How the Federal and Queensland Governments are betraying The Great Barrier Reef and the people of Australia

This billionare Gautam Adani and his family, through majority ownership of the Adani Group, are apparently considered favoured foreign investors by both the Abbott-Turnbull Federal Government and successive Queensland Governments.

He and his family are responsible for this…..

https://youtu.be/_wfjwlWlGTk

The bribery…..

ABC 7.30, 17 October 2012:

 Investigators have raised concerns about some of Adani enterprise's dealings with politicians and officials. In August the Auditor-General named Adani Power as one of the companies that received coal deposits from the Government at well below market rates. Gautam Adani declined our request for an interview, but the companies Australian CEO says Adani enterprises has always acted in accordance with the law…..

The Central Bureau of Investigation is now probing allegations of corruption and has opened files on at least seven unnamed companies. The Auditor-General says the lack of a transparent bidding process cost the Government $33 billion in lost revenue…..

Former Chief Justice Santosh Hegde is a well-known anti-corruption campaigner. Last year in his final act as Karnataka State Ombudsman, he released a detail report into the theft of iron ore by numerous companies which cost the state $3 billion in royalties. Justice Hegde's report found Adani Enterprises acted corruptly in the illicit transportation of iron ore in excess of the permitted quantity…..

Justice Hegde's report says the officials of ports department, custom, police, mines, local politicians and others received bribe money from Adani Enterprises.

The pollution…..

Business Standard, 24 December 2015:

Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has issued notices to Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) and two major companies handling coal at its terminal under pollution control norms for allegedly causing environmental hazard.

GSPCB has issued show cause notice to MPT, M/s Adani Murmugao Port Terminal Private Ltd and JSW's South West Port Ltd after it was noticed that the dust pollution emanating from the coal handling has increased in the port town of Vasco, 40 kms from here.

Board Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said the companies and the port administration have been asked why their consent under Water and Air Pollution Prevention Act should not be withdrawn.

"The show cause notices were issued when it was noticed that the coal handling terminals did not take mandatory measures to control the pollution emanating from the coal dust," Noronha said.

The deaths…..

The New York Times, 22 March 2013:

This month, the first comprehensive assessment of the health impact of pollution from India’s coal-fired power plants was published.

The findings are grim. Scientists estimate that exposure to coal-related pollution caused between 80,000 and 115,000 premature deaths and more than 20 million asthma attacks in 2011-12.

The conclusion is particularly worrying, given that the World Resources Institute estimates that 455 new coal power plants are planned in India, more than four times the number that exist now.

UbAlert, 10 April 2015:

Madhya Pradesh: Five people, three laborers and two security guards, died mysteriously in a Neemuch-based private factory on Thursday when they stepped down to clean a 25-feet deep tank filled with impurities generated by oil milling. The incident occurred at Adani Wilmar Oil Limited located four kilometers away from Neemuch district headquarter. Investigation is going on as to what caused the deaths of the factory workers whether it was acid in tank or they died due to suffocation.

The exploitation….

The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 September 2014:

But a Fairfax Media investigation into the treatment of 6000 construction labourers at a luxury housing project in Gujarat owned by the Adani family has uncovered lax safety standards, underage workers and regular cholera outbreaks from contaminated drinking water.

It comes after Mr Adani's company was found in February to have failed to gain proper environmental approval for construction around India's largest private port, also in Gujarat - destroying mangroves and displacing local villagers.

The poor choice of senior management…..

ABC News, 12 November 2015:

Adani Australia's chief executive officer was in charge of an African copper mine which allowed a flood of dangerous pollutants to pour into a Zambian river, the ABC can reveal.

Jeyakumar Janakaraj has been chief executive of Adani's Australian operations since leaving Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Zambia in 2013.

Now KCM and its parent company Vedanta Resources are being taken to the High Court in London by locals who say pollution from the company's huge Chingola open-pit copper mine made them ill and devastated nearby farmland over a 10-year period from 2004.

Mr Janakaraj was director of operations of KMC when the company was charged in 2010 with causing a serious pollution spill, which saw a toxic brew of highly acidic, metal-laden discharge released into the Kafue River.

The river is one of Zambia's largest waterways and a source of water and food for about 40 per cent of the country's people.

The 31-square-kilometre KCM open pit mine in Zambia's Chingola region is described as the biggest copper mine in Africa, producing about 2 million tonnes of ore a year.

The 2009 annual report of KCM's parent company, London-listed mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources, said Mr Janakaraj was "responsible for overall operations of KCM".

"On [Mr Janakaraj's] watch, significant pollution events happened," lawyer Ariane Wilkinson of Environmental Justice Australia said.

"The court documents show that they discharged what's called a pregnant liquor solution into the Kafue River. That's a highly acidic, metal-laden pollutant, and that it changed the colour of the river."

KCM was prosecuted by the Zambian Government, and the company pleaded guilty to charges of polluting the environment, discharging toxic matter into the aquatic environment, wilfully failing to report an incident of pollution, and the failure to comply with the requirements for discharge of effluent.

The court was told the source of the contamination was the mine's tailings leach plant, with the pollution changing the colour of the Kafue River to "deep blue". The company was fined 21,970,000 Zambian kwacha (about $4,030).

A few months later, in 2011, a Zambian newspaper reported the company's copper mine had again polluted the river, and that environmental authorities were investigating.

The lies told….

The Age, 16 December 2015:

A Queensland court has found Indian mining company Adani exaggerated the economic benefits of its proposed Carmichael coal mine, including the amount of jobs and royalties the $16.5 billion project would generate…..

he court agreed the company had overstated the economic benefits that would flow from its project both in its environmental impact statement and in statements to the court.

Adani has promoted the project as a jobs bonanza for Queensland and its environmental impact statement forecast 10,000 jobs annually from 2024 and $22 billion in royalties.

But Adani's own witness Jerome Fahrer told the court this year the coal mine and connecting rail project would create an average of just 1464 jobs annually, an assessment Queensland Land Court president Carmel MacDonald agreed with.

"Dr Fahrer's evidence, which I have accepted, was that the Carmichael Coal and Rail Project will increase average annual employment by 1206 fte [full time equivalent] jobs in Queensland and 1,464 fte jobs in Australia," her judgment states.

President MacDonald also found Adani's modelling had "probably overstated the selling price of the coal and therefore the royalties generated by the project and the corporate tax payable".

The environmental danger....

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 April 2016:

But conservationists say the mine is an environmental disaster waiting to happen, citing particular risks to the Great Barrier Reef.

"It's an extraordinary decision, especially coming at a time when the Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst ever coral bleaching event," Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy said. "We know the bleaching is because of global warming, and Carmichael will only make that worse."

By Adani's own figures, the mine and its coal will emit more than 4.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. "The pollution from this mine is so big that it cancels the pollution cuts the Turnbull government committed to at the Paris Climate Summit," Ms O'Shanassy said.

The impact of such emissions could be terminal to the reef, according to Dr Veron. "The reef is obviously in dire straights, irrespective of what anyone says, and that's blindly obvious.

"There is extraordinary disconnect between science and the political action. Politicians think the mine is good because it's good for economy, but we are selling out the next generation of Australians as fast as we can go."

Dr Veron has devoted his life to studying coral reefs: he discovered more than 20 per cent of the world's coral species, and has been likened by Sir David Attenborough to a modern day Charles Darwin.

"Roughly a third of marine species have parts of their life cycle in coral reefs," Dr Veron said. "So if you take out coral reefs you have an ecological collapse of the oceans. It's happened before, mass extinctions through ocean acidification, and the main driver of that is CO₂."

Dr Veron recently travelled to Canberra to talk to government about the decline in the reef. "The politicians do listen to scientists, but that is the worst part of it," he said. 

"If this was all done out of sheer ignorance, that is sort of understandable. It's like child porn – you might say you don't know it exists, but if you know it exists and you do everything to promote it, then that's evil."

The granting of the Carmichael leases coincides with increased concerns over threats to Great Barrier Reef from land-based pollution, including sediments, nutrients and pesticides.

Australian Institute of Marine Science principal research scientist Dr Frederieke Kroon has told the ABC that government policies designed to keep the reef on UNESCO's World Heritage list are insufficient.

"Our review finds that current efforts are not sufficient to achieve the water quality targets set in the Reef 2050 Plan," she said.

The other danger….

The Age, 10 December 2015:

Last week billionaire businessman Gautam Adani paid a visit to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull asking him to enact a special law to stop anyone challenging big coal and gas projects once they have been approved by government. This meeting raises questions about the relationship between government and big polluting companies.

The Prime Minister is entitled to meet with anyone he likes, you may very well say, but there are two issues here – one is the fossil fuel industry's direct access to power and the other is the implications of that on Australia's democracy.

Turnbull's back room meeting with international billionaire businessman Adani is an example of the warm reception the fossil fuel industry enjoys in Australia. This direct access to the highest office in our country is an unfortunate feature of our democracy, and speaks of the pernicious dynamic where money enables access to power. Just by the way, according to data released by the AEC, Adani donated $49,500 to the Liberal Party of Australia in the 2013-2014 financial year.

The state government manoeuvres....

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 April 2016:

Two groups fighting the mine in separate court battles have accused Dr Lynham of abandoning previous assurances that leases would not be granted until two existing cases were resolved.

Just eight weeks ago, Dr Lynham said he wanted to give certainty to Adani and "granting a mining lease in the presence of two JRs (judicial reviews) does not provide the certainty".

Separate Federal Court challenges brought by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) traditional owners are yet to be concluded.

The Environmental Defenders Office - which is representing ACF in its challenge to the project's federal approvals - has already said it's considering challenging Dr Lynham's decision to grant Adani mining leases.

AAP has asked Dr Lynham to explain why he issued the leases despite the two outstanding challenges.

On ABC radio on Monday, he agreed there was a prospect of further court appeals.

The solemn vow and plea for assistance....

Excerpt from a 4 April 2016 email from Adrian Burragubba on behalf of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners:

The Queensland Government just betrayed us.

Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham wrote a letter to us in October, promising he would await the outcome of our Federal Court action against the Carmichael mine before considering issuing Adani with the mining leases. But today the Premier and the Minister double-crossed us.

Adani doesn't have our free, prior and informed consent to build their Carmichael coal mine on our land, and they never will.

The Queensland Government just rode roughshod over our rights and granted the mining leases anyway. They have given Adani the green light to ignore our opposition and to tear the heart out of our country. To destroy our rivers and drain billions of litres of groundwater. To leave a black hole of monumental proportions in our homelands.

The Minister has trashed our rights and pushed the leases out the door in one of the worst acts of bad faith towards Queensland's Indigenous people in living memory.

This fight will define our people and be a landmark moment for Indigenous rights in Australia. Can you help us fight for our rights and our country in court?

Adani and the Queensland Government think they can walk all over us but they've never seen anything like this. Our lands and our way of life, and the legacy of our ancestors, mean too much to our people for us to roll over.

Our resolve is doubled. Minister Lynham can issue all the bits of paper he likes, hide behind false claims of jobs and benefits, and pander to big coal for an unviable project.

But our people's rights are not expendable. This act of infamy will be challenged all the way to the High Court if necessary, and we will continue to pursue our rights under international law. 

Adrian Burragubba leads a protest against the proposed mine outside Queensland Parliament in March.ABC News: Patrick Williams

VALE: The Great Barrier Reef

Of the 520 reefs surveyed only four showed no evidence of bleaching

ABC News, 28 March 2016

Aerial snaphot of coral bleaching, Great Barrie Reef, 2016

ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, media release, 21 March 2016

Scientist witnesses severe coral bleaching

James Cook University scientists have described scenes of widespread damage as coral bleaching extends its reach in the northern Great Barrier Reef.

Senior Research Fellow, Dr Jodie Rummer from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies has just returned from more than a month at Lizard Island Research Station in the Northern Great Barrier Reef, and she is appalled by the extent of the bleaching.

“I witnessed a sight underwater that no marine biologist, and no person with a love and appreciation for the natural world for that matter, wants to see,” she said.

Dr Rummer has been undertaking research on the island since January 2012, one of the most pristine sites in the entire Great Barrier Reef. She has spent the past five weeks underwater, studying the effects of the extreme heat on the physiology of reef fishes.

“The bleaching now is not just restricted to the hard corals. There’s also extensive bleaching in the soft corals, and it is also affecting anemones and giant clams.”

Dr Rummer called the event “catastrophic”. She said fish were still abundant but is worried for the future.

“We know that many of these tropical populations of reef fishes cannot tolerate dramatic increases in temperatures for extended periods of time. So it may be just a matter of time before the fish start feeling the heat as well. We’re watching them closely.” The latest Bureau of Meteorology forecasts suggest that temperatures will remain well above average through the month of March.

Dr Rummer said the heat comes hard on the heels of cyclones that had also had an impact on the northern Reef.

“This year, the combination of El Niño, climate change, and an extended period of hot summer days when the tide was exceptionally low has caused many of the corals that survived last year’s cyclone to lose their symbiotic algae and start bleaching.”

She said aerial surveys planned in the coming days by the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce will systematically measure the extent of the phenomenon.

Note to editors:

Coral bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, like heightened sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, called ‘zooxanthellae’. The loss of these colourful algae causes the corals to turn white, and ‘bleach’. Bleached corals can recover if the temperature drops and zooxanthellae are able to recolonise them, otherwise the coral may die.

The National Coral Bleaching Taskforce was convened in 2015 to co-ordinate research effort among Australia’s marine science community in the event of a mass bleaching event in Australia. The taskforce draws together 10 research institutions across Australia to co-ordinate the efforts of over 300 scientists.

The associated research institutions are, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Australian Institute of Marine Science, CSIRO, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, James Cook University, NOAA, University of Queensland, University of Sydney, University of Western Australia, WA Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Global warming is claiming the life of The Great Barrier Reef, a World Heritage natural wonder which can be seen from outer space.

Japan admits to mass slaughter of pregnant minke whales during Antarctic breeding season

Antarctic Minke Whale

The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 March 2016:

Tokyo: Japan's whaling fleet returned on Thursday from its Antarctic hunt after a year-long suspension with a take of more than 300 whales, including pregnant females.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 2014 that Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean should stop, prompting it to call off its hunt that season, although it said at the time it intended to resume later.

Japan then amended its plan for the next season to cut the number of minke whales it aimed to take by two-thirds from previous hunts.

Its fleet set out in December despite international criticism, including from important ally the United States.

The final ships of the four-vessel whaling fleet returned to Shimonoseki in southwestern Japan on Thursday, having achieved the goal of 333 minke whales, the Fisheries Agency said.

Of these, 103 were males and 230 were females, with 90 per cent of the mature females pregnant.

National Geographic, 25 March 2016:

Flouting an international ruling, Japan resumed minke whaling for ‘scientific purposes’ during breeding season….

After the international court ruling, Japan halted its whaling activities briefly, but then resolved to begin whaling again in the  2015-2016 season. It revised its program to be more scientific, and it lowered its quota of whales by about two-thirds.

Still, many scientists derided the new plan, and the International Whaling Commission could not reach a consensus on whether it met requirements. And while the quota reduction looked good on paper, it didn’t make much of a difference in practice, according to Astrid Fuchs, the whaling program manager for the nonprofit organization Whale and Dolphin Conservation. In previous years, Japan has killed between 200-400 Antarctic minke whales each year. This year’s 333 isn’t out of the ordinary.

Also part of its plan: targeting females. Japan maintains that it must capture and kill juvenile and adult females in order to determine the age at which minke whales reach sexual maturity. Japan wants to use this data in its quest to demonstrate the minke whale population is healthy enough for regular whaling, Fuchs said.

And because it’s breeding time in the southern seas, 90 percent of the females Japanese whalers killed were pregnant.

The expedition was part of a 12-year plan to kill nearly 4,000 whales in Antarctic waters. The conservation status of Antarctic minke whales is unclear, but some analyses have found a 60 percent reduction when comparing the 1978–91 period and the 1991–2004 period, which would qualify it for endangered status.

Anyone wishing to politely make their views on Japanese whaling in the South Ocean/Antarctica known to the Government of Japan can do so with these contact details:

PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
1-6-1 Nagata-cho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8968 JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-5253-2111
E-mail form: https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html
Website: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html
Public Relations Fax: +81-3-3581-3883

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida

Foreign Affairs online comment page:

https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry And Fisheries Hiroshi Moriyama

1-2-1 Ksumigaseki
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8907 JAPAN
Tel:+81-3-3502-8111
Fax: +81-3-3502-0794
E-mail form: https://www.contact.maff.go.jp/maff/form/114e.html
Website: http://www.maff.go.jp/e/index.html

EMBASSY OF JAPAN IN AUSTRALIA

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Australia Sumio Kusaka

Embassy of Japan in Australia
112 Empire Circuit, Yarralumla

Canberra A.C.T.2600

 Australia.
Tel:(61-2)6273-3244
Fax:(61-2)6273-1848
http://www.au.emb-japan.go.jp/

News on the Turnbull Goverment-endorsed Death Star

Dutch-owned company Seafish Tasmania Pty Ltd and its super fishing trawler Geelong Star are in the news and on social media this month…..

ABC News, 10 March 2016:

Seafood processing company Seafish Tasmania has been fined $40,000 for breaching the state's environmental laws.

The company pleaded guilty to dumping more than 1,000 truckloads of fish processing waste water from its Triabunna plant on a private property in the township in 2012.

Seafish has also admitted to dumping waste water at an unnamed creek on Tasmania's east coast three years ago.

The Magistrate's Court in Hobart has heard the company and landowners have conducted remedial work at a cost of $21,000.

Magistrate Chris Webster recorded a conviction on each charge and imposed the fine, together with court costs.

Tasmania's Environmental Protection Authority said the fine was appropriate…..

The Turnbull Government continues the Abbott Government's failure to protect Australian marine life from foreign super trawlers including the Geelong Star

Image of Geelong Star (formerly FV Dirk Dirk) and position heading towards the Bass Strait on 28 January 2016

Geelong Advertiser, 2 February 2016:

THE dolphin-killing trawler Geelong Star has been cleared to return to work just days after being suspended for the deaths of seven albatross in one trip.

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority lifted its ban on the controversial fishing vessel on Sunday after authorities were satisfied the length of net cables had been reduced and made more visible.

The trawler must stop fishing “immediately” if a seabird is killed by the cable until the authority has investigated.

Geelong Star’s management plan, updated on January 16, shows the trawler will be forced to carry an AFMA observe on “at least the next trip” if two or more marine mammals are found in the end of the net.

A full reassessment is required if any changes are made to the exclusion device, which is designed to prevent seal and dolphin deaths.

AFMA chief executive Nick Rayns said the new protection methods came on top of existing mitigation methods…..

Greens spokesman for fisheries Peter Whish-Wilson said the AFMA’s catch and release of Geelong Star risked making a mockery of the regulation.

“If a member of the public had killed seven albatross over a week they would be charged under Australian environmental laws,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“If over the period of a year a member of public had killed some dolphins, some more dolphins, then some seals and finally some albatross then that person would probably end up doing jail time.

“But it is one law for the member of the public and another for the Geelong Star.

“The Geelong Star has been given a license to kill protected marine species and it’s time its license was revoked.”

Stop the Trawler and Environment Tasmania spokeswoman Rebecca Hubbard said it was time for the Federal Government to overrule the AFMA and ban the trawler outright….

Mercury, 1 February 2016:

A COALITION of environmentalists and recreational fishers has expressed alarm at a recommendation by a newly appointed scientific panel to increase the Geelong Star’s total catch.

The Stop the Trawler Alliance argues that the recommendation — disclosed at a stakeholder forum in Hobart on Thursday — had been made, despite ongoing concerns from recreational fishers and conservationists that the large factory freezer trawler could cause localised depletion of fish stocks.

“A newly appointed scientific panel is now proposing to increase the total catch from 42,000 tonnes to over 49,000 tonnes,” said Rebecca Hubbard from Environment Tasmania.

“Instead of listening to community concerns the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) have further reduced stakeholders input into critical decision-making processes.”…..

A brief history of this super trawler owned by Parlevliet & Van der Plas Beheer B.V. and contracted to its Australian subsidiary, Seafish Tasmania, can be found here.

Marine reserves in Australian waters may also be under further threat from commercial fishing with The Guardian reporting this on 6 February 2016:

Australia’s leading marine scientists are appealing to the federal government to reject a review expected to recommend a significant reduction in the size of ocean sanctuaries and an expansion of areas permitted for commercial fishing.

Tony Abbott announced the review of the boundaries of Labor’s marine parks, counted by the former government as one of its greatest environmental achievements, during the 2013 election campaign, and said he would scrap the just-finished management plans so that the fishing industry could be given a greater say.

The leading scientists understand the review, now finally completed, recommends a sizeable reduction in some areas previously designated as closed to fishing and trawling, particularly in the Coral Sea, and say it has ignored expert scientific advice.

“If the government winds back what was already just partial environmental protection it would be terrible for the environment and send a terrible message to the world,” said West Australian marine science professor Jessica Meeuwig.

“We have no faith in this process. They haven’t spoken to marine scientists, despite our best efforts. They spent a lot of time talking to the extractive industries. 

If Malcolm Turnbull is serious about being guided by science and by evidence he will reject recommendations to reduce marine sanctuary zones,” she said.

Meeuwig is one of 10 leading marine researchers who have formed the Ocean Science Council of Australia and have published benchmarks against which the review should be judged, including:

* No further diminishment of marine national park zoning in bioregions and key ecological features should occur as these are already significantly under-represented in the 2012 plans

* The international standard for ocean protection of a minimum of 30% of each marine habitat in highly protected no-take marine national parks should be met;

* Very large marine national parks such as that proposed for the Coral Sea should be preserved.......

This is one of the areas potentially under threat:

Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve

The new Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve covers 989 842 km2 and is an important national asset in near pristine condition. The reserve will be managed for the primary purpose of conserving the biodiversity found in it, while also allowing for the sustainable use of natural resources in some areas. The reserve includes the different marine ecosystems and habitats of the Coral Sea marine region and will help ensure our marine environment remains healthy and is more resilient to the effects of climate change and other pressures.

The Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve will provide additional protection for many species listed as endangered or vulnerable under Commonwealth legislation or international agreements, including the endangered loggerhead and leatherback turtles and the critically endangered Herald petrel. The reserve also supports the world's only confirmed spawning aggregation of black marlin.

Sites of high productivity in the reserve, such as those around seamounts, are important aggregators for a range of species including lanternfish, albacore tuna, billfish and sharks. Large marine mammals journey hundreds or even thousands of kilometres to breed in the reserve, or to travel through en route to breeding areas.

The new Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve encompasses the former Coral Sea Conservation Zone, former Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and former Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve. Transitional management arrangements apply until a management plan for the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve is in place.