South Australian govt fails to regulate nuclear lobbysits, fails to address corruption issues
Schacht lobbied Rann for miner
*Michael Owen, SA political reporter | August 20, 2009 The Australian“………………..The Rann government is under pressure because of its lack of action to regulate the activities of lobbyists and establish a lobbyists’ register, as the Rudd government and other states have done. Continue reading
Nuclear salesman Paul Howes got his facts very wrong
Paul Howes’ u-propaganda is radioactive
Crikey.com by Jim Green 18 August 09
Howes falsely claimed that nuclear power is undergoing a “renaissance”. In fact, nuclear power has been stagnant for the past 15 years. Continue reading
Labor’s nuclear hypocrisy and ignorance
Christina Macpherson 19 August 09 Paul Howes, Bob Hawke, Marting Ferguson – Labor’s right wing is showing itself to be more ignorant than the Liberals . Don’t they know that no country in the world is willing to take in nuclear waste from overseas? Continue reading
Labor’s right wing making a nuclear flap
Union boss calls for nuclear energy
The Age MICHELLE GRATTANAugust 19, 2009
AUSTRALIA should develop a domestic nuclear industry and cast off ”ancient, hypochondriac policies” to get maximum benefit from its uranium, one of the country’s leading union figures has said.National secretary of the Australian Workers Union Paul Howes said the Federal Government should lift its ban on a nuclear power industry. Prohibitions on uranium mining in Queensland and exploration in NSW and Victoria – ”superstitions of another age” – should also go.
Australians would be ”dills” not to seize the prize presented by use of nuclear energy and it should consider establishing nuclear processing facilities to add value to our export ore, Mr Howes told the Sydney Institute last night.
Union boss calls for nuclear energyBob Hawke in new plug for nuclear waste industry
THE AUSTRALIAN Paul Kelly, August 19, 2009
“Australia can make a significant difference to the safety of nuclear generation by agreeing to take waste from nuclear power stations. This would be an important contribution to safety and energy security. It would also become a strong source of national income for Australia that could be dedicated to our own environmental and water requirements.”…………… He says the financial benefits from any decision would be immense.
Darwin Council worried about uranium transport risk
Yellowcake cyclone impact concerns council
ABC News 18 August 09 By Gina MarichThe Darwin City Council says a new uranium storage and handling facility proposed for Darwin’s main port could pose a risk to the environment.
BHP Billiton is considering a facility at the East Arm Port to export up to 1.6 million tonnes of uranium oxide a year, once it expands its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.
The Darwin Lord Mayor, Graeme Sawyer, says this poses a range of issues, including possible leakage during cyclones and tidal storm surges.
BHP have made some assurances that the stuff that they’re dealing with is not on the high end of the dangerous scale,” Mr Sawyer said.
“But we’d like some independent analysis of that and a range of assurances on some of it.
“There’s going to be some material on that site which needs to be very safely handled so there’s a whole range of issues.”
Yellowcake cyclone impact concerns council – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Exposing nuclear hype about global warming
Nuclear instability
ON LINE opinion By Helen Caldicott, 14 August 2009
Australia seems determined to lead the way to an unstable world which could result in two very different outcomes – global warming or nuclear winter. We burn and export coal in massive amounts producing more CO2 per capita than any other country and we are about to become one of the world’s major uranium exporters. Continue reading
Rudd to sign up for uranium to India, in November?
comment by Christina Macpherson
Australia’s Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, will have to pull off some sort of conjuring trick in November. Posing as the international hero of the disarmament movement, Rudd has, until now, firmly rejected India’s call for uranium, as India has not, and will not, sign the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty.
To change this stance in November will require all those skills of spin that politicians inevitably develop, if they wish to stay in office.
Sadly, this will mean yet another conning of the Australian public, and the world – in the service of corporate and military /industrial interests.
Australia to supply uranium to India
Thursday, 13 Aug 2009
India has expressed its interest in having civil nuclear cooperation with Australia, amid indications that the two countries are likely to sign an energy agreement in November under which Australia may supply uranium for joint venture power plants.
Australia’s policy of not supplying uranium to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non proliferation Treaty was noted by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who had discussions on a wide variety of bilateral subjects with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his counterpart Stephen Smith.
……….Mr Rudd is expected to visit India in November when the two countries are likely to sign an Energy Declaration for generation of nuclear power for which his country may supply uranium.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/08/13/MTA2ODM2/Australia_to_supply_uranium_to_India.html
Australia’s carbon scheme to boost markets
Carbon scheme to boost markets
Giles Parkinson | August 10, 2009Article from: The Australian“……………..Lagging behind in renewables
WITH the federal government’s Renewable Energy Target also facing a standstill in the Senate, there are growing concerns in the local renewable energy industry that the country is being left behind.There are billions of dollars of projects currently on hold, and while the government says it wants to be a leader in renewable technologies, other countries are marching ahead.China has recently upgraded its renewable energy target from 15 per cent to 20 per cent by 2020, which will translate to around 150 gigawatts of wind power, 20GW of solar power and 30GW of biomass power.India joined the push towards solar last week, announcing plans to install 20GW of solar capacity by 2020 — its reliance on an equivalent amount of diesel-sourced power means solar will be cost-competitive — with a grand plan to lift that to 200GW of solar by 2050.
“Everyone wants to be world leader,” says Ray Wills, head of the WA Sustainable Energy Association. “Other developed and developing nations are moving aggressively to develop their lesser renewable energy resources while Australia — with the world’s best resources — is lagging behind.”
In the US, the amount produced by renewable energy sources (11.1 per cent) has overtaken that of nuclear power (10.4 per cent), according to the latest data from the US Energy Information Administration.Professor Wills notes that $US155 billion was invested directly into clean-energy companies and projects worldwide in 2008, and total transactions in the sector, including acquisitions and buyouts, were $US223 billion. Precious little of that occurred in Australia.
Govt and media silence on uranium/nuclear issues
by Christina Macpherson 10 August 09 Almost 4000 submissions were received by the South Australian government, in response to BHPBilliton’s Environmental Impact Statement on their plan to create the world’s biggest hole, and biggest uranium tailings pile at Roxby Downs.
This momentous proposal has barely got a mention in the mainstream media.
The Australian government and the mainstream media seem to be coyly ignoring big questions of the moment. The Olympic Dam (Roxby Downs) uranium mine expansion is just one of them.
Also behind the scenes, machinations are going on between uranium/nuclear corporations and government to quiettly condition the Australian public, and particularly the aboriginal community, to the idea that a nuclear waste dump is a fine thing, and that nuclear power plants swill inevitably come in Australia
Growing concern over the safety of Olympic Dam Expansion
(more Australian news at nuclear news Australia )
Greens growing concern over the safety of Olympic Dam Expansion
MINING SAFETY5 August 2009GREENS MLC Mark Parnell says that BHP Billiton ‘s Olympic Dam Expansion Environmental Impact Statement contains glaring omissions alongside startling impacts.
Parnell claims that there are holes in this EIS almost as big as the mine’s open pit. For example, there is a woeful description on the 242 million tonne waste rock heap – a heap that will be so large it will be visible 30 kms away, soar higher than the Santos building and contain millions of tonnes of uranium and acid.
Parnell says the EIS is also silent on long term dust management. More than 25,000,000 litres of water will be sprayed around the site each and every day to prevent toxic dust storms, but what happens when the mining stops?
In many sections of there statement there are reportedly ‘options’ given – some sound, but expensive; others cheap and nasty. The huge concern is that the Federal and State Governments will approve the mine first, and leave it to the company to decide which options they pursue later.
Greens growing concern over the safety of Olympic Dam Expansion – Mining Safety
Lucas Heights nuclear reactor a target for latest terrorists
The Age, Britt SmithAugust 4, 2009 Holsworthy Barracks on Sydney’s outskirts, the alleged target of a suspected terrorist suicide attack, is home to thousands of troops and a major anti-terrorist unit………
….Its eastern boundary is near the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor…………………
Police say they foiled a mission by Islamic terrorists to launch a suicide shoot-out on Holsworthy in what they say would have been the worst-ever terrorist attack on Australian soil.
Australia’s new uranium mine linked to arms sales and spying
The company with the right contacts
The Brisbane Times, Ben Cubby, 30 July 09
GENERAL ATOMICS, the company behind the nation’s newest uranium mine, has been patiently lobbying Australian politicians for more than a decade to encourage it to allow mining, to develop nuclear reactors and buy high-tech weapons.
The company has ferried members of the US Congress, their families and aides to Australia for high-level talks. It has paid for Labor MPs to travel to the United States to see its weapons and nuclear reactors first-hand, as well as hosting taxpayer funded trips……………………………………
To put its case for more mines and more weapons in Canberra, the company uses Hawker Britton, a lobbying firm that includes many former ALP staffers and MPs.
But among the biggest supporters of uranium mining expansion is the South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, who was on the Greenpeace executive that launched the Rainbow Warrior protest ship to try to block French nuclear weapons tests in 1972……………………………….
General Atomics flew a group from the US Congress to Australia, accompanied by company executives, to persuade the Federal Government to buy the company’s Predator unmanned aircraft………………………….
As well as its interest in unmanned spy planes, General Atomics has employed human spies. Last year it was caught hiring a former undercover police officer turned private investigator to infiltrate Australian environment groups and report on their actions. The former officer was posing as a Kurdish refugee and feeding information back to General Atomics.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/the-company-with-the-right-contacts-20090729-e1lk.html
Neal Blue: U.S. arms salesman in charge of South Australian uranium mines
Digging dirt with a sledgehammer
The weapons manufacturer who converted Labor’s staunchest opponents to nuclear development has a controversial past, write Nick O’Malley and Ben Cubby…………………………….
………………..Neal Blue’s single-mindedness emerged during the battle over a Blue-owned uranium processing plant on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma.
After a series of radioactive spills a nine-legged frog was discovered outside the yellowcake factory.
A government investigation eventually established the company had known for years that radioactive material was leaking and that radioactivity in water around the plant was at levels 35,000 times higher than US federal laws permitted………………………………….
As General Atomics grew, Blue kept an eye on Australia. One of his former employees recalls that in the late 1980s Blue was sure the future was nuclear and Australia was going to be a key part of it.
He went about buying pastoral leases sitting on uranium deposits in South Australia and the Northern Territory, gambling that bans on uranium would one day be lifted.
He was right. In 1990 Blue established Heathgate Resources to operate the new Beverley uranium mine, near Lake Frome in South Australia……………………..The South Australian Government has recorded 59 spills of radioactive material on the surface at the site,……………..
there is no requirement it decontaminate the site when mining ceases.
The environmental impact assessment for Blue’s nearby Four Mile mine, approved this month by the federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, similarly carries no such requirement.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/digging-dirt-with-a-sledgehammer-20090729-e1lj.html
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Fraud background of 4 Mile uranium mine’s owner
Arms maker behind uranium mine settled fraudulent pricing case
The Brisbane Times, Nick OMalley and Ben Cubby
July 30, 2009
THE arms manufacturer that received approval through an Australian subsidiary for a new uranium mine in central Australia this month was sued for fraudulently hiking uranium prices and manipulating costs at a neighbouring mine.
Neal Blue, owner and chairman of General Atomics, was accused in the proceedings of instructing executives at his Australian subsidiary, Heathgate Resources, to prepare false reports for customers, telling them costs at Heathgate’s Beverley uranium mine were higher than anticipated, and production lower……………………….
The Illinois District Court case was settled last year. One of General Atomics’s customers, Exelon, received $US41 million from the company. It is estimated Mr Blue made $US200 million by breaking the contracts and selling uranium on the spot market…………………………………
Four Mile mine will be owned by a General Atomics subsidiary, Quasar Resources, and an Australian-owned minerals explorer, Alliance Resources.
Dr Helen Caldicott – international campaigner for the truth about nuclear power
Profile – Helen Caldicott
Sydney Morning Herald By Lucinda Schmidt July 29, 2009This anti-nuclear campaigner has spent a lifetime striving to create a better world.
The day after the Federal Government approved a new uranium mine in South Australia, veteran anti-nuclear campaigner Helen Caldicott was appalled. In her view, exporting uranium, to any country, is morally indefensible.
“I think it’s devastating,” she says, describing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and accusing Environment Minister Peter Garrett of moral turpitude.
“I’m so ashamed to be an Australian at the moment,” says Caldicott, 71, a Melbourne-born medical doctor.
“As we export uranium, we’re in fact exporting nuclear weapons, cancer, leukaemia and genetic disease. It’s a public health issue.”
In the 1970s and 1980s, Caldicott was one of the world’s leading anti-nuclear voices, as the Cold War generated fear of a nuclear holocaust.
In Australia, she played a big role in forcing the French atmospheric nuclear tests underground, after writing a letter to a newspaper in 1971 about the increase in radiation levels in Adelaide’s water supply following tests over the Pacific Ocean.
Profile – Helen Caldicott – Money – Business – Home – smh.com.au
1 This month
7 April – WEBINAR – Australia and the Doomsday Clock – Preventing nuclear war through NoFirstUse and other policies
Online | Tuesday April 7, 4:00-5:30pm, Australian Eastern Time / 8:00-9:30am Central Europe Time
– Access the registration link
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)
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