SILENCING DISSENT - Book Review

SILENCING DISSENT - Edited by Clive Hamilton and Sarah Maddison Published by Allen & Unwin silencingdissent.com.au

Book Review by Allan Boyd

Silencing Dissent is an appropriate book for an appropriate era. At a time of increasing cultural homogeneity, collective apathy and lack of community participation in Australia, this book examines how for over ten years, John Howard's conservative Liberal-Coalition government has employed intimidation, deceit, obfuscation and conspiracy to silence and ridicule those who seek to dissent its policies.

Silencing Dissent reveals how our Australian democratic institutions, both government and NGOs are being eroded. The very heart of public participation has defected - and this book shows how and why. In John Howard's Australia in 2007, by contributing to the book - each Silencing Dissent contributor is a radical dissident.

The editors - well respected authors Clive Hamilton (executive director of lefty think-tank, The Australia Institute) & Sarah Maddison (lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of NSW) - and its 8 contributors have produced an entirely current and highly readable dire warning of a deadening Aussie democracy.

Currently a stacked Senate weakened by coalition reform is buckling under the boot of Mr Howard. The book examines a multitude of cases, all of which highlight Howard's master plan to systematically overthrow the authority of experts and individuals across the nation - in order to control public opinion and rewrite Australian history under the Liberal Party's grand vision. Academics, critics, public servants, social justice seekers and even members if its own Party are targeted and silenced galore - effectively dismantling the crucial checks and balances of government accountability and "weeding out those who are not sufficiently compliant". However Silencing Dissent also shows how those who toe the party line are sufficiently rewarded for their loyalty.

Citing glaring issues from as far back as 1996 (Refugees; Sadam's WMDs; the invasion of Iraq; the $300 million AWB scandal; the Tampa incident; the children overboard debacle; the gagging and guillotining to force through controversial legislative change) as obvious cases, the book delivers myriad evidence of an active hardline government intent on gagging critics of its neo-conservative rule. Silencing Dissent offers countless examples of how "the actions of the Howard Government have put democracy at risk".

Unable to tolerate 'frank and fearless' bi-partisan advice from public servants, NGOs and other highly reputable people, many boards and committees have been dissolved by an ideologically-driven government. Organisations are muted, quashed and conveniently populated with Howard's sycophantic political allies (as in the ABC). Indeed those who are submissive go on to receive obvious rewards, awards and accolades for their subjugated loyalty.

Silencing Dissent describes clearly and concisely how, under the Howard regime, only certain kinds of speech appear to be acceptable.

This book unveils the methods utilised by Howard and his colluders in the ongoing corrosion of democratic dissent. A timely collection of essays written by ten leading social justice experts, academics, thinkers, 'do-gooders' and whistle-blowers, Silencing Dissent will certainly be the target of an "inner circle of ideological warriors"; this "syndicate of right-wing commentators who receive favour from the Howard government". The likes of which determine the climate of public debate - which has arguably shifted a "long way to the right" over the past two decades.

The book, published in February 2007, at the precipice of an election year, details a litany of intimidation, public vituperation, funding cuts, provocation, increased bureaucracy, covert and overt manipulation, outright refusal to adhere to the appropriate tools of accountability etc etc. And the sufferers under the Howard years are people - workers, students, institutions, charities, academics, researchers, journalists, judges, public sector organisations - even defence force personnel are victims under the tyranny of John Winston Howard.

This poignant group of articles shows how since 1996, Howard has managed with much success to stifle critique of his policy and the manner of its implementation in this country. Silencing Dissent describes in detail how our media and public institutions are shaped, abused and dismantled in the pursuit of an ideological dominance.

All brave democratic Australians need to consume this book.

Read it. Steal it if you have to. Make a noise. DISSENT!


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ISBN 9781741751017
Price $24.95
Paperback, 300 pages
Allen & Unwin Feb07

Why nuclear energy is not the solution to climate change

February 1, 2007: Faced with unrelenting local and global pressure over climate change, Prime Minister John Howard punches the nuclear power button almost every time he opens his mouth these days. His recent taskforce, looking at alternatives to fossil-fuel, yet stacked with nuclear industry proponents, announced over New Year 2007 that uranium mining be expanded and that nuclear energy is a viable option for Australia.

But nuclear power is not an answer to climate change...

If the argument is about greenhouse gases, Peter Bradford, former member of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, says that: even if nuclear is fast-tracked over all other energy prospects, nuclear cannot provide more than 10-15% of greenhouse gas displacement likely to be needed by 2050.

Bradford says: "Not only can nuclear power not stop global warming, it is probably not even an essential part of the solution to global warming."

Extensive studies have shown that humans urgently need to shift to cleaner, safer energy sources to tackle the challenge of debilitating global climate change. And according to Friends of the Earth, there is no case for nuclear power to be part of the future energy mix. The environmental organisation said in November 2006, that nuclear power was a "dangerous distraction" from the safe solutions to the global crisis of climate change.

Globally, nuclear power currently supplies around three per cent of global energy - albeit at massive economic and environmental cost. Yet Friends of the Earth say renewable energy sources can supply considerably more than the International Energy Agency's highest global energy forecasts.

There are vast solar energy resources in Australia's deserts, for example, which can be converted to electricity by simple and safe mirror-based technologies. Globally, these could generate power on a scale of between ten and hundred times greater than any feasible nuclear expansion. And this technology is available right now.

Yet John Howard regurgitates the uranium industry line that nuclear power is "clean and green," when it is simply not true.

Nuclear power is not good for greenhouse gas reduction, because it requires huge amounts of fossil fuels - for mining, milling and enrichment of uranium. Furthermore, nuclear energy is dependent on the concentration of the uranium ore - and as more uranium is used, the quality of ore is depleted. According to recent analysis, even with high-grade ore, it would take 10 years to "pay back" the energy used in construction and fuelling of a typical reactor. And with lower-grade ore - if nuclear power were to be widely expanded - the net emissions would be far greater than a gas power station. Other studies show that uranium reserves would be depleted within 5-10 years if used to replace Coal as an energy source globally.

Water is also an issue in the nuclear energy cycle, consuming millions of litres of water to produce any fuel. Yet many towns and shires across Australia are struggling to get enough drinking water - let alone enough to satisfy the amount a nuclear station would need to guzzle. This is water that we simply cannot afford as chronic drought and looming climate change dry up water supplies in this country.

There is also the perpetual issue of nuclear waste. The nuclear industry is a producer of highly toxic, radioactive and hazardous waste. Yet in over 50 years, scientists have still not found a viable solution to the ongoing problem of radioactive waste. Nuclear power stations produce the most dangerous industrial wastes known to humankind. Reports estimate that even without expansion, by 2015 there will be roughly 250,000 tonnes to deal with. Beyond the waste issue, radioactive leaks continue. Since Chernobyl in 1986, more than 22 serious leaks have been documented. There are far greater safety issues involved with nuclear energy than any other method of generating power.

In terms of economic efficiency, nuclear power is the most expensive way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear power is not economically viable without significant government subsidies. It is well known that the nuclear energy industry is heavily subsidised by taxpayers across the planet. Canada for example has a 4 billion dollar debt attributed to nuclear energy. And the USA provides direct subsidies to nuclear energy totalling $115 billion, with a further $145 billion of indirect subsidies.

But similar support has not been forthcoming for renewable energy. If the money invested in nuclear and fossil fuel subsidies were spent on energy efficiency and developing renewable energy sources - perhaps we would be much closer to meeting our needs at a far lower cost to the environment and power consumers.

Wind power, for example, is the fastest growing energy source in the world, and is far cheaper than nuclear. For the same investment, wind generates more electricity, and offers more jobs. Renewable energy is getting cheaper the more we produce in Australia. In recent years, over 6,000 megawatts of wind generation have been installed every year in Europe. This is the equivalent of three nuclear power plants.

Australians want renewable energy. A National Poll in 2003 found that 76% of respondents would pay an additional 5% on their energy bills for a 10% increase in renewable energy - when the alternative was cheap energy at any environmental cost.

Professor Ian Lowe, Australian Conservation Foundation President says, "be in no doubt: renewable energy works. Renewables now account for a quarter of the installed capacity of California, a third of Sweden's energy, half of Norway's and three-quarters of Iceland's. It is time we joined the clean energy revolution sweeping the progressive parts of the world," he said. "Renewables can meet Australia's energy demands. Just 15 wind farms could supply enough power for half the homes in NSW," said Professor Lowe.

Fitting solar panels to just half the houses in Australia could supply 7% of all our electricity needs, including industry needs - enough in fact for the whole of Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Currently, nuclear is a marginal energy source, supplying a small percent of the world energy demand.

Nuclear energy only produces electricity and can not replace petrol or diesel as fuel for cars, trucks, ships and planes - road transport is currently the source of 22% of carbon dioxide emissions, and aviation is the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions.

Nuclear power is not a sustainable energy source - it is greenhouse intensive, it is costly, dangerous, and produces toxic waste which hangs around for hundreds of thousands of years.

But don't let John Howard distort and polish the dubious reality of nuclear power, find out for yourself...

Sources:
- Media Release - FOE
- International Energy Agency
- Professor Ian Lowe. National Press Club, October 19, 2005
- Nuclear Power - Dr Helen Caldicott
- Boston Globe
- John Busby
- Sustainable Development Commission

Decommisioned toxic nuclear reactor parts to be dumped in Australian desert?

JAN 30 2007: Used reactor parts: Environmentalists have warned against dumping radioactive waste from Australia's Lucas Heights old nuclear reactor parts in the Northen Territory. Federal Science Minister Julie Bishop says its not yet known which site in the NT will be chosen as Australia's first central nuclear waste dump. The 50-year-old HIFAR reactor in Sydney's south is being decommissioned. Minister Bishop shut down Australia's first nuclear reactor today...

January 30, 2007 marks the end of the Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in the city's south, after almost 50 years of operation. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) says it is confident ongoing problems with Australia's next nuclear reactor "will be fixed by the time it is meant to come on line."

The work of the reactor will be taken over by the new Argentinian-designed research reactor called OPAL. The new $350 million OPAL reactor replaces the old facility, which opened in 1958 as Australia's first nuclear reactor.

ANSTO chief executive Ian Smith says he expects the new reactor to be up and running by April, despite some teething problems in the commissioning phase - citing certain leaks as one of the problems.

The federal government plan to build a nuclear waste dump in the NT. But critics have warned against dumping the Lucas Heights reactor's old radioactive parts in the desert. But Arid Lands Environment Centre spokeswoman Natalie Wasley says it would be much better for the old parts of the reactor to remain at Lucas Heights. "The Australian Nuclear Association have all said that there is room here, they have the technology, they have the capability and they have the storage room," she said. "Also there are trained personnel here who deal with radioactive material, and they'll be on site all the time. So that's definitely a lot better option than sticking it out in a remote area in the desert."

Wilderness Society nuclear spokeswoman Imogen Zethoven says the Federal Government should say where it is planning to dump radioactive waste from the decommissioned site. "We don't believe that the dismantled reactor should be shifted across Australia, through local communities, past people's homes and put in someone's backyard that doesn't want it," she said.

"We actually think that the reactor, now that it's shut down, should stay where it is and be managed locally."

The $50 million decommissioning process has begun with the official shutdown of the facility. Fuel will then be removed and fluid drained from the facility, before radioactive materials within the reactor are left there to decay.

NSW Greens senator Kerry Nettle said she feared the decommissioning process of the old facility would not be as successful as hoped. Science was not far enough advanced to safely dispose of nuclear waste, she said.

"Not one single commercial nuclear power reactor around the world has been successfully decommissioned," Ms Nettle said. "We know from the evidence this nuclear site may never become safe, regardless of any new reactor. We don't have the technological and scientific answers of how to dispose of this waste."

The Wilderness Society called on the Federal Government to fully outline its plans for the disposal of radioactive waste from the reactor. "The Federal Government must make clear to local communities where they plan on storing this nuclear waste that remains toxic for millions of years," said society spokeswoman Imogen Zethoven. "Local communities along transport routes will also be concerned about the tonnes of dangerous nuclear waste that will be trucked past their homes."

Over its 40-year life, OPAL will generate several cubic metres of high-level waste, which it intends to store in a remote location in the Northern Territory.

SOURCES:

Nuclear group says new reactor ready soon - ABC
Science Minister turns off nuclear reactor - ABC
Nuclear reactor's life coming to an end - ABC
Curtains for Lucas Heights after nearly 50 years - SMH
New nuclear reactor fires up energy debate
Where are they planning to dump radioactive waste? - MIM
Arid Lands Environment Centre

Howard's disingenuous debate about Nuclear Power in Australia

Elliot K - Indymedia Tuesday January 30, 2007

January 30, 2007: Possible nuclear power sites tagged: Canberra-based think tank, the Australia Institute, has identified at least 19 potential locations for nuclear power plant sites. Two thirds of Australians oppose nuclear power plants in their local area according to new research by the Australia Institute. The finding is made in Who Wants a Nuclear Power Plant?, a paper analysing support for nuclear power in Australia by Institute Deputy Director Andrew Macintosh...

"We can not have this debate without considering siting issues..."

Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, the Sunshine Coast and Bribie Island have been named in the Australia Institute's final list of possible sites around Australia. Deputy director of the left-wing institute Andrew McIntosh says the sites all met four primary criteria.

"First one was sites near the national electricity market or electricity grid," he said. "The second was near centre of demand, the third one was near transport infrastructure and the final one was near the coast, because you need water or you need sea water for cooling purposes."

However, new research by the institute suggests two-thirds of Australians are opposed to having a nuclear power plant in their local area. Their paper found 50 per cent of people are against having nuclear power plants in Australia, but opposition increases when people consider the prospect of a plant built in their neighbourhood.

"At the most basic level, the public cannot accurately evaluate whether it is willing to support a nuclear industry unless it has an idea about where the power plants are likely to be located. In the absence of this information, the Government is asking the community to make decisions in the abstract without being fully informed," says Mr McIntosh in the research paper, "Siting Nuclear Power Plants in Australia - Where would they go?."

Mr McIntosh says opposition is highest in middle income households and among women. "One of the real blockages to nuclear power being an option is the extent of opposition to it," he said. "But it's mainly because we need to solve climate change rapidly and with this amount of opposition you're just not going to get there. It's going to take you two decades to get anywhere near the position where you're going to be ready to establish a large scale nuclear power industry."

Polling for the Institute by Newspoll shows that while 50 per cent of people oppose the construction of nuclear power plants in Australia, opposition escalates when people consider the prospect of a plant being sited in their local area.

"Middle Australia is most concerned," Mr Macintosh said. "A large 73 per cent of middle income households are opposed to living near a nuclear plant, compared to 61 per cent of low income and 63 per cent of high income households. A large proportion of women (75 per cent) and people with children (72 per cent) are also opposed to living near a nuclear power plant."

In a second paper, Siting Nuclear Power Plants in Australia, Mr Macintosh identifies 19 likely sites for nuclear power plants in Australia.

Launching the papers today, Institute Director Dr Clive Hamilton said "Overseas
experience shows that the siting of power plants is one of the most politically contentious aspects of the nuclear debate. The Prime Minister has called for a thorough and full-blooded debate about nuclear energy," Dr Hamilton said.

"We can not have this debate without considering siting issues"

Based on four primary and six secondary criteria, including proximity to seawater for cooling and access to the national electricity grid, areas identified as possible nuclear plant sites are:

· in Queensland – Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast and Bribie Island;
· in NSW/ACT – Port Stephens, Central Coast, Botany Bay, Port Kembla and Jervis Bay/Sussex Inlet;
· in Victoria – South Gippsland, Western Port, Port Phillip and Portland; and
· in South Australia – Mt Gambier/Millicent, Port Adelaide and Port Augusta/Port Pirie.

-----

TAI RESEARCH PAPERS:

Siting Nuclear Power Plants in Australia: Where would they go? - January 2007, A Macintosh - PDF
Who Wants a Nuclear Power Plant: Support for nuclear power in Australia - January 2007, A Macintosh - PDF

SOURCES:
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE WEBSITE
Media release - TAI
Possible nuclear power sites tagged in Qld - ABC
PERTH INDYMEDIA

Hollow Howard "unhappy" over Hicksy - Not good enough!

JANUARY 24, 2007: "Prime Minister John Howard's unquestioning support of the US military trial of David Hicks needs to end..."

John Howard has issued a hollow ultimatum to the US over the future of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks. The Adelaide-born man has been held in Guantanamo Bay for more than five years. John Howard says he is unhappy it has taken so long for new charges to be laid.

The Prime Minister says he has asked the US to charge the Australian terrorism suspect by mid-February. Hicks has been detained since his capture in Afghanistan in December 2001. Supporters is showing more signs of mental anguish...

Shadow attorney-general Kelvin Thomson says John Howard's time line for the trial of Mr Hicks is meaningless: "It's a hollow ultimatum, the Howard Government continues to be in denial about the prospect of more legal challenges to an unfair process and the prospect that David Hicks will languish in Guantanamo bay indefinitely," said Mr Thomson.

"I think effectively he is calling for something which he believes that the US authorities intend to do in any event, I think that the Australian Government may well have had a nod and a wink from the Americans concerning their timing," he said. Mr Hicks appeared before a US military commission in August 2004 and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.

But all charges were dropped when the US Supreme Court ruled last June that the military commissions were unlawful.

Greens Senator Christine Milne says latest regulations concerning the military trial "breach accepted standards and will continue to deny David Hicks a fair trial." "Would Prime Minister Howard allow one of his own children to be tried under these rules?" Senator Milne said. "The chorus of opposition in this country to David Hicks' mistreatment during five years' incarceration and to the Howard government's abandonment of an Australian citizen grows louder each week."

She said Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's admission earlier this month that he has never even asked to see the evidence claims against David Hicks demonstrates the government's disregard for David Hicks' rights: "The government's treatment of David Hicks contrasts with its claims to stand for Australian values of fairness, decency and support of families.


MANUAL FOR MISTRIAL

Meanwhile, the US Defence Department has drafted a manual for trying detainees at the American naval base in Cuba. The manual allows terrorist suspects to be imprisoned, convicted and executed on the basis of hearsay evidence or coerced testimony. The Pentagon manual says so-called enemy combatants "are prosecuted before regularly constituted courts affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognised by civilised people".

The Law Council says these new rules fall short of fair trial standards: "After the Military Commissions Act was passed last year, we knew that this new regime... was fundamentally flawed and unfair," council president Tim Bugg said. "The manual, which contains the rules of evidence, simply confirms our fears." Mr Bugg said Hicks could be convicted on the basis of hearsay evidence that he won't have the opportunity to challenge.

"The rules even allow hearsay within hearsay, meaning that Mr Hicks could be placed in a position where he doesn't have the opportunity to cross-examine the person twice removed from the witness who actually made an allegation about him," Mr Bugg said. "The manual also makes it clear that evidence... used against Mr Hicks may come from informants in the field, former Guantanamo detainees long released and US and foreign security agents - none of whom the prosecution is required to produce at trial."

"Regardless of what lip service they pay to defendants' rights, the military commissions are designed to rubber stamp decisions about guilt that were made long ago," says Mr Bugg.

Hicks' defence counsel, US Marine Corps Major Michael Mori, said the new rules were even worse than the old system overturned by the US Supreme Court last year. "We have the same broken-down house with a fresh coat of paint," he said. "There is no difference. The same people who wrote the illegal system created this system..."

Major Mori said the manual denied Guantanamo inmates fundamental rights and placed unfair burdens on the defence. "Actually things are worse under this new system," he said. "Under the old commission system, a military defence lawyer was allowed to see all the classified evidence. Even if David Hicks couldn't, I could. Now they want to, basically, say that I may not see classified evidence. They may only use a summary and I may never get to see to check the classified evidence."

"It's very crafty how they put the burden on the defence to show why the Government's hearsay evidence is unreliable and yet they now give the ability to the government to classify how evidence was obtained and the methods by which it was obtained."

The rules, he said, "just don't provide for a fair trial". Major Mori said the rules diminished his client's rights substantially and made his job as defence counsel more difficult. "The right to a speedy trial - that's gone, any right against self incrimination has been taken away, the right to confront your accuser..." he said. "They say all hearsay can come in and the burden is on the defence to show why the prosecution shouldn't be able to use this."

Major Mori is examining avenues for a legal challenge, but said the US Supreme Court would not rule on such a case before 2009 or 2010, by which time Hicks would have been in detention for up to nine years. He said there was no indication from the Pentagon about a timeframe for laying fresh charges against Hicks.

Laying of fresh charges does not guarantee a quick trial, due to delays from legal battles in the US for those brought before military commissions.


MENTAL ANGUISH

Meanwhile, David's father, Terry Hicks, has expressed concern about his son's psychological state as he enters his sixth year at Guantanamo Bay.

However Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has rejected a suggestion Hicks might not be mentally fit to face trial. "There is no evidence of that from what I have heard from Guantanamo Bay. None at all," he said.

However, a US embassy spokeswoman has confirmed that a staff member spent "five minutes with Hicks" last Friday and a report of the meeting was given to the American ambassador to Australia, who briefed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"The official that met David Hicks is not a doctor so it wasn't an assessment as such," the embassy official said. "His quick impression was that David Hicks was physically healthy and mentally alert."

Major Mori questioned Downer's claim that Hicks was mentally fit to face trial. Major Mori said he understood Hicks had been "put on display for some visiting dignitaries". "He's being used as a monkey in a cage for people to come to stare at," he said.

The party included officials from the US embassy in Australia and there were no health professionals involved. "What I'm concerned about is, I don't believe David would want to reveal the problems he's having to the people who are controlling his life down there," Major Mori said.

SOURCES:
Law Council slams 'unfair system'
Father's fury at Hicks visit
Hicks like 'a monkey in a cage'
Five years on, Howard sets deadline for US to charge Hicks
PM Howard must demand David Hicks' return in wake of new rules

Qantas bans passenger over anti-Bush t-shirt

January 22, 2007: Qantas turns away passenger over terror T-shirt - Qantas is refusing to let an Australian man board a plane from Melbourne to the United Kingdom because he insists on wearing a T-shirt depicting US President George Bush as a terrorist. Alan Jasson said he was defending freedom of speech through his insistence on wearing the T-shirt. Qantas says the t-shirt was offensive to other passengers, but Mr Jasson has told the ABC he's considering court action...

Alan Jasson, 55, says he wanted to wear the T-shirt, but Qantas says written or verbal comments that "could cause offence or threaten security will not be tolerated." Mr Jasson says he is being denied his right to express his political views.

"I have a right to my political views and no one can take them away from me," he said. Mr Jasson says the ban on his T-shirt is outrageous. "People who have a political view, you know if I say John Howard's a liar, John Howard knew that there were no children overboard, if that's a view at some point you have to say bad luck," he said.

Mr Jasson, an Australian IT specialist who lives in London, is staying with his daughter in Melbourne after he was refused entry to the flight to London at Melbourne Airport. Airline staff argued that the T-shirt, which bears an image of the US president with the slogan `World's number 1 terrorist', was a security risk. The airline earlier had prevented him from flying to Melbourne for Christmas with relatives on December 2 until he removed the shirt.

Domestic carrier Virgin Blue took the same action when Mr Jasson tried to catch a connecting flight to Adelaide, but on a return flight with Qantas on Friday, he successfully wore the shirt. Mr Jasson said he cleared international security checks and arrived at the departure lounge in Melbourne for the flight home when he approached the gate manager, congratulated him over Qantas allowing him to wear the shirt and demanded an apology for his earlier treatment.

"I raised the issue, but I wanted primarily to thank Qantas for relenting when (the gate manager) told me: `I'm surprised you got this far, the staff should have stopped you'," Mr Jasson said.


Mr Jasson said he risked missing his chance of permanent residency if he spent more than two months out of the UK. But the Adelaide-born former Melbourne resident said he was seeking legal advice to challenge the airline's policy and recover costs.

"To be fair to Qantas, they have said I can take another flight if I don't wear the T-shirt but I am not prepared to go without the T-shirt," he said. "I might forfeit the ($2500) fare but I have made up my mind that I would rather stand up for the principle of free speech."

When asked whether the stand was worthwhile, Mr Jasson said: "In Australia today it is very sad that that question has to be asked. "It's very sad that I find that question has to be asked in Australia. It's a very unhealthy situation and it makes me feel very sad. "It's one of the reasons that I now live in the UK."

A Qantas spokesman said: "Whether made verbally or on a T-shirt, comments with the potential to offend other customers or threaten the security of a Qantas group aircraft will not be tolerated".

"People who have a political view, such as saying in my view "John Howard knew there were no children overboard" then that's my view," he said. "If people find that offensive then you have to say at some point, bad luck."

Sources:
ABC News
'Terror' T-shirt sparks legal row - The Australian

Woolworths: what about the other 364 days of the year?

January 22, 2007: Woolworths action "no more than a cynical marketing ploy".

In a major corporate advertising blitz, Woolworths on January 23, will "donate its entire day's profits from all Australian Woolworths supermarkets to the Country Women's Association (CWA) to help farming families with household bills and for research into sustainable farming practices."

Greens MLC Mark Parnell has called on Woolworths to do more for farmers all year round, rather than undertake a "one-day marketing-driven charity drive." There is growing concern across the country about power duopoly, Woolworths and Coles - who together control 70% of the Australian fresh food market and the control they have over the growing, distribution and sale of our food...

The General Manager of the SA Farmers Federation, Carol Vincent, describes Woolworths' National Drought Action Day as an "insulting" public relations exercise. "South Australian farmers don't want a tokenistic hand-out, they just want Woolworths to pay a fairer price for the produce they buy all year round," he said.

"The big two retailers have far and away the highest level of market dominance in the world," said Mark Parnell. "This is an incredibly unhealthy situation. Coles and Woolworths are able to exert too much influence over the size of farms, what crops are grown and what price they fetch - and as a result our farmers, and their communities, are doing it tough, drought or no drought. Because of their market power, Woolworths are in a wonderful position to make a real and lasting difference to our farmers and the wider community."

In 2006, Sunshine Coast strawberry and dairy farmers announced they were "sick and tired of being rorted by the major supermarket chains". According to the State member of Nicklin, "when I was trying to intervene on behalf of the dairy industry, I spoke to senior people in Woolworths and their response was, "we are not in the business of doing what’s good for dairy farmers, we are in the business of making profits for shareholders".

In 2006, Consumer Protection WA charged Woolworths with breaches of regulations relating to fuel pricing. Also the ACCC saw Woolies fined $7 million for anticompetitive behaviour in the liquor market. The CEO of Woolworths, a devout Christian, runs the largest liquor supplier and gaming operation in Australia - 12,000 gaming machines - as well as a major pusher of tobacco.

So far 2007 has seen Woolworths under further attack, first over grocery costs then the cost of fuel. Consumer experts say the nation’s supermarket duopoly is the reason. According to the NRMA, when it came to the cost of fuel, Woolworths are "reducing competition by squeezing independent chains out of the marketplace".

"If Woolworths are genuine about helping Australian farmers, they should stop robbing producers of the real value of their products, and start paying fairer prices 365 days of the year. Otherwise... (the) 'Drought Action Day' should be regarded as no more than a cynical marketing ploy," says Mark Parnell.

Woolworths CEO Michael Luscombe said the Woolworths National Drought Action Day is expected to raise in excess of three million dollars. He said 100% of the donation will be directed to the Country Women's Association. However, corporations like Woolworths, rarely wake up one morning, and decide it would be a good idea to dump a day’s profits into the bank accounts of organisations like the CWA. Woollies reported a billion dollar profit for 2005-6, paid its CEO $12 million, and expects 21 per cent growth.

Alan Matheson a human rights worker and christian minister says there’s a darker side to this retailing predator, which may shed some light on why Woolworths is prepared to overlook a day’s profit. "It’s farmers themselves who’ve been at the forefront of a continuing attack on Woolworths," he says. It’s farmers, and even Federal Government ministers, who see Woolies as a major threat to "the unique rural heritage of Australia". The $3 million the CWA will pick up is "peanuts compared to what is being alleged by farmers, and what the courts are saying about the friendly folks at Woolworths."

Australian fruit growers lost out as Woolworths sourced their Home Brand lines from China and South Africa in January 2006. Then Woolworths was "fined almost $9 million after being found guilty of fixing the price of bread and abusing market power". Growers complain of the "concentration of retail power", that led to grower returns getting less and less.

According to a Woolworths spokesperson, some of the donation "will be helping to put food on the tables, providing farmers with immediate support for household needs including paying bills, buying groceries and fuel." Families will be able to download applications for Woolworths funding from the CWA website starting April 1, 2006. As for the use of the remainder of the funds, the details are sketchy.

Mr De Landgrafft of the Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFF) says it is encouraging to see farmers not having to rely solely on government handouts. "I think moves away from government assistance and back into industry... is a really good step forward," he said. "That's something that I think we haven't seen on this scale from industry, but I think that it's something [that] really needs to be done in the future."

Meanwhile, Woolworths has applied to New Zealand's competition watchdog to take over the country's largest listed retailer, The Warehouse. Michael Luscombe says the giant supermarket and retail chain may make a full takeover bid for the 85-store discount retailer.

SOURCES:
ABC News: Drought-stricken WA farmers pleased with retail support
Courier Mail: Buy up big to assist farmers
Woolworths CEO pledges substantial - Media Release
Melbourne Indymedia
Woolworths: the farmer’s friend!
Why our farmers get so paid little yet we're forced to pay so much
On the right track, but may lack sustainable commitment
ABC News: Woolworths seeks approval to buy Warehouse

Big Day Out - No Aussie flag 'Ban'

January 22, 2007

Big Day Out says it hasn't banned Australian flag - Right wing aussie patriots are frothing at the mouth with the news that the Big Day Out are "discouraging" flag-wavers at the Sydney show.

But organisers of the Big Day Out rock festival say they have not banned the Australian flag at Sydney, but they do want concert-goers to leave it at home this Thursday. The Federal Government says organisers should cancel the event if they are worried about violence, rather than discourage people from displaying the Australian flag.

BDO organisers have issued a statement saying there will be "no official ban" on the flag, but they are discouraging people from bringing it to the event or wearing it on clothing.

News Ltd has reported that organisers of the Big Day Out at Homebush would confiscate any flag or bandanna featuring the national symbol at the gates. BDO organiser Ken West was quoted as saying fans' behaviour last year in the wake of the Cronulla riots and the recent ethnic violence at the Australian Open tennis tournament had forced his hand. "The Australian flag was being used as gang colours. It was racism disguised as patriotism and I'm not going to tolerate it," Mr West said. But organisers today said Mr West had been misinterpreted.

"We are not banning the Australian flag but are simply discouraging its use for anti-social purposes at the Big Day Out," organisers said in a statement on the BDO website.

"In recent times, there has been an increased incidence of flags brandished aggressively and this has led to increased tension. Our only intention in discouraging this activity at the Big Day Out is to ensure that our patrons are not subjected to this aggressive behaviour. With all this in mind and the aim to create a happy, peaceful MUSICAL event, organisers would like to request that fans please leave their flags at home."

The organisers said there was no need for the Australian flag to be waved at the Sydney concert as it was not an Australia Day event. The organisers specifically changed the Sydney slot in 2007 so that it didn't fall on its traditional Australia Day date.

The ban has prompted a cacophony of disapproval from politicians, including Prime Minister John Howard, and the RSL.

"Contrary to the reports in the media, it was never our intention to disrespect the symbolism of the Australian or any other flag," the BDO said. The BDO tours six cities in Australia and New Zealand but the ban will only affect Sydney.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma and the RSL also condemned the BDO decision as "outrageous" and "unbelievable". Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said the move was "excessive and wrong". "Organisers have got it plain wrong when they try to hide our flag as if it's some symbol of shame. It's not. We should fly it with pride," he said on Channel 9.

RSL national president Bill Crews said he would back the concert being cancelled if the flag ban continued. "We'd certainly support that approach if they don't want to change their mind on the banning of the flag," he told Nine. "This is an incredible decision that I hope organisers will quickly change. It's an unbelievable thing that you ban Australia's national symbol at any event in Australia."

Meanwhile, an Australian man has threatened legal action against Qantas for barring him from a Melbourne-to-London flight wearing a t-shirt depicting US President George W Bush as a terrorist. Allen Jasson, who lives in the UK, said he was defending freedom of speech by wearing the t-shirt. He was refused entry to the flight to London at Melbourne Airport on Friday. His t-shirt depicted an image of the US president with the slogan "World's number 1 terrorist".

Virgin Blue took the same action when Mr Jasson tried to catch a connecting flight to Adelaide, but on a return flight to Melbourne with Qantas, he successfully wore the shirt. When asked whether his action had been worthwhile, Mr Jasson said: "it's very sad that I find that question has to be asked in Australia. It's a very unhealthy situation and it makes me feel very sad. It's one of the reasons that I now live in the UK."

A Qantas spokesman said: "Whether made verbally or on a t-shirt, comments with the potential to offend other customers or threaten the security of a Qantas group aircraft will not be tolerated".

---

BDO MEDIA RELEASE:
In recent times, there has been an increased incidence of flags brandished inconsiderately and this has led to increased tension. Our only goal in discouraging this activity at the Big Day Out is to ensure that our patrons are not subjected to or inconvenienced by this behaviour. We have no problem with people being patriotic, and we certainly do not have a problem with people wearing or displaying what they feel is important. Regardless of how it has been interpreted, this is about audience safety and enjoyment.

With all this in mind and the aim to create a happy, peaceful MUSICAL event, organisers would like to request that fans please leave large flags at home. The substantial increase of flags brought to large public events such as the Big Day Out is becoming excessive and has created complex issues including but not limited to sight line problems.

This is simply a request, not a command.

The Big Day Out is not an Australia Day event, but a music festival showcasing music artists from around the world and aspires to unify people through music. On the whole, Big Day Out audiences have been extremely well behaved and we hope that this has clarified this situation.

Unfortunately media reports were not quoted accurately and we must thank the participating media for wasting everybody’s time including the Prime Minister John Howard, Premier Morris Iemma, NSW RSL President Don Rowe, Keysar Trad (a confidant of the Mufti Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly) and Burt Lane of the Australian National Flag Association...

SOURCES:
BDO Media Release - Clarification on the Flag Issue
ABC News: Scrap flag condition or cancel BDO, says Govt
News Ltd: Ban concert, not flag: Robb
Undercover: Should the BDO Ban The Flag?
Melbourne Indymedia: Howard's Legacy, Australian Flag Causes Tension
NZ Herald: Qantas bans man over wearing 'Bush number 1 terrorist' shirt

ACTION: Stand Up for the Burrup this week!

::STAND UP FOR THE BURRUP::
Protest: The needless desecration of sacred art

The Burrup site, containing hundreds of thousands of rock carvings, said to date back thousands of years is under destruction.

From 12:30pm on Monday January 22 and Thursday 25, 2007 vigils will take place at the headquarters of Woodside in Perth to demonstrate against the relocation of rock art and destruction of the heritage values of the Burrup Peninsula.

Imagine a cultural icon six times older than the Pyramids, eight times older than Stonehenge. Imagine probably the earliest surviving rock carvings on this planet. Most Australians have never even heard of these rock carvings on the Burrup Peninsula, and have no idea this silent world treasure is being needlessly pulled apart and destroyed from blind industrial development...

The National Trust of Australia says the Burrup site, in north-west Australia, contains one of the world's largest and most important collections of petroglyphs - ancient rock carvings - dating back as far as the last ice age. It says the collection of standing stones may be the largest in the world.

In December 2006, Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell turned down an application for emergency heritage listing of the Burrup Peninsula rock art site, which is under threat from a major gas installation. Senator Campbell said that he did not believe the threat was sufficient to warrant emergency listing.

The application was made by Australian Greens senator Rachel Siewert, Labor MP Carmen Lawrence and independent MP Peter Andren. Senator Campbell said there were believed to be up to one million pieces of rock art in the Dampier Archipelago, including in the Burrup area. As a result of Campbell's rejection, Woodside will start initial preparation works at Site A, including engineering works and fencing.

Woodside announced last week that it has commenced work to remove ancient rock art from the Burrup. There has been opposition to its location because the company will have to move 150 ancient Aboriginal rock engravings to make way for the development. The plant is due to be operational by 2010.

"Woodside is needlessly vandalising the priceless heritage values of the Burrup when perfectly acceptable industrial land is just a few kilometres up the road," Friends of Australian Rock Art spokesperson Dr Sylvia Hallam said this morning. "The Government has failed to stop the desecration of Burrup Peninsula rock art, meaning it is up to the community to take their concerns directly to Woodside."

"This is a company that should seriously consider how further destruction on the Burrup will affect its' reputation. These vigils will be the first of many opportunities for us to talk directly to people about how Woodside's activities are ruining the ice age heritage of the Burrup."

Dr Hallam said that there are other sites nearby that should be used for Woodside's proposed Pluto LNG facility.

VIGIL:
Corner of St Georges Terrace and Milligan Street, Perth
Vigil 1 - Monday 22 January 2007, 12:30 - 1:30
Vigil 2 - Thursday 25 January 2007, 12:30 - 1:30
Contact: Dr Sylvia Hallam 9386 1366 or 0402 664 503

On the 9 January 2007 Woodside announced that work had started on the initial preparation phase of Woodside's Pluto project on the Burrup Peninsula. Woodside said site preparation work for LNG storage tanks will include fencing, road access and relocating cultural heritage material over the first half of 2007.

WA Senator Rachel Siewert says it's not too late to change the location. The Woodside project has drawn criticism because the company plans to move 165 Aboriginal rock carvings. A Woodside spokeswoman said the rock art relocation would start within two or three weeks, depending on the progress of other work.

Australian Greens federal Senator Rachel Siewert said the federal government and Woodside would be remembered as vandals for allowing the destruction of rock art. She said it was not too late to change the location of the plant to an already cleared adjacent site.

"Woodside have not even made the final decision to commit to the project... yet they are still proceeding with initial site works," Senator Siewert said in a statement," said Senator Siewert. "We need to ask why they are rushing to clear the site now, is it simply because in the New Year period they think people won't be paying attention?"

"This Government and Woodside will go down in the history books as vandals for allowing the destruction of rock art on the Burrup", said Senator Rachel Siewert. "I can not believe that in this day and age our Governments think it is acceptable to destroy ancient rock art to allow development," said Senator Siewert.

"It is not too late to relocate the development onto already cleared land next-door to the current site. Surely Woodside can negotiate with its joint venture partners to protect this unique rock art?" said the Senator. "Woodside have not even made the final decision to commit to the project, and reportedly will not be making this decision until later in the year - yet they are still proceeding with initial site works," said Senator Siewert. "I simply cannot understand why the Federal Government is not requiring Woodside to co-locate the plant just a couple of hundred metres up the road - thereby enabling the development to proceed and saving the rock art. Our failure to protect our unique Indigenous heritage is an international shame," she said.

Woodside is Australia's largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company with a market capitalisation of more than A$25 billion

SOURCES:
Destruction of rock art to commence on the Burrup - Greens
Burrup.org.au
Vandalism/Destruction of Burrup rock art to begin - International Shame: Perth.indymedia
Protest Woodside's destruction of The Burrup. Perth.indymedia
Burrup tragedy: Campbell sends in the bulldozers. Perth.indymedia
Work starts on Woodside plant on Burrup - SMH January 8, 2007
Campbell rejects listing for Burrup site - The West December 22, 2006
GetUp Campaign to save the Burrup
Woodside reports record revenues. Perth.indymedia
Would the Egyptians knock down the Pyramids? Adelaide.indymedia
woodside.com.au

HREOC renews call to end mandatory detention

21 January 2007: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission - HREOC has released a report on Villawood (Sydney), Baxter (Port Augusta), Perth, Maribyrnong (Melbourne) and Northern (Darwin) Immigration Detention Centres. It details observations made during visits in October and November last year by Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes and his staff. In a statement HREOC has renewed its call for an end to Australia's mandatory immigration detention laws...

One activity condemned in the report was the use of detainees to wash staff cars at the Northern centre in Darwin. HREOC said the staff were using detainees for their own personal benefit and the activity should be removed from the internal activities program. HREOC has renewed its call for an end to Australia's mandatory immigration detention laws.

Mr Innes is calling for the mandatory detention policy to be scrapped. He says detention has "an impact on the person's mental health," he said. Mr Innes says the biggest problem for detainees is the length of time they are kept in the centres.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone says despite serious concerns over detainees' mental health, the Government's harsh mandatory detention policy will remain. She said the government has made some improvements in mental health assessments. "People [are] getting a mental health assessment on the way in to detention, so we pick up the problem earlier," said the Minister.

Mr Innes said detainees were still being held in detention for far too long, and he identified 41 areas for improvement. HREOC wanted mandatory detention laws to be repealed but said if this was not possible there should be greater efforts to release or transfer people out of detention centres within three months.

The HREOC report, "Summary of Observations following the Inspection of Mainland Immigration Detention Facilities - January 2007", states that the main complaint from detainees in the Perth facility is the length of indefinite detention, particularly for those detainees whose visas have been cancelled under section 501 of the Migration Act. Detainees also complained about crowded accommodation.

The report also outlines many other issues. The greatest problem in the Maribyrnong centre appears to be the indefinite periods of time for which detainees are held. There is particular frustration for those detainees whose visas have been cancelled under section 501 of the Migration Act, as many of them have strong family ties in the local community. It seems that detainees do not have legal assistance. They are apparently not entitled to legal aid or any other free immigration assistance. Further, it seems that there are no bridging visa options available to those detained under a section 501 cancellation.

In Baxter IDC, where six detainees attempted suicide in 2 days late last year, detainees complained about the quality and variety of food amongst other issues. The report noted that the notorious Red One compound (Solitary Confinement) is still used for "behaviour management purposes".

In 2004, HREOC found that Australia's immigration detention laws, as administered by the Commonwealth, and applied to unauthorised arrival children, create a detention system that is fundamentally inconsistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Commonwealth's failure to implement the repeated recommendations by mental health professionals that certain children be removed from the detention environment with their parents amounted to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of those children in detention.

Inside the Villawood complex, there is still a real fear about asbestos after the earlier removal operations. Another concern was that most mental health nurses are on short contracts, making it difficult for detainees to gain trust in any one staff member. Further, many of the mental health problems happen at night when there are no mental health staff available.

The human rights of hundreds of people are being abused daily, hourly by the Australian Federal government.

The full report is available here

SOURCES:
HREOC renews call to end mandatory detention - ABC
Detainees used to wash cars - The Age
HREOC - Media Release
National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
Submissions to the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
HREOC: Scrap mandatory detention - GLW

Exmouth Gulf Under A-Salt

January 13, 2007 - The Widerness Society say the Exmouth Gulf is Under Assault. Straits Resources plan to construct 411 square kilometres of evaporative salt ponds along the eastern Gulf coast to produce salt for use in industrial processes...

Exmouth Gulf Under A-Salt: Straits Salt Pty Ltd is proposing to construct and operate a 10 million tonne per annum solar saltfield (known as the Yannarie Solar Project) on the eastern margin of the Exmouth Gulf.

Exmouth Gulf is one of Western Australia’s most productive marine ecosystems: adjacent to Ningaloo Reef, it contains seagrass beds, micro-algal habitats, mangrove nurseries and creek interfaces and is home to hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates as well as being an important resting place for Humpback Whales, and a breeding place for endangered Green Turtles and Dugongs. The mangrove forest on the eastern Gulf is a vital nursery for crustaceans and fish, supporting significant commercial and recreational fisheries.

The Gulf is the remnant of an ancient delta system, which floods after tropical cyclones: feeding nutrients from the land to the marine environment along the entire eastern side of the Gulf.

This nutrient input has created an unusually productive and diverse marine ecosystem, highly dependent upon a healthy outflow system.

Under Assault: Straits Resources plan to construct 411 square kilometres of evaporative salt ponds along the eastern Gulf coast to produce salt for use in industrial processes.

This will:

* Require diverting creeks and drainage around the salt project, heavily impacting the flow of nutrients from land to sea and having a radical effect on natural creek drainage and sensitive mangrove systems, starving Gulf marine ecosystems of vital nutrients.

* Create a toxic waste product called “bitterns” - highly toxic concentrated salts and heavy metals that need to be contained from entering the marine environment. Regular cyclones in the Exmouth region threaten the integrity of proposed bitterns tailings dams.

* Lead to dredging of the Gulf to admit the massive transport barges, mobilising silt from the ocean floor and smothering sensitive seagrass beds and degrading water quality, causing drastic effects on fisheries and the local pearl industry.

* Require excavation of the inland harbour which may expose acid sulphate soils, contaminating water and land areas and destroying mangrove and algal mat habitat.

* Bring massive carriers, barges and service vessels into the area, which are likely to disturb and disrupt local endangered fauna such as Humpback Whales, Dugongs and Sea Turtles. International shipping poses the risk of introducing exotic pests into the pristine environment via ballast discharge.

TAKE ACTION: Tell the Environmental Protection Authority's Dr Osborne to protect the Exmouth Gulf and reject the Straits Salt Project!

Straits Resources plan to construct 411 square kilometres of evaporative salt ponds along the eastern Exmouth Gulf coast to produce salt for use in industrial processes. This project threatens one of WA's most productive marine ecosystems, right next door to Ningaloo Reef and will: threaten endangered species such as the Green Turtle, Humpback whale and Dugong; create and store highly toxic waste in tailings dams near the fragile marine environment; divert creeks effecting nutrient flows to sensitive mangrove systems; dredge and excavate sections of the Gulf for shipping and construction.

Act now and tell the EPA to reject the Straits Salt Project and protect the Exmouth Gulf. You can help stop this massive industry from devastating our precious marine environment at Exmouth Gulf and Ningaloo Reef. Tell the EPA's Dr Sue Osborne, Premier Alan Carpenter, and Opposition Spokesman for the Environment, Steve Thomas. Please join TWS Cyberactivist Network and send your cyberaction to Dr Sue Osborne by completing the online form. Take action - every voice counts!

Go here to send a message to the Govt: wilderness.org.au/cyberactivist...

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The proponents say: "Yannarie Solar is a long term sustainable project for the Exmouth region. It will provide significant economic and social benefits for the Western Australian community. The solar salt process represents a renewable and sustainable solution for delivering lasting benefits to generations of Western Australians..."

Tell them why it isn't. Visit Straits in Perth:

Straits Resources Limited
Level 1, 35 Ventnor Avenue, West Perth WA - 6005 Australia
PO Box 1641 - West Perth WA 6872 Australia
Telephone (61 8) 9480 0500 - Facsimile (61 8) 9480 0520
Email: info@straits.com.au

SOURCES:
Exmouth Gulf Under A-Salt - Twiz
TAKE ACTION!
Straits Resources Limited
Yannarie Solar Proposal
Executive Summary - PDF File
Volume One, Environmental Review

Blundies to be made overseas

Wednesday, 17 January 2007 - Tasmanian bootmaker Blundstone is about to move its manufacturing operations to Asia within months. The Aussie icon company, was founded in the 1870s. Blundstone says it can't compete against low-cost imports. The company says it will shut its doors within months after 137 years of operation and move to Thailand and India to reduce high manufacturing costs.

Up to 300 workers in Tasmania and 60 in New Zealand will lose their jobs.

The closure highlights the need for the Howard government to abandon its push for a free trade agreement (FTA) with China...

"Since 2003, we have not been able to pass the price increases - fuel increases, inflation, and labour - on to consumers," Blundstone manager Steve Gunn told the corporate media. "If we hadn't made this decision, the market would have determined Blundstone boots irrelevant in a relatively short period of time."

Mr Gunn said it was not worth asking governments for further assistance and said Blundstone would not be the last manufacturer in the sector to close onshore operations. "I would make the point that we are not the first Australian manufacturer to make this call there are others that have been identifying the need to do it," he told ABC Radio. "I don't believe that manufacturing in Australia is a sensible option."

The factory closure and the loss of 300 jobs in Hobart is a "major blow for the state and for Australian manufacturing," said Greens Senator for Tasmania, Christine Milne. "Blundstone did everything it could to keep the business operating in the face of falling tariffs and cheap wage competition from overseas. But the company was let down by the inherent contradiction in federal government policy which lowers tariffs and gives industry restructuring assistance knowing full well that such assistance will never be enough to compete with low-wage economies," Senator Milne said.

"The Howard government's headlong rush into FTAs must stop. Prime Minister John Howard must be the only person in Australia who believes that he can negotiate an agreement with China that will benefit Australia rather than the Chinese," said Senator Milne in a media release. "Australia should identify those manufacturing opportunities in the industry sectors of the future, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy, and build competitive advantage in those."

"Blundstone has been forced to leave because it can't compete with low
wages whereas Vestas and Roaring40s have gone offshore because of Prime
Minister Howard's stubborn refusal to move Australia to a low carbon
economy and develop innovation in industry accordingly," said Senator Milne.

"The Howard government has an obligation to look after the 300 workers who will lose their jobs because of its ideological commitment to free trade and zero tariffs. It is not enough to merely provide short-term financial assistance. Retraining must be accompanied by industry innovation and development, particularly in renewable energy in which Tasmania already has competitive advantage."

The textile union is also blaming the Federal Government's trade policies for the imminent closure of Blundstone's factory, and warns more jobs in the sector will go if changes are not made.

Tony Woolgar, national secretary of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union, said the Federal Government's trade policies were ruining Australia's manufacturing industry. "We've got a Government hellbent on doing a free trade agreement with China, we're allowing a flood of imports into Australia from China in the TCF sector, and unless the government is prepared to change it's policy on trade, then I think you'll see this sort of thing continue to happen," Mr Woolgar said on ABC radio.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said the Government was disappointed, but said Australian companies found it difficult to compete with lower wages in Asian countries. "The textile, clothing and footwear industry in Australia has been under big pressure since the mid-1980s and that pressure has come from right around the world, as other countries have moved and Australia's standard of living has continued to rise and... wage rates rise, making this industry a little uncompetitive compared to that product coming out of Asia."

"We have committed almost $1.5 billion as a government towards supporting the textile, clothing and footwear industry in Australia and the company itself has been a recipient of many millions of dollars worth of assistance," he said.

Meanwhile the CFMEU – which represents almost half a million manual labourers – will shortly unveil its campaign to stop Blundstone’s management from moving offshore. "The majority of Australia’s 500,000 construction workers were proud to wear Blundstones, knowing they were supporting a great Australian company," CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan said. "All that would be put at risk if Blundstone takes the low cost road to off-shoring production."

The legendary brand produces about a million pairs of boots a year.

All workers are expected to be paid their full entitlements.

Sources:
Senator Milne Media Releases
Tas bootmaker to move operations offshore - ABC
The Australian - Government blamed for Blundstone move
Union ban on Blundstones - Daily Telegraph
Blundstone.com

REJECT NUCLEAR POWER - nuclear energy is not an option

Prime Minister John Howard pushes the nuclear power button almost every time he opens his mouth these days, but upon a bit of rational analysis, nuclear is not the solution to Climate Change Nuclear energy is not carbon neutral.

Indeed, the Nuclear energy cycle contributes millions of tonnes a year to global greenhouse emissions, so nuclear power is not an effective option in combating greenhouse gas emissions.

Claims that nuclear power represents a solution to the problem of climate change are laughable. The nuclear power option is expensive, ineffective and absolutely unnecessary...

REJECT NUCLEAR POWER - Nuclear energy is not an option!

Why does John Howard continue to regurgitate the Uranium industry line that Nuclear Power is "clean and green," when it is simply not true...?

Upon analysis, nuclear power is definitely not the way to achieve necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions - and besides those with a vested interest, nobody seems to want it.

The planet does not need another dirty industry to add to the litany of human-induced problems we custodians of the mighty eco-sphere have caused.

In June, Mr Howard set up an energy review, to be headed by former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski. The review is part of a push for nuclear power to be considered in the nation's future energy mix. and Howard is pushing the barrow for the nuke industry.

But he is wrong.

Nuclear power is not, as suggested by some, a good example of greenhouse gas reduction. This is mainly because of the significant fossil fuel energy requirements for mining, milling and, particularly, enrichment of the uranium for the fuel rods. These energy inputs are highly dependent on the concentration of the original ore.

According to recent analysis, even with high-grade ore, it would take 10 years to "pay back" energy used in the construction and fuelling of a typical reactor. And with lower-grade ore needed - if nuclear power was widely expanded - the net emissions would be far greater than for a gas power station for example.

Water is also an issue: The nuclear energy cycle uses millions of litres of water to get the job done. Yet many towns and shires in across Australia are struggling to get enough drinking water, let alone enough to satisfy the amount a nuclear station would need to guzzle. This is water that we simply cannot afford as chronic drought and climate change dry up water supplies.

And what a waste! Nuclear power stations, in the course of normal operations, produce the most dangerous industrial wastes known to humankind. Unfortunately for the industry, humanity, and the biosphere, this orgy of construction was undertaken without any clear idea of what to do with the waste.

Reports estimate that by 2015 there will be roughly 250,000 tonnes to deal with if the industry is not stopped.

A producer of highly radioactive and hazardous waste, the nuclear industry has not, in over fifty years of trying, found a viable solution to the problem of nuclear waste.

What do you do with hundreds of millions of tonnes of radioactive poison?

Safety is also a problem: Beyond the waste issue, radioactive leaks continue - since Chernobyl in 1986, 22 serious leaks have been recorded.

There are far greater safety issues involved with nuclear than any other method of generating power. Highly toxic radioactive waste is generated at every step of the nuclear cycle and the possibility of an accident, such as Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, amounts to completely unacceptable risk.

Efficient? No way. Nuclear power is one of the most expensive ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, despite massive historical government support for the industry globally. It is heavily subsidised by taxpayer money across the planet. Canada for example has a 4 billion dollar debt attributed to nuclear energy.

The same level of support has not been available for energy efficiency and renewable energy. In countries such as the US and Britain, where it has had recent relative exposure to competition, the nuclear power industry has been in the economic doldrums for the past 20 years.

Dubbed a "sunset industry," many believe the renewed global push for nuclear power is a last ditch grasp by a nuclear industry "on its knees."

Climate Change experts are saying Australians must focus on renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. The needs of the people and the environment should come before those of the vested interests promoting and cashing in on nuclear energy.

People's voices and actions matter: In Australia, Local Government led the way with the implementation of Nuclear Free Zones across many council areas as far back as the 1980’s. Governments, and the people that elect them continue to recognise the enormous risks that nuclear technology represents.

There is near-unanimous opposition among environmentalists to nuclear power, suggestions that we are split over the issue are purely misleading.

Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation of nuclear weapons continues to occur because weak international safeguards of fissile materials are ineffective. When Australia exports uranium overseas we inevitably contribute to the global proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Greenhouse emissions: But the key problem here, is the significant greenhouse gas generation across the nuclear fuel cycle from mining and milling of uranium, construction and decommissioning of rectors, transportation and management of waste including reprocessing and disposal.

Even if it were a viable option, replacing fossil fuel fired electricity plants with nuclear does nothing to address the problem of global warming.

If the money invested in nuclear technology and fossil fuel industry subsidies were spent on energy efficiency and developing renewable energy sources we would be a lot closer to meeting our needs at a much lower cost to the environment and consumers.

Wind power, as an example, is the fastest growing energy source in the world, and is now far cheaper than nuclear. For the same investment, wind generates more electricity, and offers more jobs.

In recent years, over 6,000 megawatts of wind generation have been installed every year in Europe, the equivalent of two or three large nuclear power plants.

By comparison, only one nuclear reactor has been built in the past six years, and it takes around 10 years to build the next. In the US, the last new reactor was ordered in 1978.

Furthermore, nuclear is not a renewable energy source, as it needs scarce uranium to fuel its reactors.

If we would replace all fossil fuels with nuclear power, the world would run out of uranium in less than four years.

Currently, nuclear is a marginal energy source, supplying only two percent of the world energy demand, and there is no realistic scenario in which this could be significantly increased.

Clearly Nuclear Power is not the answer. It is a problem...

SOURCES:
NUCLEAR ENERGY IS NOT AN OPTIONWhy nuclear power is part of the problem
The nuclear power option - expensive, ineffective and unnecessary
Nuclear is not the solution to Greenhouse<
UIC
wikipedia: Nuclear_power
Once a sunset industry, the Uranium Lobby Paints a Green Dawn
ANNAWA

Missing radioactive canister still on the loose in WA

Tuesday, 16 January 2007 - On 21 December last year, the Western Australian Department of Health announced that a canister containing the radioactive substances, Beryllium and Americium had been lost somewhere between Perth and Dampier in November. The radioactive substance is used by the mining industry to search for minerals, oil and gas.

The Department of Health told Perth Indymedia today that the canister, which emits a very low levels radiation, still remains unfound...

The Department of Health warned people to avoid contact with a mining industry exploration tool that went missing on route from Perth to Dampier. The canister, containing radioactive substances may pose a potential health risk if tampered with, say the Department of Health.

The 52cm-long canister contains Americium-Beryllium, used to search for minerals, oil and gas. Schlumberger Oilfield Services had imported it from the US to use in Dampier.

Acting Director General of Health Dr Simon Towler said the canister, which was imported from the United States by mining company Schlumberger, arrived in Perth on November 13. "The canister was due to be transported to Dampier by freight company Toll on November 18 and the mining company raised the alarm when it was discovered the canister did not arrive," he said in a December 21 media release.

"There is no suggestion of foul play but police have been helping with the investigation since the Schlumberger Radiation Safety officer notified the department last Friday. The canister does not pose a hazard while it remains in the shipping package but people should not interfere with the container in any way or try to open it."

"The silver container, which looks similar to a household gas cylinder, is about 42 cm in diameter, 52 cm long, weighs 61kg and has various labels including one with the words, radioactive material. If anyone finds the canister they should stay at least five metres away as it emits a low dose of radiation, and they should contact their local police."

The Health Department told Perth Indymedia that Toll and Schlumberger are working with Fire & Emergency Services Authority (FESA) to try and locate the canister. According to other media, the State Security Investigation Group and local police have also been searching for the dangerous consignment.

"We believe it would be very difficult to open. If you were to be exposed to it for any substantial period of time, like any radiation, that would be when there is a significant risk," he said. "It is appropriate that people take care if they discover the device. If you are exposed to any form of radiation you can in fact become quite sick over time," he told local media. "The radiation is dependent on time and exposure, you can get skin damage, quite often you can get damage to the bone marrow."

Mr Towler said the canister did not contain material which could be used to make a bomb or explosive device. Toll Holdings said it was confident the canister was not lost while in its possession.

Australian Greens senator Rachel Siewert is demanding why it has taken so long to start the search. "This thing has been missing since the 18th of November, why are alarm bells only ringing a month later? Either Australian safety standards are inadequate, or they have been breached by the companies responsible for its safe transport."

Dr Towler said police had told him the canister did not contain the sort of material terrorists were interested in. "It cannot be used to create a bomb... it’s not explosive material," he said. "But radioactive material is by its nature dangerous."

Sources:
WA Department of Health Media Release
The West
SMH
Schlumberger
Beryllium
Americium
FESA
Sunday Times
ABC News

Ancient Aboriginal graves washed away in Esperance storm

Aboriginal elders in Esperance in Western Australia have revealed ancient graves were washed away in the severe storm that ripped through the area over a week ago...

Esperance councillor and Aboriginal leader Doc Reynolds says part of a burial ground in the dunes next to the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour was washed away when the weir gave way to raging flood waters.

Mr Reynolds is seeking State Government support to get some bones tested in Perth after they were discovered in the harbour area. "There is a couple of bones there that I'm seeking a way to send away for further advice and hopefully once they get that advice then we can put in remedial action to what we do," he said.

He says local traditional owners and elders will now assess if action needs to be taken to preserve the rest of the burial site. "They are pretty devastated at what has happened but they want to make sure that our sensitive needs are being taken place because some of these burial sites are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old," he told ABC News.

Mr Reynolds says the site was located in the dunes on the eastern side of the harbour. He says the remains now lie in the sand-filled harbour. He says local elders are now working with the Shire and State Government to determine if current excavation work will further disrupt the burial ground.

Meanwhile, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said excavation of thousands of tonnes of sand, which settled in the harbour as a result of flooding earlier this month, has commenced.

Commercial fishing operations should resume from the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour in Esperance by the end of January and the harbour should be fully restored later this year, she said in a media release.

The Minister said hydrographic surveys of the harbour undertaken over the past week were being used to calculate the quantity of sand needing to be dredged and identify navigable water depths within the harbour. "We estimate that the first and second parts of the recovery plan will have a combined cost of up to $3million. When these are completed, we will reconstruct the Bandy Creek weir to a design that takes into account the impact of the recent flood," said the Minister.

Emergency services were called on to help deal with severe flooding in homes and businesses in the coastal town of Esperance, which bore the brunt of the state's largest summer storm in almost 30 years. About 100 houses in Esperance were damaged in the severe storm.

A 200 metre stretch of the foreshore was gouged away and some 37,000 sheep were also reported to have died as a result of the storm. The strongest recorded wind gust was 111 kilometres per hour at Esperance at 9pm on Thursday last week.

This broke the previous highest January wind gust in Esperance of 104 kilometres per hour in 1975.

Sources:
abc news
Media release: Esperance boat harbour back in operation by end of month
Harbour work underway at Bandy Creek
Dozens of homes damaged in severe storm - ABC January 5, 2007.
Esperance area storm kills 37,000 sheep - ABC News
Severe summer storm lashes Australia's south-west - Chinapost
Heavy rain breaks records in the southeast of WA - BOM

Desert tragedy claims prominent Indigenous artist

It has been confirmed one of two men who died on a remote track in Western Australia was a prominent Pitjantjatjara artist, senior law man and healer...

Monday, January 15, 2007 - Desert tragedy claims Indigenous artist

The body of respected Aboriginal artist Kunmana Dawson was discovered on Friday near a broken down four-wheel drive, about 350 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie. The discovery was made after a three day air and land search. The body of his travelling companion was found 3.5 kilometres east of their Land Cruiser.

Dawson, 69, and Jarman Woods, 45, were found dead near a remote track about 320km east of Kalgoorlie last week after being reported missing on January 9.
Both men been living in the West Australian Wingellina community near the borders of SA/NT. According to news reports, the pair had been reported missing a station hand found what was believed to be their vehicle and Dawson's body on Dog Fence Road last Friday. Police said it appeared their car had mechanical problems as they were returning from Kal to Wingellina.

Daily air searches began last week when community members told police the pair had not arrived at the Tjuntjuntjarra community 650km north of Kalgoorlie as expected.

Mr Dawson was a Pitjantjatjara man, traditional healer and senior law man broadly recognised for his paintings and carvings of the central desert Ngaanyatjarra lands. He also had been a board member of Desart, an association promoting central desert Aboriginal artists.

In June last year, Mr Dawson travelled to Paris for the opening by French President Jacques Chirac of the Musee du Quai Branly, dedicated to Indigenous art from around the world.

Dawson's work hangs in the National Gallery of Victoria.

Critics have paid tribute to the late artist and Aboriginal elder known as "Nyakul Dawson," saying his authority and wisdom was internationally respected. Desart chief executive John Oster said Dawson brought enormous personal integrity to everything he did.

"He had a personal magnetism that was full of insight and wisdom and humour. He always had a twinkle in his eye and you knew (that) conveyed meaning and understanding beyond the power of words," Mr Oster said.

Dawson's paintings, carvings and traditional shields depicted the 'tjukurpa', or dreaming, stories of his country, Mr Oster said. "These were objects imbued with enormous cultural value. You might be talking about a very traditional looking shield, but the shield was etched with story in often the most roughest and rudimentary but the most powerful way."

Hetty Perkins, the curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the NSW Art Gallery, said Dawson's wisdom and charisma shone through. "I was struck at that time by the ease and composure with which he conducted himself," Mr Perkins said. "He was a great ambassador and a very experienced lawman and ceremonial leader for his people and that was borne out in Paris in his engagement with the international arts and political community."

Nyakul Dawson grew up living nomadically in the desert with his parents. Dawson's work brought people from his Ngaanyatjarra area to national attention.

Some of Dawson's work depicts the places he went as a boy with his mother and father in the western desert region of central Australia. A traditional healer, Dawson is known among the Irrunytju people as a highly respected law man and traditional healer.

Working beside his grandfather, he trained as a ngangkari when he was still a boy. He learnt to use traditional tools and techniques, combined with spiritual knowledge and tjukurpa. He used mapanpa (sharp stone blades) to find splinters in the flesh and removed sickness by sucking out bad blood, touching, kneading and massaging the body," his bio reads.

He worked with prospectors and his memories of this time include the "terrible smell of the fallout from the nuclear testing at Maralinga" and being removed from his country to the mission at Warburton by Native Patrol Officers in the 1950s.

Nyakul Dawson, a senior Pitjantjatjara law man and Ngangkari (traditional healer), was born around 1930 at Aaran, on the wati ngintaka (goanna man) Dreaming track. He lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle for many years with his family, during which time he was taught about how to survive in the desert, learned about the country and the Dreamings associated with it.

He remembered when he first saw whitefellas, riding camels across the desert, and remembered the terrible smell of the fallout from the Maralinga nuclear testing. Today, Nyakul lives with his wife Anmanari Brown in a wiltja (humpy) at Irrunytju.

Nyakul Dawson represented Irrunytju Arts at the official opening of the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris in June 2006, attending a reception for the commissioned artists at the Presidential Palace and various media events at the Australian Embassy.

Nyakul Dawson's art on the web

WARNING: the following links may contain images of deceased Aboriginal persons!


vivienandersongallery.com/artists/nyakul_dawson
agathongallery.com.au
irrunytju.com.au
nyakuldawson.jpg
SMH Article
art.net.au
flexegate gallery
Irrunytju
Paintings

Sources:
ABC News
SMH - Critics pay tribute to Aboriginal artist
The Australian
AGATHON GALLERIES
Police hope desert deaths probe prevents future tragedy - Abc news
DESART - Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft

Islamaphobic Australians attack peaceful Aussie mufti

January 15, 2007 - Aussie mufti Sheik Taj al-Din Hilali's recent comments during an Egyptian TV interview have triggered more Islamaphobic outrage in Australia, with a number of politicians, including Federal Immigration Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone, laughing him off as an "irrelevance" or demanding he "stay in his native Egypt if did not like Australia."

Reiterating his view that the furore over his comments are a conspiracy against him led by politicians and the media, Sheik al-Hilaly said:

"Always upside down my speech. For bad intention. I say many, many times. I taught - love Australia or leave it. Australia is still the best country in world. We're intelligent people, (the) Australia nation."

Sheik Hilali was called an "embarrassment" by Prime Minister John Howard...

However Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali has proclaimed his love for his adopted homeland and labelled it the "best country in the world". It seems Sheik al-Hilali has has once again been misinterpreted, demonised, his comments sensationalised for the sake of spectacle and fear. The Sydney Imam described his detractors as racist. "That is the racists talking," he said.

"I love Australia. I respect the Australian nationality, Australian society, the land of peace. Australia is the best country in the world."

Sheik al-Hilali was interviewed on Egyptian television last week. According to mainstream corporate media reports, Sheikh Hilali said:

"Anglo-Saxons came here in chains while we paid our way and came in freedom. We are more Australian than them. Australia is not an Anglo-Saxon country; Islam has deep roots in Australian soil that were there before the English arrived."

He also dubbed Prime Minister Howard as "Mr Me Too" - meaning Mr Howard needs instructions from the US before acting. Mr Howard said it was up to the Muslim community to deal with al-Hilali.

The executive director of the Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations, said the comments did not represent the views of the majority of the Muslim community. "I would like to reiterate to all Australians, including our people of Anglo-Saxon heritage, that there is no substance to the idea that Muslims have more of a right to Australia than the early settlers," Kuranda Seyit said.

SUPPORT
The shiek's family say whilst they did not always agree with him, they believed he was entitled to his opinion, because Australia "fought wars to have freedom of speech".

"We know what he means, and we don't believe he deliberately meant to offend anyone," his son-in-law Mr Tocock said. "We know that the mufti loves this country, but we can understand how people can be offended by his comments. It doesn't help to bridge the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims."

John Heard, writes in the Australian, "whether or not the man should be allowed to say the things he does - or be deported or jailed for them, as some have suggested - is not the kind of discussion a mature democracy should indulge with a serious hearing. So why are we so threatened when the things he says don't square neatly with our view of ourselves?"

"Is it because it is becoming obvious that the sheik is right about some things? ... "al-Hilali's comments about Anglo-Saxons coming to Australia as convicts are, at least on the face of it, mostly accurate. White settlement did occur here because Britain needed a faraway island on which to dump its criminal class. Only an individual ignorant of Australian history would object to such comments on factual grounds, writes Mr Heard. "Only a blind nationalist would get steamed up about, rather than dismiss - even affectionately - the sheik's snobby tone..." (John Heard: Mufti's madness is true-blue larrikinism)

The corporate media created a furore late last year when Sheik Hilali's comments, made during a Ramadam sermon, were deliberately taken out of context and published across front pages of Australia's newspapers - despite the Muslim cleric repeatedly stating he "does not blame victims of rape for their predicament."

ai-Hilali's friend and confidant Keysar Trad said Australia as a nation had over-reacted and would have been more thick-skinned if the mufti had made those comments as a non-Muslim. "Nobody expects us to be so thin-skinned," Mr Trad said. "We're only like that because we find the mufti to be so exotic." Mr Trad said his friend was a proud Australian.

But other Muslim groups distanced themselves from the remarks, saying the sheik's extreme personal opinions did not represent the views of the majority of Muslims.

Sheik al-Hilali came to Australia in 1982 and was granted permanent residency in 1990. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) appointed him Mufti of Australia in 1988. The AFIC, which has the power over the position of Mufti of Australia, is in receivership and fresh elections for a new executive board are not expected until next month.

AFIC's legal adviser, Haset Sali, labelled the sheik's recent comments on Egyptian TV as insane and said the comments had horrified thevast majority of Australian Muslims. Mr Sali, who was once a close mate, has become a bitter critic, said Australian Muslims needed a head mufti as much as they needed a "crocodile in the back garden" and described Sheik Hilali was like "a bull in a china shop..."

"In reality, Sheik Hilali is no longer the Mufti for Australia," Mr Sali said.

Sheik al-Hilali is expected to return home this week to confront a salivating pack of sensationalist media.

Sources:

NEWS.COM.AU
The Australian
Herald and Weekly Times - Don't hurry
Middle East Online
Wikipedia - Taj_El-Din_Hilaly
Sheikh's OK, say in-laws - The Age
John Heard: Mufti's madness is true-blue larrikinism
Muslim slams 'disgraceful' Hilali

Walk without Fear Rally - Brisbane

January 14, 2007 - Hundreds of people have gathered in a park on Brisbane's northside for a rally promoting safety on local bike paths and walkways. The Walk Without Fear rally was organised by local media in response to a spate of sex attacks on women using public pathways. Women turned up in droves for the rally at Kelvin Grove in the city to protest against at least two men who have attacked 38 women...

The Walk Against Fear rally was organised in response to a spate of sex attacks on women using public pathways. A number of police officers also attended.

The Courier-Mail reports that sexual predators who have terrorised dozens of women on Brisbane's bikeways in the past year may have been at a rally today where angry women warned they will be caught. Among those who gave their support at the rally, could have been the very people the women were protesting against, police said.

Acting Queensland Police Commissioner Dick Condor told the crowd that public awareness of the crimes is the key to arresting those responsible. Conder said it was possible the attackers themselves had been drawn to the event. "I wouldn't be surprised if they do turn up today," Mr Conder said. "People have been known in past to turn up to rallies and it's dangerous ground for them because there would be a number of people who have been subject to those assaults here today (who could recognise them)."

The attacks began in January last year and have included two rapes. They are thought to be the work of at least two men; a cyclist who gropes women as he rides past, and another more violent man who surprises his victims from behind.

Safety information and alert whistles were handed out in a bid to prevent more attacks, and police sketches of the offenders were provided in the hope someone recognised them.

Acting Premier Anna Bligh said police had been inundated with 454 calls offering information since a $50,000 reward was offered last week. "We are, I believe, getting closer and closer to solving these crimes but in the meantime we want to see people out on the pathways riding, walking, running, enjoying themselves."

Those who attended said they had come to show their support to the victims, send a message to the attackers and show their intention to keep exercising.

Phillipa Tziolis and Joanne Grey sported signs with police sketches of the attackers and the words "You will be caught, your days are numbered".

"We will not be stopped," Ms Tziolis said. "There's so much public outrage that so many attacks have taken place, that people will just be on the lookout for the offender or the offenders," Ms Grey said. "I think it's outrageous that we can't think that we'll be safe ... it needs to be stopped."

At least 36 women have been targeted on pathways in Brisbane's northside over the past 12 months. The Courier-Mail's Stephen Sealey said the newspaper had launched its Walk Without Fear campaign after the State Government revealed all leads in the assault cases had run cold. "This issue has struck a real nerve in the community and we have organised the rally... to give Brisbane people the chance to take a stand together," Mr Sealey said.

After the sexual assault of a girl, 16, near her Red Hill home on Tuesday, two women came forward to report attacks that occurred last year. "We believe it is quite possible we may get more historical complaints," said Detective Inspector Bob Hytch, who heads the investigation, called Operation Echo Shine. "Our plea is if people are out there and they have information, please come forward."

Det-Insp Hytch said extra police were called in late last week to cope with the amount of new information being supplied to his team. He would not comment on whether police had obtained the DNA of any of the attackers, but said: "Obviously, people are aware that we use DNA as an investigative strategy."

He said many of the women who had been attacked had fought back.

Sources:
Residents, police rally against bike path attacks - ABC News
Courier Mail Campaign
Women rally against fear - The Sunday Mail
Taking a stand on security - Sunday Mail
Wider investigation into sex attacks - Channel 7 News
Victims, police to rally against bike path attacks - The Australian

1000s of birds die around Esperance - Toxicity?

1000s of birds die around Esperance - Toxicity?

January 13, 2007 - WA government authorities believe a toxin may be responsible for the recent mystery deaths of about 5000 birds around Esperance. Toxic poisoning had emerged as the most likely cause of the deaths of thousands of birds around Esperance, 730km southeast of Perth. An autopsy being carried out by Department of Agriculture toxicologists on one of the latest casualties, will test for organochlorins, organophosphates and heavy metals...

The phenomenon has killed some 5000 birds since it was first reported in December. Populations of honeyeaters, wattle birds and miners have been hit. It was before the big December storm when Esperance residents first noticed large numbers of dead birds littering their streets and gardens.

The birds have been found vomiting and convulsing in bushland and suburban backyards over an extensive area. Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) Esperance nature conservation coordinator Mike Fitzgerald says toxic wetlands near Esperance are the most likely reason for the mass bird deaths.

Mike Fitzgerald said they were looking at "something that is pretty potent," he said. "This is not a normal situation. The common thing that we have seen and heard is that the affected birds have an insatiable thirst... If it turns out to be a toxin that is responsible, that will raise more questions because there is no obvious source of exposure. It really is a puzzle."

Mr Fitzgerald said the deaths could be a result of the dry winter, which had caused algal and bacterial blooms in the Esperance Lakes Nature Reserves north of the town. Esperance recorded only 457mm rainfall in 2006. Its long-term average is 620mm.

Initially, health authorities feared a virus, possibly similar to deadly bird flu, was responsible. That was quickly ruled out, along with poisoning from bacteria or eating poisoned insects.

The first deaths were reported by Esperance resident Michelle Crisp, whose property is close to bush in the worst-affected area. Dozens of native birds began dying in her back yard a week before Christmas. She began ringing around neighbours and was shocked to find they were experiencing the same thing. Mrs Crisp found four dead birds, then 16, then 30 and finally up to 80.

Mike Fitzgerald said that any one of hundreds of toxins could be causing the deaths but so far all leads had not produced any answers.

Sources:
The Sunday Times - Day the birds fell dead
ABC - Esperance bird deaths mystify authorities
Border Mail - Toxin feared in deaths of birds
Perth Now - Autopsy may solve bird deaths

Aboriginal Sovereignty can be recognised!

AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 2007: Aboriginal Sovereignty can be recognised!

Native Title and Reconciliation have not adequetly addressed Indigenous rights on this continent. Native Title puts the onus on Indigenous peoples to somehow prove continuous connection with their land - an impossible task given the effects of dispossession and attempted genocide. Indigenous peoples have sacred connections and rights to this land exercised over tens of thousands of years.

Stop the genocide of Indigenous peoples; Achieve recognition of Indigenous peoples as having sovereign rights over the land; and Work towards the development of treaties so that Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can co-exist on the land...
NAIHO Collective
© 1983

SOVEREIGNTY

Sovereignty is not a vague legal concept.

Sovereignty is a practical and achievable goal.

Sovereignty for Aboriginal people can be defined as recognition of our Aboriginal Rights. Sovereignty can be demonstrated as Aboriginal people controlling all aspects of our lives and destiny.

Sovereignty is independent action. It is Aborigines doing things as Aboriginal people, controlling those aspects of our existence which are Aboriginal. These include our culture, our economy, our social lives and our indigenous political institutions. Wrapped up in all of this are health housing education legal matters and land rights, and many others things. When Aboriginal people are able to exercise absolute control over these essential areas without penalty being imposed on us by non Aboriginal society, then our Aboriginal Sovereignty will have been recognized.

At present the federal government has taken on some responsibilities for some areas of Aboriginal survival, so has the state government and so has local governments. Aboriginal Sovereignty will be recognized and working when these non Aboriginal agencies relinquish control or influence over these areas of Aboriginal survival to our people in toto.

This is not apartheid nor separatism, we are not saying send all the blacks to the territory and let them run it and have nothing to do with the rest of Australia, we are instead promoting parallel development. Aboriginal Sovereignty can be recognized and actioned without destroying the Commonwealth, it may be hard but it is possible. Canada, Denmark, China, U.S.A. and other acceptable western democracies have recognized the Sovereignty of the indigenous people without the disintegration of that society.

Aboriginal people can exist as sovereign, identified, indigenous nations within the Commonwealth of Australia.

NAIHO Collective
© 1983

http://www.kooriweb.org/gst/sovereignty/naiho.html

_______________

The Reconciliation process has failed. The concept of reconciliation is based on the approach that Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples need to 'reconcile their differences'. Indigenous peoples have suffered attempted and actual genocide at the hands of white people.

White settlers directly and indirectly killed large numbers of Indigenous people. The Australian government continued the attempted genocide through enclosed camps, reservations and forced removals of children.

Indigenous peoples today continue to be severely disadvantaged, suffering shocking Third World conditions that Australia should be ashamed of. We must recognise the attempted genocide of Indigenous culture, society and people, and end it.

There is no escaping the issues of genocide, sovereignty and treaty. Unless they are properly addressed, Indigenous peoples will continue to suffer greatly and struggle to regain their dignity. Unless they are properly addressed, non-Indigenous people will continue to carry the scar in their souls and their society that comes from not being at peace with the land and its traditional owners.

Get Indigenous rights back on the agenda. REALISE the shameful situation facing Indigenous peoples on this continent...


---
"There is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one's native land." - Euripides 431 B.C.
---

Warning! Some of the links below contain images of indigenous people now deceased.

Sources:
Back to Basics - Aboriginal Sovereignty
Australia Day, Invasion Day or Aboriginal Sovereignty Day?
TOWARDS ABORIGINAL SOVEREIGNTY
kooriweb.org - Black Australia's 200 year struggle for justice
Genocide to end - Sovereignty acknowledged - Treaty to be made
Indymedia

Innocent until proven guilty is more than a mantra - Fair Go For David Hicks

Innocent until proven guilty is more than a mantra - Fair Go For David Hicks

JANUARY 11, 2007 - The US military progaganda machine kicked in today, when Colonel Morris Davis, chief prosecutor for the US Office of Military Commissions, dismissed any notion of Australian terror suspect David Hicks, locked in Guantanamo Bay as a "young and naive adventurer."

Hicks, who has today spent five years in detention at Guantanamo Bay, was labelled by the US military as "fully fledged al-Qaeda operative who took orders from Osama bin Laden..." This despits any evidence to support the colonel's claims of Hicks's al-Qaeda connections.

Today, January 11, 2007, 31 year-old David Hicks, from Adelaide, South Australia has begun the sixth year of a nightmare in hell...
Hicks, a Muslim convert has been detained by the US at its naval base in Cuba since January 2002, a month after he was captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

"David Hicks attended basic training, the al-Qaeda basic training, (and) went back for repeated advance courses in terrorism,” Colonel Davis told the corporate media. "He knew and associated with a number of al-Qaeda senior leadership. He conducted surveillance on the US embassy and other embassies. He eventually left Afghanistan and it's my understanding was heading back to Australia when 9/11 happened." Colonel Davis says Hicks, when he heard about 9/11, "said it was a good thing (and) he went back to the battlefield, back to Afghanistan, and reported in to the senior leadership of al-Qaeda and basically said, 'I'm David Hicks and I'm reporting for duty'," said Colonel Davis.

But Hicks's US military-appointed defence lawyer, Major Michael Mori, said he was not aware of any evidence to support the colonel's claims of Hicks's al-Qaeda connections. He also scoffed at the suggestion that his client had translated training manuals for the terror group.

But the charges were dropped after a US Supreme Court ruled in June that military tribunals set up to try Hicks and other Guantanamo Bay inmates were illegal. His Australian lawyer, David McLeod, said the Australian Government must now step in and help the South Australian.

"Our expectation is that, if this Government does nothing, David Hicks will still be there in two years' time awaiting trial," Mr McLeod said on ABC radio.

"A reason for that is Supreme Court challenges to this new military commission brought by other detainees, not necessarily David Hicks... he will be sitting there biding his time, contemplating taking his life, no doubt, because of what we've heard about his mental state."

"David Hicks currently is not facing any charges -- he's not even before any regular legal system."

Mr McLeod said the Australian Government must now step in and help Hicks. Labor says John Howard could push for Hicks to be released on bail and placed under a control order in Australia, whilst the Law Council of Australia president Tim Bugg has criticised the Government's "blind defence" of the commissions.

Hicks pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, aiding the enemy and attempted murder at a military commission hearing in 2004. These charges were dropped when the US Supreme Court ruled last June the military commissions were unlawful. The US government has revamped the commission process and is expected to lay fresh charges soon.

Innocent until proven guilty is more than a mantra. A government is publicly labelling a person a dangerous terrorist. They detain him for years without charge and then claim that it respects the presumption of innocence.

In the past week, the director of prosecutions of the new Australian Military Court, Brigadier Lyn McDade, said Hicks' treatment was abominable and former prime minister Malcolm Fraser said the Government had deserted Hicks. Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty has repeated his call for Mr Hicks to be tried as quickly as possible. Delaying a trial for so long meant that evidence did not remain fresh, Mr Keelty said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Australian Government had been in discussions with the US and he expected Mr Hicks to be charged "within a matter of weeks".

Perth Rally : 5 Years in Gitmo! David Hicks Deserves Justice
http://perth.indymedia.org/?action=newswire&parentview=41968


SOURCES:
Herald Sun
Courier Mail
The Australian
The Age
Lex Lasry
SMH

Toadbusters: busting toads!

Toadbusters: busting toads!

January 11, 2007 - The Kimberley Toad Busters group says it has made a significant step forward in its battle to halt the spread of cane toads into Western Australia. The Kimberley-based volunteer group of cane toad busters believes it may have found a way of stopping the relentless spread of the dreaded pest across northern Australia.

Cane toads (Bufo marinus) were introduced to Queensland decades ago to try to stop beetle damage in sugar cane crops. Instead, they became a major invasive species. Cane toads have been steadily moving across northern Australia towards WA for years. Now they are near the border...

In attempts to control the native Cane Beetle, 102 Cane Toads were introduced to Australia from Hawaii in June 1935. They bred immediately in captivity and by August 1935 more than 3000 young toads were released in areas around Cairns, Gordonvale and Innisfail in northern Queensland.

More Toads were released around Ingham, Ayr, Mackay and Bundaberg. Releases were temporarily limited due to environmental concerns, but resumed in other areas after September 1936. Since their release, toads have rapidly multiplied in population. There are now estimated to be 200 million cane toads in Australia, in a range that covers Queensland, the Northern Territory and New South Wales.

Unfortunately for Western Australia, the toads are closing in on its border. And as scientists work on genetic control of the invasive pest, a local community group is taking up the fight.

Kimberley Cane Toads president Lee Scott Virtue said that for the first time cane toads had not returned to an area the group had worked in for the last four months.

The Kimberley Cane Toad group has removed thousands of colonising males from Brownies Dam, two hectares of dams and billabongs, 210km east of the WA border, between Timber Creek and the Victoria River Roadhouse, in the Northern Territory, Ms Virtue said. "The trick is to try and bust them out, get them out of the system before they start calling and that appears to be what we've done. The last three weekends of checking the system out has revealed not a single toad..."

Knowing where the cane toads are and how they are moving means it's easier to know what to do next dry season to stop continuous waves of toads. "We're knocking out eggs, tadpoles and metamorphs", Ms Virtue said. "This consistent approach and the identification of what the toads are doing and where they are going gives us a pretty good opportunity of holding up this frontline."

"By knocking out the females ... it's causing some real ripples in the male toad behaviour in those areas... it's quite possible that we're having a major impact on their ability to breed."

The cane toad 'Buffo marinus' is recognised by the IUCN and the Global Invasive Species Programme as one of the world's 100 worst invaders (Lowe et al. 2000).

Adult Cane Toads are active at night during the warm months of the year. During the day and in cold or dry weather they shelter in moist crevices and hollows, sometimes excavating depressions beneath logs, rocks and debris. They can survive the loss of up to 50% of their body water, and can survive temperatures ranging from 5 - 40ºC.

Cane Toads eat almost anything they can swallow, including pet food, carrion and household scraps, but most of their food is living insects. Beetles, honey bees, ants, winged termites, crickets and bugs are eaten in abundance.

Meanwhile, Professor Peter Koopman, from The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, is developing a strain of “daughterless” cane toads - toads that can give birth only to sons.

“We hope to transplant a ‘gene’ into toads that will cause any female tadpoles they produce to change course and become males,” he said. “All of the offspring of this genetically engineered toad would thus be male, and they would all be carrying the daughterless gene."

"It’s probably the greenest and safest solution to manage the cane toad problem – it doesn’t involve any toxins or pathogens, so the toads cannot develop immunity against it, and there is no risk to native frog species that we want to protect,” Professor Koopman said.

-

Cane Toads are considered a pest in Australia because they:
* poison pets and injure humans with their toxins
* poison many native animals whose diet includes frogs, tadpoles and frogs' eggs
* eat large numbers of honey bees, creating a management problem for bee-keepers
* prey on native fauna
* compete for food with vertebrate insectivores such as small skinks
* may carry diseases that are can be transmitted to native frogs and fishes.

"It is important to recognise that the pristine terrestrial and aquatic habitat systems of the Kimberley are already under threat. Current land-care and resource management policies undertaken by land and resource managers have had a detrimental impact on Kimberley bio diversity.

"Most of our plant and animal bio diversity is in a fragile state. The impact of the cane toad, if allowed to happen, will literally destroy one of the last unique bio diversity wilderness frontiers in Australia." - Lee Scott-Virtue. http://www.canetoads.com.au

IF EVERYONE BECAME A TOAD BUSTER.

THE TOADS WOULD BE BUSTED!

www.canetoads.com.au

SOURCES:
Kimberley Toad Busters Inc - canetoads.com.au
Toad busters claim breeding cycle interrupted - ABC News
New hope to halt cane toads - The Age
canetoadbattle.com
Bufo marinus - Invasive Species
Australian Museum - Cane Toads, Giant Toads or Marine Toads
Cane Toad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northern Australian Cane Toad Site
Killing off the cane toad - University of Queensland

Nuclear exports to China pose serious security, political, environmental risks

JANUARY 7, 2007: The Australian Conservation Foundation is raising serious concerns around the security, political and environmental risks of the newly ratified Australia-China Nuclear Transfer Agreement that gives the green light for Australian uranium producers to commence exports to China. The deal allows Canberra to cancel uranium exports if Beijing violates any provisions in the pact. John Howard has encouraged Australians to cash in on its vast uranium deposits for export and to meet Australia's future energy needs.

Australia has about 40 per cent of all known uranium reserves and accounts for about 23 per cent of global production of the nuclear fuel...

The announcement last week, that the Australia-China Nuclear Transfer Agreement has been ratified, shows "gross irresponsibility on the part of the Australian Government," says Dave Sweeney, Nuclear-Free Campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation.

"China is a known nuclear weapons state with clear and proven links between its civil and military nuclear programs. Exporting Australian uranium to China will free up domestic reserves that could be used in China's nuclear weapons program, inflaming regional insecurity and nuclear risks including unresolved nuclear waste management."

The Australian Conservation Foundation has said that Australia’s safeguards are not foolproof, nor are they permanent. "China lacks important informal checks and balances on its nuclear industry. The civil society groups so important in overseeing and improving nuclear industry performance in the West – independent media, environmental NGOs, free trade unions, community organisations – are either missing or fledgling in China" said Sweeney.

Mr Sweeney said that by exporting uranium to China, Australia will be fuelling a potential nuclear cross-fire in North Asia and bequeathing a terrible radioactive legacy to the region.

"Every gram of exported Australian uranium ends up as nuclear waste and has the potential to fuel nuclear weapons. Fifty years into the nuclear experiment, no country has found a way to dispose of nuclear waste and the unique security, human and environmental hazards it poses," said Mr Sweeney.

"China is seeking new energy sources, but nuclear is not the answer. It is not clean, green, cheap or safe. Rather than leaving future Chinese generations with a radioactive legacy, Australia should be helping China make the transition to a clean energy future by exporting renewable energy technology," he added.

Lsst week, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer announced that Canberra and Beijing had ratified the Australia-China Nuclear Transfer Agreement, and the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement through an exchange of Diplomatic Notes in China. The two treaties were signed in Canberra in April during a visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Ratification of this dubious nuclear safeguard agreements with China has cleared the way for BHP Billiton to produce an additional $2 billion a year in uranium from its Olympic Dam mine in SA. The task of finding a home for the radioactive material has now been made easier with China a potential major customer.

Australia's other big uranium producer, Energy Resources of Australia, is also locked into long-term contracts. A recent increase in the reserve base at its Ranger mine in the NT has ERA hunting down fresh contracts covering 11,100 tonnes of uranium for sale between 2014 and 2020. First production from the high-grade operation is not now expected until 2010, effectively delaying 37 per cent of the new uranium supply previously forecast to be available before then.

The World Nuclear Association has forecast that uranium demand could rise from about 65,000 tonnes in 2006 to 78,000 tonnes in 2015 and to 111,000 tonnes in 2030. Australia is poised to cash in on that growth, with BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam project in South Australia planning to at least triple annual production to 15,000 tonnes.

Subject to WA and Qld governments lifting bans on uranium mining, the number of Australian mines could double before 2010. Currently Australia has four mining operations - Olympic Dam, Ranger, Beverley and Honeymoon.

A recent price surge reflects the potential for near-term supply shortages at a time when nuclear power is enjoying unprecedented acceptance - because of its misleading claim that Nuclear energy somehow has a role in combating global warming.

Sources:
ACF MEDIA RELEASE
Olympic Dam set for China offensive - SMH
Uranium miners prepare for a glowing future - SMH
Australia to sell uranium to China - Aljazeera
World Nuclear Association - Pro Nuclear
Uranium Information Centre - Pro Nuclear
World Information Service on Energy
Nuclear Information and Resource Service

Australia Day, Invasion Day or Aboriginal Sovereignty Day?

JANUARY 9, 2007: On January 26 2006 Aboriginal Sovereignty Day was declared, when representatives of Aboriginal Sovereign Nations agreed, by consensus, on "Invasion Day" 2006, that the 26th of January would be known as Aboriginal Sovereignty Day. The gathering from across the land at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 2006 was in response to the continual Government threat to control the Tent Embassy site; the last united, free voice of Aboriginal People. Aboriginal sovereignty was first declared in Australia in 1972 at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy...

The issue of Aboriginal Sovereignty has been unresolved since 1770 when Aboriginal people opposed Captain James Cook's reconnaissance of the Great Southern Land `Terra Australis', followed by Captain Arthur Philips incursion establishing the platform for invasion. Out-posts were initially set-up on the East Coast of `Terra Australis' and methodically spread across Aboriginal people's `terra firma'.

As a direct result of these unprovoked and planned transgressions, Aboriginal people of terra Australis resisted and defended our inherent sovereign heritage that continues to be suppressed by political ideology and economic greed which clearly stands out in the endemic statistical evidence of Aboriginal people's quality of life and restrictions of a free Aboriginal voice.

Australia's lack of political freedoms and religious morals are denying Aboriginal people's right to self-determination, is an indictment on all Australians.

So, on January 26 2006 Aboriginal Sovereignty Day was declared, when representatives of Aboriginal Sovereign Nations agreed, by consensus, on "Invasion Day" 2006, that the 26th of January would be known as Aboriginal Sovereignty Day.

The Peoples identified the 34 year-old Tent Embassy in Canberra as a significant place of social, spiritual and political importance to Aboriginal Peoples, and a symbol of the assertion of Aboriginal Sovereignty.

The Tent Embassy calls on all Aboriginal Sovereign Nations to stand up against the illegal occupation of our country and continue to resist the oppression of our people. Until there is true justice for our people, these issues will not go away and we will continue to resist.

In 2006 the Tent Embassy took the Sacred Fire to the 'Stolenwealth' Games in Melbourne in March. The fire contains the message of peace, healing and justice, and create a focal point for unfinished business. We call on all Aboriginal Nations to send representatives to the Embassy to commemorate and review the issues of Land Rights in Australia.

The Tent Embassy reiterates the call on the Australian Government to desist the illegal occupation of Aboriginal lands, the oppression of Aboriginal Peoples, and to stop denying the true history of this country.

Indigenous leaders, including Marji Thorpe, Gary Foley, Robbie Thorpe and Michael Mansell claim that Native Title and Reconciliation haven't adequately addressed Indigenous rights. They say: "Native Title has mainly embroiled Indigenous peoples in complex legal processes where they have (generally unsuccessfully) had to prove their fundamental human rights to the land."

The campaigners, known as the Black GST, say the process "puts the onus on Indigenous peoples to somehow prove continuous connection with their land, an impossible task in many situations given the effects of our dispossession and attempted genocide."

On Australia Day last year the diverse and vibrant group marched peacefully through Canberra, gathered at the Tent Embassy on the lawns in front of Old Parliament House and called for recognition of indigenous sovereignty over the land.

"We're wanting to let all the people know that all the land in Australia has been given back to the Aboriginal people... and the sovereignty now lies with all Aboriginal nations," a spokesperson Robert Corowa said at the Embassy.

To many Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people, Australia Day is labelled "Invasion Day" - in recognition of the colonisation of the continent by the British, he said. "We call it invasion day. The most important thing is that everybody in Australia who's now living here... we strongly encourage them to come to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and place a leaf in our fire."

Legal director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC), Michael Mansell, said the current Australia Day celebrations should be scrapped and a new national day chosen. Mr Mansell said Australia Day would forever remain a racist blot on Australia's political landscape as long as the event was held on the anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet.

"There can never be reconciliation between whites and Aborigines so long as the anniversary of the coming of white people is the basis for celebrating Australia Day," he said. "A fair and just society cannot be built on celebrating gains by one race at the expense of another."

Mr Mansell has also reported the theft of an Aboriginal sign from the TAC premises. The sign reading: "AUSTRALIA DAY Yes, let’s celebrate: MURDER, INVASION, RAPE, THEFT" was removed on the 25th of January hours after being installed on the Launceston premises.

Mansell says that he will replace the sign in an effort to "the obvious need to expose the myth, as expressed in the national anthem, that Australia is a free and fair country" and called for "white society" to punish the offenders.

"This is another instance of the continuing trend in Tasmania of racist attacks on both people and property by extreme elements of white society who don't like the truth, who don't like Aborigines and other races. As with the racial attacks on middle Eastern people in Sydney, these Tasmanian incidents show how Australia under the Howard government is becoming more openly xenophobic," he said.

Last year activists in Brisbane burned an Australian flag to protest against celebrations marking European settlement in Australia.

Around 300 protesters staged an "Invasion Day" demonstration. Queensland Premier Peter Beattie condemned the action but one protester said he believed the wrong flag had been burned: "I just felt deep down that it should have been the British flag they burnt not the Australian one."

perth.indymedia.org

Senator Campbell is a nuclear obscenity

JAN 8 07, Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has said that the WA Government should reassess it's ban on Uranium Mining because nuclear power could significantly help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the WA Government is standing firm on its anti-uranium mining stance.

Despite nuclear energy being wrongly touted as a "clean and green" energy source, the Howard government continues to push it's obscene suggestion that Nuclear Energy is a solution to Climate Change. Firstly, Nuclear power is still as radioactive, dangerous, heavily subsidised by taxpayers, and as hideously xpensive as it ever was.

But now the uranium and nuclear industries want to increase profit using global warming as an excuse. They want to leave future generations to deal with the masses of toxic radioactive waste. The Howard government must realise that Nuclear power will not stop global warming.

Indeed, replacing polluting coal power with another environmental disaster, nuclear power, is clearly not the answer...
The WA government has stated that it will stand by its no uranium mine policy - one of Labor's central policies in the 2005 state election. But Senator Campbell and WA Environment Minister Tony McRae debated it in Perth on Monday.

Senator Campbell said WA's position was absurd. "The world will need more uranium and WA should not just sit on it, it's obscene."

He said the WA Government would change its mind as the community became aware of that nuclear energy could prevent climate change, he said erroneously in Perth.

"The public pressure will build to the extent that the absurdity of the WA Government policy will become obvious and (Premier) Mr (Alan) Carpenter will do what he does so well and that is change his mind," said Senator Campbell.

WA Environment Minister, Tony McRae said energy efficiency, renewable energies and clean energies were the key to fighting climate change and the WA Government would not review its ban on uranium mining.

"Nuclear really is a dud technology, the best uranium available in the world today could run at current demand and be depleted within about 30 years," Mr McRae said.

"There is not one nuclear power plant operating in the world today that is not subsidised to the tune of millions of dollars for its construction and operation. And that's not even taking into account the legacy of 25 to 50,000 years of storage of the waste," he said.

Acting WA Premier Eric Ripper also rejected the call to dump the ban, calling Senator Campbell "a nuclear fanatic".

"I mean, the answer to greenhouse gas emissions is to look at clean coal technology, to promote renewables, solar, wind, wave, biomass, to invest in energy efficiency," Mr Ripper said. "And, of course, Western Australia is contributing substantially to one of the other answers, which is to export LNG so that it replaces coal, for example, in Chinese power stations."

Mr Ripper said if WA lifted the ban it would come under intense pressure to accept an international waste dump. "And that's something I know our electorate would be strongly opposed to," he said.

"We went to the people at the last election saying we're opposed to nuclear power, we're opposed to uranium mining and we're opposed to a waste dump in Western Australia, that's the contract we have with the people and we intend to honour that commitment."

Australia Democrats Leader Lyn Allison said Senator Campbell's call for WA to overturn its ban on uranium mining was "a fool's response to an urgent problem... if Senator Campbell was serious he would set up a carbon levy so nuclear, fossil and renewable power can compete on a level playing field," Senator Allison said.

"Australia's poor response to climate change is not the shortage of uranium or uranium mines, it's the Howard government's protectionism on coal."

A new reactor takes 10 years on average to build. Renewable energy is ready now. We need to take action now to stop climate change. We can't wait for 10 years. The UK's first offshore wind farm (at North Hoyle, Wales) took just eight months to build.

Studies by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other estimate that we would need to build at least 1000 reactors worldwide for nuclear power to have any effect on global warming.

This just won't happen as current growth in nuclear electricity is about four per cent and investors aren't keen on nuclear power's uncertain financials. And 1000 new reactors mean 1000 more nuclear threats that we can't guard against.

Nuclear power cannot deliver in the fight against global warming. Nuclear power is used only to generate electricity. It represents only 16 per cent of the world's electricity. Electricity itself only accounts for about one third of greenhouse gases.

Peter Bradford, formerly of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission says: "Nuclear power cannot be a magic bullet answer to climate change. Even if it is scaled up much faster than anything now in prospect, it cannot provide more than 10 to 15 per cent of the greenhouse gas displacement that is likely to be needed by mid-century... Not only can nuclear power not 'stop global warming', it is probably not even an essential part of the solution to global warming."

SOURCES:
Sunday Times
The West
Make a Readers Comment at the Sunday Times website
WA Business News
GP - Why nuclear power is not a solution
Perth Indymedia

GUNNS chose "worst place possible" for controversial billion dollar pulp mill

January 09, 2007 - Atrocious Location: Timber giant Gunns Ltd has chosen the "worst place possible" in Tasmania to build the highly controversial $1.4 billion pulp mill, which it hopes to have up and running by 2010.

"ATROCIOUS LOCATION"
GUNNS Ltd's gigantic pulp mill is proposed for the Tamar River near Bell Bay in northern Tasmania. If it proceeds the mill will eventually consume around 4 million tonnes of logs every year.

Pulp-mill technology expert Dr Warwick Raverty says Long Reach on the Tamar estuary near Bell Bay is an "atrocious location" for an industrial project where bad smells and noxious gases are big environmental obstacles to its approval.

Dr Raverty (a former member of the assesment panel for Gunns' enormous project) tried to convince Gunns to relocate its pulp mill from the Tamar estuary to rural Hampshire. He points to problems of temperature inversions and high levels of particles in the air already experienced by residents of Launceston and the Tamar Valley.

It is estimated that there are at least 20 days a year when air quality in Launceston is "below acceptable safety levels" and that "as many as eight people die prematurely each year because of issues associated with poor air quality."

"Frankly, Gunns chose the most sensitive site in Tasmania they could have..." says Dr Raverty, who stresses he voices his own opinions and not his employer - the CSIRO. The problem for Gunns, says Dr Raverty, is that not only is the proposed pulp mill in an estuary with poor air quality already but it is near a major city - Launceston. He says due to the threat of massive emission and noxious odour problems, Gunns will have to spend millions more dollars on extra fans, filters, pumps and outer casings around its machinery.

He said Gunns was adamant the mill must be built at Long Reach, close to its existing woodchip mill and port facility - because it was cheaper to do so. Only $20 million in cost was involved between a mill on the Tamar, or at another location.

"In a project with an expenditure of $1400 million, you would have to question if this was a sound decision," he said. Dr Raverty warned of potential noxious smells and gases from the pulp mill, yet says he would have no hesitation about living opposite the site.

In September 2006, some 8000 people marched through the streets of Launceston to rally against the Gunns' planned pulp mill. Participants said the rally was a show of strength against the pulp mill which will pollute the air and sea and devastate Tasmanian native forests if it goes ahead.

Gunns is the biggest native-forest logging company in Australia and the biggest hardwood-chip company in the world. Gunns receives the overwhelming majority of logs destined for sawmills and woodchip mills from Tasmania. It owns all four export-woodchip mills in Tasmania. It exports more woodchips from Tasmania than are exported from all mainland states combined.

Gunns exports over four million tonnes of native-forest woodchips each year.

ASSESMENT PANEL RESIGNATIONS
Resource Planning and Development Commission executive commissioner Julian Green and Dr Raverty - two of the four members of the panel assessing Gunns' project - have both quit their positions. Dr Raverty resigned as a member of the pulp-mill assessment panel after receiving legal advice that other consultancy work done by his employer CSIRO-Ensis could "compromise his position on the panel".

The resignation of the assessment panellists could undermine the future of the $1.4 billion project. Ex-Chair Julian Green accused the State Government-driven Pulp Mill Task Force of "undermining the integrity of the assessment panel." Mr Green said his resignation was been brought on by the activities of the taskforce.

Tasmanian Liberal leader Will Hodgman said the Government had failed to heed earlier warnings. He said the Labor government - in it's "arrogant and bullish" way - had done more damage to the pulp mill project than assisted it. Tasmanian Greens Opposition Leader Peg Putt and Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne welcomed Dr Raverty's departure from the panel. Ms Putt said the resignations reflect badly on the pulp mill assessment process.

GOVT PROPAGANDA
The Wilderness Society has called for the Tasmanian Government to abolish its Pulp Mill Task Force. "The Pulp Mill Task Force has masqueraded as a public-information body but has mainly been providing blatant propaganda services to Gunns’ proposed pulp mill at taxpayers’ expense," said Geoff Law, Campaign Coordinator for the Wilderness Society in Tasmania.

"Its activities have now contaminated the RPDC’s assessment of the pulp mill so much that the RPDC chief has resigned," Mr Law said. "The credibility of the pulpmill assessment is now in tatters. The Pulp Mill Task Force is an example of clumsy pro-pulpmill bias by the Government. It’s a gross waste of taxpayers’ funds and should be abolished."

RISKS/WRONG LOCATION
On its special website established for the pulp mill project Gunns claims it's proposal will be "the world's greenest pulp mill".

But Dr Raverty told the Examiner "the project’s proximity to Launceston and the risk of adverse effects to the public meant it should only be approved if it was better than any mill that had been built in the world to date."

His statement comes after numerous warnings from other bodies about the likely effects of the mill’s potentially devastating emissions.

Amongst the litany of opposition to the project, there are direct criticisms from a Tasmanian Government department about potential dioxin pollution in Bass Strait. The Australian Medical Association has said that "increased pollution could increase deaths" in the Tamar Valley - a region the AMA says already suffers deaths from particulate pollution. The AMA's Dr Andrew Jackson said (about scientific modelling on pollution put forward by Gunns Limited), "we found that the science modelling that's been used has holes in it big enough to drive a log truck through..."

"Dr Raverty’s voice has been added to a chorus of concern from independent experts over the pulp mill’s potential impacts on the health of people living in the Tamar Valley," said TWS's Mr Law. "The mill has been proposed for the wrong location," he said.

However, Gunns chairman John Gay says the mill has already met the guidelines required and could be ready for construction this year.

Mr Gay accused pulp mill opponents of pressuring the RPDC chief to quit.

--

The current pulp-mill dramas follow the recent groundbreaking Federal Court decision that logging in the Tasmanian Wielangta Forest has been illegal.

The ramifications of this decision for all logging in Tasmania have yet to be established. The Federal Court found the state agency Forestry Tasmania, which supervises logging on public land, failed to take account of its effect on three endangered species in the Wielangta forest.

SOURCES:

Mercury
Examiner
News Ltd
Gunns Ltd Pulp Mill Project - Corporate site
Pulpmill Proposal - Department of Economic Development
TWS - Gunns' Proposed Pulp Mill
TWS Media Release
The Age
Sourcewatch
ABC News