Category: Archive

Federal Environment Minister Senator Ian Campbell is fighting a case brought by the proponents of the Bald Hills wind farm and Victoria, who suspect that his real concern in scuttling the project in May was to appease residents in the marginal Liberal electorate who had campaigned against the wind farm for aesthetic reasons, reported The Australian Financial Review (26 July 2006, p.8).

Departmental advice overridden: The Bald Hills project in Gippsland was rejected by Senator Ian Campbell after he received advice that the turbines would affect the population of orange-bellied parrots, a critically endangered species. But his department’s advice was that the effect on the parrots was so insignificant that the wind farm should go ahead.

Bias alleged: Victoria and the wind farm developer have asked the Federal Court to set the decision aside on the grounds that Senator Campbell may have been biased and that he used his powers for an improper purpose.

The parrot factor: In vetoing the development, Senator Campbell relied on a scientific study by environmental consultancy Biosis Research. It showed that if 23 wind farms went ahead in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, one orange-bellied parrot would be killed every 20 years. It is estimated that there are between 99 and 200 of the parrots left in Australia.

Campbell will not give evidence: On 25 July, Bald Hills Wind Farm asked the court to order Senator Campbell to give evidence in the case, due to begin on August 28. The judge declined the request, but only after Senator Campbell’s lawyer conceded that his client had not followed his department’s advice.

Recovery program proposals ignored: The department also recommended that the developers should have to contribute to efforts to save the parrots, but the court was told that Senator Campbell did not have regard to advice on an orange-bellied parrot recovery program.

"Why didn’t he get advice?" Nor did he provide reasons for refusing to follow the advice. "If he was so concerned about the orange-bellied parrot why didn’t he get advice?" Bald Hills Wind Farm director Andrew Newbold said outside court.

Campbell stays mum: A spokeswoman for Senator Campbell said it would be inappropriate to comment on the case, but insisted the study was a valid ground for stopping the development. Counsel for the developer, Gavan Griffith, QC, told the court the wind farm should have been approved on condition five parrots were bred and released each year. The case is continuing.

The Australian Financial Review, 26/7/2006, p. 8

Source: Erisk Net  

Depleted uranium is a radioactive toxic poison – according to Wikipedia, "Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the enriching of natural uranium for use in nuclear reactors. When most of the fissile radioactive isotopes of uranium are removed from natural uranium, the residue is called depleted uranium."

Depleted uranium is indiscriminate in who it targets. During an appearance on the Alex Jones Show, Dr. Rokke described some of the effects of depleted uranium – a battlefield weapon that once used can never be cleaned up and remains in the atmosphere for eternity.

"What we know from first hand experience and what happened to those of us in Gulf War I and when we did our research for the US Army – the first thing that hits you is respiratory problems, then you have the rashes, then you start having permanent lung damage within a few months because of radiation and chemical toxicity, then you have neurological problems, then you have gastrointestinal problems."

"You have decalcification of the bones and the teeth – then you have all the eye problems due to the alpha and beta damage to the eyes – and then the cancers, the leukemia and everything else," said Rokke.

"It’s catastrophic, the US Army briefing the Pentagon leaders prior to Gulf War II in 2002 flat out acknowledged all of the problems yet they disregard them and say that they don’t exist in public."

Following the bombing of Afghanistan a scientific study by British scientists Dr. Chris Busby and Saoirse Morgan concluded that high levels of depleted uranium had contaminated Europe, having drifted on air currents from the Middle East and Central Asia.

Rokke said the Israelis first used depleted uranium munitions against the Egyptians during the Arab-Israeli war in 1973-74.

He outlined the path to the Israeli use of depleted uranium munitions, the ‘civilized world’s’ dirty bombs, in Lebanon over the last two weeks.

Extreme birth deformities across Iraq and the Balkans are attributed to indiscriminate use of depleted uranium.

"The US Army confirmed they had used over 500 tons of uranium munitions just in the first two months in Iraq – that’s the shock and awe – the US Army thoroughly confirmed in that the GBU 28 – which is a precision guided bomb if you will – 5,000 pounds of explosives contains a uranium warhead – again these are the bunker busters," said Rokke.

"Well low and behold last week guess what the United States delivered to Israel – over 100 GBU 28’s to use against targets in Lebanon."

"The Army thoroughly confirmed that its a radioactive bomb and the shrapnel is there after its use and it’s a problem and everything else so it’s all there."

"So now we have photographic confirmation – and I want to repeat – photographic confirmation of Israeli tankers loading uranium rounds into Israeli tanks and using them in Lebanon," Rokke told Jones.

"What we have now is deliberate use of radioactive munitions, depleted uranium munitions, which are illegal according to the United Nations."

"We’ve got all the Lebanese being effected, all the women and children being affected, all the Israelis being effected, and the areas over there are so small you’re going to have the whole region effected and contaminated."

"We knew about the GBU 28 delivery, we knew that was a given thing – now we were looking at the damage that’s being done to Lebanon and all the damage indicates DU but until we actually got the full photograph of the DU round being loaded by an Israeli tank gunner we didn’t have that and that came in yesterday," said Rokke.

The photographs of Israeli soldiers loading DU munitions were strangely deleted from numerous different news websites shortly after they were published but we were able to retrieve these smaller versions from the Getty archive which are captioned below.

LEBANESE BORDER, ISRAEL – JULY 14: An Israeli army soldier carries armor-piercing ammunition as he loads his tank ahead of possible action against Hezbollah militants July 14, 2006 on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Israel has stepped up its action against Hezbollah targets in an effort to drive the Islamic militants from the border and to force the return of two soldiers captured by the group in a cross-border attack two days ago on July 12. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)

LEBANESE BORDER, ISRAEL – JULY 14: Israeli army tank crew load their Merkeva tanks with armor-piercing ammunition as they prepare for possible action against Hezbollah militants July 14, 2006 on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Israel has stepped up its action against Hezbollah targets in an effort to drive the Islamic militants from the border and to force the return of two soldiers captured by the group in a cross-border attack two days ago on July 12.

Rokke expands on Israeli use of depleted uranium mission in an article in which he states that, "the use of uranium weapons is absolutely unacceptable, and a crime against humanity. Consequently the citizens of the world and all governments must force cessation of uranium weapons use. I must demand that Israel now provide medical care to all DU casualties in Lebanon and clean up all DU contamination."

On Tuesday we carried a video of Lebanese doctors describing injuries to children as showing all the hallmarks of phosphorous – a chemical weapon also highly contentious in battlefield use.

In a related development, former NSA official Wayne Madsen was told by his sources that the Israelis deliberately targeted and killed four UN observers because they had obtained knowledge of Israeli atrocities being perpetrated against the Lebanese population.

Prison Planet.tv members can listen to a 50 minute interview with Dr. Rokke by clicking here.

 

 

 

U.S. criticised
"Russia will be a reliable partner for Venezuela, as well as for all our partners in the world," Mr. Putin said after talks with the Venezuelan leader.

"Cooperation between Russia and Venezuela is not directed against third countries," the Russian leader added.

Mr. Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, praised Russia for defying the U.S. arms blockade, describing the U.S. as "the biggest threat which exists in the world." "It is a senseless, blind, stupid giant which doesn’t understand the world, doesn’t understand human rights, doesn’t understand anything about humanity, culture and consciousness," the Venezuelan leader said while unveiling a bust of 19th century South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar at a Moscow library on Thursday.

Mr. Putin said Russian companies were prepared to invest "hundreds of millions and billions of dollars" in Venezuela. He also promised to support Venezuela for rotating membership in the U.N. Security Council over U.S.-backed Guatemala.

Mr. Chavez said he had invited Russia to join the construction of the world’s longest gas pipeline across South America. It is Mr. Chavez’s fourth visit to Russia in five years.

Washington H Soul Pattinson has become the latest big player to take a strategic position in the increasingly attractive energy momentum play, coal-seam methane gas (CSM), says The Australian (27/7/06, p.21)

Stake in Arrow Energy: The company, through its 60 per cent-owned coal miner New Hope Corp, paid Macquarie Bank $48.46 million for a 19.9 per cent stake in Arrow Energy – an interest it says it has no "current intention" of increasing.

Attempt on Sydney Gas: Earlier this year, Queensland Gas Co made an unsuccessful takeover lunge at Sydney Gas in an attempt to acquire CSM resources near Australia’s largest energy market.

Moranbah purchase: Last month, AGL spent $93 million to buy BHP Billiton’s 50 per cent share of the Moranbah CSM-producing operation inland from Mackay.

Arrows’s move: Arrow owns the other half. Arrow itself has just completed a takeover of CH4 to diversify its Queensland CSM asset base.

Coal seam emerging from fringe: CSM has moved from being on the fringe to emerging as an important energy source.

Huge increase in Queensland: About 40 per cent of all gas consumed in Queensland comes from coal seams, against just 2 per cent in 1998.

Potential of coal seam gas: More significantly, CSM’s potential dwarfs that of conventional natural gas.

The gas reservation debate kicked off in February when the West Australian Government released a "consultation" paper, says Nigel Wilson in The Australian (27/7/2006, p.23).

WA has 80% of reserves: The paper begins by saying WA has gas reserves of about 113 trillion cubic feet, or about 80 per cent of the nation’s gas reserves.

WA expects long-term access: "The discovery of such large gas reserves has understandably given rise to expectations that Western Australians will have long-term access to large quantities of low-cost gas, providing a secure energy underwriting of industrial development in the state, particularly the ability to develop and process the state’s rich mineral resources," it says.

Premium for export: Export LNG has always been priced at a premium to domestic gas, mainly as a result of energy-short Japan being prepared to pay a premium for long-term contracts to secure its energy supplies.

Producers happy, users less so: While gas producers were happy that Mr Macfarlane was keen for them to maximise their returns, there was less enthusiasm from big domestic consumers such as alumina producer Alcoa and domestic gas retailer Alinta.

The Australian, 27/7/2006, p. 23