"One stop chop" web seminar
Wednesday 6th November 2013 8:00PM to 9:00PM
Via your computer
How a one stop shop turned into one stop chop
Tony Abbott is rushing Australia back to the 1970s with plans to put the states in charge of one stop shop environmental approvals. Instead of the Commonwealth deciding whether actions with nationally significant environmental impacts should go ahead, the states will be in control. That means actions affecting World Heritage, mega coal mines, and threatened species would be decided at state level by governments with strong pro-development agendas.In this seminar, hear what happened when a similar arrangement put the states in charge of logging in Australia’s native forests and what it means for Australia's environmental treasures. This is essential listening for conservation groups and everyone working to protect Australia's wildlife and special places.
Speakers
Felicity Millner, Principal Solicitor at the Environmental Defenders Office, Victoria and co-author of One Stop Chop. How regional forest agreements streamline environmental destruction
Margaret Blakers, Director of the Green Institute
Felicity Millner, Principal Solicitor at the Environmental Defenders Office, Victoria and co-author of One Stop Chop. How regional forest agreements streamline environmental destruction
Margaret Blakers, Director of the Green Institute
Photo Damian Kelly
Posts
Im pretty sure i know exacly how this one plays out, because i can, with the use of a brain, look at the future consequences of our actions. Of this 'so called' 280 trillion of gas trapped deep within the earth under the canning basin. I believe this figure might be distorted to make barnett have wet gassy dreams. Of this 280 trillion feet of gas, most of it will be extremely hard to extract, requiring very expensive machininery, and it also requires roads, pipework and infrastucture, that is not yet in place. Out of all this 280 trillion feet of gas, very little of it will be export quality. These oil and company's are not going to go into this venture without the government using taxpayers money to provide the pipeworks and infrastucture they need. The government will pour millions of taxpayers dollars to appease the gas companys, but they will simply drill the easy to get to gas, make a short term profit, and then pi$$ off to a more attractive deal. We will be left with , roads that lead to places no,one ever wanted roads. Numerous communities ransacked, where the original people had to leave because of extreme rents, or they leave because of the changed demographic of their community. They will also leave behind destuction of the land, and a depleted and contaminated aquifier. This is a desperate govenrment, but they have no good ideas. We around the globe are now being led by the most inept fukwits history has ever known
ReplyDeleteHow is it that with all the spying going on all the
Deletegunrunners, crooked bankers, drug kingpins,
high society paedophile networks,
war criminals, human traffickers,
- you name it -
aren't all in jail ?
"We around the globe are now being led by the most inept fukwits history has ever known"
Or..........are the above named crims running it ?
There are some who say the "666" graffiti around Broome is linked to Lord Alistair McAlpine.
DeleteWe all know he was treasurer of the British Conservative Party and a great friend of Maggie Thatcher who was also a great friend of Jimmy Savile.
He has also been a suspect in Paedophile rings linked to UK childrens homes.
Who are these people who are running our planet?
Why can they do whatever they want?
Cover-up whatever and kill whoever?
Look at this and how the truth is unravelling day to day over in the UK.
Some very worried people :
"Photographs of men abusing boys in the North Wales paedophile scandal were deliberately destroyed by the authorities, it was revealed today.
Sian Griffiths worked for Clwyd Council in the inquiry office on the 1994 Jillings and six years later on the Waterhouse inquiry which looked into the systematic abuse at the children’s homes.
She told ITV News that victim Steve Messham’s photos of alleged abuse were ordered to be destroyed.
Mr Messham says photos captured lots of men raping boys, including a prominent Conservative figure he accuses of abusing him.
He says he could see men’s faces clearly, but the police said they could not identify them from the pictures.
Ms Griffiths was asked: “Messham talked about photos that he had of abuse taking place. Do you know what happened to them?”
“We were supplied with copies of court documents…there was an order made for the book of photos to be destroyed.
“So Messham’s photos of alleged abuse…were destroyed?
“They were. Well that’s what’s in court papers – official documents.”
That could have been vital evidence?
“It could. Yes.”
Meanwhile, Labour MP Ann Clwyd today revealed she had read the 1994 report by John Jillings into the abuse before it was pulped and called for it to be published.
She said: “It shows rape and torture... the effects on those young boys cannot be underestimated.”
The report was trashed on the insistence of Clwyd Council’s insurers, who feared a wave of writs from victims."
"“The thing about me is I get things done and I work deep cover,” Sir Jimmy, 81, tells Esquire. “I’ve known the Royal Family for a million years.”
He adds: “Just because some people are famous or have a lot of money doesn’t mean they don’t have problems.”
The eccentricities of Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE are well documented. He has properties in Leeds, Bournemouth, Scarborough, Peterborough, London and Glencoe, although each of them is as impersonal as a hotel room because he dislikes possessions.
The fact that he rarely spends two consecutive nights in the same bed is one of the reasons he has no interest in marriage but there has only ever been one woman in his life: his mother Agnes, nicknamed the Duchess, who died in 1973. He lived with her for her last 16 years and has described the five days he spent alone with her body after her death as the best of his life.
He has said: “I’m a lot of a loner. I’ve always been like that, though I don’t know why. I haven’t worked it out myself. All I know is I am what I am. People find it odd. I find it odd.”
He was first introduced to the Royal Family, he reveals, by Lord Mountbatten. In 1966, Jimmy became the first civilian to be awarded a Royal Marines’ green beret. Mountbatten was commandant general at the time and realised that Savile could be a useful contact.
“Coming from Lord Louis, who was the favourite uncle of Prince Philip, that was quite something,” he says. “So obviously I hooked up with the Prince – what was good enough for Lord Louis was good enough for him.”"
Who's running the place?
Delete"However these parties were forced to come to an end when Police chiefs got wind that the MP & Ex Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was attending them along with several other prominent MP’s…
At a big London railway station in the spring of 1970, a plastic carrier bag was found in the regular search for bombs before the station closed for the night.
“The contents were an odd assortment of letters and photos, which seemed to have been taken at a kinky party attended by some well-known figures in entertainment.
“One in particular showed a pop singer who masquerades under a Christian persona; dressed in women’s underwear he was pictured with young boys. (I will leave that to you, just who that famous pop singer could of been !)
“The bag was duly taken to the station office and, as a senior rail worker wrote out a report for the lost property office, two MI5 men and a special branch officer arrived and demanded the photos.”"
"•Savile’s influence reached even deeper into the British establishment, with strong connections to the royal family dating back to 1966 when he was introduced to them by Lord Mountbatten who realised Savile could be “a useful contact”.
Before his assassination at the hands of the IRA, Mountbatten was implicated in the Kincora boys’ home abuse scandal – the book War of the Windsors by Stephen Prior, Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince states, “He was also said to have an interest in what homosexuals call ‘rough trade’ and to be particularly attracted to working-class boys in their early teens,” and claims that rumours had “even linked him with the notorious scandal surrounding the Kincora Boys’ Home, where a network of teenage boys were made available to VIPs.”
During his relationship with the royals Savile was described by Diana as a “sort of mentor” to Charles, but Savile was notoriously tight-lipped about his relationship with the family: he told one biographer, “Anything to do with matters royal is a no-go area.”
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE in 1990 – at the time of writing his honours have yet to be rescinded.
•Jimmy Savile was also honoured with a Papal knighthood by being made a Knight Commander of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of Saint Gregory the Great (KCSG) by Pope John Paul II in 1990. Pope John Paul II faced intense criticism for his handling of evidence of the widespread abuse of tens of thousands of children, remaining passive as litigation and prosecutions spread. The Catholic Church continues to protect paeedophile priests to this day.....
"Clearly, Savile was incredibly well connected. From serial killers and gangsters (Savile associated with Ronnie Kray), to Popes, Prime Ministers and royalty, he was also closely linked to a number of notorious paedophiles and may have committed murder. He has also been linked to Haut de la Garenne, the children’s home in Jersey where evidence of historic child abuse came to light in 2008 (and which many believe became subject to a massive cover-up). Savile initially denied visiting Haut de la Garenne, but later admitted that he had done so, following the publication of a photograph showing him at the home surrounded by children."
"Jersey is the fiefdom of mega-rich and mega-crooked networks that combine criminal business, banking and drug operations with paedophilia and Satanism. "
Who's running the place?
Delete"The island of Jersey, off the French coast,, is only nine miles by five with a population of 90,000 and yet has 55 banks, more than 33,000 registered companies and hundreds of billions of dollars on deposit. It is a money laundering operation of global proportions and attracts the super wealthy with low tax rates.
Haut de la Garenne, or ‘Forest Heights’, was a ‘children’s home’ (detention centre) from 1867 to 1986 and it is clear that it played the role of providing children for sexual and violent abuse by the Jersey Mafia in all its forms – as well as the rich and famous of mainland Britain, including members of the Royal Family.
Jersey has an almost self-contained government of its own, but the Queen remains at the top of its power structure and wherever the ‘Crown’ holds sway, so does Satanism and child abuse.
The infamous Satanist, Edward Paisnel, who was dubbed ‘The Beast of Jersey’ after being jailed for 30 years for the rape of boys and girls, used to play Father Christmas at Haut de la Garenne during the 1960s."
"One of those who stood most to lose was Sir Edward Heath, the former prime minister from 1970-74, who was known to visit the Jersey care home the Haute Garrene among others to take young boys on boating weekends on his yacht called ‘Morning Cloud’, or as his bodyguards referred to it, ‘Morning Sickness’.
A source spoke to one of his victims and he said about others who were present, and more important, who was supplying the children to him. The person bringing children for him to abuse is Sir Jimmy Saville. He was seen by the witness, victim, taking young boys onboard Heaths yacht the morning cloud when they were at party conference. Allegedly Saville is known for supplying a number of high profile MP’s with children for them to sexually abuse."
"Police investigator Lenny Harper, an outsider from Northern Ireland, was the target of a hate campaignïng including threats to torch his house after a string of cops were sacked for corruption. Colleagues say Harper, 56, laughed it off, saying: "I had the IRA on my tail for years so a few disgruntled people are not going to deter me from doing my job." Now he is facing the biggest test of his career on the island of fear.
IT IS ALLEGED : He is very well known for his perverted abuse of young boys. A source spoke to one of his victims and he said about others who were present, and more important, who was supplying the children to him. The person bringing children for him to abuse is Sir Jimmy Savile.
He was seen by the witness, victim, taking young boys onboard Heaths yacht the morning cloud when they were at party conference. Saville is known for supplying a number of high profile MP's with children for them to sexually abuse."
"The Krays also came into the public eye when an exposé in the tabloid newspaper Sunday Mirror alleged that Ron had had a sexual relationship with Lord Boothby, a UK Conservative Party politician. Although no names were printed, when the twins threatened the journalists involved in the story and Boothby threatened to sue, the newspaper backed down, sacked its editor, printed an apology and paid Boothby £40,000 in an out-of-court settlement. As a result, other newspapers were unwilling to uncover the Krays’ connections, criminal and sexual activities."
"Kray biographer, John Pearson, writing in the Independent on Sunday, also claims that the Peer and the MP engaged in gay sex orgies with children and that Boothby had a fondness for boys defacating on him, and the Krays had a compromising photograph of Boothby and his memiors.
Similarly, when Tom Driberg, a Labour MP and KGB agent who wore fishnet stockings, got involved with the Krays, telling them ‘about the houses of rich friends they could burgle,’ again the government suppressed any inquiry, as they didn’t want to have to cope with the damaging revelations.
Who's running the place?
Delete"In Belgium, the case of Marc Dutroux and the ineffectiveness of the prosecutors to uncover the truth led to a mass protest from the Belgian public. Again, allegations of a high-level cover-up were made, as outlined in the following documentary from the BBC (which once again reminds us of a time when the corporation was capable of hard-hitting investigative journalism):
The “Dutroux Affair” had shades of Satanism, practiced by European elites, in scenes which conjure images of a far more dark and twisted version of the occult orgies depicted in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Peter Conradi, writing in the Sunday Times on December 29, 1996, reported:
“Brussels Satanic sects involved in bizarre rites including human sacrifice are being linked by Belgian police with this summer’s string of grisly paedophile murders in which at least four children died. Five witnesses came forward last week and described how black masses were held, at which children were killed in front of audiences said to have included prominent members of Belgian society. One investigator said it was “like going back to the Middle Ages”. The tentacles of the sects appear to have stretched beyond the borders of Belgium, to Holland, Germany and even America. The witnesses – several of whom claim to have received death threats – say that young babies were handed over by their parents willingly in return for money. In other cases the victims were abducted. The witnesses, who are believed to have identified the sites where the masses took place to the police, said organisers had also photographed participants and threatened to hand over the pictures if they went to the police.”
While most high-ranking paedophiles tend to escape prosecution once the cover-up machine goes into overdrive, there are occasional convictions which further highlight the extent of the problem. Jos Verbeek, the director of Unicef’s Belgian committee, was arrested and charged with inciting minors to debauchery – the case led to the resignation of the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund in Belgium. Unicef would later expose the raping of children in Sudan by UN staff, while the role of UN contractor Dyncorp in human trafficking and forced prostitution was revealed by a UN whistleblower.
The true reach of the tentacles of seemingly intertwining paedophile networks – and the heights they reach in the upper strata of society (who certainly have historical form when it comes to excess and debauchery) – will probably never come to light, despite all the good intentions and hard work of the investigators and crusaders doing their best to expose the systematic abuse of children.
“What you have to understand, John, is that sometimes there are forces and events too big, too powerful, with so much at stake for other people or institutions, that you cannot do anything about them, no matter how evil or wrong they are and no matter how dedicated or sincere you are or how much evidence you have. That is simply one of the hard facts of life you have to face. You have done your part. You have tried to expose the evil and wrongdoing. It has hurt you terribly. But it has not killed you up to this point. I am telling you, get out of this before it does.”
- Former CIA director and Cercle member William Colby giving advice to his friend senator John DeCamp, author of The Franklin Cover-Up.
Who's running the place?
Delete"On the 19th January, the Mirror ran a story titled, “Pervert MP Cyril Smith was pals with satanic child sex monster.” outlining how deceased paedophile MP Cyril Smith was involved in satanic rituals and the rape of children as young as 2. Victim Michael Roberts, 40, provided shocking details of the rituals, set up by his stepdad Michael Horgan, a man who became known as the High Priest of Satan. Like-minded paedophiles, including the knighted MP Smith, attended events where young girls and boys were repeatedly raped while being filmed – some of the “parties” took place on Saddleworth Moor, where child killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley had buried their victims. Evidence of Smith’s paedophilia was presented to the authorities in 1970, 1998 and 1999 but charges were never brought – as with Jimmy Savile, who’s activities were brought to the attention of the police on numerous occasions during his lifetime, it was only after his death that Smith was exposed as a paedophile.
Not only were Savile and Smith both able to operate as prolific paedophiles, both were knighted (perhaps a hint as to how they managed to avoid prosecution throughout their lives – Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have both claimed there was “overwhelming evidence” against Smith) and were close friends for decades. And Savile, it seems, may have also been involved in Satanic-based ritual abuse, conducted in the basements of hospitals such as Stoke Mandeville, where Savile was a volunteer porter and fundraiser between 1965 and 1988. Dr Valerie Sinason recounted the experience of the victim to the Sunday Express:
“She recalled being led into a room that was filled with candles on the lowest level of the hospital, somewhere that was not regularly used by staff. Several adults were there, including Jimmy Savile who, like the others, was wearing a robe and a mask. She recognised him because of his distinctive voice and the fact that his blond hair was protruding from the side of the mask. He was not the leader but he was seen as important because of his fame. She was molested, raped and beaten and heard words that sounded like ‘Ave Satanas’, a Latinised version of ‘Hail Satan’, being chanted. There was no mention of any other child being there and she cannot remember how long the attack lasted but she was left extremely frightened and shaken.”
Additional accounts emerged in the same paper a few days later, detailing the ordeal of a 13 year old girl who was tied to an altar during a black mass at a secret venue. “Savile then climbed on to the table and raped me. Others around him called out Satan’s name and laughed hysterically and were worked up into a frenzy.” During her horrific ordeal, one of the devil worshippers sneered: “You definitely fixed this one, Jim!”
Perhaps understandably, there are many who react to these allegations with incredulity, accusing those who make such allegations of suffering from delusions or out to cash in on Savile’s notoriety (although the recent Express story notes that the victim received no money for her story). An examination of Jimmy Savile’s life, however, indicates that these allegations might be closer to the truth than most people realise. In an interview with Esquire – reported here in the Daily Mail – Savile stated, “I am also the eminence grise: the grey, shadowy figure in the background. The thing about me is I get things done and I work under cover.”"
Who's running the place?
Delete"He claims that he spent 11 consecutive Christmases with the Thatchers at Chequers. He says of the former premier: “I knew the real woman and the real woman was something else. The times I spent up there – Denis, me and her, shoes off in front of the fire. There was no conversation really.” "
"Jimmy Savile's former chauffeur and flatmate has been charged with a string of sexual offences involving 15 teenage girls. Ray Teret, 72, is accused of 32 sexual abuse offences between 1962 and 1996.
The former chauffeur from Altrincham faces multiple accusations including rape, attempted rape and conspiracy to rape underage girls, as well as possession of an indecent image of a child.
Teret will appear at Manchester city magistrates court on Saturday morning."
"MCALPINE AND THE NORTH WALES CHILD ABUSE PHOTOGRAPHS
Looking at the McAlpine question in the North Wales Child Abuse Scandal. In any investigation victim testimony is crucial but children are not reliable when it comes to identifying people who are not in their circle.
This is why initially it falls to the Police to follow every lead and find the truth. In this case Steven Messham handed the North Wales Police hard evidence actual photographs of the abusers. The police informed Steven one of the abusers was Lord Aliastair McAlpine. Following this the police lost the incriminating photographs. Or so Steven Messham was told. "
"Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox received what he says is a “hostile” nine-page letter from NSW Police yesterday denying him whistleblower status for his ABC Lateline interview last year that sparked a NSW special inquiry and encouraged the royal commission into institutionalised child sex abuse.
The letter from NSW Police lawyers is a formal clarification that Fox won’t be given protection under the NSW’s Public Interest Disclosures Act, although Fox is awarded some protections under the Police Integrity Commissions Act. It’s believed Fox can pursue other options to be granted whistleblower status, including via the Police Integrity Commission, the NSW special commission or fighting the NSW Police in the courts.
Last November Fox spoke with Tony Jones about the cover-up of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in the Hunter Valley and published an open letter in the Newcastle Herald calling on NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell to support a royal commission. The following day O’Farrell established a special commission of inquiry into the allegations of clergy child sex abuse in the Hunter.
The NSW Police is due to give evidence to the special inquiry about its handling of child sex abuse allegations on May 6. ”Perhaps these tactics are to cause me as much anxiety and stress and try to unsettle me in the lead-up to that because their organisation is going to be one under the microscope,” said Fox.
Fox will now ask O’Farrell to examine the legislation — he’s critical that the NSW Police, rather than an independent party, get to decide his whistleblower status. “Are they independent and objective enough to make an assessment?When people make a disclosure it is really up to their own organisation of whether they are going to be protected and they’ve got a conflicting interest … Under the current form, it [the legislation] seems ludicrous,” he said.
O’Farrell has voiced his support for Fox in the past, noting: “Again I want to acknowledge the commitment of Mr Fox to the victims and his determination to the extent that it’s possible that wrongs are righted.”
Without whistleblower protection, Fox remains liable for litigation relating to his Lateline comments. A spokesperson for NSW Police told Crikey: “The officer can be assured that no disciplinary procedures or other detrimental action will be taken against him by the NSW Police Force in reprisal for making those disclosures.”
But that doesn’t reassure Fox. “I’ve got to ask the question of why they aren’t protecting me,” he said.
Who's running the place?
Delete"A Broome parent petitions the Shire to sack two sex offenders working opposite her daughters school.
Sonya, a parent of a Broome Primary School student, has petitioned the Shire asking for the dismissal of two employees who have recently been convicted of child sex offences. The Shire is opposite the Broome Primary School, and Sonya is concerned for the safety of her daughter
She spoke to Miranda Tetlow on ABC Kimberley Mornings."
"It's just before midnight on Saturday on Anne Street in Broome, where groups of children are hovering under weak pools of light cast by a handful of poles.
Down the road, drunken teenagers circle on bikes, surrounded by older men holding beer bottles, their faces inscrutable in the dark.
HYPE worker Polly Banks' car slows to a crawl and pulls up next to four young women standing on the kerb. "You all right for a lift," she calls out, and they clamber into the car.
When they ask to go home she is relieved, driving them away from the madness outside.
Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 7pm until well past midnight, this is how HYPE workers spend their evenings - driving into streets no one else will go down to find children, pick them up and take them somewhere safe.
The Department for Child Protection developed Helping Young People Engage for the Shire of Broome in 2003 because groups of up to 400 youths regularly gathered on the streets after dark."
"In the 1980s McAlpine attempted to invigorate the tourism business in Broome, Western Australia. McAlpine had first been impressed with Broome in the late 1970s.[22] He felt the area had great tourism potential. He invested $500 million on various developments, such as restoring crumbling buildings,[23] fixing up a film theatre, and creating the Cable Beach Resort club,[22] and the Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens.[24] He also bought a stake in a pearl farm, and helped promote Broome's South Sea Pearl.[22] He promoted local culture including Aboriginal artwork. He spent several months a year there, for a time.[23]
He also gave to charities as well as startup businesses.[23] The changes were not without controversy,[22] explored for example in the 1990 documentary film "Lord of the Bush" by Tom Zubrycki.[25] Economic conditions worsened in the early 1990s, and tourism was affected by the 1989 Australian pilots' dispute.[23] McAlpine had to sell his stakes and leave in the mid-1990s.[23] The zoo closed, but many of his efforts lasted such as the Cable Beach club.
When he revisited Broome in 2012 he was described in several media stories in positive terms and the town leaders honoured him as Freeman of the Municipality"
So next time you see the statue of McAlpine
spare a thought for the thousands of voiceless kids
that have been raped,tortured,murdered,
committed suicide,drank or
drugged themselves to death.....
and just think "Who is running the place"
.............And perhaps a special prayer for all those dear little souls who have been sacrificed to their master Satan.........who gives them the power to run the place........
Delete..........perhaps even some flowers..........God bless them.........
RIP
"Australian global mining giant BHP Billiton’s CEO Andrew Mackenzie has denied the resources company is burying its head in the sand regarding the risk climate change poses to its profitability.
ReplyDeleteAt the company’s Annual General Meeting in the British capital, London, board candidate Ian Dunlop said climate change had the ability to “completely turn the company on its head or indeed destroy it”.
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Swallowed by coal: UK profits from Indonesia's destructive mining industry
Funded by British investment, mining brings deforestation, health problems and pollution to Samarinda, part of 'coal's last frontier'
Just 30 years ago, Samarinda was a sleepy village surrounded by deep equatorial forest and known mostly for its traditionally woven sarongs. Today it is the largest city in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province, with nearly 1 million inhabitants. It is also the centre of the burgeoning coal industry, surrounded by more than 1,000 mines and concessions.
The forests have gone, opencast mines circle the city and giant barges pass down the river Mahakam every few minutes taking coal to India, Japan, Korea and beyond. Nearly 70% of the city has been handed to coal companies as concessions. In theory, Samarinda could be swallowed by coal.
The city and most of East Kalimantan is unrecognisable to those who left some three decades ago, but now, say Indonesian and British campaigners, coal mining is poised to rip through central Kalimantan, or Borneo, a few hundred miles west of Samarinda. Mining companies such as BHP Billiton are moving in with money raised in London to exploit some of the world's largest deposits in what is being called coal's last frontier. So far, 449 exploration concessions have been awarded, covering 15,313 square miles (39,662 sq km) – about 25% of the area of the whole densely forested province famed for its tribespeople, remoteness and wildlife.
According to the World Development Movement and its partner in Indonesia, the East Kalimantan Mining Advocacy Network, mining and the infrastructure needed to extract and export coal from the heart of Borneo will inevitably ruin vast, heavily forested areas at great cost to people living there and the environment.
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Apart from the millions of tonnes of carbon that will be emitted from the burning of the coal, massive railway projects are planned, and giant pits and waste dumps will be needed to support the industry. This will lead to pollution of rivers and land-grabbing during the digging of vast open-cast pits each covering several square miles, as people flock there in search for jobs.
The pace of the mining is speeding up in central Kalimantan. More than 8.5m tonnes of coal were dug last year compared with less than 1m tonnes in 2005; and by 2020 companies could be extracting more than 20m tonnes a year. Indo Met, the largest concession in central Kalimantan, owned by BHP Billiton, covers 350,000 hectares and is thought to have coal reserves of more than 774m tonnes.
Swallowed by coal: UK profits from Indonesia's destructive mining industry
ReplyDeletecont............
Where mining has started, people complain of air pollution, flooding, and land grabs. "We receive all the negatives of coal but very little of the benefits. We will receive the full impact of the waste when they start dumping. The forest will be gone and we will lose our rubber trees," Erly Aisha, a Dayak leader from Maruwei village, told WDM.
Waste from Borneo Lumbung's mine has seeped into the local rivers, say other villagers. "The water is dark and dirty and makes your skin itch. We don't drink it now. The new mine is not operating but the company already has our land. We feel afraid," said Yesmaidfa, a mother in Maruwei.
According to WDM, the UK financial sector is involved in more than 50 major coal mines worked by 12 large companies in East and others in central Kalimantan.
BHP Billiton, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has recieved millions of pounds of investment from Barclays. Because it is part of the FTSE 100, almost every pension holder in the UK has money invested in it. Borneo Lumbung, which controls the Asmin Koalindo Tuhup mine in central Kalimantan, received a loan of $1bn (£0.6bn) from the UK bank Standard Chartered in 2012. Most of the money, says WDM, was used to buy shares in Bumi, the troubled London-listed firm co-founded by financier Nat Rothschild that owns large stakes in some of the biggest mining projects in East Kalimantan.
BHP Billiton, which has a 75% share in the giant IndoMet coal project, is estimated by WDM to have used about £110m of money raised in London. Elsewhere, Adaro Energy, Indonesia's second-largest producer of thermal coal, received £245m from a coalition of UK banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered.
"With the financial sector shrouded in secrecy, it will be very hard to do anything more than estimate the true extent of involvement that UK financial and investment institutions have in fossil fuel projects in places such as Indonesia," said Alex Scrivener, author of the WDM report. "The sector and its institutions must be held to account for their bankrolling of climate change and environmental destruction."
Andrew Hickman, from the Indonesian mining watchdog Down to Earth, said: "The energy we consume in Britain is dirty, but the profit that UK companies make from Indonesia's coal is dirtier. Local communities facing health problems, pollution and human rights abuses in Indonesia know that this coal is deadly too. BHP Billiton's Borneo coal concessions will be a disaster for local people, the environment and our climate."
A spokesman for BHP Billiton in London said: "The IndoMet coal project is a joint venture between BHP Billiton and Adaro. The first stage of development is a small operation called Haju and we are continuing to evaluate the potential for larger scale developments in the region. Any development in central and East Kalimantan will be subject to detailed environmental and social impact assessments, feasibility studies and will require all appropriate permits to be in place before activities commence."
Fracking poses low health risk IF operations are well-run, study finds
ReplyDeleteDangers of shale gas extraction mainly come from operational failure, according to Public Health England
Fracking for shale gas is safe as long as operations are well-regulated and well-run, the main public health watchdog for England said on Thursday, after reviewing evidence from the US on the controversial technology.
The study, from Public Health England, found that one of the biggest potential threats from hydraulic fracturing – the contamination of groundwater – was "likely to be caused by leakage through the vertical borehole" used for fracking. As a result, well integrity – the assurance that the fracking wells have no form of leak or damage that could cause a leak – was identified as the key concern.
However, the authors of the study were unable to say whether current government regulations and the operations of the UK's only company to have fracked for shale gas, met the criteria of being "well-regulated and well-run", and whether potential problems with well integrity had been addressed.
Earlier this year, the Guardian revealed that Cuadrilla, which has in Lancashire drilled the UK's only current shale gas fracking well, knew for months that the cement casing of its vertical well had been damaged, probably by the two minor earthquakes that resulted from its fracking operations, without telling the government or regulators.
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Nearly a year after the incident the deformation of the well was disclosed, and the then energy minister, Charles Hendry, wrote to Cuadrilla rebuking the company for its failure to inform the regulators as soon as damage to the well was discovered.
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The PHE study also examined some of the chemicals used at fracking sites in the US. However, the authors did not study the effects of the main two chemicals that Cuadrilla has applied to use in the UK: ethylene oxide, also known as oxirane, and antimony trioxide. The Environment Agency has said the former could be allowed despite some doubts. The latter has been banned from use in drilling by the Environment Agency after "discussions" with Cuadrilla.
Robie Kamanyire, one of the report's authors, said: "The chemicals used will be assessed [by the regulators]. We have a strong recommendation that the chemicals should be safe."
Prof John Newton, chief knowledge officer at Public Health England, said: "Our findings are that this process is low-risk. There are potential risks if the processes are not well-run. It is for the regulators to ensure that they are well-run."
He said the study did not address questions of whether the regulations were adequate to deal with well deformation, and the authors had not reached a definition of what "well-regulated" or "well-run" would mean.
He said: "This provides a guide to regulators on what the health hazards would be [if operations are not well-run]."
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Energy minister Michael Fallon welcomed the report's findings as showing that the potential risk to public health from fracking was low. He said: "The UK has the most robust regulatory regime in the world for shale gas, and companies will only be granted permission to frack for shale if their operations are safe. Public safety and health is paramount and government will continue to work with industry to ensure the stringent safety guidelines are upheld as they explore the great potential for shale."
Helen Rimmer, energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "Evidence suggests fracking has contaminated drinking water in Australia and the US. There's no guarantee it won't happen here – especially given gaping holes in regulations. If we're going to tackle climate change we can't afford to burn more dirty fossil fuel – we should be developing renewable energy instead."
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Push is on for coal seam gas
ReplyDeleteThe Napthine government is facing intense pressure to open the state to onshore gas exploration, with its hand-picked adviser warning of surging power prices and job losses triggered by looming domestic shortages.
With the issue threatening to divide the Coalition, Energy Minister Nicholas Kotsiras has given the strongest signal yet that the government could follow Queensland's lead and allow the industry to expand. On Wednesday night Mr Kotsiras told a mining conference that a balance between the interests of industry and rural communities could be struck, promising to embark on a ''road show'' through rural Victoria to explain the government's position.
''I will also talk to the community and I've said I will do a road show, going through the towns that might be involved to explain the government's position, because I believe we can find a balance ... and I believe people will accept the government's proposal once we have discussed, analysed and done our research,'' he said.
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The government this week is due to be handed a report from former Howard government minister Peter Reith that recommends an end to bans on new exploration licences and the controversial process of ''fracking'', which involves forcing water, sand and chemicals into a coal seam at high pressure to create cracks, increasing the amount of gas that can be extracted.
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Premier Denis Napthine, whose south-west coast electorate is subject to several exploration licences, immediately moved to hose down speculation that an end to the moratorium was imminent, promising to ''hasten slowly''.
''We will examine the report, examine what it says, and we will listen to what happens in other states and overseas and learn from that process,'' Dr Napthine said.
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But Mr Reith said the government did not have the luxury of time, warning that from early next year natural gas exporters would be forced to use domestic gas supplies to fulfil massive foreign contracts. This would force up power bills and place the manufacturing sector under further pressure.
''They are taking a huge risk with a lot of people's jobs if they are not prepared to do something to promote supply in Victoria,'' Mr Reith told Fairfax Media. ''I'm not prepared to sit quietly and see that possibly happen.''
He said prices had already started to rise and warned of big power bill increases for households.
Victoria has no coal seam gas industry although it has granted 24 exploration licences, with another eight pending. The issue has divided the Coalition, with MPs in sensitive rural seats apprehensive about an electoral backlash amid fears of groundwater contamination and the impact on farms.
Several coalition MPs recently went on a study trip to Queensland to learn about the industry.
Nationals leader Peter Ryan, whose Gippsland electorate is subject to several contentious exploration licences, said there was ''no way the Coalition government will put at risk the water aquifers, the agricultural production and the liveability that are the hallmarks of Gippsland''.
''We need to better understand all the issues around this potential industry before making any decisions,'' Mr Ryan said.