Justice Besanko will hand down his ruling this Friday 20th April 2.15pm.
Please come show your support at 2pm outside the Federal Court, 3 Angus Street, Adelaide. For those wanting hear the judgement aim to be inside by 2.10 as it will only take about 5 minutes.
MEDIA RELEASE
Monday 2nd April
David and Goliath: Kevin Buzzacott v Federal Environment Minister, SA Government and BHP Billiton
Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, Aboriginal Elder of the Arabunna Nation in Northern South Australia, is challenging the Federal Environment Ministers approval of the Olympic Dam expansion on the grounds that various environmental impacts of the project were not properly considered. He is represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, a community legal centre specialising in public interest litigation. The case will be heard on the 3rd and 4th of April in the Federal Court, Adelaide.
In October last year, the Hon Tony Burke MP approved the project under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999.
Mr. Buzzacott is challenging the Minister’s approval on the following grounds:
1. The approval is so uncertain that it does not constitute a proper approval under the EPBC Act. This is because much of the environmental assessment and decision-making is left up to plans and studies that have not yet been prepared or considered by the Minister or the public.
2. The Minister did not properly consider the impact of the Olympic Dam expansion on the environment. In particular, the impacts from the above ground storage of radioactive tailings waste.
3. The Minister failed to consider the environmental impacts associated with the export of uranium.
4. The Minister failed to properly consider the impacts of the expansion on groundwater resources including the Great Artesian Basin.
“Because this is a nuclear action, the Minister is required by the EPBC Act to properly consider all environmental impacts. The size of this project makes this particularly important. Just the tailings dams will end up covering 4,400 hectares, to be left on the surface of the land forever. These dams are designed to leak radioactive waste into the underlying rock and aquifer.… Read more >>
FARMING THE CITY
An exploration into building sustainable food production in Adelaide with visionary farmer Michael Ableman
BEYOND ORGANIC: FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION WITH MICHAEL ABLEMAN
The award-winning ‘Beyond Organic: The Vision of Fairview Gardens’ tells the story of an urban farm in the middle of some of the most expensive real estate in the US. Managed by Michael Ableman for 20 years, this 12-acre organic farm has become a model of sustainable food production and community involvement. Free entry.
7.00-9.00pm, Tuesday 17 April 2012
Woodville Town Hall, 74 Woodville Road, Woodville
URBAN AGRICULTURE: A WORKSHOP ON GROWING FOR MARKET AND COMMUNITY
Drawing on his experiences as both a rural and urban farmer, Michael Ableman will lead a free, full-day workshop and discussion on the challenges, myths, strategies, structures, and methods for creating vibrant food production enterprises in and around our cities.
9.00am-5.00pm, Wednesday 18 April 2012
Henley Town Hall, 378 Seaview Road, Henley Beach
This event now has only a few seats remaining. To book your place, please email adelaide.office@foe.org.au, with a contact number, and indicate whether you’d like to pay for a catered lunch and snacks ($20).
MICHAEL ABLEMAN is a farmer, author, and photographer. He is the founder and executive director emeritus of The Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, one of the oldest and most diverse organic farms in southern California. Ableman is currently directing SOLEfood, an urban agriculture enterprise established in Vancouver, British Columbia, to provide employment to individuals experiencing poverty and addiction. He is the author and photographer of numerous books. He lives and farms at the historic 120 acre Foxglove Farm, where he also directs the Center For Arts, Ecology, and Agriculture.
Presented by Friends of the Earth Adelaide, the City of Charles Sturt, Slow Food Adelaide & Barossa, the Permaculture Association of SA, Grange Organic & Sustainable Market and Transition Adelaide West
Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, Arabunna elder and honorary president of the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance, is challenging the approval on the grounds that various environmental impacts of the project were not properly considered as required under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (see attatched media release).
This is an administrative challenge, so it does not challenge the merits of the project per se. If we succeed the Minister will be forced to re-consider the approval and show that the contested environmental impacts have been properly considered. This may delay the project, and is well-timed in that the BHP Board of Directors are currently considering whether to proceed with the project. Concurrently, we are building a massive direct action at the gates of the mine for July (The Lizards Revenge).
BHP Billiton and the South Australian government have successfully applied to become parties to the proceedings. This means that they will be throwing their weight behind the Federal Environment Minister.
The hearing will take place on the 3rd and 4th April in the Federal Court (Adelaide). Two Sydney-based barristers are undertaking the case on a pro-bono basis (ie. they are not charging for their time), in conjunction with the Environmental Defenders Office. However there are various other expenses that need to be covered. These include travel and accommodation for the barristers, Freedom of Information applications, court filing costs, copying transcripts, and courier costs (when large documents need to be quickly shared between Adelaide and Sydney).
We hope to limit costs to $4000, but costs may reach $8000 – $10,000. At this stage we have $740 from a recent benefit gig in Adelaide. We have under two weeks to raise the remainder.
This case belongs to all of us – please make a donation – any amount welcome
Please make donations to:
Account name: Friends of the Earth, Adelaide
BSB: 633-000
Account number: 127 009 231
Please label donation with: COURT CASE (so we know what the donation is for)
Sustainable Communities South Australia presents
7:30 pm, Wednesday April 18th 2012
Burnside Community Centre Hall, Corner Portrush and Greenhill Roads.
Speaker: Professor Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University and Director of Curtin Sustainability Policy Institute. Professor Newman is recognised internationally as one of the world’s leaders in sustainability.
Entry is free and a gold coin donation would be appreciated.
For more information contact Ray Mylius, rmylius@chariot.net.au, tel. 8363 2295