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Australian govt lying to public about Julian Assange

Foreign Minister Bob Carr… claimed last week that there was “not the remotest evidence” of any US government desire to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder.

Fresh call on Assange ‘espionage’ SMH Philip Dorling July 2, 2012 THE head of the United States Senate’s powerful intelligence oversight committee has renewed calls for Julian Assange to be prosecuted for espionage. The US Justice Department has also confirmed WikiLeaks remains the target of a criminal investigation, calling into question Australian government claims the US has no interest in extraditing Mr Assange. Continue reading →

July 2, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Wikileaks | Leave a comment

Malaysian govt insists that Lynas might have to take its radioactive wastes back to Australia

The  Temporary Operating License  will only be issued after Lynas  fulfils two new conditions imposed 

AELB: Lynas committed to returning radioactive waste to AustraliaThe Malaysian Insider By Lisa J. Ariffin June 28, DENGKIL, June 28 — Lynas is committed to return all potentially harmful waste from its rare earths plant here to Australia despite its government’s firm refusal to take it in, Malaysia’s radiation regulator said today.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB)  told reporters today the Australian miner would have to send home all residue that could not be turned into commercial products or if a location for a permanent disposal facility (PDF) here could not be determined or approved.

“Lynas will have 10 months to come up with a permanent disposal facility plan for its radioactive residue upon receiving its temporary operating license (TOL),”  said Dr Noor Hasnah Mohamed Khairullah who is special adviser to the AELB director-general.

“If they fail to find a location for the PDF, or if the plan is not approved, then Lynas has to return the residues back to Australia.  Continue reading →

June 29, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, Malaysia, politics international, Uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Australia’s uranium industry in decline

for all the hype, uranium accounts for a lousy 0.3% of Australian export revenue and a negligible 0.02% of Australian jobs. The industry’s future depends on the nuclear power “renaissance”, but global nuclear power capacity has been stagnant for the past 20 years. 

The uranium price tanked after the Fukushima disaster and so far there is no sign of a bounce.

Australian uranium industry in trouble after Fukushima,June 2, 2012,Green Left, By Jim Green A protest walk from Wiluna to Perth took place last year against the proposed Wiluna uranium mine.

These are interesting times in the uranium sector. The mining companies have had a few wins in the 14 months since the Fukushima disaster, but they’ve had more losses. Continue reading →

June 16, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

Australia’s hypocrisy as it toes the USA line about 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 →

June 6, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Australia’s uranium industry not looking good for the future

The uranium price tanked after the Fukushima disaster and so far there is no sign of a bounce.

Uranium flashpoint in the wild West,    The Drum, Jim Green, 22 May 12,  Interesting times in the uranium sector. The mining companies have had a few wins in the 14 months since the Fukushima disaster, but they’ve had more losses.

Bill Repard, organiser of the Paydirt Uranium Conference held in Adelaide in February, put on a brave face with this claim: The sector’s hiccups in the wake of Fukushima are now over with, the global development of new nuclear power stations continues unabated, and the Australian sector has literally commenced a U-turn in every sense.

Yet for all the hype, uranium accounts for a lousy 0.03 per cent of Australian export revenue and a negligible 0.02 per cent of Australian jobs. The industry’s future depends on the nuclear power ‘renaissance’, but global nuclear power capacity has been stagnant for the past 20 years, and if there is any growth at all in the next 20 years, it will be modest. Continue reading →

May 23, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

Large scale study shows Australia is warming, due to global greenhouse emissions

“Our study revealed that recent warming in a 1,000-year context is highly unusual and cannot be explained by natural factors alone, suggesting a strong influence of human-caused climate change in the Australasian region,” 

1,000 years of climate data confirms Australia’s warming  http://phys.org/news/2012-05-years-climate-australia.html  May 17, 2012 By Alvin Stone In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the past 1,000 years. The study led by researchers at the University of Melbourne, used a range of natural indicators including tree rings, corals and ice cores to study Australasian temperatures over the past millennium. They then compared these with climate model simulations.

Dr. Stephen Phipps, a researcher with UNSW’s  Research Centre and the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science led the climate model simulation research. He said the results showed there were no other warm periods in the past 1,000 years that match the warming experienced in Australasia since 1950. Continue reading →

May 18, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, climate change | Leave a comment

Massive Olympic Dam uranium mine project might mot go ahead

projects such as the massive expansion of the Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine in Australia and the potash development in Canada are far less certain…… Where the money is put will say a lot about their expectations for demand for specific commodities now and into the future.

 Knives Are Out, But Will BHP and Rio Cut?, WSJ, By Robb M. Stewart, May 16, 2012,    BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have signaled that harder times lie ahead for global miners but have given little indication of where the cuts, if any, will come to the billions of dollars worth of mining projects that both have in the pipeline in Australia and globally.

Neither is backtracking on their long held view about China’s long-term demand for iron ore and coal, but it is now clear that not every expansion project is guaranteed to get off the ground in the current environment–and those that do will be phased in over a longer time period… Continue reading →

May 18, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

Deception by Australian State Ministers about sales of uranium to India

Who is telling the truth?   New South Wales Minister for Resources, Mr Hartcher?   or the Queensland government?

In fact, both States  prohibit uranium mining.   New South Wales has recently allowed uranium exploration only.

THE HINDU 4 May 2012,   reports that  New South Wales Minister for Resources and Energy and Central Coast Christopher Peter Hartcher announced on Friday that both New South Wales and Queensland State governments in Australia had changed their laws which prohibited mining and sale of uranium.

Also Mr Hartcher is quoted “We also respect India’s decision on not signing the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT)”  http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3384772.ece

 See this article – No plans for uranium mining ban rethink   http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-02/no-plans-for-uranium-mining-ban-rethink/3984350?section=business   By Stephen Smiley ABC News May 02, 2012   “The State Government says it has no plans to revisit Queensland’s ban on uranium mining.”

Queensland Premier Newman has recently reiterated the position that uranium mining is banned in Queensland.

And as for  Mr Hartcher “respecting” India’s decision on the NPT, he is in the minority.  Most Australians are appalled at the idea of selling uranium to a country that won’t sign the NPT.

May 5, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA | Leave a comment

Australia’s Aborigines fight laws that will take more of their land for mining

NT elders fight Stronger Futures law plans, THE AUSTRALIAN AAP , May 02, 2012  ABORIGINAL leaders from Arnhem Land communities have threatened a revolt against the Federal Government’s Stronger Futures laws by refusing to participate in land lease negotiations or give the nod to mining exploration licences. Continue reading →

May 2, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | Leave a comment

BHP Board might not approve development of world’s biggest uranium mine

Acting chief executive of the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy Nigel Long said the state’s mining industry was not solely reliant on the expansion of Olympic Dam because there were other “exciting opportunities” ahead, 

“The decision to press the pause button is a decision to be made by the BHP board, but we see a very good future for other projects in South Australia regardless…..

The BHP board will be considering whether to approve the project at a time when cost pressures in Australian mining are rising and profit margins are contracting.

BHP has Olympic hurdles to overcome, Financial Review 17 APR 2012  The South Australian government says it is not inclined to grant BHP Billiton an extension on an approvals expiring in December that cover the $US20 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam mine at this stage. Jamie Freed and Lucille Keen Continue reading →

April 21, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

Australia launches renewable energy fund

$10b fund for renewable energy firms http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/b-fund-for-renewable-energy-firms/story-e6frg2r3-1226330084361   AAP April 17, 2012 COMPANIES involved in renewable energy will soon be able to tap into a $10 billion federal pool. The Gillard government released today an independent review into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which is due to start operating from July 2013.

The government accepted all recommendations made by the review.

The CEFC will provide $10 billion worth of financing to companies involved in renewable energy, low-emissions and energy efficiency technology. The review was led by Reserve Bank of Australia board member Jillian Broadbent.
The CEFC will encourage private investment and help overcome capital market barriers for cleaner energy technologies, the government said in a statement today.

The fund will apply “commercial rigor” to its investment decisions to make sure companies have a positive rate of return and are able to repay the loans.

April 18, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, renewable | Leave a comment

30 years later, today’s road workers affected by radioactive spill

 Workers sick amid highway radiation scare http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-18/radioactive-discovery-halts-pacific-hwy-upgrade/3957168 April 18, 2012   Road workers were sent for medical treatment after vomiting when suspected nuclear material was unearthed during work on an upgrade to the Pacific Highway on the mid-north coast of New South Wales The materials, which include caesium, were buried north of Port Macquarie after a truck carrying radioactive isotopes from Sydney’s Lucas Heights nuclear reactor crashed in the area in 1980.

The isotopes were being taken to Brisbane, before being shipped to the United States. The upgrade’s project manager, Bob Higgins, says road workers fell ill after unearthing a strange clay-like material.

“As we’ve taken down the cutting there we exposed the face of the existing material (and) came across a clay material that when it’s exposed to air it gets an orange streak through it,” he said. ”There were a number of workers that felt a little bit of nausea and there was a bit of vomiting when they were in close proximity. ”[They went] off to the doctor, but obviously we need to be extremely careful here.”

The Environmental Impact Statement for the highway upgrade had noted some uncertainty about where exactly the containers were buried. Specialists are in the area assessing what to do with the radioactive materials, and if they pose any risk.

Let the Facts Speak: 1980, December 4 PORT MACQUARIE, AUSTRALIA Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, incidents | Leave a comment

Paladin Uranium shares go further down

Paladin misses targets, shares drop, Peter Ker April 16, 2012 Shares in Paladin Energy are sliding lower this morning, after the uranium miner revealed it had missed production targets yet again and had been forced to reduce its annual production targets.
Uranium production at Paladin’s flagship Langer Heinrich mine was 10 per cent below the company’s target during the first three months of2012, while its secondary mine also missed its production targets.

The missed targets, combined with concerns over Paladin’s debt, was pushing shares were down by 3 cents to 1.77 shortly after 11am…. Many analysts are concerned about Paladin’s debt levels, and the company is looking to sell minority stakes in its non-producing assets as a way to boost cashflow.

Concerns over the debt situation prompted Patersons Securities to downgrade Paladin to a sell earlier this month. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/paladin-misses-targets-shares-drop-20120416-1x2od.html#ixzz1sQlkNcbp

April 18, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

Continued poor prospects for uranium. ERA may close its Ranger mine

Spot Uranium Grafting, 9 News Finance, 13 April 12,    ”………Activity in general remains sluggish, and while two transactions were reported last week in the term market they were both pretty small by term market standards…

..Energy Resources of Australia managed a 5% price increase over the quarter but remains in thebalance. The company has elected to spend $120m to explore the underground potential at its premier Ranger mine in the northern territory, known as the Ranger Deeps project.

If ERA decides the Deeps is not a commercially viable proposition, Ranger is destined to quietly shut down. Merrills suggests known reserves are unlikely to last beyond this year and stockpiles would be gone in 3-4 years.
Meanwhile, Merrills has ceased coverage of Extract Resources post takeover and its impending de-listing this week.

The broker has also taken the opportunity to review its uranium price forecasts to account for weaker Japanese demand now apparent one year after Fukushima. The analysts’ 2012 spot price forecast falls to US$56.25/lb from US$58.50/lb and 2013 to US$67.50/lb from US$70.00/lb. Merrills’ long term price drops to US$63.00/lb from US$65.00/lb.  …
http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newscolumnists/greg/8449091/spot-uranium-grafting

April 13, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | Leave a comment

USA military bases in Australia – making Australia a nuclear target?

If too closely aligned with the US, Australia will be associated with any mistakes. US actions, mounted from Australia, will implicate Australia. In the Cold War US joint intelligence facilities were a target for Soviet nuclear weapons……

Australia needs to be careful that it does not make inevitable the future that it should fear the most. Current decisions are being made without public debate or discussion. Once made they will be difficult to reverse.

We must not get too close to the US, BY: PETER LEAHY  The Australian April 12, 2012 “……. there can be too much of a good thing, especially if it involves putting unnecessary pressure on China. By substantially increasing its
close relationship with the US, Australia may unduly complicate its relationship with China. Care needs to be taken to ensure that Australia is not caught between the US, as security guarantor, and China as economic underwriter.

As a sovereign nation Australia should maintain the ability to say no to the US and separate itself from its actions. This will require careful thought and deft diplomacy……By agreeing to the US Marine Corps and potentially more extensive air and naval access requests, Australia has confirmed that it is firmly in the US security camp……. Continue reading →

April 12, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics international, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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