Author Archive: roman

Friends of the Earth Adelaide > Articles by: roman

Traditional owners can challenge nuclear waste dump on Country

June 29, 2021

In 2019, the Australian Electoral Commission conducted a month-long community ballot, asking the question ‘Do you support the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility being located at one of the nominated sites in the community of Kimba?’

The ballot returned a 61.58 per cent ‘yes’ vote.

Barngarla conducted their own poll, saying they had been excluded from the AEC’s postal ballot.

100 per cent of the votes returned from Native Title holders said ‘no’ to the proposed nuclear facility.

Barngarla said the site selection process had been “completely and utterly miscarried”.

“No proper heritage assessment of the site was ever undertaken,” read the statement.

“… the most obvious and appalling example of this failed process was when the Government allowed the gerrymandering of the Kimba ‘community ballot’ in order to manipulate the vote.

“The simple fact remains that even though the Barngarla hold Native Title land closer to the proposed facility than the town of Kimba, the First Peoples for the area were not allowed to vote.

“…Mistakes have been made and the process needs to start again.”

“Traditional owners can challenge nuclear waste dump on Country”, Keira Jenkins, NITV News, SBS

Environmental Law, Nuclear, Old_Notes

Barngarla: Help us Have a Say on Kimba

June 29, 2021

22 June 2021 Joint Press Release:
Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation and No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA
 
The issue of the nuclear waste facility is something which provokes significant emotion, and community opposition. However, no one else is as affected by it like we are. We issue this joint press release as the First Peoples for the Kimba area, and the farming communities who make their livelihood from the land because we are having our home, our land and our heritage threatened. We are the groups of people whose lives will be permanently damaged, if a waste facility is placed on our home.

We have fought hard and will continue to fight against a nuclear waste facility being placed on our home. We do not want it, and we will never support it. Our voices and views have been ignored by the Government. Local member Rowan Ramsey has been one of the main influences in pushing the Government to place a nuclear waste facility at Kimba. If you do not want this facility in SA or in the Eyre Peninsula or the Mid-North, then you must vote out Rowan Ramsey. We will never end this issue, whilst he is a local member.

The Government has completely and utterly miscarried the site selection process. There are many examples of this. No proper heritage assessment of the site was ever undertaken, and they have marginalised the voices of the farming community throughout the entire process.
However, the most obvious and appalling example of this failed process was when the Government allowed the gerrymandering of the Kimba “community ballot”, in order to manipulate the vote. The simple fact remains that even though the Barngarla hold native title land closer to the proposed facility than the town of Kimba, the First Peoples for the area were not allowed to vote.
… Read more >>

Nuclear, Old_Notes

Adelaide FoE AGM May 22nd

May 18, 2021

The Draft Agenda

Welcome @2pm

(A) Guest Speaker Frank Barbaro, and a preview of Adelaide 2.0, looking at how the city might be better designed.

Jim Green, editor of Chain Reaction, talks about the new issue!

** Break **

(B) Formal AGM

Minutes and reports from ASC

The appointment of the following officer-bearers:

facilitator, who shall convene meetings of the association and arrange for their facilitation;
secretary, who shall deal with correspondence and keep the records of the association;
treasurer, who shall keep the financial records of the association and organize an audit when necessary;
membership officer, who shall keep up-to-date membership records;
and public officer;
appointment of other ASC members

Any other Business.

If you wish to attend via Zoom, here are the details:
2pm start:

Meeting ID: 896 0740 2046
Passcode: 715075

FoE

Adelaide FoE AGM 2pm Sat May 22nd

April 23, 2021

Our AGM will be held at the Box Factory at 2pm on Saturday, May 22nd. Please gather at 2pm for a 2:15 start. We will make allowance for people to Zoom in, if they prefer.

The Box Factory is at 59 Regent St South, Adelaide

The Draft Agenda

i. Confirmation of the minutes of the previous annual general meeting

ii. Consideration of the accounts and reports of the administration and strategy collective

iii. The appointment of the following officer-bearers:

facilitator, who shall convene meetings of the association and arrange for their facilitation;
secretary, who shall deal with correspondence and keep the records of the association;
treasurer, who shall keep the financial records of the association and organize an audit when necessary;

membership officer, who shall keep up-to-date membership records;

and public officer

iv. appointment of other ASC members

v. considering any proposed amendments to the constitution 

Old_Notes

Morrison mumbles at Climate Talks

April 23, 2021

At the recent climate talks organised by the US, Australia tried its best to look as if it was doing something. Ketan Joshi of Renew economy summarises the attempt in his piece Morrison finds shameless new way to fake climate action as world steps up

Japan, Canada and the US announced updates to their 2030 climate targets. Korea promised to end overseas coal financing, and China has promised to peak coal usage by 2025. Australia, meanwhile, announced, very literally, nothing new.

Australia’s current state of climate action falls within two categories. The first is thimbles of cash poured into whichever technology has a zero percent probability of impacting the revenue streams of fossil fuel operations, at least not prior to the retirement age of current executives and politicians. That’s fossil hydrogen and CCS.

The second category is also a dense bush of confusion and misdirection. It involves twisting the numbers tracking and targeting climate action to artificially manufacture emissions reductions where there are none. And in the tiny space of time that Morrison was audible, he crammed in a lot.

The first was representing Australia’s emissions as proportions of either population or GDP, instead of absolute values. That’s because if population or GDP rise, and emissions stagnate, the numbers still look like they’re falling. Morrison has been twisting emissions values into so many different versions he got tangled over his own words, saying that “achieving our 2030 targets will see emissions per capita fall by almost half of our emissions per unit……ah, by of GDP by 70%”.

The sheer density of deceptions in the speech were exhausting. “Already we’ve reduced our emissions by 19% on 2005 levels” – the only dataset I know of that estimates 2020’s total emissions is the December 2020 department emissions projections, and that definitively says it’s 16.6%.… Read more >>

Old_Notes