Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Dianne Stokes questions Prime Minister on nuclear waste dump

VIDEO Nuclear Waste Dump – QandA Community Video, 9 Aug 2010, My name is Dianne Stokes NampinI am a Traditional Owner for Manuwangku, the Muckaty Land Trust where you want to put a nuclear waste dump.We have told Minister Ferguson over and over that we do not want it.That country is very important to us and we want to keep it clean.My question is, why are you not listening to the Traditional Owners and Elders who say we do not want the waste dump? Nuclear Waste Dump – QandA Community Video

August 9, 2010 Posted by | Resources | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Opposition to uranium mining in Western Australia

Politicians of the opposition Labor Party, who put the ban in effect when they were in power, agree.”We know that all mining is dangerous but we know that mining uranium is off the scale,”

Uranium mining in Australia opposed, The PoliJAM TIMES, 9 Aug 2010, “……….The Australian mining company BHP Billiton plans to develop a uranium deposit near the town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 2011 in a $15.6 billion project. Continue reading

August 9, 2010 Posted by | General News, uranium | , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Nagasaki Day – a call for Australia to help abolish nuclear weapons

There is another step that Australia could take also to help rid the world of this scourge – to refuse to supply nuclear fuel to any nation that has nuclear weapons.

(at left, a church in Nagasaki, 9 Aug, 1945)

Sixty-five years of living under the threat of the mushroom cloud – On Line Opinion, Dr Sue Wareham,  – 6/8/2010 Two things pose an overwhelming threat to the planet as we know it, climate change and nuclear weapons, and neither is receiving a serious commitment to action by the two contenders for the position of Prime Minister of Australia. While effective measures of the magnitude needed to address climate change are nowhere to be seen in their policies, nuclear weapons haven’t even rated a mention in the campaigning.
Perhaps August 6 and August 9, the 65th anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will serve to remind Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott of the 23,000 weapons that continue to threaten the destruction of cities around the globe, including in Australia. Continue reading

August 9, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, uranium, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

Senator Milne puts the case for Australia to boost renewable energy

Labor’s former climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, warned last week that Australia must accelerate its investment in renewable energy research and development

Greens call for huge boost to renewable energy funds, Sydney Morning Herald, TIM COLEBATCH, August 9, 2010 THE Greens are proposing that the federal government almost quadruple support for large-scale solar, geothermal and other forms of renewable energy by guaranteeing up to $5 billion of loans to new power stations. Continue reading

August 9, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, energy, politics, solar, wind | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Northern Territory against federal govt imposing nuclear waste dump on NT

Greens leader Bob Brown says his party would try to ensure that any federal decision to override Territory law would have to be ratified by both houses of Parliament.

Chief Minister welcomes Greens’ dump stance – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Jane Bardon Aug 5, 2010 Chief Minister Paul Henderson has welcomed the Greens’ promise to try to stop a proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station if the party claims the balance of power in the Senate. Continue reading

August 7, 2010 Posted by | Northern Territory, politics | , , , | Leave a comment

Austrliun uranium companies tie up with Chinese state nuclear firm

possible expansion of joint venture relationships between Paladin and Energy Metals,…Energy Metals …holds around 54 percent of the Bigrlyi uranium project northwest of Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory. Paladin owns 42 percent of the mine

Chinese nuclear firm ties up with Australian uranium miner –Yahoo!7News, BEIJING, Aug 6, 2010 (AFP) – – Australian uranium producer Paladin Energy Ltd has said it agreed with a major Chinese nuclear power firm to explore long-term uranium sales,…….. Paladin signed a memorandum of understanding with a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation (CGNPC) setting up a “framework of cooperation” for uranium sales, the Sydney-based company said. Continue reading

August 7, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, business, uranium | , , , | Leave a comment

lingering radiation from Pacific nuclear bomb tests

the continued presence of radioactive contaminants in the Marshall Islands meant the US still had a special responsibility towards its people who continue to be adversely affected.

Pacific leaders criticise US over atomic legacy, ABC Radio Australia News, Sean DorneyL 6 Aug 2010, Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum have taken the United States to task over the lasting impact of its nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Continue reading

August 7, 2010 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Greens’ Dr di Natale calls for Australia to commit to Nuclear Weapons Convention

Dr di Natale said Australia must commit to an international Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) by no later than 2015.

ALP stormwater cash splash for Melbourne, Sydney Morning Herald, August 6, 2010 “………Greens Senate candidate for Victoria Richard di Natale has used the 65th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings to call for an end to nuclear weapons.

Dr di Natale said Australia must commit to an international Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) by no later than 2015.”Sixty five years marks the year of retirement. Today the Greens are asking Australia to commit to retiring nuclear weapons,” he said….. ALP stormwater cash splash for Melbourne

August 6, 2010 Posted by | General News | , , | Leave a comment

Australia ‘inactive’ on Nuclear Disarmament

“At the May 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, Australia was noticeably inactive, failing to walk the talk, merely aligning itself with the United States……..

Hiroshima Day – and still 23,000 loaded weapons! « Darren Churchill: Australian Democrats Senate Candidate for the ACT 6 August,  2010 The Australian Government is playing games on the issue of nuclear disarmament says the Australian Democrats’ lead Senate candidate in the ACT, Darren Churchill Continue reading

August 6, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

Australia offers lukewarm support for action on global warming

The tiny island of Kiribati, which is already being swamped by rising sea levels, will host a meeting of “countries vulnerable to the impact of climate change” in a bid to forge a unified voice on the matter ahead of the Cancun summit.
Australia supports Pacific Is on climate, Sydney Morning Herald, NICKY PARK August 5, 2010 Australia supports its Pacific island neighbours when it comes to climate change and wants to see “fast-track financing” dedicated to the cause, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says. Continue reading

August 6, 2010 Posted by | climate change - global warming, General News | , , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t let Australian govt override Northern Territory laws

“In Canberra they’ve changed that constitutional requirement to [mean] the executive or the minister can override Territory laws,” Greens leader Bob Brown said.”We want to put it back to what the constitution says – that the whole of Parliament’s required – because that gives the Territory the backstop of the Senate.”….

Greens want brakes on overriding NT laws – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Aug 4, 2010 Darwin. The Greens say if they win the balance of power in the Senate they will try to pressure the Federal Government to change the law so Commonwealth ministers cannot override Northern Territory law. Continue reading

August 5, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics | , , | Leave a comment

BHP, Rio – relatively small employers, with big political influence

For such an economically important industry, mining is a relatively small employer (the Australian Bureau of Statistics does not rank it in the top 10 industries by employment)….The mining industry, however, is streets ahead in being able to exercise political influence.

Follow the miners in lobbying , Mike Riddiford, The Australian, August 04, 2010“……..Between them, companies such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata turn over more than $100 billion a year. This enables them to mobilise huge resources to protect their interests. Continue reading

August 5, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, uranium | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Australia’s Hiroshima Day TV message

A television commercial featuring atomic bomb survivors at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons will be broadcast in Australia on Friday, the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing.

Ban, Okada confirm effort to eradicate nukes,The Japan Times Online, Aug. 4, 2010, By MASAMI ITOS U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon confirmed Tuesday with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada that Japan and the world body will aim for the abolition of nuclear weapons…. Continue reading

August 4, 2010 Posted by | General News | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Western Australian govt prepared to compulsorily acquire Aboriginal land

WA still prepared to acquire LNG site, Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2010 The threat of compulsory acquisition continues to loom over the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub in far north Western Australia, Premier Colin Barnett says. Continue reading

August 4, 2010 Posted by | politics, uranium, Western Australia | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Muckaty nuclear dump – a foot in the door for international wastes

Senator Brown says it is only a matter of time before Australia’s first nuclear waste dump stores high level waste from overseas.

“Wait for it, it will become high level further down the line as the waste problem for China, for the US, for the USSR ,as it used to be, Russia, for Europe, for Taiwan.

Store nuclear waste at source, not in NT: Brown,  ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) By Jane Bardon, 4 August 2010, “….After launching the Greens campaign in the Territory, Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has called for nuclear waste to be stored where it is produced, such as Lucas Heights in Sydney. Continue reading

August 4, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, wastes | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment