin Residents Against War says he expects at least 20 locals to stage a peaceful protest near Parliament when Mr Obama arrives on Thursday.
“Our message is that we don’t want US bases, we don’t want US nuclear warships in Darwin Harbour and we don’t want US troops in Darwin,” Mr Tutty said. There has been speculation Mr Obama will use the visit to make an announcement relating to increasing the US military presence in the Northern Territory.
Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith recently foreshadowed increasing the number of joint training exercises with America in Darwin and the US storing more equipment in the city for disaster and humanitarian assistance.
Already the US and Australia jointly run the Pine Gap spy base near Alice Springs in the Northern
Territory. Mr Tutty said there was little information about what a greater US presence in Northern Territory would mean.
“They have talked about a pre-positioning base and we are very sceptical about the nature of the base because of all the lies we have been told about Pine Gap,” Mr Tutty said.”For so many years they told us that Pine Gap was a communications base, but in the last few years it has come out about its offensive role and it was used to direct dozens of attacks on Iraq.” http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/local-activists-plan-obama-protest/story-e6frfku9-1226190123963#ixzz1dLAjnMoG
Obama’s Australian visit is vital to USA’s military industrial complex
Obama’s Australia visit vital says White House, Herald Sun by:By Erica Werner in Washington , November 10, 2011 US President Barack Obama is about to embark on a nine-
day trip to Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia that will take him away from Washington at an important time, but White House officials say its all about US jobs.
The trip also will underscore the economic, political and security importance of the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, which the US sees as critical to American interests in coming years.
“The President’s No.1 priority is job creation, and our efforts to create American jobs are tied very directly to our engagement in the Asia-Pacific,” said Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser.
“Increasingly the centre of gravity in the 21st century is going to make the Asia-Pacific critical to all of our interests,” Mr Rhodes said.
Mr Obama leaves on Friday for Hawaii, where the US will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit, bringing together 21 member nations which together comprise 40 per cent of the world’s population. From there, he makes a long-delayed visit to Australia…
In Australia, the President visits the capital, Canberra, as well as Darwin, site of an Australian military base, where discussion is expected to focus on an emerging defence agreement that would let the US to expand its military presence in Australia….
Kim Beazley, Australia’s ambassador to the US, said in an interview today …”Australia’s geographic location is becoming increasingly important to the US.”…http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/obamas-australia-visit-vital-says-white-house/story-e6frf7ko-1226190900495
Australian government not seriously opposed to nuclear weapons proliferation?
Christina Macpherson 31 Oct 11. These two motions to strengthen Australia’s stand against nuclear weapons proliferation were soundly defeated in the Senate today. It would seem that both Labor and Liberal parties are well in the grip of the nuclear corporate lobby. (However, the Government did reaffirm the current policy of not selling uranium to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty)
In the Australian Senate today Senator Scott Ludlam moved:
That the Senate: welcomes efforts taken by the Government to advance nuclear disarmament diplomacy, including the establishment of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and the request for the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties to undertake an inquiry into the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament treaties involving Australia; and
calls on the Government to support the United Nations General Assembly resolution on the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons.
That the Senate— (a) congratulates the Government for maintaining Australia’s longstanding policy of predicating bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements on the condition of membership to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; and (b) calls on the Government to identify the countries to which it will not permit the sale of uranium.
USA ramps up its military machine in Australia
Defence set to give US greater military access Brendan Nicholson, Defence Editor The Australian * September 06, 2011 TEAMS of US and Australian officials are finalising a series of agreements, to be signed at this month’s AUSMIN summit, that will give US forces greater access to Australian military bases.
Shared facilities are expected to include HMAS Stirling naval base in Western Australia, an army base in Townsville as the primary location for operations, the port of Darwin and the Bradshaw Field Training Area in the Northern Territory.
The agreements, a key focus of this year’s talks on defence and foreign affairs issues in San Francisco, will mean the Americans will not just be offered space on a base, they will be there with what Defence calls “full knowledge and concurrence” with full access to intelligence and maintenance facilities…..
The agreement will be similar to that covering the joint intelligence-gathering facilities such as Pine Gap.
Defence set to give US greater military access | The Australian
Australian company Silex Sytems involved in dangerous nuclear technology
Security fears over laser-enriched uranium, New Scientist 23 August 2011 by Jeff Hecht It’s pretty hard to disguise the fact you are enriching uranium, whether for use in nuclear power stations or bombs. Now a method that uses lasers to complete the process could make it more efficient – and easier to hide.
General Electric and Hitachi are joining forces to build a laser facility in Wilmington, North Carolina, powerful enough to produce more than 1000 tonnes of enriched fuel every year….
The current approach was developed only 10 years ago by an Australian company called Silex.General Electric-Hitachi have now licensed Silex’s technology. The original process was hampered by inefficient lasers but the fact that GE-Hitachi are prepared to go ahead with a full-scale plant suggests they have developed a more efficient laser.
Why is the idea so controversial?
A key concern is that the high efficiency of a laser enrichment process would reduce energy requirements, allowing a uranium enrichment plant to be smaller and more distant from power sources. That would make it harder to detect using satellite imagery. Such a small plant could also be used to make enriched uranium for atomic bombs – with little chance of being spotted.
What happens next?
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is scheduled to review the proposal on 30 June 2012. If the NRC approves the plan, a joint venture called Global Laser Enrichment would build the plant in six stages, eventually reaching a capacity of 6 million work units, a standard measure of enrichment capacity. If the product was standard-grade reactor fuel, the facility could produce more than 1000 tonnes a year…..http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20819-briefing-security-fears-over-laserenriched-uranium.html
Australia’s role in nuclear non proliferation means no uranium sales to India
The precedent set by nuclear trade with India increases the risk of other countries pulling out of the NPT, building nuclear weapons and doing so with the expectation that civil nuclear trade would continue.
Nuclear trade with India risks boosting arms race, The West Australian, By Scott Ludlam June 13th, 2011, Australia’s long-standing policy to not sell uranium to nations refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty must not change.
Nuclear trade with India would undermine the fundamental principle of the global non-proliferation regime – the principle that signatories to the NPT can engage in international nuclear trade for their civil nuclear programs while countries which remain outside the NPT are excluded from civil nuclear trade. Continue reading
Australia’s Future Fund needs legal advice on investing in nuclear weapons
“The Future Fund was applauded for divesting in cluster munitions manufacturers. The Fund’s investments in nuclear weapons are clearly untenable.
“The board must seek urgent legal advice and promptly reconsider this investment decision.”
Future Fund must seek urgent legal advice on nuclear weapons – and divest Scott Ludlam 26th May 2011, The Federal Government’s Future Fund is clearly violating its own policies and cutting across Australia’s international legal obligations by investing in companies that manufacture nuclear weapons, the Australian Greens said today. Continue reading
Australia’s Future Fund invests in nuclear weapons
Australia investing in nuclear arms, The Age, Dan Oakes, May 26, 2011 THE federal government’s $74 billion Future Fund is investing Australian taxpayers’ money in foreign companies that make components for nuclear weapons.
Records obtained under freedom of information laws show the fund has $135.4 million invested in 15 companies involved in the design, production and maintenance of nuclear weapons for the United States, Britain, France and India.
About $3.8 million of this is invested in Larsen & Toubro, a Mumbai-based company involved in building a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines for India. The company has also helped test a launch system for India’s nuclear missiles.Any investment involving the production of nuclear weapons for India is particularly controversial because New Delhi is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty…… Australia investing in nuclear arms
Australia’s worthy nuclear disarmament hypocrites
There’s a problem with worthies like Bob Hawke,and Gareth Evans posturing about nuclear disarmament. At the same time, they are promoting the nuclear industry, and in particular, Australia supplying uranium to just about everybody.
Bob Hawk especially,as he is now touting a grandiose plan for Australia to become the world’s nuclear waste dump. That would make a lot of money for a few other Australian stuffed shirts.
Hawke, Fraser join anti-nuclear campaign group Herald Sun May 18, 2011 FORMER prime ministers Bob Hawke and Malcolm Fraser will be part of a new 30-member leadership group dedicated to campaign against nuclear weapons.The Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation aims to encourage the public and policymakers to work towards ending the use of nuclear weapons.Former defence minister Robert Hill will also be a member of the group.The network will be administered by the Australian National University in Canberra.The university’s chancellor and former minister Gareth Evans said the group will do everything possible to achieve its goal.…..Hawke, Fraser join anti-nuclear campaign group | Herald Sun
Nuclear submarines for Australia? a pipedream
the issue of US bases might be about to re-emerge as a hot-button political issue….Nuclear submarines are a pipedream.
Conflict looms over US military presence in Australia – Unleashed (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Adam Lockyer and Rob Muir, 22 Feb 2011, For two decades, the issue of US bases in Australia has remained dormant. The Government and community seem to have become comfortable with their presence, as long as they are perceived as passive. Continue reading
Wikileaks: secret military spy satellite deals, Australia and USA
A leaked cable from February 2008 revealed a secret deal between the Australian and US governments to share secret intelligence from spy satellites,….The operations went against statements in the DWP. Then-defence department deputy secretary Mike Pezzullo told US diplomats the DWP had been carefully written to fool the ALP “Left” faction — which opposes US plans to develop a missile defence shield.
WikiLeaks exposes Aus. gov’t, Green Left, February 13, 2011By Ash Pemberton WikiLeaks has released secret US diplomatic cables that show secret Australian government negotiations Continue reading
Nuclear submarines: bad policy for Australia
.. bad policy and bad strategy. It turns entirely reasonable concerns about China’s military expansion into responses that verge on hysteria. The proposals are ill-defined and not costed. They would almost certainly prove counter-productive, if not downright dangerous, in terms of Australian policy towards China.
Panicky response would harm our interests Paul Dibb and Geoffrey Barker: The Australian * February 08, 2011 NATIONAL security policy is too important for federal ministers to stay mute when thoroughly bad ideas are put forward by influential government military advisers. That is why Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd and Defence Minister Stephen Smith should immediately reject proposals on how to counter China’s military expansion from Ross Babbage, as reported by Greg Sheridan in The Weekend Australian.
Babbage says Australia should acquire 12 nuclear attack submarines, host more US military bases, arm “arsenal ships” with cruise missiles and expand cyber warfare capabilities. Continue reading
Nuclear submarines for Australia – a new form of target
option of enabling the permanent stationing of US nuclear submarine bases in Australia….The idea of using Australia as geo-politcal “chaff” in order to “waste” enemy bombs (by causing the enemy to target Australia in addition to the US) is not new.
Nuke Subs for Aust – call by Babbage to “take on China” « Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 5 Feb 2011, Continue reading
Improved compensation for Australian nuclear test veterans
Widows and dependent Children of deceased defence participants will also have access to pensions and healthcare treatment as a result of this measure.
Australian Veterans’ Affairs Annual Report – Nuke Vet amendments COVERAGE FOR BRITISH NUCLEAR TEST PARTICIPANTS(AUSTRALIA, MILITARY PERSONNEL) Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 29 Jan 2011, Continue reading
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