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		<title>Wybong Action Group News</title>
		<description>News from WAG</description>
		<link>http://wag.org.au/</link>
		<copyright>Wybong Action Group</copyright>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:37 +1100</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en</language>
		
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			<title>The debt bubble has to burst</title>
			<description><![CDATA[But while the markets continue to party, one dark thought presents itself. What happens if someone looks outside and sees that the real US economy is still in deep trouble? It is plagued by high unemployment, continuing weakness in the housing market, and faces mounting problems in commercial real estate that threaten to further destabilise the banking system.

What happens when the penny drops that massive government spending packages, combined with unprecedented money printing by central banks, have not produced a sustainable economic recovery?

As RBS strategist Bob Janjuah points out in his latest newsletter, the "gap between the fantasy in markets...versus the reality of the real economy/private sector, is already worryingly large, but risks becoming dangerously large." Once again, markets are mispricing risk. In their frantic pursuit of high returns, investors are oblivious to the true risks theyre taking.
The conclusion is inevitable; the bubble must burst. And Janjuah fervently hopes that that this happens sooner, rather than later. "The longer we are forced to wait, the bigger the bubble will be and the more horribly damaging the bursting process will be. And if we are forced to wait and the bubble gets anywhere like the one that went pop in late 2007 I have zero idea who will credibly be able to bail us all out the next time round. Certainly not our governments."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/The-double-bubble-has-to-burst-pd20100309-3CRVQ?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/622</guid>
			<author>Karen Maley</author>
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			<title>Australias coal renaissance</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Australia is set for a renaissance in coal-fired power, with up to 12 new coal-fired power stations planned across the country. According to information collated by Greenpeace, new coal-fired plants are under construction, planned or proposed in all states except Tasmania.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Australias-coal-renaissance-pd20100308-3BVAV?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/621</guid>
			<author>Bernard Keane</author>
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			<title>A tangled web for NSW power</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Built as coal burners, the new plants would emit between 10 and 12 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year. A set of state-of-the-art combined cycle gas burners would emit less than half as much carbon dioxide (Australias coal renaissance, March 8)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/nsw-new-power-stations-pd20100304-3829T?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=&amp;blog=Powerline&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:12 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/620</guid>
			<author>Keith Orchison</author>
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			<title>Brown &amp; Anor v Coal Mines Australia; Alcorn &amp; Anor v Coal Mines Australia Pty Ltd</title>
			<description><![CDATA[**** A MASSIVE DECISION UPHOLDING LANDHOLDER RIGHTS OVER EXPLORATION **** Ed

Orders:
The decision of the Wardens Court as well as the determination which accompanied it and the interim and final determinations of the arbitrator, be quashed and set aside. 
The usual order is that the defendant bears the plaintiffs costs of the proceedings.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/scjudgments/2010nswsc.nsf/6ccf7431c546464bca2570e6001a45d2/7fab043c3b80b838ca2576db001c6bd3?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:23 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/619</guid>
			<author>Supreme Court NSW</author>
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			<title>Major Supreme Court win for CCAG and Landowner Rights against Coal Exploration</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[Congratulations CCAG from Wybong Action Group and Rural Landownersthroughout NSW. Ed.]
WATERSHED DECISION TO HOLD MINERS MORE ACCOUNTABLE
Liverpool Plains farmers win Supreme Court case against BHP Billiton
 
In a landmark judgment, the NSW Supreme Court today found in favor of two Liverpool Plains farmers who challenged the right of BHP Billiton to enter their farms to explore for coal.
The decision has broad implications for all mining companies seeking access to private land in NSW to conduct exploration and exposes serious deficiencies in the way the current regime deals with environmental protection.
Supreme Court Justice Schmidt ruled that the Chief Mining Warden had erred in a number of ways when, last May, he granted BHP Billiton access arrangements to explore for coal on the properties of the Brown and Alcorn families at Caroona.
Justice Schmidt found the access arrangements had been granted in clear breach of the requirements of NSW Mining Act and, as such, were invalid. She said:
"I order that the decision of the Wardens Court as well as the determination which accompanied it and the interim and final determinations of the arbitrator, be quashed and set aside." (Justice Schmidt - NSW Supreme Court, 5 March 2010) 
CCAG spokesman Tim Duddy said: "This is a watershed decision for NSW which will force mining companies to be properly accountable to the environment in a way theyve never been required to before."
"It confirms what this community has said from the outset, that is, landholders have been denied fairness and justice in the way access agreements have been imposed on them by the old Mining Wardens Court."
"We welcome this decision and look forward to the NSW Government now reviewing all of the processes governing mining and exploration in this State to ensure the environment and the rights of landholders are no longer treated as less important," Mr Duddy said.
A key component of the Supreme Court decision was the finding that mining companies must inform all landholders - including banks and other mortgagors - that they intend to seek access to specific lands to conduct exploration. Not doing so in relation to the Brown and Alcorn properties represented a breach of the NSW Mining Act.
It is believed to be common practice for mining companies not to notify mortgagors when seeking to enter properties under the Mining Act meaning a large number of other access arrangements currently being used by miners may also now be invalid.
Justice Schmidt also made other important findings related to the conditions which are able to be imposed on mining companies in access arrangements to provide better protection for the environment and rights of landholders.
- THANK YOU TO EVERYONE IN THE COMMUNITY AND BEYOND, AND IN PARTICULAR THE AUSTRALIAN FARMERS FIGHTING FUND, WHO HAVE SUPPORTED THIS FIGHT FOR OUR CLEAN FOOD AND WATER SUPPLIES.
The CCAG Committee]]></description>
			<link>http://www.ccag.org.au/</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:06 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/618</guid>
			<author>Dr Pauline Roberts - CCAG</author>
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			<title>Network to monitor dust from new Upper Hunter power station</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Department of Environment and Climate Change would establish a dust monitoring network in the Upper Hunter, to look at whether the community was negatively affected by dust. 


"Data is inconclusive as to whether the Upper Hunter has higher rates of respiratory illness than other areas of NSW," she said. 


"Its not conclusive."


But Upper Hunter resident Bev Smiles said the station would more likely be run on coal and would contribute to air pollution.


"It will mean on-going devastation of the Hunter Valley and the coalfields to the west in the Gunnedah basin," she said.


"Until we have the air monitoring stations set up we wont have that baseline data but what we do know is that this is doubling the size of the power station.


"If its coal, then theres known toxic emissions from coal-fired power stations and if its gas then theres emissions from burning fossil fuels."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/network-to-monitor-dust-from-new-upper-hunter-power-station/1767942.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/617</guid>
			<author>JULIEANNE STRACHAN</author>
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			<title>New power station approved for Hunter</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Upper Hunter will get another baseload power station, after the NSW Government approved yesterday Macquarie Generation plans for "Bayswater B".

The private sector is expected to build the 2000 megawatt station, now the Government has cleared the way by granting "concept approval" for either gas or coal.


Planning Minister Tony Kelly said yesterday the state would allow new baseload stations at Bayswater, near Muswellbrook, and at Mount Piper, near Lithgow.


"The [Bayswater B] facility will help secure long-term energy supply in NSW and provide a boost to the Hunter economy," Mr Kelly said.


"Up to 1000 construction jobs and around 160 operational jobs could be created."


The station will be built near the existing Bayswater power station.


Mr Kelly said he expected the private sector to lodge its own specific designs for the power station, including fuel source, before approval for construction.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/new-power-station-approved-for-hunter/1766925.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/616</guid>
			<author>JULIEANNE STRACHAN</author>
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			<title>Jerrys Plains Gassed</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A MASSIVE plume of orange dust sent skywards after blasting at the Hunter Valley Operations open-cut coalmine near Jerrys Plains is being investigated by authorities.

The dust plume was seen and photographed on Friday afternoon by Newcastle environmentalist Brian Purdue, who was driving along the Golden Highway at Jerrys Plains when it came into view.


"It seemed pretty enormous to me but I wasnt sure how often this sort of thing happened," Mr Purdue said.


Hunter Valley Operations is owned by the Rio Tinto subsidiary Coal &amp; Allied, and spokeswoman Alison Smith said Fridays incident was "highly unusual".


"A yellow to orange plume is occasionally visible immediately after a blast, but is quickly dispersed by the wind," Ms Smith said.


"The colour comes from the interaction of water with the explosive material, or interaction with some clay material. 


"The wind direction was considered prior to firing, but the density of the plume was extremely unusual.


"We have contacted the explosives supplier to help us determine the cause, and to discuss possible mitigation methods to ensure it does not happen again."


Dust and blasting noise have been major points of dispute between the coal industry and Hunter Valley horse studs.


Henry Plumptre, the managing director of Darley Australia, said the photograph was "unusual" but "dust from the spoil piles and the pits themselves are a daily occurrence".


"Flying in from Sydney the dust is particularly noticeable close to Muswellbrook," Mr Plumptre said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/unusual-plume-on-jerrys-plains/1766918.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/615</guid>
			<author>BY IAN KIRKWOOD INDUSTRIAL REPORTER</author>
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			<title>Judge who criticised Labor refused court job</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE career of a judge who criticised NSW Labors dealings with donor developers is hanging in the balance after the government knocked back a request from the states Chief Justice for him to work in the Supreme Courts short-staffed equity division.

The Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, is refusing to explain why Justice David Lloyds commission was rejected.

But the opposition says it appears to be political payback against a public servant who held the government to account.

Justice Lloyd angered the government last year when he described its secret negotiations over the states biggest housing development as a land bribe.

He ruled that the former planning minister Frank Sartor was biased when he approved projects for the Rose Group, an ALP donor, in Catherine Hill Bay and Gwandalan because he had agreed to look kindly upon them in exchange for 300 hectares of conservation land.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/judge-who-criticised-labor-refused-court-job-20100305-popj.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:37 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/614</guid>
			<author>Joel Gibson</author>
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			<title>Experts undervalue the environment: Henry</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Treasury boss Ken Henry has taken a swipe at the work of his own department and that of others on valuing the environment, saying much of it is flawed and fails to give proper weight to retaining Australias unique biodiversity.

Fresh from producing the as-yet-unreleased Henry Tax Review and amid preparations for this years budget, Dr Henry told an environment conference in Sydney that the part of his intergenerational report that had received the least attention was the section on environmental sustainability.

But not only did the wellbeing of future generations depend on the resources left to them by this generation, the environment was likely to become more important to them than it was to us.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/experts-undervalue-the-environment-henry-20100305-popv.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/613</guid>
			<author>Peter Martin</author>
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			<title>Coal or Agriculture- ABC Radio - Nikki Williams propaganda</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Coal or Agriculture- ABC Radio - Nikki Williams propaganda]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/03/02/2834266.htm?site=sydney</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/612</guid>
			<author>2BL - 702 - ABC</author>
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			<title>WalMarts carbon ultimatum</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Last week, the worlds largest retailer, WalMart, laid down a challenge to its more than 100,000 suppliers around the world: it told them it intends to cut 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from its supply chain within five years....
Woolworths has committed to cutting its emissions from stores and distribution centres by 40 per cent below business as usual by 2015, and by 25 per cent on a per square metre measure....
 Bunnings has declared it will be "carbon neutral" by 2015, which it will achieve by cutting energy usage, trialling microgeneration of wind and solar on its rooftops, buying renewable energy and considering carbon offsets,....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/WalMarts-carbon-ultimatum-pd20100304-37QWS?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/611</guid>
			<author>Giles Parkinson</author>
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			<title>Cars just got cleaner and faster</title>
			<description><![CDATA[....You could also have a car that plugs into the grid when youre not driving it. This means when the power is cheap because demand is low you will be able to charge your car. When there is high demand and power is expensive you can sell it back to the grid and make a profit. So your car effectively becomes a power station and you become a mini power company. An additional benefit of this is that the car fleet acts as a giant battery, enabling storage of intermittent renewables like solar PV and wind power. 

By the way, they are also dramatically cheaper to run because electricity is so efficient at energy conversion....
when people come to believe that the electric car is going to be the clear winner, they will suddenly realise their old petrol car will have close to zero resale value within a few years. At that point there will be a rush to go electric, to avoid the inevitable price collapse in second hand petrol cars. This will of course be self-reinforcing when it takes off. 

Of course we cant be sure which technologies, business models and companies will succeed. What we can now safely accept however is that with so many people and so much money focused on making this work, the time has clearly arrived when the internal combustion engine is heading for a rapid sunset. 

Let your mind run over the implications of that for the oil industry and peak oil.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Why-melting-glaciers-means-cleaner-cheaper-cars-pd20100303-36VTX?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=Automotive,%20Climate%20Change&amp;blog=Eco%20Watch&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/610</guid>
			<author>Paul Gilding</author>
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			<title>Mines and power go together to destroy Australia</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Regulation of residential retail power bills covers 28 percent of electricity supply in some States, it points out, and is "at or below" the cost of production. "This raises the question of possible cross-subsidies which could ultimately distort expansion and upgrade decisions and represent a significant chill on (power) investment."

On business as usual projections, Australia will need to increase its electricity generation by around 13,000 to 15,000 MW - above the existing 45,000 MW capacity - by 2020, the council says, at a cost of at least a billion dollars for each gigawatt (1,000 MW). "Yet the retail price structure for a significant share of the customer base is capped. It is difficult to see how the necessary investment will emerge without reforms to current arrangements.".... [If the mongrel bastards want the community to shell up for their power then let them provide the community FREE electricity - after all they dont share their profits with anyone but the greedy shareholders. Ed]]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Mines--power--jobs-pd20100224-2XS33?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=Resources%20&amp;%20Energy&amp;blog=Powerline&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/609</guid>
			<author>Keith Orchison</author>
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			<title>Scientists Call for Moratorium</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The authors -- hydrologists, ecologists and engineers -- are internationally recognized scientists, including several members of the National Academy of Sciences. They argue that the U.S. should take a global leadership role on the issue, as surface mining in many developing countries is expected to grow extensively in the next decade.

"The scientific evidence of the severe environmental and human impacts from mountaintop mining is strong and irrefutable," says lead author Dr. Margaret Palmer of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and University of Maryland, College Park. "Its impacts are pervasive and long lasting and there is no evidence that any mitigation practices successfully reverse the damage it causes."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107143903.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/608</guid>
			<author>ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2010)</author>
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			<title>Coal Bonanza - coming to a town near you - SOON</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Rudd government has warned mining unions not to use a coming coal production boom to mount wage claims that undermine productivity, as new figures indicate a coal export bonanza over the next five years. 
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson told The Australian yesterday wage claims were one of the domestic challenges confronting the industry amid predictions massive increases in coal-fired power generation in China and India would propel the industry to the biggest export boom in the nations history over the next five years.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/warning-against-wage-claims/story-e6frg6n6-1225836279573</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:18 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/607</guid>
			<author>The Australian</author>
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			<title>Chronic Illness Linked To Coal-Mining Pollution, Study Shows</title>
			<description><![CDATA["This study substantiates their claims. Those residents are at an increased risk of developing chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases."

According to Hendryx, as coal production increases, so does the incidence of chronic illness. Coal-processing chemicals, equipment powered by diesel engines, explosives, toxic impurities in coals, and even dust from uncovered coal trucks can cause environmental pollution that could have a negative affect on public health.

According to Hendryx, the data show that people in coal mining communities

"have a 70 percent increased risk for developing kidney disease.
"have a 64 percent increased risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as emphysema.
"are 30 percent more likely to report high blood pressure (hypertension).]]></description>
			<link>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326201751.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:16 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/606</guid>
			<author>ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2008)</author>
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			<title>Power station plans spark pollution fears</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The state government has approved plans for two large new power stations, triggering concerns about a further increase in greenhouse gas emissions, especially if coal is used as the fuel.....Additional coal-fired generators at Bayswater will add 12.4 million tonnes of carbon pollution a year, and the generators planned for Mount Piper will add 10.4 million tonnes. Combined, this would mean a 34 per cent increase in emissions from power stations in NSW, the National Conservation Council said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/power-station-plans-spark-pollution-fears-20100303-pj3s.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/605</guid>
			<author>Brian Robins</author>
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			<title>Were dealing to coal addicts: Hansen</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A leading climate scientist has likened Australias continued export of coal in the face of global warming to that of a drug dealer feeding the worlds fossil fuel addiction.

James Hansen, the so-called grandfather of climate change and head of NASAs Goddard Institute of Space Studies, has become famous for his research on the Earths climate and his dogged attempt to bring the science of global warming to the world.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/were-dealing-to-coal-addicts-hansen-20100303-pj3v.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/604</guid>
			<author>Nicky Phillips</author>
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			<title>500 jobs in Xstratas Ravensworth coalmine expansion plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[PRODUCTION from Xstratas Ravensworth coalmine would increase by 30 per cent under a $1 billion expansion project being considered by the State Government....The assessment notes that the Ravensworth project would have "a substantial impact" environmentally, with more than 2840 hectares of vegetation, including 870 hectares of native forest, to be removed.


Using "biodiversity offsets", Xstrata proposes to balance the loss of 559 hectare of native vegetation with 722 hectares of "vegetation community offset".

(How does that add up???)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/500-jobs-in-xstratas-ravensworth-coalmine-expansion-plan/1764235.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/603</guid>
			<author>IAN KIRKWOOD</author>
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			<title>Hunter Valley coalmining town seeks a fairer go</title>
			<description><![CDATA["It is unfair that 7000 ratepayers fund 600 kilometres of road that services state-significant projects," he said.
"I dont how, if this continues, the council can continue to support these developments," he said. ....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunter-valley-coalmining-town-seeks-a-fairer-go/1763296.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:04 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/602</guid>
			<author>MARTIN DINEEN</author>
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			<title>Rudd should fear the swing</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Across the nation there is a clear swing away from ALP governments taking place.

Two years ago the ALP had close to a total sweep of Australian state and federal governments. But state by state - and in Canberra - the ALP is losing ground and we are likely to see some upset results in coming election. There is no one issue causing the swing, but rather the fact that each government is having trouble dealing with problems particular to their state and, in the case of South Australia, personal issues.

I am not predicting a Tony Abbott win at the federal election later this year, but the bumbling of the Rudd government gave him big wins in insulation and emissions trading. It is possible there are more shocks to come if schools have been caught by the speed of their building programs. The Prime Minister is now the subject of cartoon fun and while John Howard survived a long bad run from the cartoonists its a new experience for Rudd. He would not want another major disaster.
.....Too many ALP leaders, whether they are dealing with law and order, property taxes, insulation, emissions trading, or public transport, seem unable to grasp the enormity of their mistakes and still think spin works better than honesty. The electorate is starting to wake up and they want the politicians to be much more frank and honest with them. 

Veteran political commentators will point out that what is happening is normal. It was not all that long ago that the coalition was dominating politics in Canberra and most states. Then the pendulum swung and now it is swinging back. Its called democracy.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Rudd-Abbott-ALP-Brumby-pd20100301-34QUJ?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/601</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>Push for the Coal Industry to move to short term pricing gaining momentum</title>
			<description><![CDATA[..move towards flexible pricing because the market over the next several years showed strong potential as an attractive prospect from a suppliers perspective... ...advocating quarterly or index-based contracts instead of the annually negotiated system...

....offered quarterly contracts around 10% lower than current spot prices....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BHPs-push-against-benchmark-gains-momentum-pd20100301-34RUD?OpenDocument&amp;src=hp4&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/600</guid>
			<author>Business Spectator</author>
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			<title>Why NuCoal is on tracks for success</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[Social-Capitalist Opportunizer spruiks mine. Ed.]
Thats why NuCoal with its 247 million tonne Doyles Creek coal deposit in the Hunter Valley gets a tick. Trading at 19c a share for a market capitalisation of $107 million, NuCoal wants to become a 5 million to 6 million tonne-a-year producer of soft coking and thermal coals.

Apart from the resource already under its belt - and an exploration program to take it to 450 million tonnes - NuCoals point of difference is its location next to Xstratas United mine and Peabodys Wambo operation.

All that puts it within 10 kilometres of rail networks to Newcastle where $2 billion is being spent by others on capacity expansions which NuCoal will access through the so-called Common User System on a take-or-pay basis.

Pushing it all along is managing director, Glen Lewis. He knows a bit about coalmining, particularly in the Hunter Valley. Up until 2008, he was general manager of underground operations for Xstratas NSW operations, covering six mines in all.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/business/why-nucoal-is-on-tracks-for-success-20100228-pb4o.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/599</guid>
			<author>BARRY FITZGERALD smh</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>CEO PULSE: Carbon confidence</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the CEO Pulse survey throws up another interesting statistic: only 22 per cent think that a forced transition to a low carbon economy would be bad for Australia as a whole, while 44 per cent think it will be positive. 

And a further curiosity: most CEOs think their own companies are better placed than either their industry rivals and the overall economy in dealing with such a transition. Perhaps they have been busy preparing after all.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/CEO-PULSE-Carbon-confidence-pd20100225-2YRZ5?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/598</guid>
			<author>Giles Parkinson</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Tahmoor mine wrangle continues</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The stand-off between the owners of the Tahmoor Coal mine, Xstrata, and the miners union, looks set to continue... [as XTA head off in bad faith]]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/26/2830912.htm?site=illawarra</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/597</guid>
			<author>ABC Illawarra</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Prepare for catastrophic climate change</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE world is spinning toward a catastrophic climate change scenario with temperatures now far more likely to rise by 6C by the end of the century, a leading international team of scientists warned. 
An increase of 6C would have irreversible consequences, rendering large parts of the globe uninhabitable and destroying much of life on Earth]]></description>
			<link>http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/indepth/prepare-for-catastrophic-climate-change-scenario-scientists-say/story-fn4x9za1-1225799930104</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/596</guid>
			<author>Charles Miranda and Malcolm Holland - Sydney Daily Telegraph</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Is Xstrata Australia trading while insolvent?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[XTA IS a debt encumbered non-entity that operates like a Ponzi scheme and is destined for the bottom of the harbour.

"For its part, Xstrata spent a remarkable USD 27bn on acquisitions, across the four years starting in 2006. After raising USD 7.8bn by way of a rights issue in 2006, Xstrata raised another USD 5.7bn that way in 2009. Add it all up, and the two groups rank as notably indebted; Anglo American with USD 11bn net debt at the end of 2009, and Xstrata with net debt of USD 12.6bn."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mineweb.co.za/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=99341&amp;sn=Detail&amp;pid=1</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/595</guid>
			<author>from article by Barry Sergeant at Mineweb</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Policy by the seat of their (KRudds) pants. Its got to be bad</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Back mid last year we were waiting with bated breath for the final report of the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, a massive review of health policy that had been through an exhausting series of public consultations.

Finally the thing was released ... and Rudd announced ... another exhausting series of public consultations, to discuss its contents and proposals.

He made the announcement one morning in front of a backdrop with a logo I had not seen before, and a web address that was unfamiliar to me: YourHealth.gov.au. But his speech made no mention of this, as far as I can recall.

The website came up blank. There was no such site.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/policy-by-the-seat-of-their-pants-its-got-to-be-bad-20100222-oq6q.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/594</guid>
			<author>Nick Miller is The Age's health editor.</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata faces prosecution on lead levels</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Queensland government is preparing to prosecute mining giant Xstrata after one of its Mount Isa air monitoring sites found levels of lead higher than allowed by law. 
Xstrata Mount Isa Mines issued a statement saying one of its five air sampling stations in Mount Isa found a "potential exceedence for lead".

An Xstrata spokesman told AAP it exceeded the 1.5 microgram per cubic metre of lead allowed into the atmosphere, but four other stations were well below the limit.

Environment Minister Kate Jones said the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) was preparing prosecution action against the company.

"Xstrata must report on its investigations and detail what urgent action the company has taken to fix the problem by Monday," Ms Jones said in a statement.

"Xstrata will face the full force of the law."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/xstrata-faces-prosecution-on-lead-levels/story-e6frf7ko-1225832247494?from=public_rss</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/593</guid>
			<author>AAP</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata denies exceeding lead levels</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A mining giant under investigation for exceeding lead emission levels at its Mount Isa plant has maintained it didnt breach safety standards.

Xstrata has until Monday to avoid prosecution after recording higher than allowed lead levels at the plant in Queenslands northwest.

One of the mines five air sampling stations found lead levels exceeded regulatory limits during the final three months of last year.

A spokesman for Xstrata on Sunday said the company believed its readings were below the limit and there may have been a technical anomaly that contributed to the higher reading.

"We got two other laboratories to analyse the data and both of them have come back and said that there was no (lead) exceedance which stacks up considering all other monitors showed no exceedance," he said.

A report into Xstratas investigations will be handed to the Department of Environment and Resource Management on Monday morning.

Environment Minister Kate Jones told reporters on Sunday her department was treating it as a breach until Xstrata could prove otherwise.

Ms Jones said Xstrata faced possible prosecution, including fines of up to $2 million under the Environmental Protection Act.

She said parts of the operation or the plant itself could also be shut down if it has breached the law.]]></description>
			<link>http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/xstrata-denies-exceeding-lead-levels-20100221-on91.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/592</guid>
			<author>AAP</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Blood tests urged for Mt Isa children</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Blood tests urged for Mt Isa children DARREN CARTWRIGHT 
February 20, 2010 .
AAP 

More children are expected to show lead contamination in a new round of tests in the mining town of Mount Isa, a lawyer representing affected local children says.

Queensland Health on Saturday urged parents of children aged between one and four in the northwest Queensland city to make use of free blood tests to check their childrens lead levels.

Data from the tests will be used in a follow-up survey to determine the risk of lead exposure in at least 144 children.

Lawyer Damian Scattini, whose firm Slater and Gordon is gathering medical evidence on behalf of seven Mt Isa children, said the government must take serious action.

He said previous tests had found unacceptable levels of lead in young children and he expected to see the same result again.

"To show the absurdity of this, if you were to substitute the word asbestos for lead and say you were monitoring the levels of asbestos in children, there would be outrage," he told AAP on Saturday.

"The lead in the dust is coming from the mine."]]></description>
			<link>http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/blood-tests-urged-for-mt-isa-children-20100220-ome8.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/591</guid>
			<author>DARREN CARTWRIGHT smh</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Bill Gates unleashes fireflies on audience</title>
			<description><![CDATA[After years of putting climate change on the back burner, the worlds richest philanthropist announces that climate is our #1 issue]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mnn.com/technology/research-innovations/blogs/bill-gates-unleashes-fireflies-on-audience</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/590</guid>
			<author>mother nature network</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Loader plans for coal boom at Kooragang</title>
			<description><![CDATA[COAL ships could be backed up into new berths extending all the way to the Tourle Street bridge on Kooragang Island under an expansion plan unveiled at a coal industry lunch yesterday.

Plans presented by Port Waratah Coal Services general manager Graham Davidson showed the potential for as many as 10 coal ships to tie up along Kooragang.


The Hunter Business Chamber quarterly mining forum at the Caves Beachside resort heard Mr Davidson and two other speakers Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group general manager Paul Beale and Bloomfield Group chief executive William Cant give optimistic appraisals of the industrys future.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/loader-plans-for-coal-boom-at-kooragang/1756222.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:59 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/589</guid>
			<author>IAN KIRKWOOD Newcastle Herald</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Qld may sue Xstrata over lead levels</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Lawyer Damian Scattini, whose firm Slater and Gordon is gathering medical evidence on behalf of seven Mt Isa children, said the test results were not surprising.

"Visually-challenged Freddy could have told you there is too much lead in the environment in Mt Isa and it all comes from the mine," Mr Scattini told AAP.

"If the government has belatedly recognised that then good luck to them for noticing now.

"What they should do is make them (Xstrata) stop polluting and clean up what theyve done."]]></description>
			<link>http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1014581/qld-set-to-sue-xstrata-over-lead-levels</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:22 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/588</guid>
			<author>Nine-MSN</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Qld govt set to sue Xstrata over lead levels</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata may be forced to shut down its Mount Isa mine after excessive lead levels were recorded over three months by one of its air monitoring sites. 

Xstrata Mount Isa Mines has been given until Monday to explain why one of the companys five air sampling stations in Mount Isa found levels of lead exceeded regulatory limits. 

An Xstrata spokesman told AAP it exceeded the 1.5 microgram per cubic metre of lead allowed into the atmosphere, but four other stations recorded levels well below the limit. 

Environment Minister Kate Jones said her department was preparing prosecution action against the company. 

"If on Monday, Xstratas explanation doesnt stack up, then under the law in Queensland there are a number of enforcement actions the department can and will pursue," Ms Jones said. 

"They could face fines of up to $2 million (under the Environmental Protection Act). 

"We may order them to scale back production or even close the plant." 

Xstrata Mount Isa Mines issued a statement on Friday saying it had launched an investigation to verify the data and it was the first time such a result has been reported. 

Ms Jones said the station at the Mount Isa RSL club recorded an average lead level of 2.1 micrograms per cubic metre during the final three months of 2009. 

"This was 0.6 higher than its allowable limit," she said. 

"Its a breach of the Mount Isa Mine Limited Agreement Act 1985 and a breach of their environmental authority."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Qld-set-to-sue-Xstrata-over-lead-levels-2T6QK?opendocument&amp;src=rss</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/587</guid>
			<author>AAP, with Reuters</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata Must Explain Excessive Mt. Isa Lead Emissions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Xstrata Plc must explain by Feb. 22 what action its taking to stop excessive lead emissions after a breach of air quality limits occurred in Mt. Isa, Australia, the state government said.

One of the five monitoring stations in the town recorded over the three months ended Dec. 31 an average level of lead 0.6 micrograms higher than allowed, Queensland state Climate Change Minister Kate Jones said today in an e-mailed statement. Xstrata, which operates a smelter in the town, is verifying the data, the company said in a separate e-mailed statement.

The states Department of Environment and Resource Management is "preparing prosecution action against Xstrata," Jones was cited as saying in the statement. "Xstrata will face the full force of the law," she said in the statement.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-19/xstrata-must-explain-excessive-mt-isa-lead-emissions-update1-.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:18 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/586</guid>
			<author>Jason Scott - Bloomberg</author>
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		<item>
			<title>PM rattled in psychological battle</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Tony Abbott might have sounded unsympathetic to the homeless in a speech last week but they seem to have done pretty well out of him. Kevin Rudd yesterday decided to try to show up the Opposition Leader by announcing $10 million for the mentally disturbed homeless. Thats the tit-for-tat politics of election year.

Rudd called a news conference to bash Abbott but found himself the one under attack. The PM who has been on top of the world now has two ministers, Peter Garrett and Stephen Conroy, in trouble, the emissions trading scheme an albatross, the polls narrowing, and the media guns directed at him.

When he met journalists in his Parliament House courtyard, the PM looked and sounded like a leader in a low. His voice was flat and quiet, at times drowned out by noise from a lawn-mower. He kept saying things were important but you wouldnt have thought it. He had a serious energy deficit.

Rudd said before the 2007 election that he wanted to mess with John Howards mind. Now the tables are turned. The psychological warfare at the moment seems to be going the other way.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/pm-rattled-in-psychological-battle-20100217-odx2.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/585</guid>
			<author>Michelle Grattan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Powerless: electricity sale stalls</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE state government has delayed the sale of its electricity retail assets, raising questions as to whether the sale will proceed at all before the election next year.

A day after the Herald revealed the government would defer construction of the metro system, in effect meaning the project is doomed, another key project has been postponed.

The state is stalled, said the opposition treasury spokesman, Mike Baird.

We have full-on paralysis.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/powerless-electricity-sale-stalls-20100218-oiz4.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/584</guid>
			<author>Andrew Clennell and Brian Robins</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Pollie power shock</title>
			<description><![CDATA[What Dwyer picked up in hundreds of pages of OECD commentary was the admonition that regulation of end-user power should not be subject to government interference. States like Queensland and New South Wales, home to five million of the nine million Australian households and major battlegrounds for Rudd and Abbott later this year, are on the power price front line as the cost of network augmentation, enlarged renewable energy targets and possibly emissions trading flows along the supply chain.

As I have written here before, political interference with consumer power prices represents an area of huge risk for energy retailers and the viability of the eastern seaboard national market - while price rises representing the true cost of supply are a big problem for the pollies. The issue has been underlined by the Tasmanian Governments election promise on Tuesday that it would cap prices for all households this year and in 2011.

Despite whatever pressures may have been brought to bear, the OECD umpires have managed to speak relatively plainly about the issue in the regulation report: "Considerable progress has been made towards setting up a competitive market for electric power," they say. "Nonetheless, continued public ownership and retail price control may be hindering competition.

"Further privatisation and removing the ceiling on retail prices should be considered. As markets increasingly connect and competition expands, the need for retail price regulation to control market power should decline. States and Territories may be using their price control powers to support other policy objectives."

These objectives, the OECD reporters observe tartly, could be achieved by "less inefficient means".

They even managed to keep in a barb for the embattled Labor government in NSW. Since the establishment of the eastern seaboard market, they point out, prices have risen faster in NSW, where there is a public monopoly, than in other eastern states, while productivity gains have been smaller.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Pollie-power-shock-pd20100216-2PU4M?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=Politics%20&amp;%20IR,%20Resources%20&amp;%20Energy&amp;blog=Powerline&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/583</guid>
			<author>Keith Orchison</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Beijings debt offensive</title>
			<description><![CDATA[But while China is certainly showing impatience at extending largesse to the US government, there are limits on Chinas ability to express its frustration by dumping US government debt. 

China has foreign exchange reserves of $2.4 trillion dollars, and it is estimated that more than 60 per cent of its reserves are invested in US dollar denominated assets. 

If China starts aggressively selling off US government debts, it risks slashing the value of its existing US investments.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/US-debt-up-for-sale-pd20100218-2RRN5?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/582</guid>
			<author>Karen Maley</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Flooding keeps coal mine closed</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Rolleston coal mine in the Bowen Basin in central Queensland is still flooded after heavy rain.

The mine has been forced to close with water filling up the open-cut pits.

Xstrata Coal spokesman James Rickards says it is trying to pump the water out. 

"The recent rain we have received has been at such a level that there has been widespread flooding throughout the region," Mr Rickards said.

"It has affected the mine significantly therefore production has ceased.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/18/2823146.htm?section=business</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/581</guid>
			<author>Stephanie Fitzpatrick ABC</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Big miners dig in against resource tax</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The resource industry has urged the federal government to rule out a new tax on big miners including Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton that would make them among the worlds most heavily taxed.

In a submission ahead of the May 11 national budget, the Minerals Council of Australia representing Rio, BHP and Xstrata, said official calls for an increase in mining royalties were a "tax grab" threatening resource investment and growth.

[The Sky is Falling ! What a whinge. The mongrels should pay for the full cost of their filthy activities to the environment, biosphere, humanity. That would put them out of business quicker than any resource rental tax. Ed]]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/business/big-miners-dig-in-against-resource-tax-20100217-oc9u.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:30 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/580</guid>
			<author>SMH</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Strikes persist at Xstratas Tahmoor coal mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Union workers at Xstrata Plcs (XTA.L) Tahmoor coal mine on Wednesday called a three-day strike, the latest in a series of work stoppages over wages and job security affecting productivity at the Australian colliery since Xstrata acquired it in 2007.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE61G07120100217</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/579</guid>
			<author>Reuters US</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Rudds wind problem</title>
			<description><![CDATA[I suggest, governments state and federal should have someone bending their minds now to the next big green thing on our energy horizon: the proposed large roll-out of wind farms. Mind you, this relies on Rudd and Wong being able to figure out how to solve another unintended consequence plaguing their carbon program: the way their populist solar PV "phantom credits" and solar hot water credits are buggering up the renewable energy generation target.

Green advocate Mark Diesendorf from the University of NSW claims in the latest issue of Ecos magazine that the design mess could delay large wind farm development "for up to five years."

Sooner or later, however, the RET blockage will be removed - and then there will be a development rush of no small proportion. This is where governments want to watch out because not every rural and regional community member shares the love affair with 100 metre tall wind turbines to be found in, say, Anthony Albaneses electoral heartland of Marrickville, Sydney, where the locals would have to drive for half a day to see one.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Garrett-pd20100212-2L4TF?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=Politics%20&amp;%20IR,%20Resources%20&amp;%20Energy&amp;blog=Powerline&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:59 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/578</guid>
			<author>Keith Orchison</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Telstra must rethink its NBN strategy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Googles announcement last Wednesday that it is going to build a one-gigabit per second fibre to the home broadband network in the United States has got the communication industry agog. It is seen as a truly game-changing move by the worlds internet giant.

It should also make Australias NBN Company and Telstra stop and think.

The NBN will take eight years to build and will then be one-tenth of the speed of Googles network, or 100 megabits per second - what seemed a year ago to be blindingly, impossibly fast. And before they start work on the NBN, tortuous negotiations with Telstra have to be finished.

But by the time the network is built, the world may have left Australia behind again.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Left-behind-with-the-NBN-pd20100215-2NRQT?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/577</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Support Tahmoor miners!</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The locked-out workers promised to continue the struggle. One described the executive of Xstrata as "narcissist, industrial psychopaths" to the February 10 Southern Highland News. Another miner said: "At the Ulan mine last year they sacked blokes and then re-hired some the next day and got contractors in to replace the rest of them.

"How can we trust them after seeing what they have done in their other mines around Australia?"


Chris Williams, Illawarra Socialist Alliance convener, said: "We condemn Xstratas dirty tactics. Big coal companies are not only ruining the climate, they are ruining the lives of miners and their families. Despite making hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, they cant even negotiate fairly with the workers and their union. We back the miners courageous stand 100%".]]></description>
			<link>http://socialistalliancewollongong.blogspot.com/2010/02/support-tahmoor-miners.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/576</guid>
			<author>Socialist Alliance</author>
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		<item>
			<title>More unrest likely in Xstrata row</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Further strike action is looming at the Tahmoor Colliery, despite employees returning to work today after ongoing industrial action.

The mines owner Xstrata says employees will implement workplace bans on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

[Xstrata are offering these people virtually nothing ,,, see earlier story Ed]]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/15/2819890.htm?site=illawarra&amp;section=news</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/575</guid>
			<author>ABC</author>
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		<item>
			<title>AUSTRALIA could move to 100 per cent renewable energy within a decade</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AUSTRALIA could move to 100 per cent renewable energy within a decade
if it spent heavily on cutting-edge solar thermal and wind technology,
according to an analysis released as part of a community bid to
redirect the flailing climate policy debate.

The shift would require the annual investment of up to $40 billion -
roughly 3.5 per cent of national GDP - with the largest chunk going
towards solar thermal power plants that used molten-salt heat storage
to allow power generation to continue without sunlight.]]></description>
			<link>http://media.beyondzeroemissions.org/preview-exec-sum14.pdf</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/574</guid>
			<author>ADAM MORTON</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata Tahmoor Lockout</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the workers are actually only going to receive approximately 5.5% or 11.98% increase, but there are some concessions to be made:

These wages are what is on offer if we accept that the company can
Reduce manning levels at the face and replace absences with contractors or staff.
Have no contractors clause, which affects job security.
Have whatever roster and shift arrangements they want.
No arbitration for disputes
No seniority for retrenchments or increase of hands after retrenchments.
Shift seniority
Remove reference to the Award
Duration of agreement 4 years
Have policies, that affect our workers, that are changed without negotiation.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.banasik.com.au/wordpress/?p=125</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/573</guid>
			<author>Benn Banasik</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstratas big boss with bigger ambitions - Satan incarnate</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[Out on a limb XTA will have to merge with the equally evil father of its spawn, Marc Richs Glencore to save its debt laden ass when the Chinese walk away for 12 months with their massive stockpiles, grinding XTA into the dust. The most exposed miner of all, Ponzid to the hilt. Read all about Marc Rich in our earliest news pages or google the name - CIA FBI Iran-Contra Fugitive..... Ed]

...However, pricing talks have got very sticky - in fact, they appear to have ground to a halt with the Chinese baulking at being asked by producers to accept a 40% to 50% increase in prices. The outcome of future negotiations is difficult to call.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/14/mick-davis-profile-mining-industry</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/572</guid>
			<author>Richard Wachman - The Observer</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>European shares end winning run on China pressure</title>
			<description><![CDATA[People are nervous because the economic recovery is quite fragile," said Mark Bon, fund manager at Canada Life in London.

"The cyclicals that you hope will recover strongly may provide some negative surprises, so you want to take away money from those if you are feeling more nervous about their prospects, and defensives last year didnt do very well," he said, adding that investors sought defensive stocks which lagged behind last years rally.

Also weighing on sentiment, Europes post-recession recovery hit a snag as German economic growth unexpectedly halted and Italy went into reverse in the final quarter of 2009, knocking total euro zone GDP growth almost flat. [ID:nLDE61B0F4]

"While we do not expect the euro zone to relapse back into recession, GDP growth of just 0.1 percent ... highlights the fact that the region still faces very challenging economic and financial conditions," said Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE61B28A20100212</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/571</guid>
			<author>Dominic Lau - Reuters</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Closure of Kidd Met to impact 4,400 jobs, $158M in tax revenue</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The closure of Xstratas Kidd Mine metallurgical site in Timmins may lead to the loss of 4,428 jobs across the province and $152 million in annual tax revenue to various levels of government, according to a study commissioned by the Timmins Economic Development Corporation. 

Conducted by Burlington-based Econometric Research Limited, the study shows a loss of 1,162 direct and indirect jobs in the Timmins area, with a total loss of $54.5 million in wages....

[With the imminent doubling (or more) of domestic (and global) supply of raw and processed minerals including coal, iron ore and LNG, employment and wages in those industries in Australia and elsewhere may peak and oversupply will severely negatively impact specific whole regions and communities with little notice. The Coal industry, largely wholly or partly funded multinational subsidiary Australian "shelf companies", dominate the greater amount of all commerce and employment in the Upper Hunter. Ed]]]></description>
			<link>http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/Around-the-North/100212/Closure-of-Kidd-Met-to-impact-4,400-jobs,-$158M-in-tax-revenue--study769.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/570</guid>
			<author>Northern Ontario Business staff</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Mining Xstrata reports 41% drop in net profit</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Mining company Xstrata has reported a 41% drop in full-year net profit as last years economic downturn and the weakness of the dollar affected global commodity sales.

Profit fell to $2.77 billion from $4.7 billion the previous year, Xstrata said.

Earnings per share were down 62% at $1.05 compared with $2.77 in 2008. Earnings per share fell more than net profit because of a new share issue last year that diluted Xstrata stock.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=93154</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/569</guid>
			<author>AP</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Far-reaching welfare reform quarantined from evidence</title>
			<description><![CDATA[No friends, no money, and no support in high places. Australians reliant on welfare payments - we once called it social security - have not a speck of political clout. They are easy targets for a government hell-bent on showing its tough side, and getting out of a bind.

The Labor government plans to introduce historic changes to the social security system that not even the Howard government seriously contemplated. It intends to apply compulsory income management beyond the Northern Territory indigenous communities to the rest of the territory next year, and then nationally. Whole classes of welfare recipients will be told what they can spend their meagre benefit on, and where they can spend it.

Evidence-based is a term the Prime Minister favours and it refers to the sound notion that policy should be based on the best possible data. But a close look at the evidence behind the purported success of income management in the territory shows it is weak and contradictory.... 

an expensive program that provides no extra support, only punishes and stigmatises, should be based on stronger evidentiary foundations, larger client surveys, and better consultations than we have seen to date.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/farreaching-welfare-reform-quarantined-from-evidence-20100212-nxel.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/568</guid>
			<author>Adele Horin - SMH</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Online protest</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[A potential lesson in Consultation for Muswellbrook Shire Council and Xstrata Mangoola]

Waverley and other councils were exploring ways to incorporate online feedback and social networking into their consultation process.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/online-protest-stops-trucks-20100213-nyej.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:34 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/567</guid>
			<author>JOSEPHINE TOVEY - SMH</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Young and desperate join aid queue</title>
			<description><![CDATA[YOUNG people and families are seeking help from welfare and crisis organisations in increasing numbers.

An Australian Council of Social Service survey found requests for accommodation continuing to rise as people are forced to drop out of the private rental market.

ACOSS chief executive Clare Martin said vulnerable people were still at risk from the effects of the global financial crisis.

This is the coalface of general economic trends, things like high youth unemployment, long public housing waiting lists and a lack of affordable health services such as dental care, Ms Martin said.

It is particularly concerning to see so many young people needing help from community service organisations and being turned away from services due to overdemand.

The 2009 survey of welfare organisations, to be released today, shows both an increase in the demand for the services and in the numbers of people who had to be turned away.

Organisations received 4.3 million requests for assistance, an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year. Almost 60 per cent of the organisations said they were unable to help everyone who asked for assistance.

Employment and training assistance and youth welfare services were the most in demand, with 520,198 requests for help. The organisations had to turn away 115,685 people seeking assistance.

Singles and families needing emergency cash, vouchers for food, clothing and transport were the next highest area of need but the groups were unable to help everyone and turned away 92,862 people.

Tracy Sheather, who runs the youth crisis service ParraHouse at Parramatta Mission, said she had never previously seen whole families forced to seek temporary accommodation because they could no longer afford the private rental market.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/young-and-desperate-join-aid-queue-20100213-nye2.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/566</guid>
			<author>STEPHANIE PEATLING - SMH</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata miners lockout an ugly tactic</title>
			<description><![CDATA["The unions of the South Coast are standing solidly behind the Tahmoor miners," he said.


As miners tried to shelter from the days heat during their third day manning a picket line outside the colliery, Mr Rorris expressed disappointment at Xstratas choice to lock out workers until Monday, and warned there would be consequences if the company maintained its present course.


"Lockouts are a very, very ugly tactic. If the multinational wants to continue down this really ugly course of action, theyll not only have to answer to the miners but to all the workers of the South Coast," he said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/xstrata-miners-lockout-an-ugly-tactic-rorris/1748900.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/565</guid>
			<author>MATTHEW JONES illawarra mercury</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Canadian union calls for government to make Xstrata divest assets in Timmins</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) is calling on the Canadian federal and provincial governments to thoroughly investigate international mining giant Xstrata, including the reason for closing its Timmins Kidd metallurgical site. This call comes hours before Xstrata releases its annual report with its profit for 2010.


Should this investigation conclude that Xstrata has little reason to close the Timmins site, both levels of government must force Xstrata to divest their Timmins assets, says the CAW.]]></description>
			<link>http://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=165784&amp;Itemid=58</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/564</guid>
			<author>PR-Canada.net</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Development destroying Kooragang Wetland - Birds nowhere to be seen</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MIGRATORY birds nesting on Newcastles shoreline are in sharp decline.

Records show that 25 years ago, 10,000 shorebirds frequented the Hunter Estuary Wetlands each year.


Today that number has withered to fewer than 4000.


Small shorebirds have been the quickest to disappear, with some species declining by more than 65 per cent.


The lesser sand plover is among them.


Hunter Bird Observers Club member Alan Stuart said the bird was once seen in flocks of up to 800.


Sightings had dropped to one or two each year.


"Then theres the curlew sandpiper," Mr Stuart said.


"It was present in numbers of about 2000 birds in the 1970s, now we get about 200."


Development encroaching on Hunter habitats and along birds flying paths were the main reasons for the decline.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/declining-numbers-cause-concern/1748977.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:23 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/563</guid>
			<author>MELISSA LYONS</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Krudd ends preference to Australian workers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ONE of Australias most powerful trade unions has set itself on a collision course with the Rudd government, backing a campaign against it over the controversial 457 visa scheme for temporary foreign workers.

A report commissioned by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, to be released next week, will reveal the government has dropped the fundamental premise of the scheme, which is that employers must test the labour market before offering jobs to foreign workers. The author of the report, labour market and migration specialist Bob Kinnaird, writes that the Rudd government is no longer requiring employers to give preference to Australian workers, which he says goes further than even the Howard governments position, which Labor had criticised when in opposition before 2007.

The report, analysing recent government statements on the visa scheme, finds that Australia is not requiring employers to prefer Australian over foreign workers in hiring or in retention in case of redundancies. Nor can Australia freely change the list of occupations for which the visas can be granted, nor cap the numbers of visa holders in a particular year.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/union-takes-on-labor-over-cheap-foreign-workers-20100211-nv7b.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:19 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/562</guid>
			<author>Malcolm Knox</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>How to crush an export boom</title>
			<description><![CDATA[I described them as Australias Mexicans - a reference to the illegal immigrants who clean the houses of Americans and drive their taxis.

They also seem to take jobs away from Australian unionists and tend to drive down wages - which of course was the purpose of the policy in the first place.

But as with a lot of economics, things are not always what they seem. Last year, the Australian Council of Private Education and Training commissioned a report from Access Economics on the economic impact of skilled migration.

Access found that the students spent $13.7 billion in 2007-08 and visiting friends and family spent $365.8 million, and that far from taking away jobs of Australians, they generated 122,000 extra jobs.

So the flow-on impact of the destruction of the export education industry through a combination of Labor government and union policy and racist assaults in Melbourne will be very large and very unpredictable.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Immigration-Chris-Evans-Coalition-ALP-Indian-stude-pd20100210-2HRSB?OpenDocument&amp;src=rab</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:04 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/561</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>The great reckoning begins</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Ken Henry and David Gruen of Treasury should spend less time sneering at Barnaby Joyce and more time contemplating the unfolding calamity in Europe, and coming to grips with whats really going on in Australia.

As I explain below, Australias debt-funded fiscal stimulus is double what was announced and is only half-spent. In other words, the government is still in stimulus mode while interest rates are going up and unemployment is falling.

In general, what we are seeing is not just a Mediterranean muddle - it is the beginning of the great global fiscal stimulus reckoning.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/The-great-reckoning-begins-pd20100212-2KRNA?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/560</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Morale high on Tahmoor picket line</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The CFMEU has a proud history at Tahmoor. Historically its been a good arrangement all round, delivering fair working conditions and high productivity - this is a committed workforce thats produced highly profitable coal in difficult circumstances.

Poker anyone?: Our card skills have improvedBut Xstrata wants to change the play book and stop engaging with the union. The Enterprise Agreement theyve asked us to sign, and delivered to our doors, was developed with NO consultation with our union officials. Its a disrespectful and outright hostile approach.

At the moment were awaiting a decision from Fair Work Australia, which we hope will direct Xstrata back to the negotiating table with us. Thats all we ask - we are willing to negotiate in good faith, but Xstrata needs to understand the meaning of give and take, not just take.

If any Tahmoor miner ever suspected Xstrata management cared about their interests, thats all changed since weve been locked out this week.]]></description>
			<link>http://xstratafacts.com/content/morale-high-tahmoor-picket-line</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/559</guid>
			<author>xstratafacts.com</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Basic skills lacking</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A Federal Government survey has found 34.5 per cent of Muswellbrook children go to school with inadequate basic skills but schools are working to ensure this is not an issue in later life.
The first national census of five- year-olds found that the numbers for Muswellbrook were substantially up on other towns in the region when it came to basic physical social, emotional, communication or language skills.

Newcastle had 19 per cent and Maitland 17.9 per cent that were seen to lack the basic skills.

School Education Director for the Hunter Central Coast region Ian Anderson said while teachers did face an uphill battle to get the students level with others of the same age programs have been put in place.

"In NSW every kindergarten student is tested before they enter the classroom to see what their skills are," he said. 

"As a result every child will almost have an individual learning plan. Their teachers will know their individual abilities and work to bring them up to speed."

Mr Anderson also said more investigation would take place within the Muswellbrook community in regard to what programs and services are available to children prior to them starting school.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/basic-skills-lacking/1743439.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:19 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/558</guid>
			<author>JAMIE FAKES</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>$2260 a week ... and theres overtime</title>
			<description><![CDATA[HUNTER coalminers are earning about $2260 a week before overtime according to the latest official figures.

Coal Services Australia says the average weekly earnings at all Hunter coalmines was $2258 in the three months to July last year, the most recent figures available.


That equates to annual income of about $117,400 a year.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/2260-a-week-and-theres-overtime/1746552.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/557</guid>
			<author>Newcastle Herald</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Wanker Conroy thinks we should have the same human rights as China</title>
			<description><![CDATA[GOOGLE has angrily rejected a call from the government to filter YouTube videos, after the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said if the search engine could censor material for China, it should do the same in Australia.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/technology/no-minister-google-rebuffs-censor-20100211-nv7g.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/556</guid>
			<author>Asher Moses</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Garrett accused of industrial manslaughter</title>
			<description><![CDATA[TONY ABBOTT has pinned the deaths of four insulation installers on Peter Garrett as the opposition stepped up its campaign to force the Environment Minister to resign over his administration of the Governments home insulation program.

Mr Abbott said if Mr Garrett were a company director in NSW he would be charged with industrial manslaughter.

He said the Government had a hide to attack Barnaby Joyce for his economic gaffes when people were dying in ceiling cavities.

Barnaby Joyce hasnt been responsible for programs that have killed people, he said.

Unions also attacked the government for inadequate training standards and being too slow to respond to concerns, but the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, stood by Mr Garrett, calling him a first-class minister.

Mr Garrett rejected the charges against him, saying he had heeded all warnings and advice and had acted appropriately, starting with the introduction of a national training program for supervisors before the scheme began on July 1.

Mr Garrett mandated government training for all workers under the scheme only in December and this does not begin until today.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/garrett-accused-of-industrial-manslaughter-by-abbott-20100211-nv7a.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/555</guid>
			<author>Phillip Coorey and Tom Arup</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>QLD moves to conserve cropping land</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Queensland Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe yesterday announced plans to protect the States food growing land from mining development. 

In a statement, the Minister described plans for a discussion paper that would set out a long-term planning framework to conserve and manage key food producing land.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/Article/QLD-moves-to-conserve-cropping-land/511098.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/554</guid>
			<author>Michael Mills</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Two North Queensland mines charged</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Queensland government has charged two north Queensland mines with contaminating local waterways. 

The owners of Lady Annie Mine, north of Mt Isa, and the Great Australia Mine, near Cloncurry, will be prosecuted for breaches of the Environmental Protection Act.

Its alleged that CopperCo Ltd, which owns the Lady Annie Mine, did not properly manage two water storage facilities, causing them to overflow into nearby waterways during last years wet season.

The company has been charged with causing serious environmental harm.

Australian Raw Materials Corporation Pty Ltd, which owns the Great Australia Mine, is facing similar allegations.

Its been accused of failing to check and maintain a pipe system that carried contaminated water, causing it to discharge into a nearby watercourse last year.

Two other mines in the region, MMG Century Limited and Birla Mount Gordon, are already facing similar charges.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2010/02/10/114185_news.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/553</guid>
			<author>Townsville Bulletin</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Palmer admits errors over coal deal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Millionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has moved to clarify earlier statements regarding a coal sales agreement between a Chinese company and his commodities group Resourcehouse Ltd, saying that earlier reports were based on his own estimates. 

The clarifications come after China Power International Development Ltd (CPID) denied media reports that it had agreed to buy 30 million tonnes of coal annually for the next 20 years from Resourcehouse. 

Mr Palmer said he got the name of the company wrong, and said he had estimated the $US60 billion ($A69.2 billion) price figure set for the deal. 

The agreement has been entered with China Power International Holding Limited (CPI), not CPID. 

"The earlier release stated China First Pty Ltd had entered into a coal sales agreement with China Power International Development Limited, " Mr Palmer said in a statement. 

"This was wrong as the agreement had not been entered into with China Power International Development Limited but with China Power International Holding Limited." 

"The agreement specifically was for a 20 year term of supply of coal at a price linked to the seaborne market for the sale of 30 million tonnes per annum of coal," Mr Palmer said. 

"Resourcehouse has estimated the cumulative value of any coal sales made under the agreement to be in the order of $US60 billion considering market prices across the life of the agreement." 

Earlier, CPID said it "did not contract nor negotiate with Resourcehouse Ltd about any agreement and the company did not sign any documents ... with Resourcehouse Ltd," in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-Power-Intl-denies-Resourcehouse-deal-reports-2H6RT?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/552</guid>
			<author>Reuters</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Palmers faux pas</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Clive Palmers retraction of a mammoth coal deal announcement will get him plenty of headlines. But in Hong Kong, where he plans to list his company Resourcehouse, its generating another kind of publicity.

The dress code at Clive Palmers office yesterday must have involved a fair few shades of red. Never shy for a bit of press coverage, Clive Palmer was quick to announce his $US60 billion coal deal with China Power International Development Ltd (CPID) to the world over the weekend. Reports now say that the deal was actually with another company - China Power International Holding Limited (CPIH).

A clarifying statement was issued by the CPID via Chinese media outlet Xinhua. The fact that the statement came from a Chinese, state-owned outlet - essentially a government mouthpiece - can be considered a strong rebuke for Palmers error and a serious road-bump in Palmers relationship with his Chinese peers and government contacts.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Palmers-faux-pas-pd20100210-2HQWQ?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/551</guid>
			<author>Isabelle Oderberg</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Mangoola project on budget and on schedule,</title>
			<description><![CDATA[XSTRATA is on track to deliver more than 30 million tonnes per annum of coal by the end of 2013 with its Blakefield South and Mangoola projects on budget and on schedule, and Ulan West, Ravensworth North and the Newlands Northern extension in the pipeline.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.longwalls.com/storyview.asp?storyid=1131807</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/550</guid>
			<author>Angie Tomlinson</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata says commodities boom ahead; profits down 41%</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Anglo-Swiss mining group Xstrata on Monday reported a 41 percent drop in its annual profit in 2009 and pinned its hopes on a renewed boom in commodities demand in China and other emerging economies.

Xstrata chief Mick Davis predicted that commodities markets would shrug off depressed demand and prices triggered by the financial and economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 and return to a situation where demand would outstrip supply.

Preliminary results released by Xstrata showed that attributable profit minus exceptional items slumped to 2.77 billion dollars (2.02 billion euros) with the global slowdown in industrial production early last year.

A late recovery in commodity prices was offset by the weaker dollar, while improved demand from Asian economies investing in infrastructure was balanced by "a more anaemic response in OECD" economies, Xstrata said in a statement.

Revenue fell 16 percent to compared to 2008, reaching 23.53 billion dollars.]]></description>
			<link>http://metalsplace.com/news/articles/32900/xstrata-says-commodities-boom-ahead-profits-down-41/</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/549</guid>
			<author>Metals Place</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Miners locked out of Tahmoor Colliery</title>
			<description><![CDATA["NARCISSIST, industrial psychopaths".
This is how miners at Tahmoor Colliery have described the executive of mining giant Xstrata Coal.

More than 200 workers have been locked out of Xstratas Tahmoor mine for one week following failed attempts to negotiate a new enterprise agreement with the company.

The workers staged a six hour strike on Sunday and a 24-hour strike on Monday over the 16-month dispute and had planned to return to work last night but only run the mine at half capacity for the next three days.

Xstrata claim to have instigated the lock-out period because the unions continued strike action was "not in the interest of employees or the viability of operation".]]></description>
			<link>http://bowral.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/miners-locked-out-of-tahmoor-colliery/1746927.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:37 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/548</guid>
			<author>MICHELLE FENECH</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Gloom mining towns are boom towns thanks to housing frenzy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[FOOLS...........
THE worlds unquenchable thirst for energy has come to the rescue of the dying towns of southern Queensland.

Chinchilla, Wandoan and Dalby are now in the middle of a housing boom that developers say is not just a once-in-a- lifetime but a once-ever opportunity that will see the population of the three towns double within the next five years.

Wild estimates of investment topping $100 billion are thrown about by locals, and wages for the lucky ones will easily exceed $100,000 in towns where unemployment is already below 2 per cent.

Chinchilla is turning from a town that locals said was struggling after a decade of drought into a modern energy hub where street after street of new housing is being sold before it is even built.

And while there are only 650 houses in Miles, there are applications for another 800 with council.

Corporate giants like Xstrata, Halliburton, Origin, Santos and BG are setting up to exploit the wealth of 35,000sq km of coal in the Surat Basin that will be the base for mines, power stations and gas.

Thousands of jobs are expected not just in construction but in the ongoing production.

Xstrata is believed to have already bought up about 35,000ha of land for its operations, and while much of that may have been marginal farming land, there are strong fears prime land further east is under threat from other miners.

Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown says that if they are not careful the outcome could be horrendous, with the population of the Western Downs region expected to jump from about 30,000 to 75,000 over the next few years.

Among the tough issues are that council may have to move the small township of Wandoan to make way for a massive coalmine.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,26683033-3102,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/547</guid>
			<author>John McCarthy</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Demand: No New Coal in NSW ! ACT NOW !!!!!</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Two new coal power stations for NSW?
We say: "Enough is enough" 
Thats right, the NSW government plans to approve two massive new coal power stations. If built, they will spew over 20 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution into the atmosphere each year. 

A decision is imminent and we need to stop them going ahead.

With everything we know about climate change, investing in new coal is utter madness.

Whats their plan?

The two proposed plans are:

Mt Piper, near Lithgow in the Blue Mountains: 2000 megawatt power station 
Bayswater, near Musswellbrook in the Hunter Valley: 2000 megawatt power station

The government has said these plants will be either coal or gas, but will leave this decision up to "the market" (private sector investors). In reality, the are already massice coal plants at Mt Piper and Bayswater, and all of the infrastructure is set up for more coal rather than gas. And, without a price on carbon pollution, gas is likely to the more expensive option.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.greenpeace.org.au/climate/GI-nswcoal.html?utm_campaign=February_2010_newsletter_full_list_ecm74.com&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_source=CM_Greenpeace&amp;utm_content=Newsletter</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/546</guid>
			<author>Greenpeace</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Gas game changer</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Santos chief executive David Knox changed the Australian energy and carbon debate in a profound address to the Melbourne Mining Club this afternoon. 

In the address Knox forecast that, in time, the share market would come to understand the enormity of the Santos gas reserves and how they can supply both the export LNG markets at export prices and the local markets at prices that are based on current low levels, plus an inflation adjustment. 

In particular, he said, over time there would sufficient gas to replace the four Victorian brown coal power stations, which are one of Australias biggest sources of carbon emissions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/santos-david-knox-australian-energy-and-carbon-cli-pd20100204-2C6UL?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/545</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Government interference is hurting farmers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Indirectly depriving property owners of the ability to use their property as they see fit is a slow burning fuse. Governments, federal and state, are ignoring it at their peril.

The 52-day hunger strike by Peter Spencer, who camped up a 10 metre wind tower on his property near Canberra, galvanised people all over the country. But in reality the issue had been simmering away for some time and was going to flare up somewhere.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/The-Property-Rights-Fuse-pd20100203-2B5RQ?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=&amp;blog=AgriBuzz&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/544</guid>
			<author>David Leyonhjelm</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Inching towards a trade war</title>
			<description><![CDATA[US and European markets plunged overnight, weighed down by fears of sovereign debt contagion, and signs of growing trade tensions with the worlds top exporter, China. 

US President Barack Obama pointedly told Senate Democrats overnight that the issue of a weak Chinese currency had to be addressed "to make sure our goods are not artificially inflated in price and their goods are artificially deflated in price".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-packs-a-punch-pd20100205-2CRK5?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/543</guid>
			<author>Karen Maley</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Labor and Liberal both in denial on climate</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A new coal berth announced for Newcastle Harbour - already the worlds biggest coal port - will be the equivalent of a 13% increase in Australias greenhouse pollution. Thats the same figure that ALP calculations show Tony Abbots climate policy will increase pollution.

 

"The new coal berth at Newcastle will increase Newcastle coal exports by around 30 million tonnes per year", said Steve Phillips, spokesperson for Rising Tide Newcastle. "That is equivalent to a 13% increase in Australias greenhouse pollution. The expansion of Australias biggest contribution to climate change is being managed, encouraged, and approved by state and federal Labor governments."

 

"Everybody knows that Tony Abbots Liberal Party are climate change deniers. The laughable climate policy they have announced this week is a street-tree planting program, and will do absolutely nothing to reduce greenhouse pollution."

 

"But the Labor party are in denial too. They are completely in the thrall of lobbyists for the coal industry - the very cause of the climate crisis. They would have the Australian public believe that the number one cause of climate change in Australia and around the world can continue to massively expand, year on year, while greenhouse pollution is magically reduced regardless. That is pure fantasy."]]></description>
			<link>http://risingtide.org.au/LaborandLiberalbothindenialonclimate</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:34 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/542</guid>
			<author>Rising Tide Australia</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Abbotts great big axe</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Against all expectations, Tony Abbott and Greg Hunt have actually come up with a clever climate change policy, and certainly one that will change the debate in Australia.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will now have to quickly do a deal with the Greens to get a government scheme through parliament, or else simply give up and blame everyone else.

With the failure at Copenhagen having pulled the rug out from under him, and a global agreement on emissions trading now impossible this year, Kevin Rudd must avoid a 2010 election on his current CPRS at all costs. To do that by dealing with the Greens now would mean a two-year carbon tax eventually turning into an emissions trading scheme - a big risk.

The clever, pinpoint focus of the new Coalition policy that the Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Greg Hunt, has come up with, was actually lost yesterday amid the wildly incoherent antics of politicians back from holidays at the start of an election year.

In fact its quite simple: the coalition is proposing to pay the Latrobe Valley companies to convert from brown coal to gas. There are a few other ideas tacked on to make it look like a policy, not a deal, but thats the guts of it....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Abbotts-great-big-axe-pd20100203-2AR5B?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:30 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/541</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Two great wealth destroyers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Kevin Rudd needs to read up on history. The last Labor Prime Minister to undertake a vigorous attack on a major industry in the lead up to an election was Ben Chifley who, prior to the 1949 election, tried to nationalise the banks. 

That might not have been the main issue that caused the once discredited Robert Menzies to win the 1949 election, but Menzies received unprecedented support from the private banks. Six decades later and Rudd is not trying to nationalise the resources sector - however, he is mobilising an unprecedented attack on this export power house that has alarmed Australian resource companies large and small. 

In the past few weeks, as I talked with mining and power chiefs, I discovered a deep sense of anger and frustration. But at this stage, few leaders want to go public, preferring to attack the issues via industry bodies or to do special deals with the government. 

As the election approaches, their anger and frustration will spill into the public arena. This week the global investment capital giant Morgan Stanley declared that: "Pan Aust assets are located in Laos that is fiscally stable, and this is becoming a clear differentiator to assets located in Australia". 

To have Australia declared less fiscally stable than Laos by Morgan Stanley puts into the public arena what resource executives from the mining and power sectors are saying in private as they reel from Rudds threats]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Rudds-three-way-battle-pd20100203-2ARWT?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:26 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/540</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Request for traffic plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[An extraordinary council meeting was held on Monday night to discuss the issue and ask for a modification of the CTMP from August prior to any decision on supporting the project.

The changes requested ask for reinforcement that Xstrata intend to use the eastern route of Wybong Road whenever possible and that the western route 

only be used when the other route is not available. 

The crash on January 7 happened on the western route....
Muswellbrook Shire mayor Martin Rush said while councillors would consider their support at the February meeting the final decision on the project came down to the Department of Planning.

"Councils only power is to give our satisfaction to the plan and we are yet to provide any approval on the plan. The Department of Planning will then have the final say," Cr Rush said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/request-for-traffic-plan/1731641.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/539</guid>
			<author>Jamie Fakes</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Coal fired Power KILLS</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Office for National Statistics (ONS) data at electoral ward level shows a four-fold increase in rates of infant mortality downwind of Ironbridge Power Station compared with upwind for the five year period 2003 - 2007.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.ukhr.org/index.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:26 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/538</guid>
			<author>UK Health Research</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Action urged over high Hunter cancer death rates</title>
			<description><![CDATA[POOR recognition and late diagnosis of breast, colon and bladder cancer are contributing to the Hunter having some of the highest cancer death rates in NSW.

Cancer Institute NSW statistics show there was an average of 16.7 breast cancer deaths per 100,000 women in the Hunter Cancer Council region between 2003 and 2007. The state average was 13.7 deaths per 100,000 women.


The regions colon cancer death rate per 100,000 people for the same period was 20.6 compared with the state average of 15.9.


Similarly, the Hunters bladder cancer death rate was 6.5 compared with the state average of 4.7.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/action-urged-over-high-hunter-cancer-death-rates/1727107.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:24 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/537</guid>
			<author>MATTHEW KELLY</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Closing Coal-Fired Power Plants Improves Cognitive Development Of Children</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Closing coal-fired power plants can have a direct, positive impact on childrens cognitive development and health according to a study released by the Columbia Center for Childrens Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health. The study allowed researchers to track and compare the development of two groups of children born in Tongliang, a city in Chinas Chongqing Municipality -- one in utero while a coal-fired power plant was operating in the city and one in utero after the Chinese government had closed the plant.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714151525.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/536</guid>
			<author>ScienceDaily</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Childrens IQ Can Be Affected By Mothers Exposure To Urban Air Pollutants</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can adversely affect a childs intelligence quotient or IQ, according to new research by the the Columbia Center for Childrens Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health. PAHs are chemicals released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas,

[sounds like Muswellbrook]]]></description>
			<link>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720111453.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/535</guid>
			<author>ScienceDaily</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>ONE in three Muswellbrook children have serious developmental problems by the time they enter school</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ONE in three Muswellbrook children have serious developmental problems by the time they enter school, according to a landmark Federal Government survey.

The first national census of five-year-olds found 34.5 per cent of children in the Muswellbrook local government area were starting school with inadequate basic physical, social, emotional, communication or language skills, compared with 28 per cent in Great Lakes, 22.4 per cent in Cessnock, 19 per cent in Newcastle, 17.9 per cent in Maitland and 10.2 per cent in Gloucester....

[Always knew there was something retarded about the drongos of Muswellbrook, the Village of the Damned. Wouldnt be Australias worst air, land, food, water and soil contamination from decades of open cut mining and power generation would it now].]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/region-children-lagging-behind-in-education/1738498.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:15 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/534</guid>
			<author>DONNA PAGE</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata in $15bn Queensland coalmine bonanza</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Megalomania Continues - Loony Davis in Delusions of Granduer - GFC II here we come - ANGLO-SWISS miner Xstrata is hatching plans to build a huge 100-million-tonnes-a-year thermal coal operation in Queensland that could cost $15 billion and rival the Hunter Valley as the nations biggest coal-producing region. 

Xstrata, the worlds biggest thermal coal exporter, and its Japanese joint venture partners intend to expand almost fivefold the current planned output of 22 million tonnes a year near the small town of Wandoan, 400km northwest of Brisbane, in the next 10 to 20 years.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/xstrata-in-15bn-queensland-coalmine-bonanza/story-e6frg8zx-1225825229327</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:13 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/533</guid>
			<author>Matt Chambers</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Rudd short changes the regions on broadband, says Governments own expert</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The coverage in regional areas of the Rudd Governments proposed National Broadband Network was today given a severe caning - by one of the members of the Governments own expert panel which gave advice on the project.

The highly critical comments today by Professor Reg Coutts confirm that Labor has broken an election promise to provide fast broadband to 98 percent of households.


At least 10 percent of the population are left out - or about two million Australians, who largely live in the regions.

The Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Warren Truss, said Prof Coutts article in Fairfax media was accurately headlined "NBN neglects those left in broadband wilderness".

"I and many in the community are frustrated at the lack of progress in planning services for the 10 percent of the population who are beyond the NBN footprint," Prof Coutts wrote.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.nsw.nationals.org.au/news/latest-news/rudd-short-changes-the-regions-on-broadband-says-govternment-s-own-expert.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:11 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/532</guid>
			<author>Warren Truss MP</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Hunter coal leads to moon and back</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MORE than one billion tonnes of raw coal have been stripped from the Hunter in the past decade, handing the State Government a $3.1 billion silver lining.

Stacked in cubic metres, thats enough coal to wrap around the Earths equator 27.7 times.


University of NSW head of mathematics and statistics Anthony Dooley has confirmed the calculation.


He said the colossal coal pile would reach the moon and back, fill 341,000 olympic swimming pools, two Sydney Harbours and 13,400 coal ships.


The staggering figures have reignited calls for the State Government to invest more funds in the region, which supports the highly profitable mining industry.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunter-coal-leads-to-moon-and-back/1726516.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:10 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/531</guid>
			<author>MELISSA LYONS</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Hunters coal industry ravages landscape</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE shocking environmental effect of the regions multibillion-dollar coal industry can only be fully appreciated from the air.

A satellite image taken from GoogleMaps shows the extent of the scarring between Singleton and Muswellbrook in the wake of insatiable demand for the regions coal.


The image dates back 18 months, making it almost certain that the regions expanding mining industry has further affected its landscape.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunters-coal-industry-ravages-landscape/1726517.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/530</guid>
			<author>MATTHEW KELLY AND MELISSA LYONS</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Hunter air quality monitoring criticised</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MOST air-quality monitoring sites in a new network planned for the Upper Hunter will not identify levels of potentially harmful very fine dust particles because there is no national measuring standard, the State Government says.

It has provoked criticism from one air-quality expert, and calls from some in the community for the monitoring to be as comprehensive as possible.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunter-air-quality-monitoring-criticised/1727101.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/529</guid>
			<author>MICHELLE HARRIS</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Hunter coal activists fined over rail protests</title>
			<description><![CDATA[TWENTY-three climate protesters including a World War II veteran, a Newcastle councillor, a Buddhist chaplain and a teenage student were convicted and fined in Newcastle Local Court yesterday for bringing a coal train to a standstill in December.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunter-coal-activists-fined-over-rail-protests/1729144.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/528</guid>
			<author>Ben Smee</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Mining threat to swamps and rock art</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A VAST new coalmine planned for Sydneys south-western outskirts will damage the citys natural desalination plant - the hanging swamps that filter pure water down into the Georges River.

More than 50 swamps in the little-known Dharawal State Conservation Area, south-east of Campbelltown, will be undercut by longwall coalmines, which the mine owner, BHP Billiton, admits are likely to crack the bedrock and drain swamps. Aboriginal rock art above the mine site is also at risk.

The proposal, being considered by the NSW Government, calls for a huge expansion of existing coalmines near Appin, which would lock in mining there for 30 years.

Opposition to the plan is growing, and a coalition of local residents and environment groups and the National Parks Association are calling for mining to be excluded from the conservation area.

It is literally underground and metaphorically under the public radar, said Sharyn Cullis of the Georges River Environmental Alliance. There should be widespread outrage or, at the very least, public debate about whether we really want the landscape desiccated ... sacrificed for the sake of coal.

The hanging swamps are shallow sandstone bowls, packed with matted sedge, native grasses and banksias that act like a sieve and a sponge, holding water in dry times and allowing it to seep out and feed some of the states cleanest creeks.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/mining-threat-to-swamps-and-rock-art-20100129-n48w.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:16 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/527</guid>
			<author>Ben Cubby SMH</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Anti-Coal Protesters Fined</title>
			<description><![CDATA[23 Members of the rising tide climate action group yesterday appeared in Newcastle local court after they protested on rail lines on December 20.

Eight members were fined 750 dollars with the remaining fifteen charged with 250 dollar fines.

Magistrate Sharon Holdsworth said that their judgement was clouded by their passion for the environment]]></description>
			<link>http://hvnewsroom.blogspot.com/2010/01/protestors-who-stopped-upper-hunter.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:02 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/526</guid>
			<author>HVNR</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Union claims win over Xstrata redundancies</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The union fighting to reinstate jobs at the Ulan coal mine in mid-westen New South Wales has been successful.

The national workplace tribunal, Fair Work Australia, has ruled 10 of the jobs lost were not genuine redundancies because the staff were replaced by other employees.

Xstrata announced the cutbacks last August.

Andy Honeysett from the United Mine Workers Federation of Australia says the union will now apply to Fair Work Australia to give its members their jobs back.

"It gives them the certainty that if the jobs are there they cant be replaced by anybody - thats the big decision from Fair Work Australia," he said.

"The works still there so someone has to do it and thats why they were unfairly treated."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/29/2804554.htm?site=westernplains</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/525</guid>
			<author>ABC</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Win for sacked Ulan workers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Excellent news! In a decision this week Fair Work Australia agreed with our argument that workers sacked from Ulan mine in the NSW central west were not genuine redundancies. 

Theres more work to do before we win their jobs back, but its a great start. 

38 mine workers - 19 full time permanent and 19 fixed termers - lost their jobs at Ulan back in September last year. 

10 of them took up the CFMEUs offer to take part in a legal bid to get their jobs back.


Its a slow process but after several hearings, Fair Work Australia has confirmed what we knew all along - they were not genuine redundancies because the work they did is still there. Its just being done by other people now. 

Fair Work Australia also found Xstrata had not complied with the Enterprise Agreement, which requires the company to consult about redundancies with affected employees. 

Our next step is to apply to Fair Work Australia to have these 10 workers reinstated. We expect the company to appeal this decision and take whatever steps they can to avoid re-employing them. 
.....
Xstrata has demonstrated it is not a company we can trust to act in the best interests of employees. So, well continue to go to court to defend the interests of CFMEU members where necessary - sometimes its the only way.]]></description>
			<link>http://xstratafacts.com/content/win-sacked-ulan-workers</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:12 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/524</guid>
			<author>Xstratafacts.com</author>
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		<item>
			<title>WAKE UP AUSTRALIA: The fear over Chinas growth</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Last year the European based Pivot Capital Group - which correctly forecast the American sub-prime crisis a year before it happened and the Eastern European currency problems about six months before they happened - made a third major forecast: China would go into steep decline in 2010 or 2011. The men behind Pivot, Pars Mellstrom and Carl George, claimed that most of the productive Chinese infrastructure spending had already been undertaken and it was now spending money on marginal projects. Banks were lending to investors building apartments that were too expensive for ordinary people to buy...
Mellstrom and George believe no country can maintain infrastructure spending at more than half of GDP for an extended period, so China will have to reverse this and begin the slow process of lifting consumer spending. A sign that this analysis might be right was this months decision by the Chinese to substantially reduce bank lending. In turn, this will curb apartment boom and other asset speculations. No one is predicting that China will go into recession, but Australia has come to depend on high growth rates that Mellstrom and George say are not sustainable. When Mellstrom and George made their original prediction they were virtually alone. But more recently, senior Australian journalists from China have been saying similar things so the level of concern is rising....
But the Chinese are choking themselves with pollution - and my guess is that in the longer term they will switch a lot of their dirty industries to Africa to improve their air quality and to meet the global carbon standards. Dont be surprised that if in 2010 the American jobs imperative that President Obama underlined in his State of the Union address will be translated into more US clamps on imports from China and Asia. If that happens it will lift global tensions and Australia will be caught in an uncomfortable sandwich between the country that provides the bulk of our defence security and our major trading partner.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/WAKE-UP-AUSTRALIA-The-fear-over-Chinas-growth-pd20100129-25SAS?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/523</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>WAKE UP AUSTRALIA: Chinas wings are clipped</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Beijing wants its banks to cut back lending because it is worried that economic activity is too strong, which could fuel inflation. 

But theres a more troubling side to Beijings orders, because it indicates how key parts of the Chinese economy - including interest rates and the exchange rate - are subject to government directive, rather than market forces. 

For all the excitement about the transformation into a market economy, important elements of the old, state-directed economy persist. 

Banking isnt the only industry subject to tight control from Beijing. Other industries such as energy, telecommunications and oil are also dominated by the state. As a result, the Chinese government is able to dictate what happens in major areas of the economy. 

the central government, and the various-state owned enterprises, continue to dominate most of the nations resources... there are huge inefficiencies in resource allocation in China. 
... In China, the consumer accounts for only one-third of the economy, compared with more than two-thirds in the United States. 

The Chinese consumer is further constrained by soaring property prices. Chinas growing middle classes are saddled with huge costs of renting, or paying for mortgages, and lack the disposable income to spend on cars, or plasma TVs. 

When they decided to build new factories and office blocks, the Chinese would have been projecting that demand for their products by Western consumers would continue to rise at a relatively healthy clip. 

But the advanced economies look set to record painfully weak growth rates for the next decade. And governments will be looking hard at ways they can boost employment by persuading consumers to buy locally-made goods and services. 

And thats one outcome that neither Chinese government, nor its private sector, were anticipating on when they made their investment decisions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-banks-lending-Chinese-economy-pd20100129-25V5M?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/522</guid>
			<author>Karen Maley</author>
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			<title>Coal Industrys Future Looking Murky</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Coal industry executives arent sleeping that well these days. As climate activists and environmentalists reassess their strategy after a year of slow Senate progress and an underwhelming Copenhagen accord, more and more resources and attention are directed at stopping coal. 

The extra focus on coal is a strategic move for the movement. Climate change starts with extraction and coal is still the elephant in the room when talking about major CO2 reduction policies. Local social justice, and global climate concerns are almost perfectly aligned in the fight to stop destructive mining practices and coal plants that poison neighbors. Groups fighting coal in the big picture are having great success, such as the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal campaign and the amazing team at App Voices. Heres my round-up for the week of the growing momentum to stop coal.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/morgan-goodwin/coal-industrys-future-loo_b_435622.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/521</guid>
			<author>Morgan Goodwin</author>
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			<title>WAKE UP AUSTRALIA: Fix the China relationship</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Australian governments recent management of relations with China is a case in point. In the years until November 2007, Australias relations with China were sensible and steadily growing. But there is no doubt Beijing welcomed the election of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister; here was someone who knew their country and spoke their language. He would be even more accommodating to China than John Howard. 

Initially, those expectations were met. Rudd made an early visit to China but by then he was being chastised in Australia for being too much of a Sinophile. The smart thing to do was to ignore the barbs but Rudd is thin-skinned. Every criticism must be dealt with. 

So, to counter the criticism he was a China-lover, Rudd launched an attack in Beijing on the Chinese government for its Tibet policies - in Mandarin. The problem with this was it took him from being seen as a friend of Beijing to being seen as a two-faced opportunist. Then there was the Defence White Paper which suggested - in Beijings eyes - that Australia saw China as a long-term military threat; the Stern Hu affair where Rudd again changed tack under domestic pressure from quiet diplomacy to vocal denunciation; and the visas given to the Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer. 

For a while, the Chinese cancelled all high-level contact with Australia and told the government it would not support Australias Asian community concept.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-Kevin-Rudd-Beijing-Tibet-foreign-investment-pd20100126-2344B?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/520</guid>
			<author>Alexander Downer</author>
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			<title>WAKE UP AUSTRALIA: Learning the China-Africa lesson</title>
			<description><![CDATA[as we assess what China has achieved in Africa and the role it has played there, we can draw some lessons for Chinas involvement in Australia. Namely, that it is operating with a long-term, resource-hungry view.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/china-resources-australia-africa-iron-ore-pd20100121-ZW2DX?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/519</guid>
			<author>Isabelle Oderberg</author>
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			<title>WAKE UP AUSTRALIA: Sating Chinas hunger</title>
			<description><![CDATA[It has been apparent for quite a while that China has an appetite for iron ore; to feed its hungry steel mills and keep them churning out steel. But China is also hungry for another, rather more basic resource: food. So, while the Foreign Investment Review Board deals with public concern over China extending its ownership of resources projects in Australia, it may also be facing a growing number of food-related acquisitions by Chinese companies, as well as private land buys or the establishment of agriculture-related projects. 

China has a population of around 1.33 billion, around 22 per cent of the global populace, and that number is growing by around 10 million a year. But it yields only 7 per cent of the worlds arable land. With property prices in China on a massive upwards trajectory, much high-quality arable land has been given up for development (See WAKE UP AUSTRALIA: The fear over Chinas growth, January 29; Chinas capital conundrum, January 26 and Chinas house of cards, January 8). China has also faced serious problems with the quality of its land for agricultural production, facing issues such as water shortages, heavy metal pollution, desertification and erosion, perhaps related to its other appetite, for heavy industry. China lost 8.9 million hectares of farmland between 1995 and 2007.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-food-security-Australia-agricultural-project-pd20100126-234TR?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/518</guid>
			<author>Isabelle Oderberg</author>
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			<title>Tax changes threaten miner profits</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A proposal to force mining companies to pay more tax threatens to shave tens of billions of dollars off future profits just as a commodities boom is forecast to hit full stride.

Iron ore miners such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, would face the greatest exposure given the enormous profits generated in the sector as demand for steel recovers from the global financial crisis.

Iron ore prices are forecast to rise by around a third after recoiling in 2009 for the first time in nearly a decade.

The so-called rent tax would cost BHP Billiton, the worlds biggest mining house, an average $US2.33 billion ($2.55 billion) in annual profit between 2012-16, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch....
"We understand the politics; the government is sending up test balloons to gauge the response to tricky bits of the review," AMECs Bennison said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/business/tax-changes-threaten-miner-profits-20100128-n11h.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/517</guid>
			<author>smh</author>
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			<title>Misguided power</title>
			<description><![CDATA[New research has uncovered astonishing inefficiency in the NSW electricity industry, resulting in the states citizens and businesses paying four times what they should for power distribution.

Whats more the problems are rapidly worsening, so that the disadvantage being suffered by NSW electricity consumers is projected to accelerate sharply over the next five years.

The research, by Bruce Mountain of the Australian firm, Carbon Market Economics, and Stephen Littlechild, a former UK electricity regulator, compares the cost of electricity distribution in NSW, Victoria and Great Britain. It has been published this week by the Electricity Policy Research Group at the University of Cambridge.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/WAKE-UP-AUSTRALIA-Misguided-power-pd20100128-24RBK?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/516</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>Residents dig in against mining in Lake Macquarie</title>
			<description><![CDATA[OPPOSITION is growing in Lake Macquarie against coalmining and the damage the industry causes to property and the environment.

Two new plans have been lodged with the NSW Department of Planning to extend mining in the lakes west and south. 


These plans have raised fresh worries about mine subsidence damaging creeks, groundwater, property and infrastructure. 


Mining company Xstrata, through its subsidiary Oceanic Coal, has applied to continue underground mining at its West Wallsend Colliery for 12 years.


It wants to mine 5.5 million tonnes of coal a year with its workforce of 390 people operating around the clock.


Five creeks are within the mine area, including Diega Creek, which has had damage from mine subsidence.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/residents-dig-in-against-mining-in-lake-macquarie/1734447.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:23 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/515</guid>
			<author>Damon Cronshaw Newcastle Herald</author>
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			<title>Muswellbrook council attacks mine approval decision</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MUSWELLBROOK Council has attacked the integrity of the NSW Department of Planning, after the department concluded that a November motion of the council approved a controversial traffic management plan for the Mangoola mine at Anvil Hill.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/muswellbrook-council-attacks-mine-approval-decision/1735893.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:19 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/514</guid>
			<author>Ben Smee Newcastle Herald</author>
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			<title>Muswellbrook council told of traffic travelling to Anvil Hill</title>
			<description><![CDATA[BRIEFING notes given to Muswellbrook councillors show they were told in November that construction traffic travelling to the Mangoola mine site at Anvil Hill would use the narrow and winding road where a contractor was killed last week.

The council will hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday night to discuss Mayor Martin Rushs move to withdraw council support for mine construction to begin.


Councillors closed ranks around Cr Rush yesterday, some claiming they supported the unusual move and others declining to comment before the council meeting.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/muswellbrook-council-told-of-traffic-travelling-to-anvil-hill/1724762.aspx?order=1</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/513</guid>
			<author>Ben Smee Newcastle Herald</author>
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			<title>Mining companys river diversion a scar</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Northern Land Council says the diverted section of the McArthur River in the Northern Territory looks like a scar on the landscape.

The NLC says there is no evidence of revegetation by the mining company Xstrata.

Xstrata owns the McArthur River zinc mine near Borroloola and diverted about five kilometres of the river in 2008 so it could become an open-cut operation.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/27/2802422.htm?section=business</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/512</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Taking the heat off coal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Coal is a four-letter word and forever will be so, but can it achieve a less pejorative status in the new decade?

In terms of contributions to atmospheric emissions, and to global warming according to the mainstream scientific view, Australian domestic emissions from coal are small beer, contributing less than 1 per cent of the worldwide total - but the fate of the industry here will be closely watched in major, industrialised coal-burning countries around the planet.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Coals-new-year-resolve-pd20100119-ZU3FF?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=Politics%20&amp;%20IR,%20Resources%20&amp;%20Energy&amp;blog=Powerline&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/511</guid>
			<author>Keith Orchison</author>
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			<title>What does the Aussie mining tax really mean</title>
			<description><![CDATA[In our view, this has much wider impacts. Australia once again appears to be paving the way forward as it did with raising interest rates. Higher taxes across the globe would appear inevitable given the amount of debt that has been transferred from the private to public balance sheet. The market appears to have become complacent towards the transition whereby the private sector will end up supporting the public sector, rather than the reverse situation we have enjoyed for the past year.]]></description>
			<link>http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/01/22/132386/what-does-the-aussie-mining-tax-really-mean/</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/510</guid>
			<author>Financial Times</author>
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			<title>Fatality raises questions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A fatal accident on Wybong Road last Thursday has caused a number of concerns to re-surface about the use of the narrow road way by Xstratas Mangoola mine at Anvil Hill.
The accident occurred at about 4.50pm on Thursday, January 7 when a Toyota Hilux utility travelling west collided with an oversized truck carrying an articulated loader to the mine. 

Maitland man Dave Patten, 55, who was driving the utility, was killed as a result.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/fatality-raises-questions/1726200.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/509</guid>
			<author>Caitlin Andrews</author>
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			<title>Anvil Hill mine work halted amid approval doubts</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CONSTRUCTION at the Mangoola mine at Anvil Hill has been stopped indefinitely, as doubts emerge about whether Xstrata Coal had proper approval to begin work.

Muswellbrook Shire Council has effectively claimed that Xstrata was breaching its conditions of consent when construction began at Mangoola earlier this month.


Mayor Martin Rush believes the council did not give Xstrata approval to start work ahead of schedule, despite councillors indicating their support to do so in November.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/anvil-hill-mine-work-halted-amid-approval-doubts/1731288.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/508</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Mine Unions in Australia, Canada Reject Xstratas Job Cuts</title>
			<description><![CDATA[While the campaign for retention of coal-mining jobs and a fair contract by the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) with Xstrata in Australia continues, another union is resisting proposed mining and metallurgical job cuts by the Anglo-Swiss mining house. 

In North America, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) launched a campaign in northern Ontario in mid-December to preserve 676 copper and nickel smelting and refining jobs at Xstratas Kidd Creek metallurgical plants in Timmons, Ontario. The company announced on 8 December that it was permanently shuttering a smelter and refinery, effective 1 May 2010, thus heaping further economic havoc on a region already beset by job losses and a strike. 

The proposed job losses come on top of 725 mineworker layoffs by Xstrata in February 2009, when it temporarily shut three mines in the region. CAW Local 598 of Sudbury, Ontario, which is currently engaged in negotiations with Xstrata Nickel toward a 1 February contract expiration, has made recall of those jobs its number one bargaining table priority.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3577-Mine-Unions-in-Australia-Canada-Reject-Xstrata%E2%80%99s-Job-Cuts</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/507</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Strike to force negotiations</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CFMEU northern district official Greg Sharp told The Singleton Argus on Friday that the union was also fighting to have union meetings reintroduced now that the Howard governments Work Choices legislation is no longer in effect.

Mr Sharp explained that when issues could not be resolved before Christmas it was decided that strike action would be taken.

"We applied for protected action under the Rudd Governments Fair Work legislation and it was given by the courts]]></description>
			<link>http://www.singletonargus.com.au/news/local/news/general/strike-to-force-negotiations/1731057.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/506</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Cracks in the China story</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Taken on its own, the decision by China to clamp bank lending should not have caused such a big fall on Wall Street. But dig deeper and you see why there is underlying concern around the world. And for Australia, Chinas decision underlines the dangers we face in the next few years. 

For the past decade, Chinas bank lending has been expanding at a much faster rate than its economy, but this coincided with its enormous infrastructure spending and a massive increase in exports, particularly to the US. Then came the global financial crisis and exports were slashed, while credit growth continued to surge ahead - many say that Chinas credit growth is still around 35 per cent.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Chinas-troubled-waters-pd20100121-ZVSVS?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/505</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>Wybong action group has called for more enquiries following this months Mangoola fatality.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[President of the Wybong action group John Shewin addressed council at its extraordinary meeting claiming that the community has not been consulted during the process and called for further enquiries to be conducted to determine what cost a mans life.]]></description>
			<link>http://hvnewsroom.blogspot.com/2010/01/wybong-action-group-has-called-for-more.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/504</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Another GFC is coming</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Australia is going to find itself in very serious strife. Because the next upheaval will likely originate in that industrialising, high-growth, politically unstable, and insensitive-to-the-rule-of-law region of the world that fixates Westerners like an irresistible narcotic: Asia (and China, more pointedly). And just as the transmission device for the recent contagion was banks that had overreached their domestic savings and loans domains and sucked far too hard on the impossible-for-myopic-management to ignore US lolly pop, history will inevitably repeat itself with the difference being that we substitute China for the US and Australian banks for their foreign cousins.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Another-GFC-is-coming-pd20100120-ZV59A?OpenDocument&amp;src=is&amp;is=Financial%20Services,%20Politics%20&amp;%20IR,%20Property,%20Economy&amp;blog=Concrete%20Detail&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/503</guid>
			<author>Christopher Joye</author>
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			<title>Xstrata needs to take more responsibility from last weeks road fatality at Mangoola</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Greens says Xstrata needs to take more responsibility from last weeks road fatality at Mangoola,

A man lost his life when he collided into truck carrying mining equipment from the x strata owned Anvil Hill mine on Wybong road last Thursday.]]></description>
			<link>http://hvnewsroom.blogspot.com/2010/01/greens-says-xstrata-needs-to-take-more.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/502</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Xstrata tells suppliers to cut prices 20% or lose contracts</title>
			<description><![CDATA[XSTRATA Coal Queensland has written to suppliers demanding that they immediately cut their prices by 20 per cent or face losing their contracts.

In a letter sent to one supplier and obtained by The Courier-Mail, XCQ chief operating officer Reinhold Schmidt complains that the resources sector has "experienced significant pressure in terms of cost increases over many years and more recently, sales volumes".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26614372-3122,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/501</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Rising demand to push coal prices</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The resurgence of the Chinese economy, along with harsh winter conditions across the country, is likely to push coal prices up in the short term. In addition, the growing demand from power producers in India could support the upward movement of the fossil fuel.]]></description>
			<link>http://asianenergy.blogspot.com/2010/01/rising-demand-from-power-firms-to-push.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/500</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Locked out miners protest</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Workers at the Bulga open-cut mine near Singleton have set up a protest line outside the mine after employees were locked out by management.

Xstrata says it has told employees not to report for work again until 7:00am (AEDT) tomorrow, in response to threats of rolling stoppages and bans over a new enterprise agreement.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/19/2795720.htm?site=newcastle</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/499</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Xstrata orders workers off job in Australia</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata Plc said on Monday that rolling work stoppages by union employees was making it impractical to maintain operations at it Bulga coal mine in Australia and told workers to stay home for 24 hours.]]></description>
			<link>http://inovila.com/?p=64774</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/498</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Action urged over high Hunter cancer death rates</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Cancer Institute NSW statistics show there was an average of 16.7 breast cancer deaths per 100,000 women in the Hunter Cancer Council region between 2003 and 2007. The state average was 13.7 deaths per 100,000 women.


The regions colon cancer death rate per 100,000 people for the same period was 20.6 compared with the state average of 15.9.


Similarly, the Hunters bladder cancer death rate was 6.5 compared with the state average of 4.7.


Cancer Institute NSW acting chief executive officer Rob Sanson-Fisher said the mortality rates reflected a combination of lifestyle factors, victims inability to recognise cancer symptoms, not being able to see a doctor quickly and lack of appropriate diagnosis.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/action-urged-over-high-hunter-cancer-death-rates/1727107.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/497</guid>
			<author>Matthew Kelly</author>
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			<title>Hunter air quality monitoring criticised</title>
			<description><![CDATA[University of Newcastle conjoint associate professor Howard Bridgman said all sites should assess PM2.5 levels, related to burning of fuel for trucks and power station emissions.


"PM2.5 is now the key particle for health. Theyre small enough to get down into peoples lungs," he said.


"I really do think based on my experience. . . that setting up a network depending only on PM10 is the wrong way to go."


Conjoint Associate Professor Bridgman said equipment was available to monitor both, but it might be more expensive.


Singleton Deputy Mayor Paul Nichols said it was "wishy washy" for the smaller particles to be identified at only some sites.


"Weve got one chance to [set this up] properly," Cr Nichols said.


The spokeswoman said the department was still accepting comments about the network.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunter-air-quality-monitoring-criticised/1727101.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/496</guid>
			<author>Michelle Harris</author>
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			<title>Abbott the eco worrier</title>
			<description><![CDATA[His policies may be unclear, but Abbott is fast being defined as an action man, in direct contrast to the Prime Minister.

And Mr Rudd is ignoring expectations at his peril. Look how fast President Obama acted to correct the impression he was doing nothing. Now is the time for Rudd to give up committees and become action man. 

If he misses his main chance to tap into community enthusiasm for green solutions, he will lose his place in history. All that pent-up public enthusiasm has to be directed somewhere. If Rudd is not careful, it will turn to strong dislike of his government]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Tony-Abbott-ETS-whaling-land-army-Turnbull-Rudd-pd20100118-ZSR72?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/495</guid>
			<author>Natasha Stott Despoja</author>
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			<title>Muswellbrook council told of traffic travelling to Anvil Hill</title>
			<description><![CDATA[BRIEFING notes given to Muswellbrook councillors show they were told in November that construction traffic travelling to the Mangoola mine site at Anvil Hill would use the narrow and winding road where a contractor was killed last week.

The council will hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday night to discuss Mayor Martin Rushs move to withdraw council support for mine construction to begin.


Councillors closed ranks around Cr Rush yesterday, some claiming they supported the unusual move and others declining to comment before the council meeting.


One councillor, who did not want to speak publicly, told The Herald the council has been under "enormous pressure" to allow work to begin as soon as possible.


The council voted in November to allow construction to start at Anvil Hill, despite advice from Xstrata that trucks would need to use the western part of Wybong Road.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/muswellbrook-council-told-of-traffic-travelling-to-anvil-hill/1724762.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:11 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/494</guid>
			<author>Ben Smee</author>
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			<title>Wybong residents anger over fatal smash</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the action group warned the council and NSW Department of Planning two years ago that allowing large vehicles to use the narrow road was an accident waiting to happen.


Wybong residents were not aware that support for early construction had been given until The Herald reported yesterday that the council had withdrawn its approval.


"[Allowing work to begin] is a disgraceful thing to happen," Mr Shewan said.


"Its disgraceful that it did happen because the community put in so much effort to warn the council and the mining company and the [NSW] Department of Planning."


Mr Shewan said the stretch of road where Mr Patten was killed was not wide enough for oversized traffic.


"The road is so narrow that any wide load travelling would really require traffic [ in the opposite direction] to be stopped," he said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/wybong-residents-anger-over-fatal-smash/1723730.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/493</guid>
			<author>Ben Smee</author>
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			<title>Consumerism overhaul needed to avoid ecological collapse</title>
			<description><![CDATA[No government pledges or technological advances will be enough to rescue humanity from environmental and climate risks, claims a grim 2010 State of the World report by the US-based Worldwatch Institute. It calls for a cultural shift, noting that to replace fossil-fuel power at the current demand trajectory we need to build 200 square meters of solar PV panels and 100 square meters of solar thermal every second, and 24 wind turbines (3MW) an hour for 25 years.

 

It calls for a shift that that values sustainability over consumerism, calculating the worlds richest 500 million people (roughly 7% of global population) are responsible for 50% of the worlds CO2 emissions, while the poorest three billion are responsible for just 6% of global emissions.

The Worldwatch Institutes latest annual report, subtitled Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability, defines "consumerism" as a cultural orientation that leads people to find meaning, contentment and acceptance primarily through what they consume.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/storyview.asp?storyid=1035376&amp;sectionsource=s0</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/492</guid>
			<author>Worldwatch Institute.</author>
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			<title>Surreal asset inflation</title>
			<description><![CDATA[William Pesek from Bloomberg says, "The real problem is the quality of growth. The trillions of yuan lavished on the [Chinese] economy last year wont boost demand for exports. Nor will it soon morph the nations rabid savers into enthusiastic consumers. If todays public borrowing doesnt create a domestic-demand-driven economy, then its risky."

Getting out of bed is risky, too. But you more or less have to do it. You dont have to invest in China. Pesek says you should be wary. He writes that, "Chinas overinvestment in 2009 may have delayed this day of reckoning, not averted it. Officials in Beijing are on notice that savvy short-sellers are delving into their books."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Surreal-asset-inflation-pd20100114-ZNRFP?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/491</guid>
			<author>Dan Denning</author>
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			<title>Broadband billions left hanging as wireless bites back</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AUSTRALIANS are flocking to 3G mobiles and wireless broadband devices, bringing into question some of the assumptions behind the Rudd Governments $43 billion national broadband network.

A report published yesterday by the Australian Communications and Media Authority shows that take up of wireless technology more than doubled last financial year as quicker speeds and more sophisticated handsets made it a viable alternative to fixed-line internet.

Australians increasingly seek flexibility in where and how they access communications and content, the report found.

The number of mobile phone services rose 9.5 per cent in 2008-09 to 24.2 million, and wireless broadband had leapt 162 per cent to 2.1 million by the end of June. This contrasts with the number of fixed-line telephone services, which fell 3 per cent to 10.7 million.

The report backs other evidence of a rise in mobile services. Last month Telstra used such data to explain a reduction of the revenue it expected from fixed-line services.

The embrace of wireless by consumers could prove to be a headache for the Government. The financial viability of its broadband network will rely on much of Australias internet traffic being directed through its pipes]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/broadband-billions-left-hanging-as-wireless-bites-back-20100112-m4u7.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:37 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/490</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>A pivotal year for coal-seam gas</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The abundance of prospective sources of supply may help explain why PetroChina walked away from a $US40 billion gas contract with Woodside last week because of delays in the development schedule of its Browse project]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/The-coal-seam-gas-wars-pd20100111-ZL2N2?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:11 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/489</guid>
			<author>Stephen Bartholomeusz</author>
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			<title>Muswellbrook Shire Council withdraws Anvil Hill mine support after crash</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE controversial Mangoola mine at Anvil Hill could be stopped by Muswellbrook Shire Council, which has sensationally withdrawn its support for the project.

Muswellbrook Mayor Martin Rush used his executive powers to quash a November council decision allowing construction work to begin, citing safety concerns after a fatal accident last week involving an oversized truck carrying equipment to the mine...
"I cannot be satisfied, as I must, that the present arrangements (particularly the manner of escorting over-dimensioned vehicles) are safe in light of what has now occurred," Cr Rush wrote....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/muswellbrook-shire-council-withdraws-anvil-hill-mine-support-after-crash/1722623.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:06 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/488</guid>
			<author>Ben Smee</author>
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			<title>The five threats to China</title>
			<description><![CDATA[In a side-bar to these talks, the world is watching green technology development in China, which is being encouraged by the government. The countrys 863 Program has been massively expanded in the area of new energy technology research, with the government establishing targets for installing wind turbines, solar panels and hydro-electric dams. And while the worlds second largest energy consumer woos oil-rich states like Nigeria to secure energy supplies, it also taking small steps towards fostering development of green energy supplies at home. In December last year the government amended its renewable energy laws to require electricity grid companies to buy all power produced by renewable energy generators.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-property-bubble-GDP-growth-social-unrest-Ste-pd20100111-ZKVUN?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/487</guid>
			<author>Isabelle Oderberg</author>
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			<title>Lost property: home in deed but not in fact</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NSW farmer Peter Spencer is coming up to the 50th day of his hunger strike. Spencer is arguing that he should be adequately compensated for native vegetation regulations that prevent his chopping down trees on his land.

Fair enough. Compensation for loss of property rights is part of the Commonwealth constitution.

But native vegetation laws are state laws, and state constitutions dont require state governments to pay just compensation for property they take. Spencer claims these laws were enacted at the behest of the Federal Government, allowing Canberra to meet its Kyoto greenhouse emissions targets without the hassle of paying those who own the native vegetation carbon sinks. (Constitutional limitations on government power must be pretty annoying.)

Certainly, the nuances of regulations governing the clearing of native vegetation sound dull, but theyre actually very important. A mountain of regulation imposed by all three levels of government is eroding one of our basic human rights - the right to own property.

This might seem a bit counter-intuitive. The Government hasnt literally taken Spencers property away. He hasnt been kicked off: hes still allowed to wander his land at his leisure. He still holds the title. But his right to use the land has definitely been taken. Put it this way: what if the Government told you that you could keep your house, but couldnt live in it? Sure, youd technically still own it, but you bought that house because you thought it would be a nice place to sleep. You dont really own it in any useful sense.

Its the same with farmland. Spencer may not have been physically deprived of his land, but whats the point if hes not allowed to farm it? And if Spencer is not compensated for this regulatory taking, how is it much different from legalised theft? Spencers is not an isolated problem. In urban areas, planning regulations and heritage restrictions are increasingly onerous as state and local governments try to micro-manage the character of suburbs.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/lost-property-home-in-deed-but-not-in-fact-20100109-lzs0.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/486</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Country pays a high price</title>
			<description><![CDATA[By guaranteeing that water will flow to Melbourne this year, Holding casts the city as a greedy parasite. - whats new to country people as the godless city dwellers rape the environment for short-term benefit.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/country-pays-a-high-price-to-slake-the-citys-thirst-20100109-lzrz.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:12 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/485</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Maritime workers striking for 30% pay rise over 3 yrs... Lets all get one!</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[Already nations highest paid.. who said GREED... A good pattern for the rest of us... Ed]

In an action that employers say will cost oil and gas companies hundreds of thousands of dollars, unionists at shipping company Farstad plan to walk off the job for 48 hours this weekend.

The walkout is a renewal of strike action last month taken as part of the Farstad workers campaign for a 30 per cent pay claim over three years.

The Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) says the strike action will affect oil and gas producers including Woodside, Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil, which operate in WAs North West Shelf and in Bass Strait.]]></description>
			<link>http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/maritime-workers-going-on-strike-20100108-lyoy.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/484</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Local population of endangered bird cut by half</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Researchers say extreme heat has wiped out half a local population of endangered birds on WAs South Coast...."All indications so far is that the deaths have occurred because of the extreme heat (53 degrees) and winds that have been prevalent in the last couple of days" he said.

"Speaking to witnesses theyve actually watched the birds come in for water and virtually die in front of them."]]></description>
			<link>http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/australian-news/6658825/local-population-of-endangered-bird-cut-by-half/</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/483</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Fatal motor vehicle crash - Wybong</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Friday, 08 Jan 2010 05:19am 


A man has died following a collision involving a utility and a semi trailer in the States Hunter region yesterday.

About 4.50pm police and emergency services were called to Wybong Road, Wybong, after reports of a collision between a Toyota Hilux utility and a semi trailer.

Inquiries into the cause of the crash are continuing, however, it appears that the west bound ute collided with the east bound semi trailer, which was carrying an articulated loader (a piece of mining equipment).

As a result the driver and sole occupant of the ute, a 55-year-old Maitland man, died at the scene.

The male truck driver was not injured. He was taken to Muswellbrook Hospital to undergo mandatory tests.

The road remained closed in both directions for several hours while officers from the Newcastle Crash Investigation Unit conducted inquiries into the cause of the crash.

A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3LmViaXoucG9saWNlLm5zdy5nb3YuYXUlMkZtZWRpYSUyRjk1MjYuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/482</guid>
			<author>NSW Police - New South Wales Government</author>
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			<title>Chinas house of cards</title>
			<description><![CDATA[While much of the rest of the world is in awe of Chinas rapid recovery, the programme tapped into the mounting wave of unease about the sky-rocketing cost of apartments in many cities. Urban Chinese complain loudly about becoming mortgage slaves. 

The house-price angst is fuelling fears among investors that Chinas super-charged lending boom last year is stoking a real estate bubble that will eventually burst and derail the economy. 

Indeed, there is a whiff of Dubai about the Chinese property market at the moment. In Tianjin, a city two hours from Beijing, a developer is starting work on a vast project of luxury villas, built in clusters named after continents, which form the shape of a world map. If that does not sound familiar, nothing screams Dubai more than the 7-star hotel and indoor ski slope that are also part of the plans. (In defence of the skiing, it was -11°C in Tianjin on Wednesday, compared to Dubais 23°C.) 

There are plenty of alarming statistics to back up the anecdotes. According to Knight Frank, average prices for new homes in the year to November rose by 68 per cent in Shanghai, 66 per cent in Beijing and 51 per cent in Shenzhen. The China Daily noted this week that in terms of house prices as a proportion of incomes, China is now the most expensive place in the world.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/china-housing-bubble-property-prices-shanghai-beij-pd20100108-ZGS2L?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/481</guid>
			<author>Geoff Dyer, Financial Times</author>
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			<title>US financial crisis far from over, economists say</title>
			<description><![CDATA[But Simon Johnson, an economist at MITs Sloan School of Business, said that by propping up the financial sector, government efforts to date are only delaying another inevitable crash. 

By giving large financial institutions the assurance that they are too big to fail, and thereby offering an implicit guarantee to excess risk-taking, the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have made the problem worse. 

"The crisis is just beginning," Mr Johnson said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/US-financial-crisis-far-from-over-economists-say-ZDLU5?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/480</guid>
			<author>Reuters</author>
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			<title>Designing a Stove to Save Millions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Clean stoves have hit the big time, or at least attracted the attention of the EPA, World Health Organization, United Nations, and Oakridge National Laboratory, all of whom have taken an interest in cheap, hi-tech stoves and their potential to save lives and stabilize the climate. The latest "World Changers" issue of the The New Yorker carries a great (and quite long) article by Burkhard Bilger called "Hearth Surgery," which paints a thorough state-of-the-union on clean stove technology and the leaders who are trying to bring it to the several billion who still live with open cooking fires in the home]]></description>
			<link>http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/the-new-yorker-on-designing-a-stove-to-save-millions.php?campaign=weekly_nl</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:04 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/479</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata prepared to tackle overflow contamination</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Code for we are definitely polluting the Marray/Darling with heavy metals Ed]
Xstrata Mount Isa Mines says it is doing all it can to manage stormwater and protect local river systems from contamination.

Some of north-west Queenslands biggest mines were investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency after on-site water overflowed early last year.

The operators of Lady Annie Mine, north-west of Mount Isa, were issued with an environmental protection order after an overflow event led to the contamination of local waterways.

Xstrata Mount Isa Mines chief operating officer Steve de Kruijff says for the past four years, as part of its storm water management, the company has been preparing large dams and ground control areas.

"Its really about trying to reduce the storm water escaping from our site and most of the water and most of the stormwater that does come from our mining lease doesnt have any problem," he said.

"But we are just cognitive to the fact that it may carry some heavy metals and we just dont want that impact leaving our mining lease."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/04/2785124.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/478</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Is that hot enough?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Figures released by the Bureau of Meteorology have reminded us why its important to act on climate change. According to the bureau, the past decade was the hottest on record, with a rise of 0.4c over the 1960-1990 average. 

The year 2009 was 0.9c above the average and the coming year promises to be even hotter, boosted by an El Niño effect. The effects are plain for all to see and go to explain why it is that Australian business has cause to fear that the Rudd government might just be tempted to follow the US and threaten business with regulation of carbon emissions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Carbon-trading-ETS-policy-climate-change-el-nino-pd20100106-ZEREZ?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/477</guid>
			<author>Giles Parkinson</author>
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			<title>China the one to watch, and worry about</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[Chinese protectionism revolves around fixing an artificially low rate of exchange with the $USD. Take that away and see what happens. However the Chinese are so dependent on $ protectionism that they cannot. Ed]

The Chinese refuse to acknowledge the problem. Recently Prime Minister Wen Jiabao dismissed foreign complaints: On one hand, you are asking for the yuan to appreciate, and on the other hand, you are taking all kinds of protectionist measures. Indeed: other countries are taking (modest) protectionist measures precisely because China refuses to let its currency rise. And more such measures are entirely appropriate. Or are they? I usually hear two reasons for not confronting China over its policies. Neither holds water.

First, theres the claim that we cant confront the Chinese because they would wreak havoc with the US economy by dumping their hoard of dollars. This is all wrong, and not just because in so doing the Chinese would inflict large losses on themselves. The larger point is that the same forces that make Chinese mercantilism so damaging right now also mean that China has little or no financial leverage.

Again, right now the world is awash in cheap money. So if China were to start selling dollars, theres no reason to think it would significantly raise US interest rates. It would probably weaken the dollar against other currencies - but that would be good, not bad, for US competitiveness and employment. So if the Chinese do dump dollars, we should send them a thank-you note.

Second, theres the claim that protectionism is always a bad thing, in any circumstances. If thats what you believe, however, you learnt economics 101 from the wrong people - because when unemployment is high and the government cant restore full employment, the usual rules dont apply.

Let me quote from a classic paper by the late Paul Samuelson, who more or less created modern economics: With employment less than full . . . all the debunked mercantilistic arguments - that is, claims that nations that subsidise their exports effectively steal jobs from other countries - turn out to be valid.

He then went on argue that persistently misaligned exchange rates create genuine problems for free-trade apologetics. The best answer to these problems is getting exchange rates back to where they ought to be. But thats exactly what China is refusing to let happen.

The bottom line is that Chinese mercantilism is a growing problem, and the victims of that mercantilism have little to lose from a trade confrontation. So Id urge Chinas Government to reconsider its stubbornness. Otherwise, the very mild protectionism it is currently complaining about will be the start of something much bigger.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/china-the-one-to-watch-and-worry-about-20100103-ln95.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/476</guid>
			<author>Paul Krugman</author>
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			<title>Global warming continuing</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Bureau of Meteorology annual statement said temperatures were quickly rising above the long-term average at a level consistent with global warming.

In line with most other world regions, Australia had its hottest decade since modern record-keeping began.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/heatwave-shows-need-for-carbon-deal-garrett-20100105-lses.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/475</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Griffin Coal enters administration</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[most of the open cut pits of the Upper Hunter operate under the same bottom of the harbour arrangements as this flunky show below - shelf companies Pty Ltd with massive debts to offshore parents - liquidateable at any moment should there be a downturn or mine reaches end of economic life and is due for rehabilitation - expect that not one of the toxic U. Hunter sites will ever be rehabilitated by its owner. Ed. ]....

Privately owned Western Australian coal company, Griffin Coal has entered administration after the company missed a December 31 deadline on $30 million due to be made in debt and tax payments.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Griffin-Coal-enters-administration-pd20100104-ZCQKU?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/474</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>China introduces law to boost renewable energy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Grid operators refusing to buy power produced by renewable energy generators could be fined up to double the loss suffered by the renewable energy generator, the amendment said. 

Chinas target is for renewable energy sources to make up 15 per cent of its power generation by 2020, up from about nine per cent currently. It also targets a reduction in carbon intensity, or the amount of carbon produced per unit of GDP, of between 40 and 45 per cent by 2020 compared with 2005.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-introduces-law-to-boost-renewable-energy-Z56ZS?OpenDocument&amp;src=is</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/473</guid>
			<author>By Lucy Hornby of Reuters</author>
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			<title>Food security - consigned to Australian history</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Much of the rich farmland surrounding Sydney and Melbourne has been replaced by urban spread. There are just 1050 surviving market gardens around Sydney and half are in the sights of the developer-dominated NSW Labor Government.

Australias food security is going backwards. Our lax food-labelling laws are being exploited by the giant retail chains to import cheap food from abroad, mix it with Australian product and, if more than 50 per cent of the value of the mix is Australian, to label it Made in Australia. The consumer is being duped and the practice is sending some local farmers broke.

If Australias population keeps growing at a rate of 1.2 million people every three years, and the Murray-Darling Basin continues to degrade, and the arid zone continues to expand, and cheap imported food continues to out-compete local product, Australia will become a net importer of food sooner rather than later. Hard to imagine, but inevitable on present trends.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/neglect-of-food-sources-has-the-chooks-coming-home-to-roost-20091227-lg5y.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:28 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/472</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Nation must embrace atmospheric carbon reduction</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Research by the Institute of Sustainable Futures in Sydney shows that vast amounts of energy could be saved by better managing peak load power generation. Coupled with wide-scale energy efficiency measures, and some localised, low-emissions power generation, greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector could be slashed.

"You could cut emissions by 10 per cent in 12 months," said the institutes director, Stuart White. "Thats the low-hanging fruit - the easy part. The problem is that the price signals to do this arent there at the moment."

A series of Australian and international studies, including exhaustive modelling by the Federal Treasury, shows that the long-term economic effect of wholesale change on this level will be small. If Australia were to follow the two-degree track to 2050, the effect would be a slowing of economic growth by a few months over four decades.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/nation-must-embrace-awful-arithmetic-of-garnaut-cuts-20091221-la2n.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/471</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Tahmoor miners to march</title>
			<description><![CDATA[More than 500 Tahmoor mineworkers and supporters will take to the street today in protest over mining company Xstratas refusal to promise job safety and security.

For the past 15 months Xstrata has knocked back a proposal to put together a job safety and security deal, finally resulting in industrial action from its workforce.
....

"Tahmoor coalminers and their families are saddened at the fact that a big rich mining company is not prepared to guarantee job security and safety standards," Mr McAndrew said.


"Xstrata has racked up billions of dollars in profits off the backs of its workers here in our community of Tahmoor."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/tahmoor-miners-to-march/1710666.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:28 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/470</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Govt under pressure over ETS</title>
			<description><![CDATA[keeping global temperature increases to below two degrees, the level that has found majority support among nations, would require the federal government to adopt the top end of its current target range. 

"If the world really was on the path to delivering that, that would be a 25 per cent target in Australia by 2020 and 90 per cent by 2050," Mr Garnaut said on Monday.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Govt-pressured-on-both-sides-as-Garnaut-sparks-tar-pd20091222-YXKD4?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:23 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/469</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Protesters stop trains to main Australian coal port: Assaults by SOG Police...</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[We have received eyewitness reports that several of the protesters were seriously assaulted by Special Operation Group Police during and after arrest with one protester seriously injured and requiring urgent medical assistance on release - such assistance being denied by Police for several hours following the assault and arrest. Legal action is expected to subpoena CCTV, civil and Police footage of the serious assault inflicting grevious bodily harm.] editor....

Sydney: An environmental group said it blocked rail lines to Australias main coal export port for six hours on Sunday, calling it a protest against the failure of the Copenhagen summit on climate change.


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Rising Tide said its members chained themselves to tracks, hung from a bridge and climbed on trains to stop them reaching the Kooragang coal terminal in Newcastle, north of Sydney.

Australia is the worlds largest exporter of coal and relies heavily on coal for its electricity. Much is mined in the Hunter Valley, inland from Newcastle, and mostly shipped from the port.

Spokesman Steve Phillips told Reuters the protest ended after 23 of the groups members were arrested by police. "Direct action," he said, was warranted in view of the failure of world leaders to address climate change.

"We did it as a protest against the failure of the Copenhagen climate change talks," Phillips said. "We are losing faith in our leaders to get the world out of this crisis."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_protesters-stop-trains-to-main-australian-coal-port_1325599</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/468</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Rudd fails on climate change</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Copenhagen conference on climate change has been a "comprehensive failure" for the prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says. 

After 13 days of tortuous talks, the representatives of 192 nations on Sunday set a goal of limiting warming to two degrees celsius and earmarked $US10 billion ($A11.28 billion) in early funding for poor countries most at risk from climate change. 

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd threw his support behind the deal as "a significant global agreement on climate change action", but said much more remained to be done. 

"Some will be disappointed by the amount of progress, the alternative was frankly catastrophic collapse," he told reporters on Saturday at the troubled summit. 

However, Mr Abbott said the result was a rebuff to the prime minister. 

"Intentions are better than nothing, but Mr Rudd has failed his own test," Mr Abbott told Sky News on Sunday. 

"He said a few years ago that what we wanted to get were real targets against real time lines ... and certainly by that standard its been a comprehensive failure." 

He said such agreement as was reached by world leaders was too unspecific to be of value. 

"We can all say lets get temperature increases down, but they havent said what they would do to bring that about ... Theyve said lets not let the temperature go up by more than two degrees but they havent said how theyre going to achieve it. 

"No country at Copenhagen has committed to any particular way forward. Thats why I think its very disappointing and thats why I think its very hard for the prime minister, who always said real progress meant real targets against real time lines, its very hard for him to claim any kind of a victory." 

Mr Abbott added: "What this shows is that Kevin Rudd was very unwise to rush Australia into prematurely adopting a commitment in the absence of similar commitments from the rest of the world, and I think it certainly entirely vindicates the oppositions stance in rejecting Mr Rudds great big new tax on everything when parliament was sitting earlier this month."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Rudd-fails-on-climate-change-Abbott-YW37V?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:24 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/467</guid>
			<author>AAP</author>
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			<title>COPENHAGEN CALLING: Is this the end?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Global clean energy investments outstripped fossil fuel investment for the first time last year and US, China and many other nations made it absolutely clear in numerous speeches and presentations in Copenhagen that they would continue to drive such investments. Planting trees might be a good idea, but it doesnt make for economic transformation on the scale that is required. 

There is much talk about the threat of carbon leakage. A recent report by the World Bank, as well as the presentations inside the Bella Centre last Thursday by the International Institute of Sustainable Development, suggests these fears are overstated. 

The biggest threat to Australian business if it cannot make substantive progress towards low carbon economy may come in the form of carbon tariffs. This is the stated intent of the Waxman-Markey Bill being considered by the US Senate, and is being openly discussed in Europe]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Copenhagen-climate-change-Barack-Obama-Kevin-Rudd--pd20091221-YWQTB?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/466</guid>
			<author>Giles Parkinson</author>
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			<title>Rudds the biggest loser</title>
			<description><![CDATA[There are few national leaders in the world who had more at stake in Copenhagen last week than Kevin Rudd. He and his government managed to manoeuvre themselves into having the most to lose if things didnt pan out - apart from the government of Denmark.

And pan out is what Copenhagen did not do. The Chinese delegation went home elated, popping champagne in the Peoples 747, while a bedraggled Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong would have sat miserably with their seat belts firmly buckled, glum-faced and barely speaking, thinking about having to face a euphoric Tony Abbott.

It seems only yesterday that Climate Change Minister Penny Wong emerged from negotiating with Opposition Energy spokesman Ian Macfarlane declaring "peace in our time", with predictions of a rapid passage of the CPRS legislation and, at last, certainty for businesses.

Since then, Macfarlane and his boss Malcolm Turnbull have been turfed out in a coup by the anti-appeasers, and the carnival in Copenhagen that was supposed to support the emergence of emissions trading schemes everywhere turned into a circus instead.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Rudds-hot-options-pd20091221-YWRFK?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/465</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>Chinas carbon camp is calling</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Australia emerged from Copenhagen on the wrong side. We were in the American camp, and in a group of nations who are now vocal about carbon but short on action. 

We should be in the Chinese camp because China, instead of spending time and energy on carbon trading is setting about taking action and it looks like they are going to lead the world in carbon reduction, which will undoubtedly be the growth industry of the decade.
Leaving that aside, China is growing rapidly so was always going to have a carbon problem. What was obscured in the reports from western media at Copenhagen was that China is tackling the problem in a serious manner by actually taking real action.

For example, China invests in renewables at twice the rate of Australia on a per unit of GDP basis and it closing down brown coal and other high-carbon sources of power. In the process China is going to develop a huge carbon reduction industry which will lead the world.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au//bs.nsf/Article/Copenhagen-climate-change-US-China-carbon-pd20091221-YWS62?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/464</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>Protesters stop trains to main Australian coal port</title>
			<description><![CDATA[An environmental group said it blocked rail lines to Australias main coal export port for six hours on Sunday, calling it a protest against the failure of the Copenhagen summit on climate change.


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Railways cutting carbon footprint 
Now what? 
Jairam Ramesh to make statement in Rajya Sabha on Copenhagen talks 
Angry citizens launch missiles against politicians 
Response of climate summit to challenges is faulty: MS Swaminathan 
Rising Tide said its members chained themselves to tracks, hung from a bridge and climbed on trains to stop them reaching the Kooragang coal terminal in Newcastle, north of Sydney.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_protesters-stop-trains-to-main-australian-coal-port_1325599</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/463</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Rudds green credentials a lot of hot air</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Carbon trading is a system dismissed by the worlds most influential scientist on global warming, James Hansen, who, as director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, essentially invented and popularised the concept of human-induced global warming.

Hansen believes carbon trading schemes, especially those as complex and compromised as the scheme proposed by the Rudd Government, are misguided: These cap-and-trade trading schemes are a terrible idea. They are a way to continue business as usual ... 

Business as usual is exactly what the Rudd Government, the unions and the Labor patronage machine are all about. The soaring rhetoric about climate change is just carbon emission.

The Copenhagen summit and carbon trading were the linchpins for Rudds determination to push his emissions trading legislation through Parliament. Failure to do so, he implied, would force him to call an early election on the principle of saving the environment.

The Liberals called his bluff. The compliant Malcolm Turnbull was replaced with Tony Abbott, who immediately called for an election on emissions trading.

In response, Rudds election threat is melting away, along with his credibility as an environmentalist as the Murray-Darling systems dies, the miners rule, and the cities bulge with new arrivals and congestion on a scale not seen in this country before.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/rudds-green-credentials-a-lot-of-hot-air-20091220-l7ez.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/462</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Venezuelan Presidents Speech on Climate Change in Copenhagen</title>
			<description><![CDATA[This planet is billions of years old, and this planet existed for billions of years without us, the human species, i.e. it doesnt need us to exist. Now, without the Earth we will not exist, and we are destroying Pachamama as Evo says, as our indigenous brothers from South America say.

Finally, Mr. President, and to finish, lets listen to Fidel Castro when he said: "One species is in danger of extinction: Humanity."

Lets listen to Rosa Luxemburg when she said: "Socialism or Barbarism."

Let us listen to Christ the Redeemer when he said: "Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, we are capable of not making this Earth the tomb of humanity. Let us make this earth a heaven, a heaven of life, of peace, peace and brotherhood for all humanity, for the human species.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much and enjoy your meal.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5013</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/461</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata, a multi-national mining firm, knew full well that it would eventually be shutting down the Met Site and had that in mind when the purchase went through three years ago.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[[Wherever they go Xstrata are only concerned with predatory profit. Binding agreements to maintain workforce numbers, sites etc mean nothing to Xstrata unless they equal excessive profits. Xstrata - predators raping the global environment.] ed

----------------------
Denis Saudino convinced city council Monday night take action to fight the Xstrata closure of the Kidd Met Site.

 

Timmins city councilor Denis Saudino made an impassioned plea to his fellow city councilors Monday night to take whatever action is necessary to save the 670 jobs that will be lost by the announced shutdown of the Xstrata Kidd Met Site next May. 

Council supported Saudino with a resolution of support calling on the federal government to provide full public disclosure of the agreement that allowed for the sale of the Falconbridge Kidd smelter to Xstrata back in August of 2006. 

Saudino told city council this week he is confident that Xstrata, a multi-national mining firm, knew full well that it would eventually be shutting down the Met Site and had that in mind when the purchase went through three years ago. 

"I know they probably did their due diligence. They probably said what happens if we close Timmins? And so they probably talked to somebody in government somewhere. Somebody knows something, somebody knew this was coming. Id like to know who," said Saudino. 

He speculated that somebody went along with the deal "because with globalization, thats what happens." 

"Well, thats not acceptable," Saudino told council. 

Saudino asked council to support his request for a strong-worded resolution to be sent to Queens Park and the House of Commons asking that the behind-the-scenes dealing for the Xstrata purchase be made public and that the higher levels of government kick in funding to provide a co-generation plant or reduce Hydro One rates "to keep these jobs in Ontario." 

"I think you have raised some excellent points," Mayor Tom Laughren told 

Saudino, who added he doesnt think anybody in the city wants to sit back to and take the Xstrata news without a fight. 

The resolution, which was passed unanimously, will be forwarded to the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. 

As the resolution was passed, a group of CAW Local 599 workers in the council gallery stood and applauded. Local 599 is the union that represents the majority of Xstrata Met Site employees. The union will be making a new statement at a news conference called for 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.timminstimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2221241&amp;auth=Len%20Gillis</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/460</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>The Copenhagen Accord: a deal far from perfect</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Environment groups slammed the failure of rich countries to announce their final 2020 target, saying the pledges on the table will lead to a temperature rise of three degrees, enough to trigger dangerous climate change, according to scientists.

Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said: "World leaders had a once-in-a-generation chance to change the world for good, to avert catastrophic climate change. In the end they produced a poor deal full of loopholes big enough to fly Air Force One through."

Lumumba Stanislaus Dia Ping, from Sudan, which is chairing the Group of 77 and China bloc of 130 poor nations, condemned the deal: "Todays events really represent the worst developments in climate change negotiations in history."

In Sydney, Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the accord was as hollow as Mr Rudds attempts to affect climate change.

Mr Abbott, who argues Australia should delay a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme until a substantive agreement has been struck at a global level, said: "I think its wrong for people like Mr Rudd to imagine that they can be much more than the mouse that roared."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/the-copenhagen-accord-a-deal-far-from-perfect-20091219-l6oi.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/459</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Abbott condemns PM as mouse that roared</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Copenhagen Accord was as hollow as Prime Minister Kevin Rudds attempts to affect climate change, Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said yesterday.

As global anger and protests greeted the historic deal - the terms of which fell short even of the generally low expectations for the summit - Mr Abbott went on the attack.

The Opposition Leader, who argues Australia should delay a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) until a substantive agreement has been struck at a global level, said: Copenhagen, it seems, has been a very Kevin Rudd kind of agreement. Theres been a lot of words but not many deeds come out of it.

Mr Abbott said the draft accord was more good intentions, but said it was better than no agreement at all on climate change.

He said Mr Rudd had been wrong to rush the Governments climate change policy through Parliament. It was shot down in the Senate.

I hope that hell now entirely reconsider his climate change policy, he said.

Mr Abbott attacked Mr Rudds belief he may have been able to influence the outcome of an agreement struck at Copenhagen. I think that it was always a great conceit to think that Australia could save the world on its own, he said.

The Australian voice should be heard in the world but I think its wrong for people like Mr Rudd to imagine that they can be much more than the mouse that roared.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/abbott-condemns-pm-as-mouse-that-roared-20091219-l6on.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/458</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Lack of coal buyer stalls mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The lack of a buyer for coal is stalling the development of Cape Bretons Donkin mine.

An official with Xstrata Coal said the company is ready and willing to begin an exploratory mining operation, but it cannot do so until it finds a buyer for the ore....
Istomin expects Xstrata will find a buyer for the coal eventually. Even so, he said there are other factors slowing down the project, such as a slumping U.S. market for power and falling gas prices.

"Many of these utilities have the ability to switch from coal to gas or oil, and with the depressed gas prices at the moment those utilities that can burn gas are burning gas because its the cheapest source of energy they can purpose, which means theyre not purchasing coal," said Istomin.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2009/12/18/ns-donkin-coal-buyer.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/457</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Copenhagen Negotiators Bicker and Filibuster While the Biosphere Burns</title>
			<description><![CDATA[First they put the planet in square brackets, now they have deleted it from the text. This is no longer about saving the biosphere: now its just a matter of saving face. As the talks melt down, everything that might have made a new treaty worthwhile is being scratched out. Any deal will do, as long as the negotiators can pretend they have achieved something. A clearer and less destructive treaty than the texts currently being discussed would be a sheaf of blank paper, which every negotiating party solemnly sits down to sign]]></description>
			<link>http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/12/18-11</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/456</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Last Planned Coal Plant in Florida Cancelled</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Earthjustice has been at the forefront of moving utilities and regulators away from coal. In June 2007, Earthjustice successfully challenged Florida Power and Lights proposal for what would have been the largest new coal plant in the United States, near Everglades National Park. The landmark environmental victory marked the first time global warming played a role in a decision by the states utility regulatory agency, the Public Service Commission.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/12/18-2</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/455</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Acidic oceans threaten marine life</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE growing acidity in the oceans caused by the soaring increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is irreversible in the short term, posing a serious threat to the marine life.

A major report prepared for the UN meeting in Copenhagen warns world leaders that by 2050, the ocean acidity could increase by 150 per cent.

This dramatic increase is 100 times faster than any change in acidity experienced in the marine environment over the last 20 million years, giving little time for evolutionary adaptation within biological systems, the study says.

Only the rapid reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by at least 50 per cent by 2050 can avoid substantial damage to ocean life, according to the report, which was prepared under the UN Environment Program and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The report highlights the direct link between soaring greenhouse gas emissions, the health of the oceans and the enormous cost they will involve for human society.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/acidic-oceans-threaten-marine-life-20091214-ksdn.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/454</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Speculators at it again. Get ready for GFC II + Climate Crisis</title>
			<description><![CDATA[China is producing copper at record levels while demand from developed nations is weak. Even so, prices reached a 14-month peak last week. Global lead and zinc markets have 230% and 135%, respectively, more stocks than last year! This year, the US, Japan and Germany consumed substantially less nickel because stainless steel production was down. But nickel prices rose almost 50%. 

Current high prices are thus no longer a guarantee of demand. Other portents are equally bleak. The weak dollar, the high dependence on government spending and the flight to gold as a safe haven are all signs that global industrial recovery is elusive. China and India alone cant absorb the new supply. As Germanys Commerzbank reportedly said this week while raising its copper price forecast for 2010: "The absence of physical demand is being compensated for by investors." In short, current prices are useless if you want to know how much customers are buying now and what they will buy in future.

All will be well if the bets turn out good. If not, the metals industry may have a bloodbath. Companies will be desperate to sell or export extra supply, leading to price wars, tariff wars, and trade wars that create political tension and disrupt supply chains. 

The signs are there. China makes as much steel as the next eight producers combined. This year China made 11% more steel (and 20% more aluminum) oblivious to the risk it was running by creating a global glut. Meanwhile, US mills are still running at 62% capacity. 

For now the surplus is largely quarantined in China because its stimulus package has created local demand. But when this package runs out, China will flood the world market.]]></description>
			<link>http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Rising-food-prices-Green-signal-or-smokescreen/articleshow/5332110.cms</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/453</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Wybong property home to array of wildlife</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The search of a single property near Wybong has uncovered a remarkable number of wildlife, plant species and Aboriginal heritage, including an orchid never seen before.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.nrm.gov.au/projects/nsw/hcen/2006-01.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/452</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Approved Conservation Advice for Prasophyllum sp. Wybong (C. Phelps ORG 5269) (a leek orchid)</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Conservation Status
Prasophyllum sp. Wybong (C. Phelps ORG 5269) is listed as critically endangered. This species is eligible for listing as critically endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) (EPBC Act) as it has a very restricted geographic distribution with an estimated area of occupancy of 1.5 km2. The species geographic distribution is precarious for its survival due to fragmentation and ongoing threats (TSSC, 2009).]]></description>
			<link>http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/81964-conservation-advice.pdf</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/451</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Keneally rules out ban on new coal-fired power generators</title>
			<description><![CDATA[KRISTINA Keneally has ruled out a ban on new coal-fired power generators, signalling that the "greening" of the NSW Labor government under her predecessor, Nathan Rees, has ended. 

In a further sign that jobs and investment have moved to centre stage under the new Premier, Mrs Keneally has indicated she will revisit Mr Reess decision, announced on his final day in office, to establish a national park to preserve river red gums on the Murray.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/state-politics/keneally-creates-new-environment/story-e6frgczx-1225809565558</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/450</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>China rejects Rudds draft climate deal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CHINA has accused the developed world of retreating from its undertakings to cut greenhouse gas emissions, rejected a proposal at the Copenhagen conference to reduce financial help to China and described the draft deal Kevin Rudd worked on as creating "a lot of problems". 

The Chinese have accused the developed world of abandoning the Kyoto Protocol and pressuring the developing nations to cut emissions without proper compensation for the "luxury emissions" the West has put out for the past century.

The so-called "commitment circle" draft document worked out between Denmark, Australia and other nations was said to be from a small and isolated group and designed to lift the political standing of individuals.

Chinas ambassador to Australian, Junsai Zhang, has forcefully put the Chinese governments case against proposals to bind developing nations to targets to cut greenhouse gases, drop the Kyoto commitments made by the developed nations and cut the share for China, India and Brazil of a $US10 billion-a-year financial help fund for developing countries to fight climate change.
...... (Ed. Krudd is caught out as a charlatan.)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/china-rejects-draft-climate-deal/story-e6frg6xf-1225809565931</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/449</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Balaclava Island Queensland - Next on Xstratas Hit List</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Narrows represent an uncommon passage landscape and are one of only five narrow tidal passages separating large continental islands from the mainland in Australia. Of the five passages, Pumicestone Passage and Great Sandy Strait separate large sand islands from the mainland, leaving only Hinchinbrook Channel and Howard Island (NT) as geologically comparable to The Narrows. In contrast to the sub-tropical Narrows, Hinchinbrook Channel and the Howard Passage are wide tropical estuaries at a much earlier stage of development. 

The Narrows are also an important indicator of past geomorphological processes, as many of Queenslands headlands and coastal ranges have been joined to the mainland by sedimentation processes identical with those operating within The Narrows. The geomorphological system includes the distinctive features of Balaclava Island, Kangaroo Island, Targinie Creek, Graham Creek and The Narrows. 

Balaclava Island and The Narrows are in a zone of overlap and transition between tropical and temperate littoral vegetation communities. Importantly, this determines a switch in the competitive balance between southern mangrove communities dominated by the temperate/sub-tropical species, AVICENNIA MARINA and northern mangroves dominated by the tropical species of RHIZOPHORA. Three mangrove species are at, or near, their southern limit in the area.

Not even registered listing on the National Estate is enough to prevent Xstrata seeking to destroy our biodiversity in its evil godless greed.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=18811</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/448</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata presses on with Balaclava Island proposal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[An independent environmental impact statement is being prepared to consider any potential environmental, social, and cultural impacts of the proposed coal export terminal.

Xstrata originally favoured Port Alma as the site for the terminal but subsequently decided that the adjacent, undeveloped Balaclava Island was the better option.


Xstrata has also submitted an Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation EPBC Act referral to the federal Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.


"These submissions mark the start of the environmental approvals process for the proposed coal export terminal on Balaclava Island," a company spokesman said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/archive/2009/december/10/xstrata-presses-ahead-on-balaclava-island</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/447</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Upper Hunter anger over coal royalties</title>
			<description><![CDATA[UPPER Hunter councils say the State Government is ripping a huge windfall of coal royalties out of the region but putting nothing back in return.

They are also angry that the Government has refused to direct some royalties to Muswellbrook and Singleton councils.


They say it took Macquarie Street six months to dismiss the request with "a scant 13 lines" of a letter from former mineral resources minister Peter Primrose.


The coal royalty issue exploded this week when The Herald revealed that Hunter mining royalties would earn the Government $920 million this year, almost three times the $365 million paid in 2006.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/upper-hunter-anger-over-coal-royalties/1702064.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/446</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Rudd will make a carbon copy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[It will be a long time before an Australian Prime Minister duplicates the strong personal friendship that John Howard enjoyed with George Bush. But the new US ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, yesterday reminded those at the Melbourne Press Club that Kevin Rudd has spent more time with President Obama in the oval office than any other international leader. 

What he was too polite to point out was that Kevin Rudd has had a personal falling out with the Chinese leaders so that President Obama becomes very important to Australian clout in international relations.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/United-we-stand-Keeping-close-ties-pd20091209-YJRJW?OpenDocument&amp;src=rab</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/445</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>News of shutdown rocks business community</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Timmins Chamber of Commerce did not receive any advanced warning from Xstrata that the company was planning to close its metallurgical site in May.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2211306</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/444</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>No Slowdown of Global Warming, Agency Says</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The decade of 2000 to 2009 appears to be the warmest one in the modern record, the World Meteorological Organization reported in a new analysis on Tuesday.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/science/earth/09climate.html?_r=1&amp;emc=eta1</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/443</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>The NBN solution was there all along</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The fundamental problem is that Stephen Conroys overkill has set up the prospect of two national wholesale network companies that will not be allowed to merge, but neither of which can be commercial viable on its own..... So the only solution is .. If Telstra split itself into separate network and retail companies, the network company would have to gradually replace its copper with fibre - probably just to nodes (neighbourhood stations) to start with and eventually right up to the premises...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/telstra-nbn-structural-separation-conroy-pd20091208-YHRMC?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/442</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>Tahmoor coalminers continue their fight against Xstrata Coal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Workers will continue to reduce the capacity of the mine and enforce bans on loading coal trains until Friday.]]></description>
			<link>http://macarthur-chronicle-wollondilly.whereilive.com.au/news/story/tahmoor-coalminers-continue-their-fight-against-xstrata-coal/</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/441</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata Tahmoor strike</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Workers at Xstratas Tahmoor colliery have refused to accept two collective agreements proposed by the company.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/02/2759417.htm?site=sydney</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/440</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>What constitutes success in Copenhagen?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The science demands, and leading nations have agreed in principle, to try and cap global greenhouse emissions at 450 parts per million. 

However, that requires a peak in emissions by 2017-2020 and a 25-40 per cent cut on annual emissions output (below 1990 levels) from developed countries by 2020. The world is still a long way short of that. The US has proposed a 17 per cent cut from 2005 emissions by 2020, and Obama may hesitate to make a more meaningful offer in the face of an obstinate Senate and mid-term elections. 

Developing countries such as China, Brazil, and India will need to agree to cuts of 20-30 per cent below business as usual but they say they cant commit to that unless the developed world agrees to cuts of 40 per cent. However, China and India have opened their bidding with announced cuts in "emissions intensity", the amount of carbon produced for each unit of GDP, of up to 45 per cent and 24 per cent respectively.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/copenhagen-climate-conference-talks-ets-cprs-carbo-pd20091203-YD5YH?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/439</guid>
			<author>Giles Parkinson</author>
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			<title>what we are doing is lowering our standard of living, which will increase the crime rates in our cities</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Reserve Banks plan is to lift interest rates again in 2010 with rises of between 50 and 75bps on the drawing board. That simply means that even more people will not be able buy a dwelling, so the shortages will increase and rentals will rise. The density in existing dwellings will rise further. In effect what we are doing is lowering our standard of living, which will increase the crime rates in our cities.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/RBA-interest-rates-house-prices-affordability-hous-pd20091204-YDSDX?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:15 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/438</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>Copenhagen climate change talks must fail, says top scientist</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global warming says it would be better for the planet and for future generations if next weeks Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse.


James Hansen talks to Suzanne Goldenberg Link to this audio In an interview with the Guardian, James Hansen, the worlds pre-eminent climate scientist, said any agreement likely to emerge from the negotiations would be so deeply flawed that it would be better to start again from scratch.

"I would rather it not happen if people accept that as being the right track because its a disaster track," said Hansen, who heads the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

"The whole approach is so fundamentally wrong that it is better to reassess the situation..... 
 "This is analagous to the indulgences that the Catholic church sold in the middle ages. The bishops collected lots of money and the sinners got redemption. Both parties liked that arrangement despite its absurdity. ....
He has irked some environmentalists by espousing a direct carbon tax on fuel use.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/02/copenhagen-climate-change-james-hansen</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/437</guid>
			<author>"The Guardian"</author>
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			<title>Scientist quits CSIRO amid censorship claims</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A MESSY public quarrel between the CSIRO and one of its employees came to a dramatic conclusion yesterday, with the ecological economist Clive Spash resigning and calling for a Senate inquiry to examine claims of censorship at the science body.

Dr Spash yesterday lashed out at his former employer, saying it had treated him extremely poorly. He said the organisation had gagged his views on emissions trading schemes.

The spat centres on a paper Dr Spash wrote, The Brave New World of Carbon Trading, which criticised cap and trade schemes, such as that proposed by the Rudd Government.

The CSIRO refused permission for the paper to be published in the journal New Political Economy because it deemed it in breach of the CSIRO charter, which prevents staff from publicly debating the merits of government or opposition policies.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/scientist-quits-csiro-amid-censorship-claims-20091203-k8vb.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:13 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/436</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Why Barnaby said thank you to Penny</title>
			<description><![CDATA[BARNABY Joyce started his response to the final debate on the emissions trading legislation with a big "thank you" to Penny Wong and the Government last night.
Thank you, said The Nationals leader in the Senate, for uniting the Coalition.....
Mr Truss said his party still wanted something to be done about global warming, but in a completely different way to that proposed.

"We came to the last election with a policy to reduce carbon emissions; we supported the renewable energy targets. We supported the targets Kevin Rudd will be taking to Copenhagen," Mr Truss said.

"Our difference is the way in which you achieve that.

"We believe you need to do practical things that actually reduce CO2 emissions but a new tax doesnt do that. 

"Selling pieces of paper doesnt reduce the climate; doesnt reduce the CO2 emissions. You need to undertake actually practical measures.

"If you sell a piece of paper, you havent done anything to reduce C02 emissions."

Mr Abbott also quickly moved to tighten ties with The Nationals, telling his first press conference as leader that he "always thought that a Liberal is a city National, and a National is a country Liberal".]]></description>
			<link>http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/why-barnaby-said-thank-you-to-penny/1693804.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/435</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata Coals Tahmoor mine workers walk off the job</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MORE than 200 workers from Xstrata Coals Tahmoor mine stopped work yesterday (Monday) in protest of their work conditions. 

The employees and their families protested outside the Tahmoor Inn after negotiations with Xstrata on Friday broke down. 

Mineworkers said they were forced to take protected industrial action in a bid to obtain better job security and safety standards at the Tahmoor mine.]]></description>
			<link>http://macarthur-chronicle-wollondilly.whereilive.com.au/news/story/xstrata-coal-s-tahmoor-mine-workers-walk-off-the-job/</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:16 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/434</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Power bills may rise 60 per cent after ETS starts</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Federal Government is expected to come under increasing pressure to raise compensation for households to offset the effect of its proposed emissions trading scheme.

Independent modelling is believed to show households will be much worse off than has been predicted. The Federal Government has assumed electricity prices for households will rise 12 per cent with an emissions trading scheme, but preliminary estimates by the Independent Price and Regulatory Tribunal suggest prices will rise as much as 60 per cent, perhaps as much as half of this due to carbon prices.

This would add about $400 to the annual power bill over the next three years, which the NSW Energy Minister, John Robertson, described yesterday as quite significant, saying the State Government would seek to limit the rise as far as possible.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/power-bills-may-rise-60-per-cent-after-ets-starts-20091130-k17a.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/433</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>What ignoring Kyoto has cost us</title>
			<description><![CDATA[We are now reaping the consequences of not taking the Kyoto Protocols seriously enough; 12 years later we still have 85 per cent of our electricity generated by coal, a lot of it brown coal, and coal remains our largest export....
It means countries that have been building nuclear power stations, wind farms, solar arrays, hydro power and using more gas over the past 12 years will soon have an advantage over Australia because we havent been doing those things. 

Instead weve been sailing along happily with coal and enjoying electricity prices at least 50 per cent below the rest of the world. 

Now we are facing not only a huge increase in electricity prices over the next five years with enormous disruption to industries and businesses, but also an extremely dangerous political convulsion.....
That means electricity prices will rise by 30 per cent, not 15 per cent. Even a 15 per cent increase in the price of electricity across the board would have a big effect on the structure of the economy; 30 per cent in a hurry would be devastating.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Kyoto-Protocols-coal-electricity-climate-change-pd20091130-Y9RRZ?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/432</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>Xtrata buys up Hunter farmland</title>
			<description><![CDATA[According to The Australian Financial Review, a 190-hectare property at Denman has been purchased for $2.9 million and a 94ha property at Wybong settled for $950,000. 

Xstrata also is believed to have settled on vineyard properties such as Cruikshank Callatoota Estate for several million dollars.....

Caution: .. These may be sales from 2008 now coming to light in Xstrata financial documents or transfer documents.....

Crucikshanks for example moved operations and residence early 2008.]]></description>
			<link>http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/state/property/general/mining-firm-xtrata-buys-up-hunter-farmland/1691412.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/431</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Australia Newcastle Thermal Coal Declines 1.5 Percent to $81.03</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Power-station coal prices at Australias Newcastle port, a benchmark for Asia, fell 1.5 percent, declining for the first time in six weeks. 

The index for coal prices at the New South Wales port fell $1.22 to $81.03 a metric ton in the week to today from $82.25 the previous week, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&amp;sid=aWtfbznxjwas</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/430</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>The carbon horror show</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Finally the full horror of Kevin Rudds carbon trading legislation for business is starting to dawn on at least some Liberal Party politicians. In the National Party Barnaby Joyce was way ahead of them. The more I look at the legislation the more I realise that this is one of the greatest transfers of wealth from business to consumers ever attempted in Australia.....

Where will that money go? John Howard retained office via the so called Howard battlers. Rudd learned from Howard so thats where the money goes....

For Rudd the whole exercise is brilliant and the legislations have been crafted to make sure the ALP stays in power for a decade. Rudd has reduced the opposition to a rabble for the 2010 election and when the 2013 election arrives the Howard battlers will be basking in the income redistribution.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au//bs.nsf/Article/ETS-carbon-trading-CPRS-Kevin-Rudd-Malcolm-Turnbul-pd20091127-Y6R4H?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/429</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Conroys wireless problem</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Why would Telstra, the owner of the fixed-line network, be trying to drive wireless penetration? 

The answer, according to the Goldman analysts, is straightforward. The market is moving in that direction anyway, Telstra has a competitive advantage in terms of the quality of its network, the margins in mobile are now materially better in wireless than fixed and it quite rationally trying to move as many of its customers as it can from the fixed-line network to its wireless network in anticipation that the fixed-line network will be displaced by the National Broadband Network. 

Wireless isnt a perfect substitute for fixed-line high-speed services because of the congestion issues and their impact on speeds. But if David Thodey is right and ultimately 60 per cent of Telstras broadband customers are on wireless rather than fixed networks, the growth of wireless broadband will impact the NBN and its potential customer and revenue base.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Telstra-Wireless-Optus-broadband-pd20091125-Y566T?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/428</guid>
			<author>Stephen Bartholomeusz</author>
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			<title>Telstras NBN killer</title>
			<description><![CDATA["It enables users to enjoy the freedom of secure wireless high-speed internet connectivity, without messy wires or access to fast fixed-line broadband." ..... An excellent read.... how Krudd is a maniac on the loose with our $$ &amp; not an NBN business plan in sight...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Telstra-broadband-internet-Gateway-bigpond-pd20091124-Y43KZ?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/427</guid>
			<author>Stephen Bartholomeusz</author>
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			<title>Coal miners still whinging</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The coal mining industry is still far from satisfied with the federal governments emissions trading scheme (ETS) after the opposition decided to support the plan, albeit in controversial circumstances.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Coal-industry-still-left-wanting-on-ETS-pd20091125-Y4RM6?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/426</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Krudds ETS opens the prospect of liability to power barons in the billions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The proposed carbon trading legislation effectively wipes out the investors in Latrobe Valley power stations, but it would seem possible that the $7 billion to $8 billion that has been loaned by local and international banks to the four power stations may be protected. 

In addition the supply contracts with retailers may also be protected which would involve guarantees of about $13 billion. 

With Commonwealth guarantees possibly totalling up to $20 billion the governments potential commitment to brown coal is one of the largest ever made to any industry sector by an Australian government.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au//bs.nsf/Article/CPRS-carbon-climate-change-ETS-coal-pd20091124-Y48BZ?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/425</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>China commits to carbon cuts</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Last night the Chinese Government also announced that the Premier, Wen Jiabao, would attend the Copenhagen conference and for the first time committed to a target for cutting emissions, saying it would cut their intensity by 40 to 45 per cent between 2005 and 2020....
Mr Obama recently met the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, and Indias Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to discuss commitments from all three countries to reduce greenhouse emissions. But, with 10 days left until the Copenhagen talks begin, there are still not sufficient pledges from countries to cut greenhouse gases to avoid dangerous climate change.


(40-45% NOT 5 to 25% hey Kev)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/obamas-prepares-for-copenhagen-as-china-commits-to-carbon-cuts-20091126-juqi.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/424</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Rivers, dams fail Lachlan Valley towns</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NEXT month Viv Lemottee will have to make a choice between his animals and his washing machine.

One of about 130 residents of the tiny hamlet of Euabalong, in the Lachlan Valley in the states west, hes about to receive his daily ration of water by truck: just 150 litres a day.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/rivers-dams-fail-lachlan-valley-towns-20091125-jrwn.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/423</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Dirty business: polluters set to reap rewards - transfer of wealth from households to polluters.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THERE will be plenty of money for polluting industries in the new emissions trading scheme,]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/dirty-business-polluters-set-to-reap-rewards-20091125-jrwm.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/422</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Chinese Nimbys hit the tweets in environmental protest</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The protest was organised by peasants from a village around the proposed site, but was bolstered by white-collar workers from two affluent housing estates nearby.

Residents at Southern Country Olympic Mansions, where a two-bedroom apartment can fetch 3 million yuan ($478,000), and of Lijiang Gardens blocked the road outside the municipal government offices. They voiced concerns that cancer-causing dioxins would be given off by the plant and, in line with the not in my backyard protests familiar in the West, that the value of their property would be affected.

The appearance of upwardly mobile Chinese on the streets attracted widespread attention. The demonstration ended peacefully after the Government promised to complete an environmental assessment on the project.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/world/chinese-nimbys-hit-the-twets-in-environmental-protest-20091124-jhfl.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/421</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Too late for safe levels of carbon emissions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The most ambitious outcome now is to restrict carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to about 450 parts per million - a figure calculated to give the world an even chance of avoiding the more catastrophic climate change scenarios for the second half of this century, said Matthew England, a lead author with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

If the Government ties the scheme to the upper level of its targets for 2020 - a 25 per cent cut in carbon emissions - and other nations make equivalent cuts, then the 450 goal endorsed by most climate scientists could be achieved under the ETS.

If it ties the scheme to the lower end of its target range, a 5 per cent reduction over the next decade, Australia will find it hard to play a part in reaching the 450 goal.

The whole world is watching what we do here and it could have real ramifications for their own efforts - this is the reason why Australia is important, Professor England said.

Many environment groups are calling for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to be cut and stabilised at 350 parts per million, but that goal is out of reach for the foreseeable future. The current ratio is 387 parts per million.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/too-late-for-safe-levels-of-carbon-emissions-20091123-iz8q.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/420</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Wetlands disaster at the mouth of the Murray</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE collapse of the Coorong wetlands at the mouth of the Murray River is shaping up to be one of the Australias worst environmental disasters, an author of a report on the region said yesterday.

Bird numbers in the region have fallen dramatically and freshwater turtles continue to die in large numbers.

Professor Richard Kingsford said estimates of waterbirds for the region were 250,000 in November 2007 but a similar survey last year showed numbers had declined 48 per cent.

Professor Kingsford, who also advises the Federal Government on the Coorong and Lower Lakes, said one of the most disturbing developments in the wetlands has been the explosion of tubeworms in the freshwater lakes. The marine worms attach themselves to the backs of the turtles, colonising them until they are so weighed down they drown.

It is the most poignant example of the collapse of the system, he said.

Because there is not enough fresh water coming down the river, the lakes are becoming more salty and this marine tubeworm is invading the freshwater lakes.

Down along the lakes there are schoolchildren that go out and try to rescue them with buckets and try to chip off the worms. That tells the story about what is happening in this system.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/wetlands-disaster-at-the-mouth-of-the-murray-20091122-isvt.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/419</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Top scientists join calls to save threatened red gum forests</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MORE than 50 leading scientists from around Australia have written to the Premier, Nathan Rees, asking him to protect the iconic Riverina red gum forests by creating huge national parks in south-western NSW and increasing the flow of water to them from the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers.

The call is being led by a prominent professor of ecology from Charles Sturt University, Max Finlayson, who chaired the scientific panel advising the world convention on wetlands and worked with the United Nations scientific body on climate change.

The letter, signed by 57 scientists, warns that the red gum forests and their wetlands are in poor health. It says the Government needs to act swiftly to hasten the much-needed repair and protection of these precious river red gum wetland forests by protecting them in new parks and reserves.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/top-scientists-join-calls-to-save-threatened-red-gum-forests-20091122-isvp.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/418</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Japanese &amp; Asian Deflation may lead to double dip GFC</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Most economists believe that Japan has been in obvious deflation since January. Some analysis suggests that it has been fairly consistently in deflation for 21 years.

The psychological difficulty for Japan of admitting to deflation is considerable: the economy officially emerged from deflation only in 2006, after nearly a decade in its clutches. Furthermore, prolonged deflation can be hugely destructive, scything profitability and compelling companies to cut staff and delay capital spending.

The tone of yesterdays government announcement suggested that the Finance Ministry was girding itself for the horrors of a "double-dip" recession, a calamity that most economists believe can be avoided, but only if China and Asia retain their recovery momentum.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/japan-in-bizarre-fight-over-deflation/story-e6frg926-1225801545181</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/417</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata winds up public scoping</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, head of the Diocese of Marbel, however, warned of social unrest and environmental disaster if the project pushes through.



The project sits in the middle of a protected watershed area and is source of water supply of several catch basins and lakes in the region as well as habitat of different flora and fauna.

SMI country manager Mark Williams allayed fears raised by the opposition, however.

He said the company shares its concerns over the environmental impact of the mining operations.

Williams said the company will put in place necessary measures "to protect the watershed area even during actual mining operations."

He declined to elaborate but said they will announce these measures as soon as their feasibility study is finished.

(Lets hope the Philipines Government doesnt believe the Xstrata lies)]]></description>
			<link>http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/edwin-espejo/mining-firm-winds-up-public-scoping.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:19 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/416</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Power surges as Hunter residents swelter</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Operator spokesman Paul Bird said heatwave temperatures across Australia in the past week had sent wholesale power prices soaring.


Data published by the market operator shows the wholesale price of power has been about $31 a megawatt hour this year in NSW but electricity retailers such as EnergyAustralia, who must bid to buy extra power at times of heavy demand, were paying near the capped price of $10,000 a megawatt hour at the peak of demand early yesterday afternoon.


Earlier this month NSW consumers had used a daily peak of about 10,000 megawatts but heavy use of air-conditioners helped power use peak at 2pm yesterday at 13,267 megawatts, or about 1000 megawatts below the 2007 consumption record.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/power-surges-as-hunter-residents-swelter/1683584.aspx?storypage=0</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/415</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>illness may increase with global warming, researchers at Harvard Medical School say.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Climate change from the burning of fossil fuels will add to risks to public health, said Paul Epstein, associate director of Harvards Centre for Health and the Global Environment in Boston.

The centre, and groups led by the American Medical Association (AMA), presented data at a briefing in Washington yesterday as part of a call for action to curb emissions.

Global warming causes flooding, heatwaves and wildfires that worsen health, especially for children and the elderly, the Harvard researchers said.

"We expect an increase in hospital admissions for things like pneumonia, chronic lung disease, asthma and other respiratory diseases," said Cecil Wilson, the AMAs president-elect. "Increased heat also increases the risk to people who have other diseases."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/illness-rises-with-heat-20091121-is6b.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:11 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/414</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Hot and bothered as state scorches</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE worst fire conditions ever seen in November are expected today as the mercury rises to about 40 degrees and beyond across NSW]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/hot-and-bothered-as-state-scorches-20091121-is4l.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/413</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstratas plans to extend the Ulan Coal Mines lifespan by 21 years and double its annual production to 20 million tonnes.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstratas plans to extend the Ulan Coal Mines lifespan by 21 years and double its annual production to 20 million tonnes.... the development application is on public exhibition.....

Ed note: Only a few months ago (see news archive)Xstrata were sacking workers at this mine and reducing output... show us how ad hoc the Coal industry is and how exposed to price shocks...)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/19/2747278.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/412</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Crazy over carbon</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the draft global treaty being proposed at Copenhagen requires all countries who sign to effectively give power over their finances, their economy, and vast number of activities to a world government - and the draft treaty uses the word "government". According to Monckton once you sign you cant get out. In John Howards day if Alan Jones put that on air and it was wrong the then PM would be on the airwaves very quickly saying "nonsense". If what is going out on Jones program in regard to the treaty is half-right then it is a classic example of "climate change madness". If we sign such a treaty then I would not like to be an ALP member in a Sydney marginal seat.]]></description>
			<link>http://wag.org.au/news/display/411</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/411</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>NBN speed hump</title>
			<description><![CDATA[One of the most common questionings of the proposed National Broadband Network is: "What if they build it and no-one comes?" Well, we may be about to find out even before the NBN is built.....
... The [Telstra] idea was to spend $300 million to upgrade the HFC cable network Telstra owns in the capital cities. The original NBN was supposed to deliver minimum speeds of 12 Mbps. Telstra would upgrade the speeds available through the HFC - which passes a million homes in Melbourne - to 100 Mbps. Should the upgrade go well, they were warning, they could spend a total of less than $1 billion to deliver 100 Mbps to all the capitals...
for the moment, the problem with delivering 100 Mbps to the home - there arent the consumer devices available, or indeed even on the horizon it appears, to actually take advantage of those speeds.....
If Telstra believes it has probably wasted the best part of $300 million to offer speeds few, if any, can actually use, spending up to $43 billion to offer those same speeds becomes a gigantic and very hopeful bet on the future of household technologies and consumer demands. 

The NBN is going to be built. For the taxpayers sake, wed better hope that applications and devices capable of exploiting 100 Mbps come.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Telstra-national-broadband-network-NBN-HFC-T-Box-pd20091119-XX8A5?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/410</guid>
			<author>Stephen Bartholomeusz</author>
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			<title>Goninan Secures A$108 Million In New Orders From Xstrata Coal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Goninan has signed rail car supply and maintenance contracts worth A$108 million with the Australian coal mining unit of Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata Plc (XTA.LN). 
United said it will design and manufacture 10 locomotives for Xstrata Coal and maintain those locomotives and another 300 wagons for 10 years.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.easybourse.com/bourse/actualite/ugl-secures-aS108-million-in-new-orders-from-xstrata-coal-762539</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/409</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Industry in jeopardy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[This is one of the most frightening comments I have ever written for Business Spectator.... WAG recommends that you read on...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Carbon-trading-ETS-CPRS-climate-change-pd20091116-XUBQB?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/408</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>Rudds will</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The simplest, most effective way for Australia to meet any carbon emissions reduction targets that might be set in 2010, once the failed Copenhagen process is put back on track, is to replace two Latrobe Valley brown coal generators with gas. 

Hazelwood and Yallourn are filthy beasts, coughing up 1.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every megawatt hour of electricity. They also use huge amounts of water.

In fact, the main consequence, if not purpose, of the Rudd governments CPRS legislation that was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday and is now heading for the Senate, is actually to close them, and perhaps the rest of the Latrobe Valley, with minimal compensation to the owners.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Rudds-will-to-power-pd20091117-XURRY?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/407</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>Burning billions to achieve nothing</title>
			<description><![CDATA[2009 update provided by the European Environment Agency now shows that all but one of the long-standing EU-15 member states are on track to meet their Kyoto targets, and that the ETS, along with the global financial crisis, has played a key role. 

The EU-15 have a combined target of an 8 per cent cut in greenhouse emissions from 1990 levels by 2012. Apart from Austria, which will overshoot its target by nearly 13 per cent because of delays caused by internal bickering over which measure to introduce, all will meet their individual targets.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Australia-pouring-billions-offshore-pd20091117-XURJD?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:18 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/406</guid>
			<author>Giles Parkinson</author>
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			<title>Rethinking the Murrays massive water loss</title>
			<description><![CDATA[it emphasises that the situation were in in the Murray-Darling basin system is not just a crisis for the river; its a crisis for our groundwater system and also for the entire landscape as a whole."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/rethinking-the-murrays-massive-water-loss-20091119-insw.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/405</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>People v power station as water levels plunge</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A FIGHT over dwindling water supplies is brewing at Oberon, where the lions share of the local dam supply is being diverted to keep a nearby coal-fired power station running.

Oberon Council has accused Wallerawang power station of hoarding water while the township, which uses less than 2 million litres a day against the power stations allocation of 9 million, is suffering under water restrictions. The Oberon Dam level reached a record low of 12.5 per cent this week, before what is expected to be a particularly hot, dry summer.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/people-v-power-station-as-water-levels-plunge-20091118-imjy.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/404</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Mothers launch legal action against mining firm and state over lead levels</title>
			<description><![CDATA[They say: Dont bite the hand that feeds you. But what if that hand is poisoning you too?]]></description>
			<link>http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/mothers-launch-legal-action-against-mining-firm-and-state-over-lead-levels-1.932496</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/403</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>A shamed nation turns a blind eye</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Trachoma is a disease that starts as conjunctivitis but gradually, with repeated infection, turns the eyelashes inwards so that they scrape the cornea, scarring it, rendering it opaque, causing blindness. As it is easily treated with antibiotics, trachoma is regarded as a disease of poverty and is now unknown in developed countries - except Australia.

Even in the developing world - in Gambia, Malawi and Nepal, where it was once endemic - trachoma and trichiasis (the eye-scraping stage) have all but disappeared. Ghana, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Morocco and Oman all now report the disease eliminated. In Australias chattering fringes it is also unknown.

But in Katherine, almost a quarter of the children aged five to 15 test positive to trachoma. Without treatment, theyll go blind. The official incidence in this country is 20,000 among children alone, and thats just the ones we know about. In more remote areas, cases are often simply unrecorded.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/a-shamed-nation-turns-a-blind-eye-20091116-ignn.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/402</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>12-YEAR-OLD Aboriginal boy, no prior convictions, in childrens court charged with receiving a stolen Freddo frog.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Disgraceful racist Australia.

A 12-YEAR-OLD Aboriginal boy will face a childrens court today charged with receiving a stolen Freddo frog.

The chocolate frog, allegedly shoplifted by the accused childs friend from a Coles supermarket in regional Western Australia, usually retails for about 70 cents.

The boy, who has no prior convictions, also faces a second charge involving the receipt of a small novelty sign from another store. The sign, which was also allegedly given to the boy by his friend, read: Do not enter, genius at work.

The boys lawyer, Peter Collins, had lobbied WA police for the charges to be withdrawn but authorities had failed to respond to his written request, he said. Its scandalous that a 12-year-old child should be subject to prosecution for a case of this type......]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/boy-in-court-over-stolen-chocolate-20091115-igd7.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:24 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/401</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Megalomaniac Mick Davis strips Xstrata profits to line own pocket</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Mick Davis, the chief executive of Xstrata, has made a profit of just under £14 million from cashing in hundreds of thousands of share options in the acquisitive Swiss-based mining group in less than a month.

Mr Davis, who in October walked away from a bid to buy Anglo American, its embattled rival, yesterday exercised the option to buy 755,910 Xstrata shares for 239p each.

Awarded the options in 2001 when he became chief executive of the company, Mr Davis immediately sold the shares for £10.26 each, making a profit of £5.94 million.]]></description>
			<link>http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6916494.ece</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/400</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Aborigines concerned about zinc mines impact: Xstrata breaching licence</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A traditional owner of land around Borroloola says Aboriginal communities in the area are concerned about the quality of water due to a zinc mine.

An independent report into the McArthur River Mines environmental performance has found the operator, Xstrata, is not meeting commitments under an agreement that enabled it to expand the mine.

Some concerns raised in the report include salt seepage from drain ponds as well as tailings seeping into a nearby creek.

Traditional owner Jack Green says the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, seemed more concerned about swordfish than anything else when he rubber-stamped the reopening of the mine.

"He never worry about the other fishes, like catfish and bream ,and all that sort of thing, that fresh water that we live off," he said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/13/2742519.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:11 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/399</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Why China wont save the world</title>
			<description><![CDATA["It is very unwise to place much store in the ability of Chinese consumers to save the world, or even do much about the Chinese economy."

The quote comes from the head of a Beijing-based economic consultancy called Dragonomics, Arthur Kroeber, who presented to a small gathering at Austrade last night. And the reasons we shouldnt expect Chinese to replace the over-borrowed Americans are both surprising and worrying.

In fact, in the past 24 hours I have had two important insights into the fundamental problems with the Chinese economy - not about a coming crash, although a credit bubble seems to be developing, but about the imbalances that will block a re-alignment of the Chinese economy towards consumption and therefore hold back growth in the long term]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-economy-government-democracy-pd20091113-XQRKS?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:23 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/398</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>Ripe for the bidding</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Unless there is an unexpected market slump I think we have a takeover boom ready to erupt on our stock market.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/takeover-boom-australia-stock-market-investment-ba-pd20091112-XQ5YZ?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:18 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/397</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>Sacked miners face long wait</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Ten retrenched Xstrata mine workers from Ulan will have to wait until the new year to find out if their claim for unfair dismissal is successful.
In a first of its kind test case before the newly established FairWork Australia, the two days initially set down for the hearing have been taken up entirely by evidence from six of the affected workers and two union delegates.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/news/local/news/general/sacked-miners-face-long-wait/1676022.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:16 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/396</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Damning report card for McArthur River Mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[An independent report into the McArthur River Mine has found Xstrata is not meeting its commitment to monitor the mines environmental impact.

The report by Environmental Earth Services shows areas where the company has not conformed to its environmental performance commitments.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/12/2741157.htm?section=business</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/395</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>US$2bn Xstrata Tampakan mining project raided and torched.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Communist rebels representing the New Peoples Army claimed responsibility for the raid, saying its singular objective was "punishing the giant Swiss mining firm for land grabbing, plunder and environmental destruction".
CPP spokesperson Gregorio Rosal said mining operations in Tampacan had been "vigorously opposed by the people since the 1990s" and the mining regime was allowing big foreign mining companies to "siphon out billions of dollars worth of Philippine natural resources to the further detriment of the peoples livelihood and the environment".

A deeply indebted country, the Philippines is externally pressured to generate foreign investment and by courting large international mining groups the country hoped to re-establish an export-based mining sector.]]></description>
			<link>http://paguntaka.org/2008/01/03/xstrata-copper-and-gold-mining-project-in-the-philippines-us2bn/</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/394</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Miner wounded in ambush in Davao</title>
			<description><![CDATA[COTABATO, Philippines (Xinhua) - A Filipino miner who work for Australian-controlled mining firm Sagittarius Mines Inc. was injured Tuesday in an attack staged by suspected leftist guerrillas in the restive southern Philippines.

The wounded victim, Jessie Anan, on board a company pick-up along with co workers, were ambushed along the road in Kiblawan township in Davao del Sur, said regional military spokesman Major Randolph Cabangbang.

The military said an ongoing pursuit operation is on against the attackers identified as Sansing and Danny Utay and a certain Jimber Dayanany.

Rebels belonging to the New Peoples Army, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been attacking the company since last year.

(Eds Note: The anti-Tampakan-mine, environmental activist, Boy Billanes, was murdered in the same area this year - no person has been charged)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=522295&amp;publicationSubCategoryId=200</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/393</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Rudds debatable legacy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Where is the debate - and action - about the size, nature, cost and effectiveness of our myriad systems of government? 

Where is the genuine debate about industrys role in climate change? Where is the debate about future ownership of our great natural resources? On that issue the only real commentary and foresight has come from Don Argus at BHP. Its been ignored by our national leaders and political commentators. 

Where is the debate about Australias role in Asia and the Pacific? (Kevin Rudds planned meeting with other leaders is a start. But what are the odds it will fizzle and die because its not sexy enough?) 

Where is the real debate on future population policy? A few throw-away lines by the PM on the 7.30 Report is not a debate. It was simply a defensive answer to a political question. 

Where is the debate on water infrastructure? At the moment it is simply political muscle flexing between states and the national government. 

One day, Rudd will join the list of former prime ministers, and judgements will be made alike.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Kevin-Rudd-asylum-seekers-climate-change-Turnbull-pd20091109-XM8JH?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/392</guid>
			<author>Alistair Drysdale</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Energy companies seek up to $10bn for clean gas power plants</title>
			<description><![CDATA[An electricity company is seeking billions in government cash to help build a gas-fired power plant each in NSW and Victoria. 

Power company TRUenergy says it plans to build a 1000-megawatt gas-fired power station next to the Yallourn brown coal station in Victorias Latrobe Valley and a station at Tallawarra, south of Wollongong in NSW, if it secures billions of dollars in federal government funding. 

A company spokesman would not confirm how much government funding the company is seeking but said the governments offer of $3.5 billion was "clearly insufficient". 

TRUenergy says the power stations would bring a combined five per cent increase to the National Electricity Market (NEM) base-load power supply and could meet the needs of more than one million households. 

Environment groups have cautiously welcomed the plan. 

Greenpeace climate campaigner Julien Vincent said while gas-fired power would be a "massive improvement" on burning brown coal, it remained a carbon polluting fossil fuel and called on the Victorian government to promote alternative energies. 

"The Victorian government needs to introduce policies that drive the rapid uptake of wind, wave, solar and other renewable energy sources, as these are the technologies that must ultimately replace the remainder of Victorias brown coal dinosaurs," he said.]]></description>
			<link>http://wag.org.au/news/display/391</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:04 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/391</guid>
			<author>"Business Spectator" - AAP</author>
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			<title>A double shock for Australia</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Its hardly a surprise that the G20 finance ministers did not agree to splash cash on developing nations to help get a climate change treaty across the line in Copenhagen in a months time. Their bosses, the prime ministers and presidents, wont agree next month either. 

The full horror of imposing a serious emissions trading scheme on their own industries, at the same time as compensating the worlds developing nations for doing the same thing, while also exiting from fiscal stimulus, is dawning on them. 

Copenhagen is an excruciating dilemma for western political leaders, and the last stand for industries in the West that use a lot of electricity. 

Most citizens want something done about global warming, but developing nations have decided this is their big chance to get ahead. 

To get a deal on climate change - not just next month, but ever - energy costs in the West will have to rise more than in emerging nations........... The problem is worse for Australia because so much of our power comes from coal and because NSW, in particular, has been under-investing in electricity networks.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Copenhagen-G20-global-warming-climate-change-pd20091109-XLRUC?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/390</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>Will Rudd pull the trigger?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The prospect of a double dissolution - which could prompt a general election sooner than we think - brings some excitement to political correspondents lives. I am not sure the public cares..... Even if coalition MPs defeat the bill, they need to ask themselves "are theyre feeling lucky?" - before Rudd gets his finger on the double dissolution trigger.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Will-Rudd-pull-the-trigger-pd20091109-XLRXM?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/389</guid>
			<author>Natasha Stott Despoja</author>
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			<title>Bottlenecks choking recovery</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE return of infrastructure bottlenecks is threatening to push up inflation and interest rates, and so choke off the Reserve Banks forecasts of a quick recovery from the global crisis. Rather than being at our export ports, however, the new bottlenecks are gripping first in our big cities in the form of rising home prices and rents, as a rapidly growing population competes for a limited supply of new housing. 

"A huge chasm is opening up between the demand and supply for housing," Westpac chief economist Bill Evans yesterday told the Road to Recovery conference presented by The Australian and the Melbourne Institute. 

Evans said this had pushed up housing prices at an annualised rate of 20 per cent over the past six months and was one of the reasons the Reserve Bank had "decided to move as fast as they did" on starting to lift interest rates. 

Urban infrastructure bottlenecks in major cities, including road congestion and housing supply, are becoming the first new capacity constraint on the economy as it shrugs off the global crisis. By pushing up inflation and interest rates, these urban chokepoints have much the same supply-side economic impact as the lengthening shipping queues off the east coast coal ports during the pre-crisis resources boom.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/bottlenecks-choking-recovery/story-e6frg9if-1225795209001</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/388</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Get real on nuclear power: General Peter Cosgrove</title>
			<description><![CDATA[General Cosgrove says if Australia is serious about tackling climate change it should move to embrace nuclear power. "If we want mass power generation capacity then we have got to trust ourselves to develop safe, clean nuclear energy."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/get-real-on-nuclear-power-general-peter-cosgrove/story-e6frg6nf-1225795202512</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/387</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Eight inch wide, 3 metre deep Cracks in Camberwell Common</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Cracks up to 20 centimetres wide have opened on land in Camberwell Common, delving metres below the surface.


A pole lowered into one of the fractures reached at least three metres, Camberwell Common Trust secretary Deidre Olofsson said.


"How far they really go down, I dont know," she said.


The ravines, which stretch up to 40 metres across the parcel of Crown land, were discovered this week, forcing the trust to cordon off the area to prevent injury to people or livestock. (What a great common - no-one can use it, Thanks Ashton)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/operator-says-camberwell-common-in-no-danger-from-cracks/1670324.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/386</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Ballina will eventually need levees and pumps to keep the sea at bay</title>
			<description><![CDATA[RISING sea levels make it inevitable the North Coast town of Ballina will eventually need levees and pumps to keep the sea at bay, says one of Australias leading climate change experts.

On a tour of the town on the Richmond River this week, Professor Bruce Thom said Ballina and other low-lying coastal centres, including Swansea near Newcastle, and Batemans Bay, would need dykes to keep the sea out, but they would not stop salt entering the groundwater.

While inspecting homes built on the riverbanks and canal estates, the former chairman of the NSW Coastal Council and member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists was stunned at the number built on concrete slabs without even a mound to keep rising waters away.

Theres no appreciation the sea level is going to be half a metre higher ... We are seeing within our lifetime a rate of [sea level] change which is taking us outside the comfort zone we have defined for ourselves which says you can put slab on ground houses next to the water.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/lakeside-homes-face-greater-sealevel-threat-20091106-i24s.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/385</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>rare flora and fauna force change of plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A COLLECTION of humble plants clinging to 600 million-year-old rocks on a distant mountain range and a small dragon given to promiscuous sex under a hot sun have forced planners to redraw the map for the southern hemispheres biggest wind farm.

The discovery that spinifex - normally an inhabitant of the red dirt plains below - is living on sediment probably deposited in the last Ice Age and has red mallee and gum coolibah trees for neighbours is so strange and rare that the Silverton wind farm designers have moved 153 turbines from some of the windiest ridges.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/gone-with-the-wind-rare-flora-and-fauna-force-change-of-plan-20091106-i24r.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:15 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/384</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Ad campaign aims to crush emissions trading plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[SENIOR executives from the worlds biggest coal companies unanimously agreed to back the multimillion-dollar advertising campaign running in rural NSW and Queensland attacking the Rudd Governments emissions trading scheme.

"It was ticked off by our board of directors, more than ticked off. It was enthusiastically endorsed, said Ralph Hillman, of the industrys main lobby group, the Australian Coal Association. The campaign entitled, Lets cut emissions, not jobs, will run until the Senate votes on the emissions trading scheme later this month.

The group has have employed experts from the leading political consulting firm, Crosby Textor, which worked for the Liberal Party, and Neil Lawrence who worked on Labors successful Kevin 07 campaign. The campaign is just one of the hundreds of lobbying efforts around the world by companies to soften the impact of domestic laws. These efforts are slowing progress on an international agreement at the Copenhagen climate talks next month.

A Sydney Morning Herald analysis of the lobbying registers around Australia has established that 120 companies with significant greenhouse emissions employ about 80 lobbying firms. This is in addition to the companies own in-house lobbyists. Tracking the lobbying effort, however, is difficult because the federal lobby register relies on a trust system, with lobbyists able to remove themselves from the lists by request.

Many of the biggest emitting companies, either through their executives, lobbyists or industry lobbies, have got assistance and exemptions from the emissions trading scheme. The Government assisance to 20 major companies is already estimated at more than $11.7 billion, according to a study by the corporate consultant RiskMetrics, commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation.

(Personally, I consider a straight up Carbon Tax to be a more effective carbon reducer. JS)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/ad-campaign-aims-to-crush-emissions-trading-plan-20091106-i24t.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/383</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Climate war gets personal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[KEVIN RUDD has launched a blistering attack on climate change sceptics and deniers in Australia and abroad, accusing them of a systematic campaign to sabotage global talks in Copenhagen and of being contemptuous towards the interests of the worlds children.

An angry Prime Minister lashed out at politicians and commentators around the world, including US congressmen, and labelled his domestic political opponents cowards for repeatedly seeking reasons to delay the emissions trading scheme.

With chances almost nil of a treaty being signed in Copenhagen to commit the world to a new greenhouse gas reduction regime, Mr Rudd said it was time to fight back against a powerful and dangerous minority.

By slowing the actions of each individual country, they aim to slowly drag global negotiations to a standstill, he said. By hampering decisive actions at a national level, they aim to make it impossible at an international level.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-war-gets-personal-for-rudd-20091106-i24u.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:04 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/382</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Sea-level building policy riles developers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[PROPERTY groups have criticised a planning policy aimed at limiting development in coastal regions, raising fears it has the potential to prevent construction in huge areas.

As the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, defended the draft policy to stop development in areas subject to sea-level rises, developers said it went too far and could unfairly restrict the right to build in many areas.

The Urban Development Institute of Australias NSW chief executive, Stephen Albin, said he was worried that hazard lines to be drawn up by councils based on predicted sea-level rises of 90 centimetres by 2100 could determine which projects were allowed to proceed. "We would be concerned if the 2100 hazard line becomes the default planning control," he said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/sealevel-building-policy-riles-developers-20091105-i097.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/381</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Revealed: polluters fear tactics on climate</title>
			<description><![CDATA[BIG greenhouse polluting companies around the world, employing thousands of lobbyists, are exerting heavy pressure on governments to weaken climate change laws at home and slow progress on an international climate agreement in Copenhagen, a global investigation reveals.

In Australia, 20 companies who have already won the most concessions from the Rudd Governments emissions trading scheme employ 28 lobbying firms with well over 100 staff, many of them former politicians, political advisers or government officials.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/revealed-polluters-fear-tactics-on-climate-20091105-i091.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/380</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Aboriginal poverty getting worse - Pilger</title>
			<description><![CDATA[SINCE Prime Minister Kevin Rudds formal apology to the stolen generations, Aboriginal poverty has gotten worse, the winner of the 2009 Sydney Peace Prize says. 

Delivering his peace prize lecture at the Sydney Opera House tonight, journalist and filmmaker John Pilger spoke of "a war of legal attrition waged against black communities",]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/aboriginal-poverty-getting-worse-pilger/story-fn3dxiwe-1225794863257</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/379</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Carbon trading in the dollar doldrums</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Negotiators are now busily lowering expectations for what will be achieved on climate change in Copenhagen next month.

Its becoming clear that nothing more than another statement of principles will emerge from the UN sponsored meeting of 15,000 people from 192 countries; a legally binding deal looks totally impossible.

The pre-meeting meeting in Barcelona that broke up a few days ago in an angry altercation is back on, but the UN official in charge of the process, Yvo de Boer, said: "Unless we see some substantial movement from industrial countries on targets and finance, the problem will remain the same today as it was yesterday."

Maybe theres a double play going on, where they all talk down the chances of an agreement and then - ta dah! - unveil a binding deal on December 7 before spending the next 11 days in the Danish capital celebrating with organic apple juice, but thats very unlikely.

If Australias latest budget projections are any guide, the decision to replace the Kyoto Protocols with a series of interlocking international emissions trading schemes rather than carbon taxes is turning into a disaster because of currency realignments.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Climate-talks-hit-the-dollar-doldrums-pd20091105-XGRKZ?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/378</guid>
			<author>Alan Kohler</author>
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			<title>ETS costs hidden until last minute</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Rudd government has been accused of concealing critical information until "a minute to midnight", after Treasury costings showed a big shortfall in the revenue available to pay for the Coalitions amendments to Labors emissions trading scheme.

Opposition emissions trading spokesman Ian Macfarlane made the charge after the costings found that instead of between $11 billion and $20bn in excess revenue that was anticipated by the Coalition to pay for its proposed changes, the ETS will deliver just $2.5bn over 10 years. 

The revenue shortfall, foreshadowed in The Weekend Australian, means it is impossible to pay for Malcolm Turnbulls proposed amendments from funds generated through emission permit sales, and makes it far more difficult for the negotiations now under way between the government and opposition to conclude successfully. 

"This really stretches the friendship ... dropping these numbers at a minute to midnight," said Mr Macfarlane, who has been charged with doing a deal with the government on the ETS before the vote scheduled for late this month.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26297120-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/377</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate expert Clive Spash heavied by CSIRO management</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A CSIRO economist whose research criticising emissions trading schemes was banned from publication said last night he had been subjected to harassment by the senior agency management.

Clive Spash also accused the agency of hindering public debate and trampling on his civil liberties by preventing the research being published in British journal New Political Economy. 

Dr Spash defended the paper, The Brave New World of Carbon Trading, saying it was a dispassionate analysis of ETS policies and was not politically partisan. 

He was told in February he could publish the work if it were peer reviewed. But in July, CSIRO management said it could not be published after it was cleared for publication. 

This month, he was informed he could not publish it even in his private capacity, because it was "politically sensitive". Within 24 hours, he also received a letter outlining a list of trivial instances in which he was accused of breaching CSIRO policy, for example not completing a leave form properly.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26297102-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:34 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/376</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Hopes hit by high tide</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NEW planning policies to cope with rising sea levels will see thousands of NSW land owners banned from developing coastal sites and properties around estuaries.

The policies, released to a meeting of coastal councils yesterday, will require them to prepare coastal management plans with hazard lines based on predicted sea-level rises and restrict development within them.

The draft policies prepared by the NSW departments of Planning, and Environment, Climate Change and Water discourage the intensification of development in coastal risk areas and require councils to consider ways to reduce the number of people living near the coast.

For example, changing land use from rural to urban or increasing the density of housing from low to medium is strongly discouraged, the Coastal Planning Guideline says.

Simon Smith, the deputy director-general of the environment department, said the policies were designed to bring consistency to the way councils deal with climate change and make the community acknowledge that whats now an extreme event will in the future be a normal event]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/hopes-hit-by-high-tide-20091104-hy01.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:32 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/375</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>End of the Australian dream</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Dont look at the Cup Day interest rate rise in isolation. It is what is happening around the interest rate increase that locks us into a nation-changing situation. All Australians will be affected.....On their own these events will not change national savings patterns, but if we take a step back its suddenly clear why the landscape is likely to change dramatically. The Triguboff argument is that higher interest rates will slow down the rate of building construction at a time when the population is rising dramatically. That means that we are building up an even greater long-term housing shortage - a powder keg which after seven relatively stagnant years is set to explode. The trigger is likely to be pulled by Treasurer Wayne Swan who has slashed the amount people can invest tax effectively in superannuation. Many will swing back to highly leveraged dwellings.

As investors return to the residential market, prices will edge up and home ownership will become tougher and tougher in most areas of Australia.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/house-prices-RBA-interest-rates-hike-pd20091104-XFQY5?OpenDocument&amp;src=kgb</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/374</guid>
			<author>Robert Gottliebsen</author>
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			<title>A miner complaint</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The opposition may be trying to generate some political capital by supporting the coal industrys demand for more compensation from the proposed emissions trading scheme, but it is carrying little weight with the investment community. 

The Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) has already voiced its opposition to the idea that fugitive gas emissions should be excluded from the CPRS, and the first in-depth analysis by a leading stock market analyst, Citis Elaine Prior, is dismissive of some of the Australian Coal Associations doomsday scenarios. 

Prior set herself the task of analysing how the CPRS as currently designed by the federal government would affect investors of listed coal companies. The main take-out from Priors analysis is that despite patchy data on emissions, "the financial impact, even if the CPRS is enacted as currently designed, does not appear concerning to investors."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Oils-rate-of-assistance-pd20091103-XER3F?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/373</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Lead-mining: the ugly truth about Mount Isa</title>
			<description><![CDATA[.. Stella had a blood lead level of 13 micrograms per decilitre (mcg/dl), well above the World Health Organisation limit of 10mcg/dl... More than one-tenth of children tested were found to have potentially unsafe levels of the toxic metal in their blood....While the source seems likely to be the mine site, the mines owners, the Anglo-Swiss giant Xstrata, deny responsibility. Instead, they point to exposed outcrops of naturally mineralised bedrock in the area ? a stance backed by civic leaders, for whom lead represents the towns economic lifeblood, and by the Queensland government, which receives millions of dollars from Xstrata in taxes and royalties annually....
After Stellas blood lead level rose to 17mcg/dl, she decided to sue Xstrata. Four other families have joined her, and others may follow. The lawsuit names not only the company, but also the state government and Mount Isa City Council, alleging that they knew years ago about the risks but failed to take steps to protect the community....
In Mount Isa, Xstrata does not acknowledge a link between mining operations and childrens health....The families lawyer, Damian Scattini, scoffs at the notion that the lead entering childrens blood comes from "natural" sources. "Its ludicrous," he says, brandishing photographs of dust clouds drifting towards town from the mine site.... an illuminating article,, read on]]></description>
			<link>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/leadmining-the-ugly-truth-about-mount-isa-1813198.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/372</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Aussie oil spill hits Indonesia</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A HUGE oil spill off northwest Australia has hit Indonesia, killing fish and destroying livelihoods in poor villages along the Timor Sea, a non-governmental group says.

About 7000 fishermen in East Nusa Tenggara province have been affected by the spill from the Thai-operated West Atlas rig, which has dumped thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea since August 21, the group said. 

"After the leak started the fishermens income dropped 40 per cent but since last week its been 80 per cent lower, said Ferdi Tanoni of the West Timor Care Foundation, which supports poor fishermen in eastern Indonesia.....

(Suck on that Garret and Krudd you great deceivers)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26295650-12377,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:30 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/371</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Henrys tax plan mustnt ignore natures backlash</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AS KEN Henry, the secretary to the Treasury, beavers away on his blueprint for the reform of taxation over the next 25 years, he needs to keep in the front of his mind something thats not at the centre of the tax debate - environmental tax-shifting.

The trouble with economics is that its horizons are too narrow. Economists live in their own little economic world, divorced from the natural environment and from the non-economic needs of the humans who inhabit the economy.....

The Henry report should get rid of explicit subsidies to fossil fuel and other natural resource use, and then move in on implicit subsidies to those environmentally damaging activities whose private costs dont reflect the social costs they impose on the community and its life-supporting ecosystem.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/business/henrys-tax-plan-mustnt-ignore-natures-backlash-20091101-hrnu.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/370</guid>
			<author>Ross Gittins</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>"Profitable" ETS scheme would now cost taxpayers $2.5 billion by 2020</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The case for a non-avoidable Carbon Tax levied in Australia rather than ETS (with credits sourced and paid for elsewhere) is further advanced. Shutting the CSIRO criticisms of the ETS down doesnt hide the overwhelming truth that ETS is a con, dud and predetermined failure for which the planet will pay dearly.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/coalition-warned-on-ets-changes-20091102-htfw.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/369</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Broadly speaking, 100 megabits a second may not help us</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE productivity benefits of high-speed internet access may be a myth, says a New Zealand study that undermines part of the Federal Governments justification for the $43 billion national broadband network.... Read on and ask yourself one question, where is Krudds cost-benefit analysis for the $43 billion spend?]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/technology/broadly-speaking-100-megabits-a-second-may-not-help-us-20091102-htft.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/368</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Strike action looms at Xstrata Tahmoor coal mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Abc.net.au reported that Xstrata owned Tahmoor coal mine in the southern highlands is likely to see more protected industrial action as bargaining continues over a new enterprise agreement.

As per report, many of the mines 300 employees walked off the job for two hours on the weekend as part of protected action against the company.]]></description>
			<link>http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/11/01/MTE4NDQw/Strike_action_looms_at_Xstrata_Tahmoor_coal_mine.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/367</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Leaking PTTEP oil rig in Timor Sea on fire</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Looks like theyre getting ready to declare bankruptcy and walk away.....

A FIRE has started on the oil rig that has been leaking oil into the Timor Sea for 10 weeks. 

PTTEP Australasia, the company responsible for the leak, released a statement saying the West Atlas rig and Montara well head platform were on fire.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/leaking-pttep-oil-rig-in-timor-sea-on-fire/story-e6freuz0-1225793273216</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/366</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Surging dollar hits chance of deal on ETS</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE resurgent Australian dollar and strong commodity markets have slashed by more than $10 billion the expected revenue from the emissions trading scheme over the next decade... new government forecasts will show the continued strength of the Australian dollar will dramatically cut revenue generated by the scheme because permits sourced offshore become relatively cheaper in Australian dollar terms. 

As foreign permits, from international schemes such as the Clean Development Mechanism, become cheaper, more firms will meet their requirements by buying offshore permits rather than buying Australian permits at auction, and the price they are prepared to pay for Australian permits will be reduced. 

Unlike the US, Europe and Japan, Australia is not proposing to limit the amount of greenhouse abatement that can be sourced from overseas.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26284109-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/365</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Toll rises as sea life feed at oil spill</title>
			<description><![CDATA[LARGE numbers of whales, dolphins, turtles and sea birds are feeding in waters polluted by the massive oil spill off the West Australian coast and are likely to be at immediate risk, a new report released by the federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, reveals.

A leading ecologist, James Watson, was commissioned by Mr Garretts department to spend days surveying the marine life in the waters surrounding the oil lease - owned by the Thai company PTTEP - which has been leaking in the Timor Sea for nine weeks. Dr Watsons report says the presence of dying birds and dead sea snakes suggest that there is an immediate risk to species utilising the water that has been affected by the oil slick.

Dr Watson and his team spent three days surveying waters covered by oil seeing thousands of birds, hundreds of dolphins and whales and many more animals feeding there. Some animals are unable to survive due to this oil slick. he said yesterday. In a rapid survey, we were able to come across dying animals.

Dr Watson said on nearby Ashmore Reef, a marine reserve, his team found 17 dead birds, some with large amounts of oil on them.

After seeing the scale of the oil slick, which is spread over 4223square kilometres, Dr Watson told the Herald: I am amazed at how little Australia really cares about this. This is a huge oil slick.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/toll-rises-as-sea-life-feed-at-oil-spill-20091030-hprl.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/364</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>NT intervention failing to make a difference</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Governments intervention in the Northern Territory has stagnated with no more children going to school now than two years ago and reports of substance abuse soaring.

A six-month progress report on the intervention, quietly posted on the internet this week, showed school attendance rates remained virtually static in affected communities with only two out of three children going to school.

It also states plainly the Governments commitment to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act by October 2009, a promise it has broken.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/nt-intervention-failing-to-make-a-difference-report-20091030-hpr8.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/363</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Carbon déjà vu, all over again</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Australia may well consider itself to be on the verge of a massive transformation to a low-carbon economy, but it continues to do little in practical terms. And its not just the absence of an emissions trading scheme that is holding back investment, because the US and China dont have such schemes either. 

But Australias spending on renewable energy development, compared to US, Europe and most particularly China, is negligible, and its actions on energy and fuel efficiency trail most other developed countries and some developing ones too...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Oil-Carbon-Renewable-energy-Fuel-efficiency-pd20091029-X9US4?OpenDocument&amp;src=amm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/362</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Low-carbon jobs opportunity, Newcastle forum told</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A LOW-CARBON economy would create jobs, not destroy them, a climate-change forum in Newcastle heard yesterday.

The Southern Cross Climate Coalition of union, welfare and environmental groups is holding forums in regional Australia to counter what it calls a scare campaign by employers leading up to next months Copenhagen climate summit.


At Newcastle Trades Hall Council yesterday, ACTU president Sharan Burrow, Australian Conservation Foundation executive director Don Henry, Australian Council of Social Security chief executive Clare Martin and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union mining president Tony Maher addressed about 100 people on the pitfalls of the climate debate.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/lowcarbon-jobs-opportunity-newcastle-forum-told/1660895.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/361</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Clean coal strategy not viable for 20 years</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CLEAN coal power stations are not viable until the carbon price reaches a minimum of $60 a tonne - a level the Australian government does not anticipate until almost 2030 - according to an audit by the Rudd governments own global carbon capture and storage institute.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26274802-5018012,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/360</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Hefty bill to come from clean coal power</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CLEAN coal technology will face extraordinary price hurdles over the next 10 years, a major stocktake of all the worlds carbon capture and storage projects has found. The report, prepared by the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, finds the cost increase to coal electricity generation if fully-fledged clean coal technology is installed will be up to 78 per cent.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/hefty-bill-to-come-from-clean-coal-power-20091028-hl1d.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/359</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>25 million climate refugees by 2050</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Africa is already home to one-third of the 42 million people worldwide uprooted by ethnic slaughter, despots and war. But experts say climate change is quietly driving Africas displacement crisis to new heights.

Ibrahim is one of an estimated 10 million people worldwide who have been driven out of their homes by rising seas, failing rain, desertification or other climate-driven factors.

Norman Myers, an Oxford University professor and one of the first scholars to draw attention to the problem, estimated there would be more than 25 million climate refugees by 2050, replacing war and persecution as the main cause of global displacement. Africa would be heaviest hit because so many peoples livelihoods depended on farming and livestock.

So far there is no comprehensive strategy for coping with climate refugees, who are not yet legally recognised and receive no direct funding. Those fleeing drought, flood and other weather changes usually end up in slums or refugee camps set up and funded for other purposes.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather-creates-a-new-refugee-20091026-hgqc.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/358</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>emissions treaty failure</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE chances of a climate change treaty being signed in Copenhagen are fading fast....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/putting-a-spin-on-emissions-treaty-failure-20091026-hgqb.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/357</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Flood risk multiplies as the seas rise</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts the projected sea-level rise at up to 80 centimetres by 2100. The rule of thumb is that a one-metre rise will move the shoreline back between 50 and 100 metres.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/flood-risk-multiplies-as-the-seas-rise-20091026-hgq0.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/356</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Another sting in the tail of mosquito-borne viruses</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CLIMATE change will make Australia vulnerable to the spread of foreign diseases, according to the report into coastal temperature change from the standing committee on climate change.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/another-sting-in-the-tail-of-mosquitoborne-viruses-20091026-hgpz.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:06 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/355</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coalmine canaries face extinction in fatal trap</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AUSTRALIA must create a new, expanded network of protected wetlands around its coastline or see many bird, animal and plant species become extinct as sea levels rise, the House of Representatives report says.

It recommended that the Government should urgently assess the vulnerability of Kakadu National Park to the intrusion of salt water into its fresh water wetlands. Up to 80 per cent of the freshwater wetlands in the park could be lost, and replaced with salty mud flats, as global average temperatures rise between two and three degrees this century.

Many existing wetlands should also have their conservation status upgraded. The report said this had implications for many activities like land clearing, building canal-style housing developments and driving vehicles along beaches.

The unavoidable sea level rises, which are already thought to be locked in by current greenhouse gas emission levels, are expected to devastate water bird populations, according to advice from Birds Australia.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/coalmine-canaries-face-extinction-in-fatal-trap-20091026-hgpy.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:59 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/354</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Rising seas may mean coastal development ban</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The committee recommends that could include the possibility of a law preventing occupation and development on land threatened by the sea.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/26/2724844.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:13 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/353</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Mining decision minister acted outside powers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A court in Sydney has heard claims that the Minister for Mineral Resources, Ian Macdonald, acted outside his powers when he allowed BHP Billiton to explore for coal on the Liverpool Plains in north western New South Wales.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/26/2724273.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/352</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata accelerates plans for coal port</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ANGLO-SWISS miner Xstrata has accelerated its proposal to build Queenslands fourth coal port, submitting plans to state and federal authorities for a new billion-dollar harbour between Gladstone and Rockhampton.

Xstrata has said little about the project for more than a year, but documents filed with the federal environment department this week show it is still on the agenda and that the location has been changed from the existing small-scale Port Alma to Balaclava Island, 5km away.
Xstrata typically have no respect for the Great Barrier Reef or the Conservation Reserve Status of the estuarine environment they will seek to destroy for this criminal enterprise. You can bet the mongrel bastards wouldnt try this on in their own country. We so look fwd to the day that the rabid dog Davis slips in his own excrement and chokes on his own vomit.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26247087-5005200,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/351</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Church spurns overture from mining firm</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The head of the Catholic Church in Central Mindanao, Philippines on Tuesday rebuffed efforts from a Swiss-backed mining firm to solicit support from the religious sector despite claims of the company that it has gathered support from host communities.

Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, head of the Diocese of Marbel, told officials of the Sagittarius Mines Incorporated (SMI) that mining operations in the hinterlands of Tampakan in South Cotabato will destroy the watershed area and will wreak havoc on the fragile ecosystem of Central Mindanao.

Xstrata, the handmaiden of Satan and worshipper of idols knows no bounds in its lies, distortions and evildoing. One hopes the organisation incurs the wrath of God for their non-believing destruction of his creation for trinkets of gold. Curse them to eternity that they rot slowly in Judgement O Lord.]]></description>
			<link>http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/eeportal/church-spurns-overture-from-mining-.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/350</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata agrees to USD 75 a tonne</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The mid-year contract price for Xstratas Hunter Valley thermal coal has been set at $US75 per tonne. And here the fraudsters are bleating that a $4 AUD a tonne ETS will put them out of business. LIARS, CHEATS, ECO-CRIMINALS and FRAUDS.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/21/2719876.htm?site=newcastle</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/349</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata continues river clean-up</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata is currently involved in legal action regarding lead contamination in children in Mount Isa. Only the legal threat has forced the Xstrata hand - otherwise the river would have stayed the contaminated disaster that Xstrata made it.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/19/2717663.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:13 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/348</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata announces no intention to make an offer for Anglo American</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Swiss-based mining major Xstrata announced today that it has no intention of making an offer for rival mining group Anglo American.

Xstrata - bottom of the harbour asset stripping speculative specialist caught out bigtime.....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.metal-pages.com/news/story/42653/</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:11 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/347</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>What you do not know about Vale and Xstrata</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A bit left of field perhaps but the Holy Roman Empire is always something interesting. Remembering that Sudbury is where Xstrata had a binding agreement to maintain employment but when it suited them they broke it and closed their mines.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.thesudburystar.com/Community/NewsDisplay.aspx?c=30378</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/346</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Either BHP or Xstrata is wrong</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata chief Mick Davis and BHPs Marius Kloppers have a very different view of the world, so it is highly likely that one of them will end up being quite wrong.

Mick Davis and Xstrata raised around $US5.7 billion in equity capital over the past year but Xstratas debt is still around $13 billion while in the depressed metals market recent cash flow was a negative.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au//bs.nsf/Article/BHP-Xstrata-Anglo-Rio-Tinto-stock-pd20091006-WJT29?OpenDocument&amp;su=2DACCA67DD972595CA25765A00370CB0</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/345</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Obama puts the case for alternatives to fossil fuels</title>
			<description><![CDATA[It is a transformation that will be made as swiftly and as carefully as possible to ensure that we are doing what it takes to grow this economy, he said.

The US is the second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China. The House of Representatives has passed legislation to reduce emissions that many scientists say are contributing to global warming. It would reduce emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020 by limiting carbon dioxide pollution and establishing a market for trading pollution permits.

And the best that shameful Kevin Krudd can put forward is 5%. What a dog.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/obama-puts-the-case-for-alternatives-to-fossil-fuels-20091024-he0y.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/344</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Greens agree that Coal-Air is not good enough</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Greens have attacked plans for a new industry-funded air quality monitoring system for the Upper Hunter, saying it was "like getting Coke to fund research into childrens health".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/greens-say-industry-air-check-not-good-enough/1656932.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/343</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Muswellbrook Air Quality Con.... Suddenly the coal companies will supply their data</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Faced with the community demand for independent monitoring the coal companies have all of a sudden decided they will tell us what they want and retain control of the data and the monitoring. As if anything they are going to release publicly will tell the truth. ALP and coal - its all dogs of greed on heat.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/air-data-needed-for-study-mckay/1655320.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/342</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coal ship pilots want $800 pw pay rise</title>
			<description><![CDATA["Greed is Good" for the coal companies, the NSW Government and Muswellbrook Council, so why not for the pilots??]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/newcastle-harbour-pilots-seeking-800aweek-pay-rise/1654707.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/341</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Freightliner inks 10 year pact with Xstrata Coal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Freightliner Australia has announced a 10 year haulage agreement with Xstrata Coal on September 25th 2009. Trains will start in late 2010, carrying 10 million tonnes of coal a year between Hunter Valley mines and the port of Newcastle]]></description>
			<link>http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/10/04/MTE0NjIx/Freightliner_inks_10_year_pact_with_Xstrata_Coal.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:32 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/340</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata given "Put Up or Shut Up" deadline for Anglo American offer</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Mining company Xstrata PLC has until Oct. 20 to make a binding offer for rival Anglo American PLC or else walk away for at least six months, Britains mergers and acquisitions regulator said Friday.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/10/02/business-materials-eu-britain-xstrata-anglo_6959053.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/339</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata Coal has lodged plans for a super pit</title>
			<description><![CDATA[expansions and upgrade of the Ravensworth coal terminal and the Ravensworth coal handling and preparation plant...
Lemington Road will have to be realigned at Ravensworth and the intersection with the New England Highway upgraded]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/02/2702896.htm?site=newcastle</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/338</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>(For General Interest) Israeli Scientists Prove DNA Evidence Can Be Faked</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Israeli scientists have discovered a way to prove that DNA evidence can be faked.

Long considered the most solid proof in any criminal court case, the biological goods can easily be planted at a crime scene, according to Dan Frumkin, lead author of a paper published in the online journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. "You can just engineer a crime scene," Frumkin contends. "Any biology undergraduate could perform this."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132965#</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/337</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coal firms advertisements hit emissions plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Lies, lies and more lies from the profiteers of global climate destruction. The tripe they are parading on TV is not what they are telling their shareholders,, for them its "the $$ are rolling in" and we are greedy enough to want another6.5 billion from the taxpayer... Hey guess what.... perhaps we should pay all their costs and let them keep all the profits.... theyd probably whinge about that,,,,

COAL EXTRACTION = UNADULTERATED GREED]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26138945-5013871,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/336</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Boy, 10, on armed robbery charge in Muswellbrook</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Typical coal miners town - the wild west

The armed robbery charge is too serious for the boy to be dealt with under the controversial Young Offenders Act and he will have to front a judge.


The boy, who cannot be identified, was granted bail on strict conditions to appear in Muswellbrook Childrens Court next month.


He is believed to be one of the youngest people to be charged in NSW with armed robbery, which carries a maximum jail term of 25 years.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/boy-10-on-armed-robbery-charge-in-muswellbrook/1635428.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/335</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Australias population fairytale - Krudds Deception</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Without significant immigration or fertility change, Australias population will be 26 million within 10 years. It will be 30 million within 20 years.

Australias demographic change is speeding up. This presents Rudd with a dichotomy: he talks a good game about reducing greenhouse emissions, but has only committed Australia to a minimum 5 per cent cut in carbon pollution, at 2000 levels, by 2020. Why? Because in 2000 Australias population was 19 million, but by 2020 it will be about 26 million, a 37 per cent increase.

He wants a shift to green power, but will give coal producers $3.5 billion in public subsidy, which sends a tepid market signal and goes against the trenchant advice of the Governments own climate change adviser, Professor Ross Garnaut. There is even pressure building to give the coal producers another $6.5 billion, which would turn the proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme into pointless churn.

Big talk, small change.

Contrast this with Rudds rhetoric on population policy. Its the opposite - small talk, big change. At some point, the cracks in the conceptual facade are going to have to be addressed. As Stephen Kirchner of the Centre for Independent Studies points out, high population growth may help economic growth, but it is a double-edged sword: Higher rates of population growth mean the Australian economy will have to grow even faster in order to achieve increases in real GDP per capita, the most basic measure of social welfare.

The hard choices the Government has so far avoided will be arriving soon enough, thanks to high population growth, says Kirchner: Given the Federal Governments commitment to hold future growth in real government spending below 2 per cent - in order to repair the damage done to the budget bottom line by its discretionary fiscal stimulus packages - with population growth running above 2 per cent this implies reductions in real government spending per person.

Strong population growth also brings strong environmental pressures. Above the greater need for energy and transport and land, the carbon cost of Australias food infrastructure, with food grown far from where it is consumed, and supposedly fresh produce refrigerated, preserved, packed and freighted long distances, represents a real conceptual challenge which governments - federal, state and local - have not yet seriously addressed.

All this will become evident when the new energy tax, known as the emissions trading scheme, starts to flow through the economy and the cost of food begins to rise, along with inflation, and higher interest rates, the legacy of decisions taken by the Rudd Government.

In the meantime, we are being fed the fairytale that Australia is enjoying world-beating growth that is all gain, no pain.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/australias-population-fairytale-20090927-g7o5.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/334</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata refuses to accept responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Hunter mining giant Xstrata is warning it will lobby for free permits under the Federal Governments emissions trading scheme if open-cut mines are not treated fairly.

The Commonwealth is proposing to hit open-cut mines with a flat default charge for greenhouse gases that escape into the atmosphere during mining.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/24/2695418.htm?site=newcastle</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/333</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata shunts Asciano with its own trains</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Swiss miner Xstrata plans to bring some competitive tension to the Hunter Valley coal railway by buying three big coal trains and hauling its own coal to Newcastle Port.

From 2011 the miner will move about a quarter of its coal itself, acting as a competitor to the regions main hauler, Ascianos Pacific National, as well as to Queensland Rail,]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26120552-643,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/332</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Coal bosses accused of toying with jobs: Xstrata &amp; Friends Duplicitious Lying Scaremongering</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE mining union says the coal industry is being blatantly dishonest and toying with workers jobs on the coalfields as it tries to extract more compensation under the Federal Governments emissions trading scheme.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/coal-bosses-accused-of-toying-with-jobs-20090922-g0mo.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/331</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Union warning over coal deal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[with any luck the massive export capacity expansion combined with global generation moves to renewable fuels will see the price of coal (and its profitability) decline to the point of unsustainability and closure.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/union-warning-over-coal-deal/1627549.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/330</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Feds are burning: Garretts the word</title>
			<description><![CDATA["I think any anthem for saving the planet is great. But the anthem needs matching with action and we havent got that from the Rudd government,"]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26080057-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/329</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata says on track for 2016 start of Tampakan project</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Having murdered most of the opposition such as Boy Bilanes the Phillipines mining lobby think they are on a roll.... Discovered in 1991, the project has never left the drawing board due to environmental problems and communist insurgencies, with the last rebel attack in December killing a mine worker.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miningweekly.com/article/xstrata-says-on-track-for-2016-start-of-tampakan-project-2009-09-17</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/328</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>coal row: Xstrata</title>
			<description><![CDATA[BHP Billiton was originally blamed for the delayed implementation of the system after it refused to sign-off on the deal.

It prompted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to scrap the systems interim approval.

But blame for the delay has now shifted to Xstrata and Centennial Coal., 

The story is wrong thereafter on Centennial being forced to give... fact is Centennial CANNOT give due to over-riding NCIG partnership agreement... suck eggs Xstrata - u cant hold out on that one...

read the case at www.austlii.com.au...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/17/2688807.htm?section=business</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/327</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Big delays in green loan scheme</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Federal Governments $175 million green loans scheme is in disarray]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/big-delays-in-green-loan-scheme-20090915-fpp6.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/326</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata not swayed by strike action at NSW Hunter Valley mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Big pond quoted Xstrata Coal as saying that it will not be swayed by strike action at a mine in the NSW Hunter Valley that is set to close in March but could reopen later.]]></description>
			<link>http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/09/14/MTExNzI5/Xstrata_not_swayed_by_strike_action_at_NSW_Hunter_Valley_mine.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/325</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata Coal rejects "job security clause"</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MINE workers strike action seems to have been in vain with Xstrata Coal announcing it will not include a job security clause in a new Enterprise Agreement for miners at United Colleries.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miningcoal.com.au/article/xstrata-coal-rejects-job-security-clause/498320.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/324</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>xstrata miners on strike</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Hundreds of xstrata miners have striked against the companies decision to close united collieries.]]></description>
			<link>http://hvnewsroom.blogspot.com/2009/09/hundreds-of-xstrata-miners-have-striked.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/323</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>World Bank tells rich to pay their climate damage bill</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Calling climate change a deeply unfair issue, the World Development Report 2010 finds that rich countries are responsible for two-thirds of the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. But it concludes that poorer countries in South Asia and Africa are expected to bear the brunt of the impact through drought, sea level rise and extreme weather which could permanently cut up to 5 per cent a year from their annual consumption and slash their food production.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/world-bank-tells-rich-to-pay-their-climate-damage-bill-20090915-fpp3.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/322</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Global warming opens Atlantic gateway</title>
			<description><![CDATA[IT is both a symbol of global warming and a potentially lucrative new trade route between Europe and Asia.

Play
12345Loading...Please login to rate a video.You cant rate an advertisement.(1 vote)

UN optimistic pre-climate talks
The UN says Decembers Copenhagen talks will provide an opportunity for developing countries to...
Views today: 47Sorry, this video is no longer available.Two German container ships have successfully navigated the Russian Northeast Passage across Arctic waters from the Pacific for the first time in a voyage considered impossible until a few years ago. 

The journey through formerly frozen seas promises to transform Russias neglected Siberian coast and reduce transport costs for goods taken from Asia to the European Union. 

But environmentalists say that the opening of the route shows the speed at which the polar ice caps are melting.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26069573-2703,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/321</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Australian economy not ready for climate deal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AUSTRALIA stands less ready than many other countries to protect its living standards under a strict international climate change agreement according to a new global carbon competitiveness index.

According to the index, compiled by UK consultancy Vivid Economics, Australia ranks just 15th on a list of how well the G20 nations are positioned to protect the economic well-being of their citizens in a low carbon world - well behind France, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, Germany and even China.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26069627-5013871,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:32 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/320</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Nation ill-equipped for green future</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AUSTRALIA is in the weakest position of any industrialised nation to compete in a clean-energy world, a new report has found.

Despite high levels of wealth and education, the nations heavy-polluting coal-fired electricity, its energy-intensive exports like aluminium and its high levels of car ownership make it one of the developed countries least able to generate prosperity in a future marked by drastic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/nation-illequipped-for-green-future-20090913-fm96.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/319</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Xstrata says no to strikers demands</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata Coal says it will not be swayed by strike action at a mine in the NSW Hunter Valley that is set to close in March but could reopen later.]]></description>
			<link>http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2009/09/10/Xstrata_says_no_to_strikers_demands_371212.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/318</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Miners set to strike</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MORE than 100 workers at a NSW Hunter Valley mine are set to begin a four-day strike over a jobs dispute today.

Xstrata Coal plans to axe up to 110 staff when it closes its United Collieries mine next year. 

The Swiss mining giant said in June that mining would cease at its United Collieries mine, 15km west of Singleton, in March next year after all economically recoverable underground reserves were exhausted. 

But the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) says the company plans to resume mining coal on the same lease in 2012.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26052581-26103,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/317</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Justice is with the coal protesters - Professor Clive Hamilton draws on UK case</title>
			<description><![CDATA[GLOBAL warming activists will this weekend begin a national series of protests against coal-fired electricity plants and coalmines, starting at Victorias Hazelwood plant, armed with a potential defence against prosecution from a jury decision in England.

Clive Hamilton, professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University and former director of the Australia Institute, said demonstrators could take heart that Greenpeace protesters who scaled a smokestack at the Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant in Kent were acquitted by a jury. He said politics had failed on climate change, with Labor governments caving in to "Big Coal", and it was time for civil disobedience. 

Writing on the Crikey website, Professor Hamilton said activists at what was intended to be a peaceful protest at Victorias coal-fired Hazelwood power station might break the law, "but they have justice on their side". 

"With scientists predicting runaway climate change unless we take drastic action in the next five years, and the manifest failure of our democratic system to respond adequately to the overwhelming threat posed to our future, it is legitimate to step outside the usual boundaries of protest."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26061641-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:34 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/316</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Nicolas Sarkozys France to tax carbon pollution</title>
			<description><![CDATA[FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday unveiled a new carbon tax to help combat global warming, overriding strong public opposition to a plan that will further strain household budgets.

The new levy on oil, gas and coal consumption by households and businesses will come into effect next year, making France the biggest economy yet to impose a straight-up carbon tax. 

In practice, the E17 ($29) tax will push up the average household heating bill by up to E174 a year and raise the cost of a litre of unleaded fuel by about four euro cents (about 7c). 

"It is time to create green taxation," Mr Sarkozy said in an address at Culoz, a town near the French border with Switzerland. 

"We cannot keep on taxing labour, taxing capital and ignore taxes on pollution. 

"This is a major fiscal shift, an important innovation," the President said. "It is the first step of a fiscal revolution that will be developed." 

Parliament has yet to approve the measure, but it is likely to pass as part of the wider annual budget plan. 

Mr Sarkozy set the new carbon tax at E17 per tonne of carbon dioxide, and said it would be gradually increased to penalise those who refuse to abandon their wasteful ways. The French Government has pledged to cut its own CO2 emissions to one-quarter of the 1990 levels by 2050 by relying on nuclear power - which generates few greenhouse gases - improving building insulation and boosting the use of renewable energies.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26060211-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/315</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Well sue on Murray River: Mike Rann</title>
			<description><![CDATA["Even if the Victorian Government meets the October 31 deadline, the SA Government intends to continue to pursue all legal remedies including the High Court challenge ... to protect the Murray-Darling Basin."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26056743-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/314</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Push for maverick techniques to restore landscape</title>
			<description><![CDATA[IN WHAT he says is the biggest challenge of his career and potentially the most important project in the nations history, the former governor-general Michael Jeffery is launching a national campaign to restore Australias degraded landscape.....

In July, General Jeffery appeared on Australian Story with Mr Andrews and another high-profile supporter, the retailer Gerry Harvey, for whom Mr Andrews has spent six years successfully restoring the landscape on Baramul thoroughbred stud in the Widden Valley.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/push-for-maverick-techniques-to-restore-landscape-20090911-fkqi.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/313</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Officials ignored lead risks</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The story with which the air quality campaigners of the Upper Hunter Valley will be familiar.

THE Queensland Health Department was warned about lead contamination in the mining town of Mount Isa in 1986, but reassured local officials that there was "no real cause for concern".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/officials-ignored-lead-risks-20090911-fkqo.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/312</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>AIR pollution in Lake Macquarie as bad as the Upper Hunter</title>
			<description><![CDATA[(The Upper Hunter is now a measure of how foul your air can get. So much for the touted improved air quality that the NSW Government REFUSES to measure in the Upper Hunter.)

AIR pollution in some areas of Lake Macquarie is as bad as the Upper Hunter, National Pollutant Inventory documents show.

Upper Hunter residents have threatened legal action over the NSW Governments failure to do a public health study into the effects of power station emissions and coalmining.


Some residents want a similar study in Lake Macquarie, with high levels of pollution coming from Eraring and Vales Point coal-fired power stations and the nearby Munmorah plant.


National Pollutant Inventory documents show that 45 million kilograms of nitrogen oxides (NOx) were emitted from Eraring power station, in south-west Lake Macquarie, in 2007-08.


In Muswellbrook, 49 million kilograms of NOx were produced from electricity generation.


Health authorities say breathing low levels of nitrogen oxides can irritate eyes, nose, throat and lungs.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/lake-macquarie-air-not-stacking-up/1615891.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/311</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>Asthma toll on increase: DOUBLE STATE AVERAGES</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Hunter and New England region has the highest asthma death rate for women in NSW, the states second highest number of female asthma cases, and the toll looks set to continue.

A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released yesterday has warned the respiratory illness would continue to rank as one of the major causes of disease burden in Australia for the next 20 years.


"This burden is particularly heavy for children asthma is the leading cause of burden of disease among children, ahead of anxiety and depression," Professor Guy Marks, of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfares Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring, said. 


In the Hunter and New England, asthma is the most common cause behind hospital admission for children under the age of six, while about one in six youngsters across the region are predicted to develop an asthma-related illness.


Hunter New England Health staff specialist Peter Wark said it was unclear if the high rates were due to environmental or genetic factors. 

"Its difficult to know why we are seeing more of the disease," he said.


"Its hard to gather the statistics that would make that clear."

(Doctors in Singleton have NO DOUBT that the incidence of asthma is directly related to open cut coal mining and power station emissions - dusts and noxious gases that affect the entire Hunter/New England Region - that are set to DOUBLE in the next 5 years)... One more reason for a decent, independent, state funded health study for the entire region with direct focus on the coal and power generation industries - in constant denial).

Dr Wark said children were not the only ones at risk.


A NSW Population Health Survey showed 13 per cent of people aged 16 and over in the region had asthma in 2007, compared with 10.5 per cent statewide.


People aged between 25 and 34 had the biggest representation, with more than 19 per cent diagnosed with the disease, compared with a state average of 10.5 per cent.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/asthma-toll-on-increase/1611747.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:02 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/310</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Shock shutdown of coal loader quota system</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NEWCASTLES 40-plus queue of coal ships is likely to grow dramatically after the federal competition regulator threw out the ports coal-loader quota system. Mr Samuel (ACCC) said the industrys future was in its own hands.

Just shows how deficient and skungy Xstrata coal is in its failure to invest in its own export infrastructure... now they go off whinging that other people who have invested in capacity should be forced to carry theirs by nationalisation of private loader assest interests.

Any govt doing so should also impose the health costs directly on the producers and lets see what $41 a tonne added to the export cost does for their evil business.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/shock-shutdown-of-coal-loader-quota-system/1611741.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/309</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Krudd, Garret &amp; Xstrata sentence Great Barrier Reef to death</title>
			<description><![CDATA[In a series of dire predictions for the Australian icon, the report finds that carbon in the atmosphere will have to be kept to under 400 parts per million (ppm) if animal species and coral are to have a low to medium vulnerability to climate change.

The current level of carbon in the atmosphere is 387 ppm.

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has on several occasions publicly supported a 450 ppm target for carbon in the atmosphere - a figure also backed recently by the Major Economies Forum that includes the United States and China.

The report finds if carbon reaches 450 ppm in the atmosphere, which is predicted for 2035, it would result in severe mass bleaching and destroy the reefs ability to grow new coral.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/terminal-damage-to-barrier-reef-unavoidable-20090902-f8id.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:21 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/308</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xtstrata left with "An Unenforceable Right" to export Mangoola via NCIG</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Ill have to make my best endeavours before I bottom-of-the-harbour my obligation and do a re-birth number with NCIG on my own (new) account.... Centennial duds XTA again,, llol,, the first one being selling XTA a mine with no access for construction or operation,, the latter being no egress for product.... rofl....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/const/foconst27aug09.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/307</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Skellatar Stock Route Miners Village (for Mangoola Mine) Rejected by Court</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A WORKERS camp will not be built on Skellatar Stock Route, after an appeal was dismissed this week by the NSW Land and Environment Court.
---------
Wybong Action Group contributed significantly to the outcome through detailed legal submissions lodged with both Council and the Court. Hip, Hip, Hooray !!]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/workers-camp-rejected/1608808.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/306</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Hundreds of Ulan coal miners, families and retrenched workers stage demonstration in Mudgee.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Marchers were encouraged by clapping from bystanders and motorists blowing their horns as they marched and chanted "Ulan Coal, no soul"... and "Xstratas my name and greed is my game"....

"The added issue, which is a test issue for all mine workers, is that these workers are going to be replaced by outside contractors."
"The next step is that the Union will be challenging the redundancies on the basis they are not true redundancies.

"This will be the first case of its kind to go before FairWork Australia.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/news/local/news/general/xstrata-says-it-is-acting-appropriately-to-meet-current-and-future-conditions/1607991.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/305</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Coal Rally Ending as China Shuns Imports, Opens Mines</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Chinas unprecedented appetite for imported coal is about to be sated, jeopardizing a five-month rally in prices by adding to a global surplus of the fuel used in power plants from Perth to Chicago. 

After importing a record 48 million tons in the first six months, China is opening mines idled by worker deaths this year following safety upgrades in a bid to bolster economic growth. Huadian Power International Corp. expects Chinas largest coal- mining province, Shanxi, to boost output by 60 percent in the second half of the year. That would mean an increase of 150 million metric tons, almost twice what Germany burns annually. 

With little need to buy coal outside the country, prices may tumble, falling as much as 7 percent in Europe alone, Barclays Capital says. Chinas purchases will plunge 33 percent between June 30 and Dec. 31, based on the median estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=anPsamswT_DU</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/304</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata thinks the Chinese will keep on importing coal at an increasing rate</title>
			<description><![CDATA[How self-deluded can a parasite get. China has been stockpiling at the low end and now is heading to rapidly expand dormant domestic supply as prices rise. Seeya later sucker!]]></description>
			<link>http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/08/23/MTA4Mjk1/Xstrata_Coal_to_go_for_efficient_low_cost_coal_mining_model.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:06 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/303</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>20yo dies at Xstrata NT mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Northern Territory police are investigating the death of the 20-year-old man at McArthur River mine, 900 kilometres south-east of Darwin. 

Police say they were notified just before 5:30pm CST on Friday by the mines local health clinic that the Darwinian had died at the mine site.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/23/2663837.htm?section=business</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:04 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/302</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata response to climate change and increasing costs</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Mr Buffiers message was that coal remains an important economic driver for New South Wales. And with 15 operating mines and a significant project pipeline, Xstrata is the biggest producer with cash spends in the last financial year of around USD 2.2 billion.

He devoted some time to outlining Xstrata Coals view of the Federal Governments proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. He said that "The CPRS represents a very significant challenge to this industry and also the economic input into NSW. The industrys been singled out, its been treated unfairly, and its been excluded from the Emissions Intensive Trade Expose scheme... sob sob... Theres no money in a dead planet Boofhead]]></description>
			<link>http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/08/23/MTA4Mjkz/Xstrata_response_to_climate_change_and_increasing_costs.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:02 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/301</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata- Its all about one psychopaths need for power and the ongoing acquisition of it.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Asked by a British newspaper ahead of the listing of Billiton in 1999 what, in life, was most important to him, Davis replied: "Power, wealth and happiness...

A never-ending hollow godless drive to acquire power for powers sake, destroying all and everything in its path until the rancid dog is finally put down by another of its own ilk. Vale Xstrata - rotten to its evil stinking core.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/The%20subject%20of%20power.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/300</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata criticises investment barriers</title>
			<description><![CDATA["XSTRATA Coal group executive Mick Buffier says the Australian government needs to remove investment barriers if it is to continue receiving benefits from coal, including the global giant?s pipeline of projects in New South Wales."

Where does this Boofhead get off at? Benefits? What the hell benefits? At Anvil Hill (Mangoola) the benefit is 4000Ha of forest to be clear felled in a region denuded of native vegetation by 200 years of white trash colonisation. More noxious and greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere with heavy metals and fine silica dusts to contaminate land, drinking waters and lungs. Food producing agricultural land removed from production, populations removed, communities destroyed, services downgraded. And a few outsiders get employed at ridiculous salaries to decimate the land, poison the air and putrify the waters. Big Benefit Buffier you troglodyte wanksta Boofhead. Guess what Mick,, NSW says "Xstrata piss off and go do to Switzerland the mongrel acts you are doing to NSW you low dog."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.metal-industry-india.com/blog/2009/08/20/xstrata-criticises-investment-barriers/</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/299</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Government should show support for coal: Xstrata says with forked tongue</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Whilst Xstrata Coals chief executive Peter Freyberg was expounding the benefits of discussing coal synergies with Anglo Coal, his Australian colleague was talking about the challenges facing its operations in New South Wales. Xstrata Coal recently acquired Centennial Coals Anvil Hill project located in the Hunter Valley, and has renamed it Mangoola in a deliberate strategy to try and "take away some of the stigma that has unfairly labelled this operation".
In terms of opposition to the mine, from community and environmental groups, Buffier believes this was not just related to potential impacts of that operation but "a broader story in terms of widespread opposition to coal."
The project is expected to be in operation in late 2011 and capable of producing 8 mtpa at a capital expenditure of about $1 billion.
But without the vocal support of Government, Buffier said that such public opinions are "very hard to turn around".
"One of the issues I see for the NSW Government is that theres little public support for the industry,,"]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theajmonline.com.au/mining_news/news/2009/august/august-20th-09/government-should-show-support-for-coal-xstrata</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/298</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Centennial appeals Court decision forcing Xstrata access to 2nd coal loader for Mangoola Coal.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Centennial is appealing a court ruling that Xstrata should be given access to its share of capacity at the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group, or NCIG, development,,, it is not clear whether Xstrata will have access just to the first stage of the NCIG development or the second stage as well,, Centennial is talking to Xstrata and the NSW government about the implications of the court ruling,, The court ruling does not come into effect until Xstrata begins production from its Mangoola mine,,, Centennial can use 100% of its share the new NCIG infrastructure for the next few years,,,]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25951685-5005200,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/297</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Anglo investors say Xstrata deal dead</title>
			<description><![CDATA[One large Anglo shareholder (also a top ten Xstrata shareholder), a fund manager who spoke on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity, said after meeting with both sides he doubted a deal would emerge.

"Theres not a chance for the deal going ahead in the next twelve months, in my view. It is effectively dead," he said.]]></description>
			<link>http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE57H42K20090818?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=businessNews</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/296</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata injects billions into Hunter Valley projects</title>
			<description><![CDATA["Weve spent $1.8 billion on projects, predominantly in the Hunter Valley bringing on the new Glendell operation, expanding Liddell," he said.

"Three hundred and fifty million dollars at our Blakefield operation, thatll replace Beltana but most importantly weve got the large Mangoola project coming on, spending $1 billion there." Bastard Swiss Wanksta]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/17/2657775.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/295</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>More job cuts at Ulan mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The decision to axe more than 120 jobs at a mine in central west NSW is scandalous and smacks of corporate greed, the construction union says.

Xstrata, the Swiss mining giant, plans to slash up to 122 jobs at its Ulan mine, northwest of Mudgee, comprising 28 permanent staff and 94 contractors.

The culling will reduce the operations total workforce from 550 staff, including contractors, to 428.]]></description>
			<link>http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-business/more-job-cuts-at-ulan-mine-union-says-20090813-ejj0.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/294</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Chance of class action against NSW Government over coalmining in Upper Hunter</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE State Government could potentially face a multi-million dollar class action from Upper Hunter residents who became ill from the effects of coalmining and power station emissions, the Environmental Defenders Office said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/chance-of-class-action-against-nsw-government-over-coalmining-in-upper-hunter/1592177.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/293</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Foreign hands all over Hunter mines</title>
			<description><![CDATA["They used to talk about selling off the farm, well I can assure you the farm was sold off long ago," Mr Murray said.


"Its up to the politicians to make the laws to protect Australian interests but theres precious little beyond wages and a couple of bucks a tonne royalty that stays in this country.


"Were talking about the very biggest and most profitable companies in the world here, which is why its a bit rich for them to be crying poor and begging for more compensation from the Federal Governments carbon pollution reduction scheme."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/foreign-hands-all-over-hunter-mines/1595586.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/292</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Help Bob Brown talk to Australia about climate change</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Kevin Rudds carbon pollution reduction legislation, which offered polluters $16 billion in compensation, has failed in the Senate. But the collapse of the CPRS Bill is no excuse for inaction. 

For the millions of Australians who want action, now is exactly the right time to contact Mr Rudd and tell him to act.]]></description>
			<link>http://greensmps.org.au/help-bob-brown-talk-australia-about-climate-change</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/291</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>NSW Nats will strike a balance on mining, agriculture and community: Humphries</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Shadow Industry Minister Mr Gay said was important to get a proper process in place.

"Inherent in the development of the bill, its important to acknowledge that there will be some agricultural land that should not be mined- similar to the situation we have now where National Parkes cannot be mined.

"Its about getting a better process in place than is provided by the current legislation and the current Minister, which has led to the appalling fiasco we have at Caroona.

Mr Gay also said the important issue to the NSW Nationals of Royalties for Regions and its development into policy was also discussed today.]]></description>
			<link>http://nsw.nationals.org.au/news/nsw-nats-will-strike-a-balance-on-mining-agriculture-and-community-humphries.aspx?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=Newsletter&amp;utm_content=743784056&amp;utm_campaign=NSW+Nationals+Weekly+Email+Roundup%2c+Friday+14+August+_+ktijx&amp;utm</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/290</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Mangoola Coal - Nowhere to go ! - Centennial &amp; NCIG have berths all tied up.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata bought Centennial Coals Anvil Hill project (since renamed Mangoola) for $1 billion in 2007. It had hoped that meant it would be given an equivalent share of Centennials stake in NCIG to allow it to ship the coal from that terminal, since the Xstrata- and Rio Tinto-owned Port Waratah Coal Services is operating at capacity.

But as a Federal Court ruling revealed this week, the agreement between the NCIG partners - including BHP, Centennial, Felix Resources, Donaldson Coal and Whitehaven Coal - means the existing partners have pro-rata rights to any stakes in NCIG should they become available.

It means that any consortium members looking to sell individual mines or projects outright, rather than just minority stakes, could find the port capacity associated with those mines or projects will evaporate...]]></description>
			<link>http://business.smh.com.au/business/love-is-in-the-air-but-emeco-remains-blushingly-coy-20090812-eic8.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/289</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Ormet files layoff notice for all workers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[All 982 Ormet Corp. employees were given notice this week they could soon be out of work as the company continues to struggle to reduce costs and find its niche in the battered aluminum market.

Ormet officials filed a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice Monday, indicating that operations could be coming to a halt at the Monroe County facility.

The first round of layoffs is scheduled for Sept. 26; the remaining jobs are to be eliminated Oct. 11, according to the notice. More specific information on the pending layoffs was not provided.

According to a union representative, the key to keeping Ormet going will be to find a new raw product supplier, but that will likely cost significantly more than the company had been paying to its old supplier.

For the past several months, Ormet has been embroiled in a battle with alumina supplier Glencore Ltd., which was accused of failing to deliver raw materials as required by a tolling agreement.

The layoff announcement comes just a day after Ormet announced arbitration with Glencore had ended.

According to a press release, Glencore must pay unspecified damages to Ormet, but Glencore is freed from its requirement to deliver product to Ormet. All of Ormets refining capabilities had been dedicated to Glencore.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/514611.html?nav=5002</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/288</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>BREAKFAST DEALS: What Crean didnt hear</title>
			<description><![CDATA[With such a mood of fear and loathing emanating from Sino-Australian business relations, government ministers Simon Crean and Kim Carr are doing a commendable job of keeping the upper lip stiff as they make their way through a series of meetings with Chinese car manufacturers. That hasnt stopped one gaffe however, as recorded by Fairfax journalist John Garnaut, in which the vice-president of Chinas third biggest automaker, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, said his company had been making contact about an acquisition of General Motors Australian subsidiary Holden. At that point the Chinese translator attempted to explain Li Shaozhus words, only to receive the rebuke "You dont say what I didnt say." The interview promptly terminated. Luckily however the honourable members Crean and Carr didnt hear what they didnt hear and have denied the suggestion. For some time Holden has also denied speculation in this column that the car company is up for sale. Nevertheless the rumours keep circulating that Shanghai Automotive, Dongfeng and others are eyeing Holden. Hear no deal, see no deal, we suppose.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BREAKFAST-DEALS-Deals-on-wheels-pd20090716-TYTK9?OpenDocument&amp;src=sph</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/287</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Anglo squares up to Xstrata</title>
			<description><![CDATA[On Friday Anglo American convincingly beat market expectations with its half-year results - its first real demonstration to shareholders that the mining giant should remain independent.]]></description>
			<link>http://news.mining.com/2009/08/03/anglo-squares-up-to-xstrata/</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/286</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata coal announces job cuts</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Almost 300 coal miners are about to lose their jobs at two New South Wales coal mines.

Xstrata Coal says 94 contractors and 28 permanent employees at the Ulan mine in the states central west will lose their jobs.

Another 57 contractors and 101 permanent staff will go at its Tahmoor mine southwest of Sydney.]]></description>
			<link>http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Business/2009/07/31/Xstrata_coal_announces_job_cuts_357590.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/285</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata-cuts-workforces-at-australian-mines</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata Coal said Thursday that high production costs and challenging market conditions had led it to restructure the workforces at its Tahmoor and Ulan coal mines in New South Wales with the loss of 280 jobs.


"The restructure is necessary to protect the long-term financial viability of the businesses and is aimed at improving efficiencies and re-aligning employee numbers with the current operating environment," said Xstrata Coal chief executive Peter Freyberg in a statement.

The Ulan underground and surface mine produces 6 million mt/year of thermal coal and employs 550 people, of which 122 are affected by the restructuring. Tahmoor mine produces 2 million mt/year of hard coking coal and has 493 workers, of which 158 are affected by the changes to working conditions.

Operations at Tahmoor are being reduced to five days per week from seven days with immediate effect. There are no changes to the working pattern at the Ulan complex, Xstrata said.

Redundancy has been offered to the affected workers at Ulan and Tahmoor and there is a possibility that some workers could relocate to other Xstrata coal mines, the company said.


Freyberg said that operating costs at Tahmoor "remain too high" and production and market prices were "not strong enough to support our current number of employees".

Xstrata plans to outsource some mining requirements at its Tahmoor mine to specialist contractors to improve efficiency, it said.

Xstata in June said it would end production at its United Collieries underground coal mine in New South Wales in 2010 following the exhaustion of the mines economically recoverable coal reserves. The mine employed 220 workers at the time of the announcement and produced 3 million mt/year of semi-soft coking coal.]]></description>
			<link>http://macorship.blogspot.com/2009/07/xstrata-cuts-workforces-at-australian.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/284</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Miner in hospital after cement truck accident</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A CONTRACT worker is in a serious condition in hospital after an accident involving a cement truck at a zinc mine in Mount Isa. 
The 35-year-old Mansell contractor was given first aid treatment after the accident at the George Fisher mine at about 5am (AEST).

He was taken by ambulance to Mount Isa Hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

Police, the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy and the mining company Xstrata are investigating the accident.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,25841346-14334,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/283</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata to restart Oaky coking coal mine</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata which closed the Oaky coal mine last year due to slump in demand for coking coal in China will reopen the mine again.

Xstrata said that but the increased sales to China will allow operations at the mine to restart next month.

When asked why the company closed the mine in the first place, Mr Jim Vallerie a spokesman of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said that "We believe the original closure was done in a very unjust manner towards all the employees who were working there. We would see that what theyre doing now by re-employing some six months, if that, later, probably clouds the real reason behind why they were done.]]></description>
			<link>http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/07/27/MTA0MDI4/Production_pruning_-_Xstrata_to_restart_Oaky_coking_coal_mine.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/282</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Pacific National hooks up with Xstrata for a billion dollar decade</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ASCIANO subsidiary Pacific National has signed a new 10-year haulage contract with Xstrata Coal covering the NSW Hunter Valley and Port Kembla regions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,25819090-5017963,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/281</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Australia one of worst animal destroyers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE earth is experiencing its sixth great extinction and Australia, along with its Pacific neighbours, is in danger of perpetuating its record as one of the worst destroyers of animal and plant species, a study by leading environmental scientists has found.

Based on a review of 24,000 scientific papers, the study published today in the journal Conservation Biology finds that land clearing and overlogging are among the greatest threats to land-based creatures and plants in the Oceania region.

Since records began, Australian agriculture has changed or destroyed half the woodlands and forests of the country. More than two-thirds of the remaining forest has been degraded by logging.

read more.....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/australia-one-of-worst-animal-destroyers-20090728-e068.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/280</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>China hit with plummeting exports</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Despite massive stimulus packages by the Chinese government, Chinas exports, the mainstay of its economy, continue to plummet.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.chinanews.net/story/517702</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/279</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Hunter coalmine closures possible</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Scaremongering tripe from a culpable industry. THE Hunter Valley and Illawarra will face severe economic dislocation as a result of moves to slash greenhouse gas emissions. 

Mines are likely to close, and possibly Port Kembla steelworks, leading to severe social and community upheaval.


Papers tabled yesterday in State Parliament indicate significant concerns within Government over the economic fall-out from reductions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunter-coalmine-closures-possible/1564904.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/278</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Chinas nuclear plans power uranium</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AN official launch has just been staged at Fuqing, in the southern Chinese coastal province of Fujian, for a new nuclear power station.

It will have six reactors, be completed in 2014 and have generating capacity of 6000 megawatts. 

To give you some idea of how big that is, the Snowy Mountains hydro stations have a combined capacity of 3800MW. 

And Fuqing is just one of seven new power plants in China that have been given the green light.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25703752-18261,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/277</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Coal exports to China may fall as prices, shipping rates rise</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Reuters reported yesterday that a cargo of high-ash, low-volatile content Australian coal already on the water was offered at $US72 a tonne after the Chinese buyer cancelled the contract. 

A trader with a southern China company said imported coal was no longer cheaper than domestic coal due to higher freight rates and the rising price of imports. 

His company, the trader said, had as a result now stopped importing coal from Australia.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25756224-16222,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/276</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Tim Flannery backs carbon store</title>
			<description><![CDATA[SCIENTIST Tim Flannery has backed Malcolm Turnbulls push to promote incentives to encourage the use of biochar in the fight against climate change, sparking renewed opposition calls for the government to accommodate the technique in its climate change response.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25716135-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/275</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Coalition urges carbon credits for farmers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Senator Heffernan also said Australian farmers should not be penalised for methane emissions -- cow farts -- while Brazil and India did nothing about their much bigger national gas-emitting cattle herds. 

"Brazil has three times the number of cattle than Australia and India has 10 times the number -- thats a quarter of a billion cattle," Senator Heffernan said. "Neither Brazil nor India have any plans to do anything about it." 

Senator Heffernan, who is a member of a committee on developing northern Australia, said that if the US legislated in favour of its farmers, Australia would have "no choice but to do the same thing".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25710522-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/274</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate change is shrinking sheep</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CLIMATE change has caused a flock of wild sheep on a remote northern Scottish island to become smaller, according to an unusual investigation published on Thursday.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25727435-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/273</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Arctic sea ice cover shrinks greatly</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Arctic sea ice thinned dramatically between the winters of 2004 and last year, with thick, older ice shrinking by the equivalent of Alaskas land area, a study using data from a NASA satellite shows.

Using information from NASAs Ice, Cloud and Land Satellite, scientists from the US space agency and the University of Washington in Seattle estimated both the thickness and volume of the Arctic Oceans ice cover. 

ICESat allows scientists to measure changes in the thickness and volume of Arctic ice, whereas previously scientists relied only on measurements of area to determine how much of the Arctic Ocean was covered in ice. Scientists found that Arctic sea ice thinned by 17.8cm a year, or 67cm over four winters, according to the study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans. 

They also found that thicker, older ice, which had survived one or more summers, shrank by 42per cent. "Between 2004 and 2008, multi-year ice cover shrank 1.5million square kilometres - nearly the size of Alaskas land area," a report of the studys findings said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25753351-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/272</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Australian shot dead in Indonesias Papua region</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AN Australian working for the Indonesian subsidiary of US-based mining giant Freeport McMoRan was shot dead by unknown attackers today in restive Papua province, police said.

Indonesian police spokesman Nanan Soekarna identified the victim as mining technician Drew Grant, and said he was shot in the neck as he travelled in a car with five others on a road between Tembagapura and Timika.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25764767-25837,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:18 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/271</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>PM undermines hopes for global climate deal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has been overheard pouring cold water on world leaders chances of hammering out critical climate change limits at Copenhagen - just hours after the US President, Barack Obama, called for global optimism.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/pm-undermines-hopes-for-global-climate-deal-20090710-dg7r.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:22 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/270</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>El Nino</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Bureau of Meteorology first warned early last month that an El Nino event appeared to be developing. "Its here," David Jones, the bureaus head of climate analysis, said yesterday. "The only question mark is how long does it last?"

The last El Nino events were in 2002 and 2006, and were associated with very dry conditions. The new one may not begin to break down until mid 2010.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/el-nino-dry-times-ahead-20090710-dg2x.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:19 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/269</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate warriors march</title>
			<description><![CDATA[They believe that the financial and climate crises can be solved if people put enough political pressure on their leaders to invest in green jobs and cut emissions drastically - an aim they acknowledge is "ridiculously ambitious". They argue that those under 30 hold the moral authority in this argument. "Theres no ombudsman for future generations. Were it," Ms McKenzie said.

But they remain optimistic.

"Looking at history, huge changes have happened in short periods of time," Ms Rose said.

"Things that people said were impossible - ending slavery, giving women the right to vote, ending apartheid - have changed, almost overnight, if the conditions are right. Were trying to build those conditions."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/climate-warriors-march-behind-little-green-book-20090710-dg2t.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/268</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Anglo names chairman to lead Xstrata defense</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Anglo American Plc (AAL.L) (AGLJ.J) appointed veteran industrialist John Parker as chairman on Friday, moving to bolster its leadership as it seeks to fend off an unwanted merger proposal by rival Xstrata Plc (XTA.L).

Analysts said Parker was strong choice given his experience in management and merger activity, noting that although he made no mention of Xstrata, his first comments reiterated many of Anglos arguments that it has strong prospects as a stand-alone group.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE5691X320090710?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=businessNews&amp;sp=true</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/267</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>South Africa: Xstratas Plans for Anglo Remain a Worry</title>
			<description><![CDATA[XSTRATAs effort to merge with Anglo American is still, in my view, a nonstarter. As you would have read in colleague Charlotte Mathewss story in Wednesdays Business Day, Xstratas board disagrees and the company is spending a lot of money and management time to keep the proposal alive and well.

When the proposal was floated, Anglos share price and trading volume surged. Since then, the trading volume and price trend have fizzled. The markets view, I guess, is much the same as mine.]]></description>
			<link>http://allafrica.com/stories/200907100636.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/266</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Historical mines pose low health risk</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the first stage has shown there is very little risk to human health from historical mine sediment in the Leichhardt River area.

He says the next stage will look at dust and air emissions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/09/2620868.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/265</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Dont keep residents in dark on Cobbora Coalfield issue: Gay/Humphries</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Its about time this weak NSW Labor Government told residents in the Dunedoo and Gulgong areas exactly how they will be affected by the Governments secret mining deals, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries Duncan Gay and Member for Barwon Kevin Humphries said today.

"This State Labor Government is up to its usual secretive tricks by going behind the scenes setting up land transactions with farmers in the Cabbora region on a proposed coal-field site, while their neighbours are being told absolutely nothing," said Mr Gay.

"Its just another example of NSW Labor failing to be open and honest with the community.]]></description>
			<link>http://nsw.nationals.org.au/news/dont-keep-residents-in-dark-on-cobbora-coalfield-issue-gay-humphries.aspx?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=Newsletter&amp;utm_content=704209237&amp;utm_campaign=NSW+Nationals+Weekly+Email+Roundup%2c+29+June+2009+_+klejk&amp;utm_term=Read+M</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/264</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>South African miners move to stop Xstrata and Anglo deal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[South Africas powerful National Union of Mineworkers, with 317,000 members, has intervened in the proposed merger between the mining companies Anglo American and Xstrata.

It claims any deal would be "lead to unacceptable job losses" at Anglo. 

Anglo is South Africas largest industrial company and accounts for 3% of the countrys GDP. It employs 110,000 in dozens of mines across South Africa, and in Botswana and Namibia.

The NUM said it did not believe assurances given by Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis last week that the company had no intention of achieving estimated cost-savings at the merged group of $1bn via large cuts in employee numbers. 

An NUM spokesman said: "We have heard this before. Two companies get together and promise there wont be any job cuts, but they always restructure and re-engineer their operations in a way that leads to people being laid off."

One only has to look at the Canadian experience with Xstrata to know that written agreements on jobs mean nothing.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/28/xstrata-anglo-american-mining</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/263</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>South Africa retains mining merger concerns</title>
			<description><![CDATA[South Africas key concerns over Xstrata Plcs (XTA.L) merger proposal to Anglo American Plc are the impact on jobs and competition, its mining ministry said after talks with executives from the two groups.]]></description>
			<link>http://wag.org.au/news/display/262</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/262</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Even all-share Xstrata-Anglo merger may be credit negative - Fitch</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the combination of the two companies might not result in positive rating action.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.bearmarketinvestments.com/even-all-share-xstrata-anglo-merger-may-be-credit-negative-fitch</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/261</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata green light for Tampakan Copper-Gold</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Feasibility Study targets an initial 20-year mine life at an average annual production of 340,000 metric tons of copper and 350,000 troy ounces of gold, with a cash cost estimate of less than 46 U.S. cents a pound after gold credits.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/6340/xstrata-green-light-for-tampakan-copper-gold-project-boosts-indophil-resources-6340.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/260</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata to study Philippines copper/gold project</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata Copper, along with other investors, will conduct a feasibility study to further evaluate the development of the Tampakan copper/gold project, in the Philippines... reports indicate costs of production at less than USD $0.46c per pound of gold.... (separate report)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miningweekly.com/article/xstrata-to-study-philippines-coppergold-project-2009-06-26</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/259</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>In the drink: go-ahead for mining under citys water supply</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The company will be able to mine under Woronora Dam, which supplies drinking water to the Sutherland Shire and Wollongong,]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/in-the-drink-goahead-for-mining-under-citys-water-supply-20090625-cy9n.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:37 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/258</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Minerals boom powered huge rise in carbon emissions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Australias energy use jumped 15 per cent over the six years to 2007. The mining industry accounted for a big increase in power to feed the nations export boom in black coal, uranium and natural gas. The figures confirm the image of Australia as one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas per head in the world.

Only 1 per cent of Australias energy came from renewable sources during the six years to 2007.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/minerals-boom-powered-huge-rise-in-carbon-emissions-20090625-cy9m.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/257</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Is Xstratas Davis taking the Mick?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[At the top of last years commodities boom, an (Xstrata) original investor would have multiplied his money seven times, but hed have had to be nimble to realize his gain, as the price plunged from 24 pounds to 325 pence (96%) in seven months. By comparison Anglo American AA.L, Xstratas intended victim .. fell by a mere two-thirds following the collapse of the commodities boom. For outside shareholders.. Daviss record is not pretty. He failed to sell Xstrata to Vale of Brazil.. botched a bid for Lonmin and when asking shareholders for more money, agreed a sweetheart deal with 35 percent shareholder Glencore because it couldnt afford to take up its rights.
Creating AngXstrata (or whatever) would save between $700 million and $2.2 billion a year, analysts estimate. However, the prospect of thousands of South African jobs disappearing to enrich Swiss, American and UK shareholders is not a cheerful one, and there are other reasons to be nervous....
Xstrata is essentially a commodities acquisition shop, while Anglo is a conventional mining business.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersComService4/idUSTRE55M33X20090623</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:34 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/256</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata Courts Anglo American, Does This Merger Make Sense?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[..much of the enthusiasm for the proposed merger between Xstrata and Anglo American is coming from investment bankers and lawyers looking at the fees. Savings are projected at $700-875m according to estimates made by Citigroup, Merrill and Nomura... ..their rankings in terms of debt that is more interesting.... both companies have grown significantly but at the expense of building huge debt mountains. .. Xstrata .. now have over $16bn of net debt while Anglo has an additional $11bn.]]></description>
			<link>http://agmetalminer.com/2009/06/23/xstrata-courts-anglo-american-does-this-merger-make-sense/</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:30 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/255</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>SAfrica says possible Anglo merger "unacceptable"</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CAPE TOWN, June 23 (Reuters) - South Africas mining minister said on Tuesday the government was opposed to a possible merger between Xstrata (XTA.L) and rival Anglo American Plc (AAL.L), terming such a potential move as "unacceptable".
"That is unhealthy. That is uncompetitive and in terms of the global standards and principles it is just unacceptable," Mining Minister Susan Shabangu told reporters.

"Definitely monopolies cannot be promoted in South Africa."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSWEA786120090623</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/254</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Anglo spurns Xstratas offer</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ANGLO AMERICANs boss, Cynthia Carroll, and its board have wasted no time in telling Xstrata that the share-swap terms of its proposed $US70 billion ($87.9 billion) "merger of equals" are totally unacceptable.

Ms Carroll has also set out to infuriate Xstratas boss, Mick Davis, by criticising the quality of Xstratas assets and its greater exposure to the poorly performed nickel and zinc sectors.

She said a combination with Xstrata would "profoundly" dilute Anglos "unique exposure" to the "structurally attractive" platinum, iron ore and diamond markets while heightening exposure to nickel and zinc.]]></description>
			<link>http://business.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/anglo-spurns-xstratas-offer-20090623-cvcy.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:26 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/253</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coal stocks moving north but well south of yesteryear</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THERMAL coal prices edged up a little during last week to $US64 a tonne. Keep an eye on this commodity, but dont get too excited for now.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25530953-18261,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/252</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata Proposes Merger With Anglo American - Update</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Anglo-Swiss mining company Xstrata plc (XTA.L, XSRAY.PK, XSRAF.PK) said Sunday that it recently sent a written proposal to the board of directors of rival Anglo American plc (AAUK, AAL.L), seeking their consideration regarding a merger of equals of the two companies. A combination of the companies could create a company with a market capitalization of about $68 billion and help compete better against mining giants Rio Tinto (RTP, RIO.L) and BHP Billiton (BHP, BLT.L).]]></description>
			<link>http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/EUROPEAN%20MARKETS/2381864/</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/251</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate change is happening here, now: US report</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The report stresses the need for immediate action against global warming, saying: "Future climate change and its impacts depend on choices made today." 

"We have the power to determine how bad this could be and to avoid the worst impacts of global warming," said Doniger. 

"Its like Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, where the ghosts come and show Scrooge the way the future could unfold into either a happy future or a disastrous future. 

"This shows us that the future is in our hands, just as it was in Scrooges hands,"]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25649436-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/250</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Half-truths on carbon emissions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[IT IS no secret that the fossil fuel junkies among Australian listed companies have coughed up much bluff and bluster over the withdrawal pains their balance sheets would suffer if they were forcibly weaned off their carbon addiction.

At last, their over-the-top claims have been subjected to a "lie-detector test"]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25652331-664,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:06 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/249</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Report shows north-west mining slump</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Overall mineral export earnings dropped by 18 per cent to $38.7 billion.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/18/2601375.htm?section=business</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/248</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Traders are predicting a major acquisition by BHP</title>
			<description><![CDATA[targets may include Xstrata]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BREAKFAST-DEALS-BHPs-still-hungry-pd20090618-T4TGJ?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:02 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/247</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Labor knew about toxic water threat</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE State Government knew more than two years ago that a river feeding Sydneys water supply was being contaminated with high levels of toxic metals and poisons including arsenic.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/labor-knew-about-toxic-water-threat-20090618-cm02.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/246</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Santos, Petronas strikes Gladstone LNG sales agreement</title>
			<description><![CDATA[SANTOS has struck a $US32 billion sales deal with Malaysias Petronas for its Gladstone liquefied natural gas project.... Mr Knox said that Santoss contract with Petronas was a binding contract.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25653873-5005200,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/245</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Toxic metals threat</title>
			<description><![CDATA[HEAVY metals and poisons such as arsenic, copper and boron are leaching out of a coal-fired power station near Lithgow, wiping out marine life in a river that feeds Sydneys drinking water supply....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/toxic-metals-threat-20090617-chxk.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/244</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate change groups urge Australia probe</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been asked to launch an investigation into alleged "misleading and deceptive conduct" by a group of companies over public statements on the impact of Australias proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

The call has been made by the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Climate Justice Program, which have named six companies in their complaint to the ACCC. The list comprises miners Rio Tinto and Xstrata, petroleum groups Woodside and Caltex, as well as Boral, the building products group, and Bluescope Steel.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4f7196b6-599f-11de-b687-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/243</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Big Business breaches Trade Practices Act with duplicitous climate change cost claims</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE consumer watchdog has been asked to investigate whether big business is scaremongering about the costs of tackling climate change.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25638167-12377,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/242</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coal group coy about port exposure to rising seas</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A NEW coal port that will cement Newcastles place as the largest coal exporter in the world is quietly being built up by several metres, apparently in preparation for the rising sea levels brought about by climate change]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/coal-group-coy-about-port-exposure-to-rising-seas-20090614-c7g3.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/241</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Labor lays energy trap for Opposition</title>
			<description><![CDATA["Its an act of political vandalism to link the two pieces of legislation," Mr Hunt said.

But the Government is not backing down on its plan to keep them connected.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/labor-lays-energy-trap-for-opposition-20090614-c7g4.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/240</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Council Rate Increase Scandal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MUSWELLBROOK Shire Council has applied to the Minister for Local Government to increase rates by six per cent, starting in the next financial year despite having increased the rate only two years ago above the rate pegging limit for the same reason and having spent NONE of it on the Shire roads. The majority was spent on ad hoc works in Muswellbrook Town that have not lasted the distance. Another example of high taxing ALP juggernauts crushing the people. Its time all of Muswellbrook (can you lend me a dollar) Council got the given the boot.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/council-rates-could-rise/1539368.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/239</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Council wants feedback on logo</title>
			<description><![CDATA[FEEDBACK has been sought from the Muswellbrook community on the design for a new council logo. The proposed logo consists of five petals based on the Muswellbrook orchid, which is also known as the Pine Donkey Orchid.

The Donkey orchid eh? How appropriate for that bunch of donkeys. Council letterhead is probably the only place youll ever see one once the mines have finished digging up every other square inch of land in the Shire. 

I suggest a big black turd shaped nugget of coal with Muswellbrook, Largest Greenhouse Gas Contributor in the Southern Hemisphere proudly emblasoned on it, through swirling dust surrounded by a plethora of deceased native flora, fauna, mammals, reptiles and birds, diseased lungs and cigarette packet type images, a packet of heroin, syringes, razor wired jail, highway patrol crouched, hiding behind trees and urban ghettos. Thats more like the true reality of Muswellbrook.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/council-wants-feedback-on-logo/1534683.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/238</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>No electoral investigation</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NO complaint has been made and there is no inquiry into an alleged failure to declare election funds involving three candidates in the 2008 Muswellbrook Shire Council election.

According to reports on Muswellbrooks Power FM radio news in the past fortnight, councillor Jennifer Lecky and former councillor Trevor Elks were alleged to have loaned councillor Gary Serhan money prior to the election.

The radio reports suggested the councillors should have disclosed the loans to the Electoral Commission, however Cr Lecky and Mr Elks both NOW say the loans had nothing to do with the election.

LIARS &amp; THIEVES who represent KING COAL and shafted the Wybong Community on Anvil Hill.

Lecky should resign. Elks didnt get enough votes to resign &amp; Cr Serhan should keep whatever the backstabbers NOW gifted him - seeing as it wasnt for the election flyers they all had printed at the same place after all. Where is my gift Jennifer?]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/no-electoral-investigation/1526754.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/237</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Residents not happy with roads</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The survey of 300 residents aged over 18 was conducted by Jetty Research from May 4 to 6.

According to the result, 45 per cent of people said they were unhappy or very unhappy with local roads, with only 14 per cent claiming to be happy.

Out of the four council-run services for which opinions were sought (drainage, parks and reserves, swimming pools and roads), roads received by far the lowest satisfaction scores.

The survey found 99 per cent of respondents agreed the council should spend more money on road maintenance.

People were asked how much per week they would be prepared to contribute in extra rates to fund road and drainage improvements, with 40 per cent saying they did not want to pay any extra.

Sixty per cent agreed they would be prepared to pay more, with 43 per cent nominating a maximum of 50 cents or one dollar a week..

The survey of 300 selected residents cost $5290, I could have done it for $500. Easy to see where the money goes in this joint.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/news/local/news/general/residents-not-happy-with-roads/1539375.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:23 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/236</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>China eyes 20% renewable energy by 2020</title>
			<description><![CDATA[China plans to dramatically increase its use of wind and solar power, aiming to generate up to one fifth of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, a senior official told Britains Guardian newspaper.

"We are now formulating a plan for development of renewable energy," Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice-chairman of Chinas National Development and Reform Commission, said in an interview in London published Wednesday.

"We can be sure we will exceed the 15 percent target. We will at least reach 18 percent. Personally I think we could reach the target of having renewables provide 20 percent of total energy consumption."

Chinas stated goal is for 15 percent of its energy consumption in 2020 to come from renewable sources, which Beijing says include large hydropower projects and nuclear plants.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/enmobile/2009-06/10/content_8268983.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/235</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Chinas economy transforming in green revolution</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the government has shifted its policy for sustainable growth and the ruling Communist Party of China even made "an energy-saving, environmentally-friendly society" a mandate in its charter.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-06/12/content_8278365.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/234</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate change talks need to change</title>
			<description><![CDATA[If talks do not yield positive results and no concrete agreement on cutting GHG emissions is reached before the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, there is no reason for negotiators, including Stern, to continue on their posts. The reason for that is simple: if they cannot reach a deal they do not have the right to fly across the globe to attend meetings and increase their carbon footprint.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-06/13/content_8281363.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/233</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Backflip on linking renewable energy to passing of ETS</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Rudd government has hinted it could back down on its controversial political tactic of linking renewable energy legislation with the success of the emissions trading scheme, after a furious reaction from industry, the Coalition and the Greens.

Coalition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt said the opposition would try to find a way to pass the renewable energy laws with the proposed compensation. 

"We are very supportive," Mr Hunt said. "We want to advance renewable energy in Australia ... we will sit down and we will find a solution for renewable energy." 

Coalition emissions trading spokesman Andrew Robb said the "grubby politics" being played by the government would "weigh heavily" when the opposition partyroom made a final decision about how to vote on the renewable energy laws.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25623735-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/232</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate progress raises pressure for 15pc cut</title>
			<description><![CDATA[According to the Climate Institutes Erwin Jackson, emission reduction commitments already made by developed and developing nations mean the conditions for Australia accepting a 15 per cent target have almost been met. 

"We are getting pretty close to the point where Australia would need to go to 15 per cent," Mr Jackson said from Bonn, where the latest round of UN negotiations have just finished. According to Mr Jackson, commitments by developed countries amount to total reductions in their emissions of between 12 and 22 per cent. Australias condition for a 15 per cent national target is that "advanced economies in aggregate reduce their emissions in the range of 15 to 25 per cent" below 1990 levels.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25628630-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/231</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>220 jobs to go as Singleton mine closes</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the decision was taken because United had run out of "economically recoverable underground reserves".]]></description>
			<link>http://SWISS mining giant Xstrata says it will shut its United Collieries underground coalmine near Singleton between September and March, putting about 220 people out of work.</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:24 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/230</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Zero-carbon boffins aim to have us renewable-ready by 2020</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Australian Government employs about 237,000 public servants. Not one of them is planning for the country to make a complete transition to renewable energy or even seriously envisaging such a scenario.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister confirmed this week a clean energy future is not on our agenda, even as an option - not for 2020, not for 2050, not at all, even though thousands of people will march around Australia today demanding just that.

.... Privately funded groups in Australia, worried and fed up waiting for credible action from the Government, can see the need and are developing back-up plans, on a shoestring but with conviction and purpose.]]></description>
			<link>http://business.smh.com.au/business/zerocarbon-boffins-aim-to-have-us-renewableready-by-2020-20090612-c65l.html?page=-1</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/229</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Australia demands bushfire exemption in carbon treaty</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Australia is demanding that emissions from natural disasters, such as bush fires, not be counted in its tally]]></description>
			<link>http://business.smh.com.au/business/australia-demands-bushfire-exemption-in-carbon-treaty-20090613-c6h4.html?page=-1</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/228</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Sensors too old to check ice</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ANTARCTIC scientists warn they risk "going blind" to changes in climatically vital polar ice sheets because the most valuable satellite sensors are too old.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/sensors-too-old-to-check-ice-20090612-c64d.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/227</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Beachfront residents on own against sea rise</title>
			<description><![CDATA[OWNERS of beachfront homes will get little protection or compensation from the State Government if their properties are threatened by rising sea levels caused by climate change or coastal erosion, under a plan in the course of being developed.

Anger is mounting among councils and coastal communities that the Government priority will be to protect public works and public safety, creating the prospect of lengthy legal battles between councils and beachfront residents.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/beachfront-residents-on-own-against-sea-rise-20090612-c64b.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:37 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/226</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Why 700,000 addresses face being washed off map</title>
			<description><![CDATA[huge implications for Australia, where more than 700,000 addresses are within three kilometres of the coast and sit less than six metres above sea level. And while we tend to focus on the serious impacts of sea-level rise happening from 2050, storm surges and coastal flooding will increase over the next decades, during the lifetime of most of us.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/why-700000-addresses-face-being-washed-off-map-20090612-c64c.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/225</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Activists call for green jobs</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Thousands of environmental activists have marched in central Sydney, urging the Federal Government to fight climate change by creating green energy jobs... "As we know, (Mr Rudd) is keen on putting on that hard hat and fluoros. 

"And next time he puts on the hard hat, he needs to be announcing thousands of apprenticeships in clean green energy to be a central part of the skills, development and training program that any government has to bring forward for future generations." 

"We need a Prime Minister who, when he puts on his hard hat, has the courage to stand up to the fossil fuel industry because that is the only way we will win here."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/activists-call-for-green-jobs-20090613-c6l1.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:23 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/224</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata mine closure?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata plans to close its United Colleries coal mine in New South Wales Hunter Valley in March 2010, after the exhaustion of economically recoverable reserves,]]></description>
			<link>http://business.smh.com.au/business/xstrata-mine-closure-puts-jobs-at-risk-20090612-c5jt.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/223</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Queensland Inspectorate investigates fatality</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Queensland Mines Inspectorate is investigating an accident which killed a mine worker in north-west Queensland in May. 
A mine worker received fatal injuries when his loader fell into a stope at the Xstrata Zinc George Fisher mine in north-west Queensland on 19 May. 
According to the Inspectorate, back filling operations were being carried out at the time, which may have contributed to the accident. 
A team of officers travelled to the site on 20 May to complete investigations and determine the cause of the accident. 
A detailed nature and cause report is currently being compiled for submission to the Coroner and Chief Inspector of Mines.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/Article/Queensland-Inspectorate-investigates-fatality/485146.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:54 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/222</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Carbon emissions must start falling in 2015</title>
			<description><![CDATA[WORLD carbon emissions must start to decline in only six years if humanity is to stand a chance of preventing dangerous global warming, a group of 20 Nobel prize-winning scientists, economists and writers has declared....The temperature target "can only be achieved with a peak of global emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2015", the document said. If emissions continue to rise after that date, the required cuts would become unachievable.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25555769-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/221</guid>
			<author>.</author>
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			<title>Gloucester farmers protest mining plans</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ANGRY Gloucester farmers rallied outside State Parliament yesterday, demanding that the Government protect rich agricultural land from the effects of mining.

More than 60 Hunter residents arrived in the morning, waving placards that said "you cant eat coal" and "shame, Macdonald, shame".


The demonstration was held before the upper house debated a bill, put forward by The Greens, to protect agricultural lands.


Farmers Liverpool Plains also demonstrated outside Parliament, calling on the Government not to renew coal exploration licences.


Upper Hunter MP George Souris told the crowd he would vote to protect agriculture if the bill made it to the lower house, but it was defeated last night by only one vote.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/gloucester-farmers-protest-mining-plans/1532399.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/220</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata halts an Australia zinc mine after man dies</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Sadly deaths seem to be happening regularly at XTAs Australian operations.

Global miner Xstrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has suspended underground mining at its George Fisher zinc operation in northern Australia after a worker died in an accident there, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.]]></description>
			<link>http://in.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idINSYU00656120090520</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/219</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Caroona Coal Mine Wardens Decision</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The official decision on Caroona Coal Exploration - containing a vicious Access Agreement. A MUST READ for any landowner in a mining potential area.]]></description>
			<link>http://wag.org.au/documents/doc-57-21-may-2009-cmw-s-decision---brown.pdf</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/218</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Land use war: two tribes dig in</title>
			<description><![CDATA[HUNDREDS of farmers last night vowed to continue their campaign to prevent mining operations on the states prime agricultural land despite losing a key political battle yesterday in the NSW Parliament.

The bill was introduced by the Greens and supported by the Opposition after the state National Party and the NSW Farmers Association threw their weight behind it.

But the bill was defeated after the Reverend Fred Nile joined forces with the Government in the upper house to oppose it. Angry farmers shouted "Shame! shame!" and walked out of the public gallery during Mr Niles speech.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/land-use-war-two-tribes-dig-in-20090604-bx8y.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:10 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/217</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>AGL drilling to go on in Hunter</title>
			<description><![CDATA[BOB KENNEDYS five-bedroom house dropped 1.8 metres over six days when mining company Xstrata Coal moved into a seam under his 40-hectare vineyard near Broke in the Hunter Valley]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/agl-drilling-to-go-on-in-hunter-20090604-bx90.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/216</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Scientists warn acid is killing oceans</title>
			<description><![CDATA[RISING carbon dioxide emissions are turning the oceans acidic in an irreversible process that threatens coral reefs and food security, the worlds scientific academies have warned.

Seventy academies, including the Australian Academy of Science, urged governments meeting in Bonn for climate talks to tackle the issue in the new United Nations treaty on climate change to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

In the past 200 years the worlds oceans have absorbed about a quarter of the carbon dioxide produced by human activities, and the current rate of acidification is much more rapid than at any time during the past 65 million years, the scientists said in a joint statement.

Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society in Britain, said that unless global carbon dioxide emissions were cut by at least 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050 there could be an "underwater catastrophe" and loss of marine life.

"The effects will be seen worldwide, threatening food security, reducing coastal protection and damaging local economies that may be least able to tolerate it," Professor Rees said. "Copenhagen must address this very real and serious threat."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/scientists-warn-acid-is-killing-oceans-20090601-bszh.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/215</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>NSW Premier jeered in Newcastle</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NSW PREMIER Nathan Rees and senior ministers were jeered by interest groups and condemned in explosive comments from Milton Orkopoulos whistleblower Gillian Sneddon at a tense Hunter community meeting last night.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/nsw-premier-jeered-in-newcastle/1526202.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2009 21:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/214</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>China embarks on massive solar power push</title>
			<description><![CDATA[By the time Xstrata have killed Anvil Hill they will have a mine producing product that nobody wants even at $USD30 a tonne. Goddamn Assholes.
CHINA will throw its economic might behind a national solar power plan that could result in it becoming one of the worlds biggest harvesters of the sun. The government body responsible for overseeing energy policy has completed a proposal for billions of dollars of incentives for solar farms and rooftop panels, which will come from the Governments $636 billion economic stimulus fund.

Bet they do a better job of the Environment than Comrades KRuDD, Garret, Combet and Wong.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/china-embarks-on-massive-solar-power-push-20090527-bnqs.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2009 21:27 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/213</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Criticised monitoring company hired by Xstrata</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Typical of these Xstrata criminals:

NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change documents say in 2007 the monitoring company NewEQ was criticised for emission tests carried out at a cement factory that did not meet Australian Standards.

The company was accused of altering reports, and calculations based on assumed values and poor methodology.

Mining giant Xstrata has hired NewEQ to evaluate Mount Isa emissions.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/26/2580681.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2009 20:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/212</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Port in equation for LNG complex</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NSW coal seam gas producers have held talks with Newcastle Port to build a liquefied natural gas plant, using the coal harbour as a second east coast export hub.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25531188-12829,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 21:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/211</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Were sunk if commodity prices fall</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE spike in commodities prices in the past three months has been driven by speculation that, if not supported by fundamental forces over coming months, could have dire consequences for the Australian economy and the Governments budget.

levels of production and consumption for all major resource commodities are still in global decline, with inventories high and, in most cases, rising.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25531187-5005200,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 21:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/210</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Renewable energys 26,000 new jobs</title>
			<description><![CDATA[RENEWABLE energy projects under construction or planned in response to the proposed emissions trading scheme will create 26,000 jobs, according to new research published as the federal Coalition seeks to defer the scheme on the basis that it could be a "jobs killer".

Research commissioned by The Climate Institute shows $31 billion worth of clean energy projects already in the pipeline, many in regional areas, will generate 2500 permanent jobs, 15,000 construction jobs and 8600 associated positions. The research does not include jobs in domestic solar or insulation, or new projects funded through the $1.6 billion solar flagships program announced in the budget, and is based on surveying investors rather than making projections from modelling. 

It comes after modelling commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia found that even the most modest emissions-reduction target planned by the Rudd Government would leave the mining sector with 24,000 fewer jobs over the next decade than it could have expected without a price on carbon.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25532515-5013871,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 21:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/209</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Claim Carbon scheme to cost coal debunked by union</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union mineworkers division president Tony Maher criticised the study as exaggerating the impact on coalmining ...


Mr Maher said coal companies wanted to be reclassified as "emissions intensive" industries in order to gain access to billions of dollars worth of .. free carbon credits.


He said they were using this study and a similar report to "frighten the crap out of workers".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/carbon-scheme-to-cost-coal-workers/1520687.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 00:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/208</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Emissions schemes $6bn boost to economy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Rudd Governments emissions trading scheme could deliver a massive investment surge that would add more than $6 billion a year to the economy, according to secret economic modelling work produced as Parliament considers the fate of controversial climate-change laws.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/emissions-schemes-6bn-boost-to-economy-20090523-bivd.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 00:33 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/207</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate activists shut down Hazelwood digger</title>
			<description><![CDATA[ENVIRONMENTAL activists have shut down a coal digger at an Australian power station that provides eight per cent of the countrys coal-reliant electricity market, to protest against government climate policies. Greenpeace said the station was one of the worlds most polluting, producing 19 million tonnes of greenhouse gases every year, equal to the total caused by all 1.4 million households in the state capital Melbourne.

Australia is the worlds biggest coal exporter, responsible for about 1.5 per cent of global carbon emissions.

It is also one of the highest per-capita polluters because of its reliance on coal for 80 per cent of electricity needs.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25516045-5001028,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:59 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/206</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Warden upholds coalmining plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The independent federal MP for New England, Tony Windsor, who was at the court, said the decision would exacerbate tensions on the Liverpool Plains between the miners and farmers.

"This will strengthen the opposition of landholders," Mr Windsor told the Herald. "The minister should never have granted the exploration licence to BHP.

"BHP has good reason to be concerned. I think the decision will promote civil disobedience."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/warden-upholds-coalmining-plan-20090521-bh7k.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/205</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Insurer blames climate change</title>
			<description><![CDATA["If you calculate the trends in weather-related natural catastrophes you find a distinct difference in recent years," Dr Hoeppe told the Herald. "Its quite obvious that something has changed here and I think that is really the effects of global warming ... We are seeing that serious weather events are becoming much more common, while the other kinds of catastrophes like the earthquakes and volcanoes are, of course, not changing."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/insurer-blames-climate-change-20090521-bh7b.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/204</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Worker dies in Qld mining accident</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The body of 50-year-old man killed at a Queensland mine has been recovered, as investigations into the cause of the accident continue.

A Department of Employment spokesman said the man was backfilling a hole at Xstratas George Fisher underground mine near Mt Isa about 11.45pm on Tuesday when his loader went over the edge of the excavation, coming to rest at the bottom of the pit.

The mans body was recovered on Wednesday afternoon.]]></description>
			<link>http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/worker-dies-in-qld-mining-accident-20090520-bers.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 23:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/203</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Salt water dilemma behind a gas bonanza</title>
			<description><![CDATA[accessing this resource requires pumping out toxic, salty water in volumes equivalent to multiple Sydney harbours. What to do with gigalitres of contaminated water has become a sticking point for industry and government...evaporation ponds - where areas as large as 100 football fields are flooded with salty water - can no longer be the main method of disposal. They are considered a waste of water, and the salt left behind can destroy fertile farm soil....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/salt-water-dilemma-behind-a-gas-bonanza-20090517-b7ej.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2009 00:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/202</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Climate change could kill Coral Triangle</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Rising water temperatures, sea levels and acidity in the vast region threaten to destroy reefs in Southeast Asias Coral Triangle, a region labelled the oceans answer to the Amazon rainforest, the WWF report said.
A concurrent meeting will also see leaders from the six Coral Triangle nations - Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea - pass a joint plan on conserving the region. 

... what is amazing is the level of political commitment we are seeing this week," he said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25473639-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2009 21:30 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/201</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>$60b super waste worry</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had misled the Australian people and was now looking to raid their super funds to fill the black hole.

Reports suggested the Government needed to plug a funding shortfall for its $22 billion nation-building program.

Figures compiled by auditing firm KPMG suggest the cost of the Governments infrastructure plan over four years will be $80 billion.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/60b-super-waste-worry-20090516-b6pa.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2009 02:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/200</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Carbon capture schemes an expensive step into the unknown</title>
			<description><![CDATA[As tipped here a month ago, the Federal Government will spend $2 billion to build "industrial-scale" carbon capture and storage projects in Australia.

You would be better off just burying the money, from an environmental point of view, because many doubt the CCS technology will work. The best proponents can say is, it has to. But if it doesnt, the money is worse than wasted, because the spending will have exacerbated the climate problem by justifying construction of new coal-fired power stations that burn for another 30 to 40 years.]]></description>
			<link>http://business.smh.com.au/business/carbon-capture-schemes-an-expensive-step-into-the-unknown-20090515-b61p.html?page=-1</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2009 19:26 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/199</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Dramatic climate protest at Federal Parliament, eight arrested</title>
			<description><![CDATA["With just
six months till the crucial Copenhagen climate talks, and a Government
enslaved to big polluting industries, every parliamentarian must
examine their conscience: one day, we will have to explain what we did
to our children."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.climateimc.org/en/press-releases/2009/05/13/dramatic-climate-protest-federal-parliament-eight-arrested</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 21:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/198</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coal &amp; Allieds Hunter Valley mine operation extended</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Knowing what we do about global CO2 levels - 387 ppm and rising 1-2 ppm annually - it is bizarre to hear Coal &amp; Allied affirm their new expanded contracts out to 2030 and safeguarding 830 jobs. The anticipated $30 billion in export earnings in a 450 ppm atmosphere prompts the question what planet C &amp; A executives inhabit? 
Posted by pablo on 6/05/2009 2:02:03 PM]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/coal-allieds-hunter-valley-mine-operation-extended/1505034.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 01:24 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/197</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata to consult shareholders on protest AGM vote</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The board of mining group Xstrata Plc plans to consult shareholders after one third of voters at its annual general meeting opposed its pay policy. 

The shareholders hope consultation is more than that given to stakeholders in the management zone of the Mangoola mine atrocity (see "Bus Stop Scandal on WAG.org.au Home page")]]></description>
			<link>http://www.financial24.org/economy/xstrata-to-consult-shareholders-on-protest-agm-vote/</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 01:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/196</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Mount Isas lead levels exceed standard</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Weve been monitoring since 1975, so its always been high on our agenda," ....In Station Street, on the Xstrata mines doorstep, the average annual lead concentration in 2005 was almost seven times the current national standard of 0.5 total suspended particles (tsp). The actual level was just under 3.5 tsp, the report said.

High on XTAs agenda - my ass.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25440408-12377,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 01:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/195</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Wowser-in-Chief</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Police have faced the dilemma over whether to disperse revellers in places such as train stations and shopping centres, and when groups gathered for beach coldie parties. These are late-night gatherings on beaches where young people have parties involving music, drinking alcohol and sometimes enter the water to wade or swim."

Music? Alcohol? Young people? Good God, someone call the authorities.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/wowserinchief-piles-on-the-clout-when-police-already-have-enough-20090507-awi5.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 01:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/194</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Warming - its a health hazard</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Climate change will affect, in profoundly adverse ways, some of the most fundamental determinants of health: food, air, water," the director-general of the World Health Organisation, Margaret Chan, says.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/warming--its-a-health-hazard-20090506-avep.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2009 01:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/193</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Climate deal will depend on others, so why not call Rudd and Wongs bluff?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[With a bit of deal making reminiscent of old-time political fixer, Rudd has promised more hand-outs for Australias big greenhouse gas polluters while simultaneously saying he will offer a bigger target at the global talks in Copenhagen in December.

Rudd said the offer - a 25 per cent cut from 2000 levels by 2020 - aimed to win an ambitious global climate agreement "consistent with Australia having the prospect of saving the Barrier Reef".

This apparently contradictory offer has a hitch. Rudd and Wong will not be responsible for delivering the ambitious global agreement. That is in the hands of Obama and Hu]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/climate-deal-will-depend-on-others-so-why-not-call-rudd-and-wongs-bluff-20090506-ava4.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2009 01:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/192</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Emissions trading delayed by a year</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The governments decision to delay emissions trading by a year is a massive backdown for Kevin Rudd, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/turnbull-wont-back-amended-emissions-scheme-20090504-asbw.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2009 17:15 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/191</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Power bills up $75 - and more to come</title>
			<description><![CDATA[This is $16.5 billion coming out of household budgets to be squandered on yesterdays technology. It will make electricity more expensive and increase greenhouse pollution. The opportunity to take the state forward to smart grids, intelligent load control and embedded clean energy sources has been lost."]]></description>
			<link>http://wag.org.au/news/display/190</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2009 22:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/190</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Dear coal plants, youre doomed</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CLIMATE scientists have written directly to the chiefs of the countrys main coal companies and users, warning them that coal-fired power stations are doomed and that the Federal Governments carbon capture and storage plans are likely to be a waste of time and money]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/dear-coal-plants-youre-doomed-20090430-aozx.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2009 22:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/189</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Big polluters win exemption from renewable energy</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Rudd Government has given big polluters a break by allowing them a generous exemption from contributing to the nations mandated renewable energy target.

The backdown, aimed at trying to secure big industry support for the Governments emissions trading scheme, was agreed to at yesterdays Council of Australian Governments meeting in Hobart.

The exemption means it is likely households and lesser polluting industries will have to meet the increased cost of the move to more environmentally friendly energy.

What else would one expect from the KRuDD ALP]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/big-polluters-win-exemption-from-renewable-energy-20090430-aozw.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2009 22:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/188</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Economy in deeper mire than forecast</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE US economy shrank by a worse-than-expected 6.1 per cent during the first three months of 2009, dampening hopes that the recession might be easing in the US.

This was the third straight quarter that the US economy has contracted and followed a disastrous fall in activity in the fourth quarter of 2008, when the worlds biggest economy contracted by 6.3 per cent, the most in a quarter of a century.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/world/economy-in-deeper-mire-than-forecast-20090430-anj6.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/187</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>China set to pass U.S. in wind-power growth</title>
			<description><![CDATA[China is poised to become the biggest growth market for wind-power generating capacity this year as economic conditions crimp expansion in the U.S., the head of the Global Wind Energy Council said]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090428.RTICKERB28ART1928-2/TPStory/TPBusiness/Asia/</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:50 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/186</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>We admit our past mistakes, says Clinton on climate change</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Assuring India and China that it wants their economies to grow, the US has told representatives of the worlds leading economies that it is no longer absent without leave in the global warming debate.

As I have told my counterparts from China and India, we want your economies to grow. We want people to have a higher standard of living, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, opening the first preparatory session of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change here Monday.

We just hope we can work together in a way to avoid the mistakes that we made that have created a large part of the problem that we face today, she said, admitting the US role in spreading pollution.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.chinanews.net/story/494830</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/185</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Warrant of arrest out for masterminds of Billanes murder</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Things are getting hot for Xstrata in the south Philipines....
Prima facie evidence shows that the principals of this crime are no other than the owner and top management of the giant mining company Xstrata-SMI, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Major General Mapagu of the 10th ID, Lt. Col. Joshua Santiago of the 27th IB, Lt. Col. Lyndon Panisa of the 39th..]]></description>
			<link>http://davaotoday.com/2009/04/27/warrant-of-arrest-out-for-masterminds-of-billanes-murder/</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/184</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Palparans legacy lives on in Mindanao</title>
			<description><![CDATA[RETIRED Army general Jovito Palparan will be reinventing himself as a party-list representative in Congress, but his legacy of anticommunist crackdowns lives on in places like Compostela Valley, Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato provinces in Mindanao where peasant and human-rights leaders are being killed as the government intensifies counterinsurgency operations. 


A total of 93 activists have been killed in southern Mindanao since President Arroyo came to power in 2001, the human-rights group Karapatan said. At least five were shot dead in Compostela Valley in the last half of 2008 alone, all of them involved in fact-finding missions investigating military abuses against peasants in areas affected by military operations.]]></description>
			<link>http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/perspective/9441-palparans-legacy-lives-on-in-mindanao.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/183</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Children suffer as parents tossed out of work</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Sudbury, Canada, where Xstrata broke its contracted guarantee of continued employment.
Without greater funding for programs to help laid-off workers and families in need, growing unemployment in the community will contribute to a rise in social problems such as family break-ups, domestic violence and substance abuse rates, said Barb Garon of the Sudbury Womens Centre. 

The potential social costs of such problems more than justify an increase in government funding for social services, employment insurance benefits and other assistance, Garon said. 

With as many as 3,000 job losses in the community to date, that translates into several thousand Sudburians at risk of suffering from the economic crisis, Garon said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1538547</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/182</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Labor turns its back on regional Australia</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Rudd Labor Governments decision to terminate all of its regional development activities demonstrates Labors ongoing contempt for people who live outside the capital cities, Shadow Minister for Regional Development Warren Truss said today.

Thats because Labors policy is to depopulate the regions, dig em up and export every last grain of mineral till its all gone and the land will sustain nothing. Just look at Muswellbrook Shire - depopulated so the land can be can be open cut for coal - the black Mt Isa of NSW....]]></description>
			<link>http://nsw.nationals.org.au/members-area/labor-turns-its-back-on-regional-australia-truss.aspx?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=Newsletter&amp;utm_content=630961643&amp;utm_campaign=NSW+Nationals+Weekly+Email+Roundup%2c+Friday+24+April+2009+_+hjhdkr&amp;utm_term=Read+More</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/181</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>G8 and poor nations vow to tackle species loss</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Almost every country in the world in 2002 agreed to a "significant reduction" in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, but scientists say extinctions are gathering pace. 

The Group of Eight (G8) industrial countries and major developing economies, meeting on the island of Sicily, signed a charter pledging to tackle deforestation, trade in illegal wildlife, and to boost research into the rate of species loss. "We set objectives on biodiversity for 2010 ... but unfortunately we have all recognised they have not been met," said Italian Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo, who hosted the summit. 

"We are all convinced of the urgency ... of intervening to safeguard our biodiversity." 

Well bet Garret was nowhere to be seen and Australia certainly wouldnt incorporate any of it into law even if they did sign it just for show (like the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights - signed up to but meaningless as never enacted into Australian law).]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25383523-5001028,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/180</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Britain aims to cut emissions 34%</title>
			<description><![CDATA[BRITAIN has announced it will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly seven times the amount Australia has committed to.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has promised the Government will cut emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 and said it would go even further if other countries agreed to take action during international negotiations this year.

Australia has promised to reduce its emissions by between 5 and 15 per cent by 2020. The Government has said it would consider a target of 25 per cent if other developed countries endorsed similar cuts at the Copenhagen talks.

The exact figure for 2020 will not be announced until next year.

The Government has been under fire from environmentalists and scientists for not setting a much higher target. They argue emissions must be reduced by at least 25 per cent - but ideally 40 per cent - in order to prevent dangerous levels of climate change.

The Greens senator Christine Milne yesterday praised the British Governments decision. "Is it encouraging to see a government stand up and commit to ambitious cuts in emissions and reach for the jobs and investment that the effort will create," she said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/britain-aims-to-cut-emissions-34-20090423-agul.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/179</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coal burning must end, says scientist</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A CSIRO scientist has told a Senate inquiry it is imperative to begin phasing out coal burning in order to avoid dangerous climate change.

No coal-fired power plants should be built, and existing plants must shut within 20 years, if the world is to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide at a less dangerous level, the climatologist James Risbey said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/coal-burning-must-end-says-scientist-20090423-agud.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/178</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstratas Philippine copper mine may cost US$5.2b to build</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata Plcs Tampakan project in the Philippines may cost US$5.2 billion to build, Australian partner Indophil Resources NL said.

This is the mine related to the recent drive-by execution of Boy Billanes - a Philipino environmentalist opposed to the damage caused by open-cut mining in the Philipino tropics.]]></description>
			<link>http://newsstore.smh.com.au/apps/previewDocument.ac?docID=GCA00946177IRN&amp;f=pdf</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:04 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/177</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Centennial Shares Fall on profit downgrade</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Centennial Coal Co., an Australian producer of the fuel, fell the most in two months in Sydney trading after it said full-year earnings will be at the lower end of analyst estimates.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&amp;sid=a_J_LS7SH9jc&amp;refer=australia</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:02 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/176</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Vale Inco follows Xstrata in contract breakdown when it suits</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Vale made legally binding commitments under the Investment Canada Act at that time that I expect to be fully respected on behalf of the workers," said the minister. "Over the next few days, we will be exploring all available options, including legal options, to address this situation." 

The eight-week production shutdown in Greater Sudbury will follow a one-month maintenance shutdown in May. 

The more than 4,000 employees impacted who dont have enough vacation time to cover the three-month period are being advised to turn to Employment Insurance.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1533030</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/175</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>NBN for just $2047.62 per vote</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The funny thing is that it was only two weeks ago that Wayne Swan, the guy who gets to sign the big novelty cheque (and a whole lot of real ones), was warning of the "sacrifices" and "hard choices" that would be necessary in Mays budget as Labor prepared to ditch key election promises because it couldnt fund them. How can we, then, explain the extra $38.3 billion the government has suddenly found to bring broadband to every corner of Australia? 

Well, its 90 per cent of Australias corners, actually]]></description>
			<link>http://www.zdnet.com.au/blogs/fullduplex/soa/NBN-for-just-2047-62-per-vote/0,139033349,339295874,00.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/174</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata says Philippine mine will need at least $5.2 bln</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MANILA, April 22 (Reuters) - Xstrata Copper, one of the worlds top copper miners, said on Wednesday its copper-gold project in southern Philippines will require an initial outlay of $5.2 billion to develop, according to the results of its pre-feasibility study.

The unit of diversified Swiss global miner Xstrata (XTA.L) has a controlling 62.5 percent interest in the Tampakan project, considered the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit in Southeast Asia.

This is the project at the centre of the recent drive-by execution of the Philipino environmentalist Boy Billanes, who was leading opposition to the environmental damage caused by expansive open cut mining in the Phillipines tropics.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSMAN46006120090422</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:26 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/173</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>More than 100 million tonne steel oversupply from China this year</title>
			<description><![CDATA[China may have oversupply of more than 100 million tonnes of crude steel this year, the Xinhua news agency quoted Zhu Hongren, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as saying on Thursday]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=82329&amp;sn=Detail</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/172</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>China facing looming aging crisis</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Chinas rapidly aging population threatens the countrys social and economic stability and could affect the prospects of other countries around the world, a U.S. study says.

The current ratio of 16 elderly people per 100 workers is set to double by 2025, then double again to 61 by 2050, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

full report http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/090422_gai_chinareport_en.pdf]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1011620.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/171</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Hundreds of millions will be hurt by climage change, Oxfam warns</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Tell this to Xstratas Coates or Mr Ian Plimer, unbelievers,

HUNDREDS of millions of people will become victims of climate change-related disasters over the next six years, Oxfam said today, urging governments to change the way they respond to such events.

The British-based aid and development charity estimated the number of people affected by climatic disasters would rise by 54 per cent to 375 million people a year on average by 2015, based on data on similar disasters since 1980.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25364665-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:28 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/170</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Fight for offshore CSG orders as markets stagnate</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Coal Seam Gas is not proving to be the cracka investment it was held out to be. More stories are emerging spelling out the LNG glut and the untested technology of CSG to LNG conversion, not to mention the lower energy value of CSG.
AUSTRALIAS coal seam gas producers are struggling to line up offshore customers at a time when energy demand is slipping, presenting them with tough challenges that not everyone thinks theyll overcome.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25366645-16222,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:25 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/169</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Proposed emissions trading scheme flawed: Minerals Council</title>
			<description><![CDATA[What else would this greed driven, fat-assed, capitalist miner say except his sky is falling in. Maybe someone should tell the dog that not to curb emissions will in the near term cost the planet and everyone on it their lives. Oh.. he knowss that but the standover mongrel is more concerned about his estimate of the cost to him being 5 billion aussie rubles. Get a grip Coates you wanka. .......]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25370304-643,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:13 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/168</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>It takes legal action to force Glencore to honour its contracts</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Whenn is a contract not a contract? When its with Xstratas mate Glencore. A similar story to the Xstrata contract at Sudbury. They break em when its suits em. Makes one wonder why anyone wants to do business with either Gelncore or Xstrata.

"Rather than honoring its obligations," the CEO added, "Glencore is attempting to use its size, market position and significant financial resources relative to Ormet to force unjustified material changes under the tolling agreement."

"Glencores wrongful use of force majeure is nothing more than a way to try to escape a binding contract that it no longer finds desirable," said Tanchuk.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.miningweekly.com/article/ormet-takes-legal-action-to-enforce-glencore-deal-2009-04-17</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:06 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/167</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Lead Poisoning Claim Against Xstrata Non-Compliant - Court</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Court of Appeals ruled Friday the notice was "non-compliant" and failed to answer questions on how Xstrata caused the alleged poisoning. 
"The Court of Appeal .. today (Friday) has ordered the claimants solicitors to start the claim process again, including providing us with those details," said Steve de Kruiff, head of Xstratas Copper North Queensland division. 
"We are pleased with this outcome".. he said ... Lawyers for Xstrata also said the girls impairments were caused by her premature birth.

Remember This - Tests conducted by Queensland Health in 2007 indicated 45 of 400 children in the area, or 11%, had elevated levels of lead in their blood. Xstrata claimed the levels were due to the natural levels of lead in the soil.

The dirty dogs will stop at nothing even when the KNOW they are responsible - just check the National Pollution inventory for the amount of toxic chemical dusts they pour over Mt Isa every year and have done so for decades at unmonitored levels..]]></description>
			<link>http://www.easybourse.com/bourse-actualite/marches/lead-poisoning-claim-against-xstrata-non-compliant-court-652632</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/166</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Coal chain conspires to continue ruination of the Upper Hunter Valley</title>
			<description><![CDATA[STILL PLANNING TO RUIN THE UPPER HUNTER VALLEY
The 14 Hunter Valley coal exporters who use the port last night signed a landmark agreement on long-term allocation of loading slots that promises to unlock billions of dollars in private investment and triple capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2015.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25311812-16222,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:36 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/165</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Rio does not expect a global recovery for up to 18 months</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The shareholders are unhappy.. The genius board dumps all its debt problems on the top-of-the-market Alcan acquisition... Rio says 18 months before stimulus based recovery...

Better to buy a farm with a good dam &amp; soil, a cow, a pkt of seeds and a shotgun and dont hold your breath ......]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25340507-643,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/164</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>China says economic growth slowest in 10-years</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CHINA has announced its slowest economic growth in at least a decade today, with the worldwide downturn cooling expansion to just 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of the year.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25342424-5001028,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:22 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/163</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Professor Ross Garnaut wont commit to ETS in current form</title>
			<description><![CDATA[AS MOST THINKING PEOPLE HAVE THOUGHT KRuDDs ETS is piss-poor policy..

1 Prof Garnaut wants the upper limit of greenhouse gas emissions increased to 25 per cent, conditional on other countries taking similar steps.
2 He wants the Government to commit more money for new, green technologies.
3 And hes worried the ETS gives too many free permits to industry. He wants an escape clause which would make it easier to stop the free permits.

Prof Garnaut said he was agonising over whether it was better to bring in an imperfect scheme or hold off and try for a better one later.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25342485-5001028,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:17 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/162</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Curb wasteful lifestyles, Chinese climate experts urge</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CHINESE climate experts have urged rich nations to rein in their "wasteful and luxurious" lifestyles and say Australias carbon reduction targets are insufficient to reverse damaging climate change.

(Here! Here!)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25340480-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:59 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/161</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate plan hits coal mines</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A CONFIDENTIAL industry briefing to Federal MPs warned at least two NSW coal mines would close under planned climate change laws.

Mining giant Xstrata Australias chairman Peter Coates said the Emissions Trading Scheme would make some mines unprofitable and cut new investment.

(It wouldnt relate to XTA signing thermal contracts at $72 tonne and the AUD exchange rate appreciating from USD 0.61 to USD 0.71 since - making the operations less viable - now would it? Lets hope Mangoola is one of em.)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25340162-5006009,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/160</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Fiddling at the edges as climate goes into tailspin</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A new futuristic eco-flick, The Age Of Stupid, opens with the devastation of 2055. Pete Postlethwaite plays a lone man wading through video footage from 2007-08 and asking why we didnt stop climate change when we still had the chance.

The film had its premiere to great fanfare in London last month and opens here in July. It was reviewed by The Times as "the most imaginative and dramatic assault on the institutional complacency shrouding the issue".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/fiddling-at-the-edges-as-climate-goes-into-tailspin-20090413-a4q4.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:20 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/159</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Eminent scientists on attack over Rudd emissions plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[In a big embarrassment for Kevin Rudd and the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, the globally recognised scientists have made a joint submission to a new inquiry on the Governments carbon trading scheme, which begins hearings today in Canberra]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/eminent-scientists-on-attack-over-rudd-emissions-plan-20090414-a69l.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/158</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Small farmers take fight to mighty miner</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Once again the too smart by half NSW ALP is destroying Australia. They seem to think it more important to open cut mine coal than to produce dry land crops that starving people around the world can eat. MacDonald and his ALP mates have no morality, integrity or sustainability. NSW ALP is a dud.

BHP-Billiton and the NSW Minister for Natural Resources, Ian Macdonald, are acutely aware of the big stakes in this fight. Not only is a potential $2 billion coal project under threat but so too are exploration rights for coal and gas miners across the state. Mr Macdonald issued a $300 million exploration licence last year not far from Caroona to the Chinese state-owned coal miner Shenhua.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/small-farmers-take-fight-to-mighty-miner-20090412-a3zf.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:28 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/157</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Xstrata axes Leonora underground project</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A Perfect Example of the Genius Behind Xstrata. No wonder they need highly dilutive rights issues to bleed their shareholders in order to pay for such genius decisions. And still having not learnt, the chief Genius, Mick Dundee, is out and about spruiking more debt based acquisitions. If I was an XTA shareholder Id be worried,, very worried. Sooner than later this predator is going down the financial gurgler.

Swiss mining giant Xstrata has taken the axe to its WA nickel operations, just over a year after paying a top-ofthe-cycle $3.1 billion for Jubilee Mines, by deciding to mothball the Sinclair mine near Leonora. What a winner !]]></description>
			<link>http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=3&amp;ContentID=135598</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:08 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/156</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata to Shutter Australian Nickel Mine in August</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata won control of Sinclair, which began production 10 months ago, through its A$3.1 billion ($2.2 billion) takeover of Jubilee Mines NL in February last year. "Xstrata paid a lot for Jubilee, it was a top of the market acquisition." The mine has an estimated life of "at least several years," at a yearly average of 6,000 tons."Subject to there being no sustained improvements in the market conditions, it will be put on care and maintenance,"]]></description>
			<link>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&amp;sid=aLd81hh.w3YU&amp;refer=australia</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/155</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstrata to defend blood-lead level lawsuit</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Mining giant Xstrata says it will defend legal action taken against it over high blood-lead levels in some Mount Isa children.

11 per cent of children tested in the city had unsafe blood-lead levels.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/08/2537767.htm?section=australia</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/154</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Rio cuts take mine job losses to 12,000</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NATIONAL job cuts in the mining sector have hit more than 12,000 after Rio Tinto slashed a further 700 from its Queensland workforce.

The mining giant, which is attempting to lighten its debt burden through a $US19.5 billion ($27.5billion) alliance with Chinalco, is slowing the construction of its Yarwun alumina refinery expansion in Gladstone, and cutting output at its Weipa mine on Cape York. 

The job cuts, blamed on the sharp fall in demand for alumina and aluminium, and softer prices, includes about 100 permanent roles at Weipa and about 570 contractor roles in Gladstone....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25305630-5005200,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:46 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/153</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>New lawsuit over Mt Isa blood-lead levels</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A Queensland Health investigation last year found that 11 per cent of children tested in the city had unsafe levels of lead in their blood.

Mr Scattini says the latest case involves a 13-year-old boy who no longer lives in the mining city, but was born there.

"This is a boy who.. was born in Mount Isa and was affected by lead and is now aged 13 and has the classic features of having been lead poisoned."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/07/2537719.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:10 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/152</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Xstrata Speak with Forked Tongue - Wandoan set to go ahead</title>
			<description><![CDATA[These latest statements seem to contradict recent revelations in an Xstrata briefing to federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull that it would not go ahead if the federal governments emissions trading scheme (ETS) went ahead.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2009/04/07/wandoan-projects-set-to-go-ahead-key-coal-water-an/</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/151</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>China, India reject climate agreement that obstructs economic growth</title>
			<description><![CDATA[green growth, including climate-friendly activities, are at the core of Chinas economic recovery strategy.

China is already the leading investor worldwide into renewable sources of energy. China has a huge ambition in terms of industrial energy efficiency improvements in terms of creating sustainable cities, UNLIKE KRuDD.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.chinanews.net/story/486588</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/150</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Maitland mans mine death shatters familys dream</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Daniel Hill, 34, died while working underground at the Integra Coal mine at Glennies Creek early Saturday morning.


It was the Hunters fifth mining-related death in seven months.


Police said Mr Hill was hit in the head by a rotating coal shearer that vibrated loose from a mechanical digger about 2am.


He died at the accident scene.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/maitland-mans-mine-death-shatters-familys-dream/1478835.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:01 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/149</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Jobs market is drying up more swiftly than in either of the past two recessions</title>
			<description><![CDATA["I dont see any sign of labour demand bottoming out in the data, and that has to concern the Reserve Bank. It is dropping off a cliff."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25301136-601,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/148</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Clean coal remains a faraway dream</title>
			<description><![CDATA[When the Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen used their talents a few weeks ago to make an anti-ad ridiculing clean coal, industry lobbyists were not happy. When Robert Kennedy jnr branded clean coal in America "a dirty lie", and suggested some coal executives should face criminal charges, they got really upset. This states most passionate coal advocate, the head of the NSW Minerals Council, Nikki Williams, reacts to Kennedys name with a mix of outrage and sorrow.

But the coal industry and, more importantly, Australias politicians, should come to grips with the reality that it is beginning to lose its social licence to operate in Western democracies. And the strategy of holding up clean coal as the Holy Grail for the industrys greenhouse problem is not working.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/clean-coal-remains-a-faraway-dream-20090405-9t6o.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/147</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Fears for future after Antarctic dam breaks away</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Substantial coastal change is now happening in all parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to a new study by the US Geological Survey and British Antarctic Survey. It mapped 174 ice coastlines, and counted 142 in retreat. AN ICE wall damming the endangered Wilkins ice shelf against the Antarctic Peninsula has shattered, just as scientific alarms ring out about the regions rapid warming.

The 40 kilometre-long bridge held for more than a year while ice behind it broke up, but European Space Agency images show it finally failed on Sunday night, and Australian glaciologist, Neal Young, said yesterday.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/fears-for-future-after-antarctic-dam-breaks-away-20090406-9uwm.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:57 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/146</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Infant iron levels worse than in Zimbabwe</title>
			<description><![CDATA[MORE than half the Aboriginal children under five in a large region of the Northern Territory are anaemic and face a substantial threat to their physical and mental development, a health service says.

The number of anaemic children in the 112,000 square kilometre area has almost trebled in two years, 18 months of which has been under the $1.5 billion indigenous intervention, the service says.

Irene Fisher, chief executive officer of the Sunrise Health Service, said the regions anaemia rate was worse than in countries such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Pakistan, Peru, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

"What is perfectly clear is that the intervention has failed to address a severe health problem that appears to be further deteriorating," she said.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/infant-iron-levels-worse-than-in-zimbabwe-20090406-9uw9.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:51 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/145</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Mining industry predator Xstrata still hooked on debt loaded acquisitions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[XSTRATA chief executive officer Mick Davis says takeover opportunities are starting to appear after a rout in commodity prices sent shares of mining companies plunging.

Xstrata, the worlds biggest exporter of greenhouse polluting power station coal, will like any good predator continue to "identify and execute" potential purchases, Mr Davis says in the companys annual report. 

"There is nothing like shafting it to a cash starved (mining) junior "is the mining-paedophile-like vibe" exuded by debt loaded predator Mick Davis Xstrata.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25225247-16222,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/144</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Step up uranium export: Ferguson</title>
			<description><![CDATA[CHINA is hungry for more of our uranium to feed a planned doubling of its nuclear reactors -- and the Rudd Government believes we should be mining more to step up exports.

China has undertaken to rapidly expand its network of nuclear reactors to supply abundant, cleaner energy. 

Australia sent its first load of uranium to China in November last year under a comprehensive bilateral agreement developed by the Howard government.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25285806-5005200,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:47 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/143</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>US recession job losses top 5 million</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE US continued to shed jobs at an unrelenting clip in March, pushing total losses since the recession started 16 months ago past five million.

The figures, which included another sharp rise in the unemployment rate to a 25-year high, are a sober reality check on the economy...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25287669-36375,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:34 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/142</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>River systems permanently damaged by criminally negligent Miners.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[.. in NSW, at least 16 river systems had been permanently damaged by careless mining practices. 

"The devastation caused by long-wall and open-cut mining operations is as horrifying as it is widespread," Ms Barlow said. "The destruction of aquifers and heavy metal pollution of ground and surface water is nationwide, and a disgrace."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25277261-11949,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:22 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/141</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Workplace Ombudsman investigating BHP Billiton after Ravensthorpe mine shut</title>
			<description><![CDATA[THE Federal Government is investigating the sudden sacking of 1800 workers at BHP Billitons Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia. 

Lets hope they saved some of the mega wages theyve been getting.

Wouldnt it be nice if thermal coal extraction in the Upper Hunter was planned to go the same way as nickel but with 1800 former coal workers redirected to green energy expansion instead.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25284071-31037,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:38 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/140</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Hunters hospital treatment second best</title>
			<description><![CDATA[NEWCASTLE is getting second-rate treatment compared to the Gold Coast when it comes to building hospitals, a senior doctor has said.

The NSW Governments decision not to implement all of the changes to the $209 million Calvary Mater redevelopment recommended in an independent report showed it did not consider Newcastle to be important, Mater hospital medical staff council chairman Dr Aidan Foy said.


He said the Queensland Government was currently building a 750-bed teaching hospital on the Gold Coast, which was comparable in size to Newcastle, and expanding one of its other hospitals to 364 beds.


"Were [Newcastle] slightly smaller than the Gold Coast where the Queensland Government is building a $1.55 billion hospital, in addition to their three other hospitals," he said. .... the Gold Coast will have one hospital bed per 177 people and Hunter New England Health will have one bed per 217 people, if both public and private hospital beds are included.]]></description>
			<link>http://wag.org.au/news/display/139</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/139</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>A chance for a cleaner world goes begging</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Paraphrasing the communique, The Guardians George Monbiot wrote: "We have already spent trillions of dollars of your money on bailing out the banks, so that they can be returned to their proper functions of fleecing the poor and wrecking the Earths living systems. Now were going to spend another $US1.1 trillion ($1.55 trillion). As an exemplary punishment for their long record of promoting crises, we will give the IMF and the World Bank even more of your money. These actions constitute the greatest mobilisation of resources to support global financial flows in modern times. Oh - and we nearly forgot. We must do something about the environment."]]></description>
			<link>http://business.smh.com.au/business/a-chance-for-a-cleaner-world-goes-begging-20090403-9q7j.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:00 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/138</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Father of three killed in Hunter mining accident</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A WORKER was killed by a piece of heavy machinery in an underground coalmine in the Hunter Valley yesterday.

The 34-year-old man was hit in the head at the Glennies Creek Mine on Stoney Creek Road near Singleton about 2.30am.

His wife and three children were being comforted by friends and colleagues yesterday.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/father-of-three-killed-in-hunter-mining-accident-20090404-9sgx.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:42 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/137</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>8,000 miners strike in Colombia</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Around 8,000 workers from its coal mine in La Loma and its port on the Caribbean went on strike after an accident caused the death of a truck driver]]></description>
			<link>http://coalmountain.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/8000-miners-strike-in-colombia/</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:40 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/136</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Colombian coal trains stopped by labor strike</title>
			<description><![CDATA["Coal is not leaving any of the mines owned by Drummond or Glencore."]]></description>
			<link>http://coalmountain.wordpress.com/2009/04/04/colombian-coal-trains-stopped-by-labor-strike/</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:39 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/135</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Look Whos Politicizing Justice Now</title>
			<description><![CDATA[During Eric Holders confirmation process, his tenure as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration sparked serious concerns among senators. In scandals involving Clintons pardons of Puerto Rican nationalists and fugitive Marc Rich, Holder had violated departmental protocols, ignored the views of victims and law enforcement professionals, colluded with Richs attorneys, undermined prosecutors and circumvented DOJs pardon attorney. A congressional investigation in 2002 called his conduct "unconscionable."]]></description>
			<link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040302835.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/134</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
		</item>
		
		<item>
			<title>Upper Hunter Valley - Coal miner dies from head injuries</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A MAN has died at a NSW coal mine after suffering head injuries from a reported machinery accident. 
The 34-year-old Maitland man was working underground in the mine on Stoneycreek Rd at Glennies Creek near Singleton when the incident occurred about 3am (AEDT) today.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,25287684-1242,00.html?from=public_rss</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:18 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/133</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Mt Isa still waiting for air monitoring</title>
			<description><![CDATA[In August last year, the State Government promised to install a state-of-the-art system to independently test Mt Isas air quality every hour.

Tests have shown 11 per cent of children surveyed had unsafe blood lead levels.

This week, the National Pollutant Inventory, which rates the countrys air quality, found Xstratas Mount Isa Mines was the highest emitter of six substances - including cadmium and lead.

The air monitor was supposed to be set up last October, but was delayed several times because it needed calibrating.

Now, the Environment Department says it cannot confirm a date for it to go online.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/03/2533976.htm</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:48 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/132</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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		<item>
			<title>US unveils ambitious greenhouse target</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The US target is in some ways tougher than Australias. It equates to a 7 per cent cut in emissions from 2000 levels. But it also imposes a separate target of preventing deforestation equivalent to 10 per cent of US emissions in 2005. In the Australian scheme, international efforts to prevent or reverse deforestation count towards meeting the overall target....
So the Fraudulent KRuDD scheme counts someone elses reductions as KRuDDs... typical.. KRuDD is shown up as being just that,, 100% KRuDD,, more interested in executing extraterratorial anti-Xstrata environmental activists than preserving the Australian environment on which we depend for human existence and the maintenance of our standard of living. On you KRuDD..]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/us-unveils-ambitious-greenhouse-target-20090401-9jrt.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:31 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/131</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Behold the green, renewable world of 2050</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Not the case if the likes of Cro-Magnon man Joe Tripodi, Coal Whore Nikki Williams and 5-15% KRuDD have their way. Otherwise it looks like a positive, clean living scenario.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/behold-the-green-renewable-world-of-2050-20090401-9jro.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:24 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/130</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Anger over call to scrap coal plans</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Usual culprits Nikki Williams (Coal Luvva) and Joe Tripodi (with friends like him who needs enemies) condemn Professor Newman for calling the NSW Govt to flush expansion of the Hunter Coal Chain. These troglodytes who want a scorched earth instead of a green planet for their children (obviously they eat children) want business as usual destroying the planet. read what they have to say.... the wankers...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/national/anger-over-call-to-scrap-coal-plans-20090401-9jrf.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:16 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/129</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>US greenhouse bid puts pressure on Rudds plan</title>
			<description><![CDATA[While the Rudd Government continues to shackle Australia to a high-polluting past, America is leading the rest of the world into the future... Climate Institute analysis showed the US proposal would equate to Australia cutting its greenhouse emissions 25 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 - a target the federal cabinet rejected last December.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/us-greenhouse-bid-puts-pressure-on-rudds-plan-20090401-9jrg.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:14 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/128</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Xstratas Mt Isa Mines is Australias top polluter</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Australias largest mining and processing operation topped the list in six types of pollutants - arsenic, antimony, cadmium, lead, sulfur dioxide and zinc.

Xstrata is currently being sued by several families who claim their children have been poisoned by the mining operation.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2009/mar/31/aap-xstratas-mt-isa-mines-is-top-polluter/</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:29 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/127</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Aust officials &amp; Xstrata-SMI in closed-door security meeting following Execution of Elizier Boy Billanes.</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Officials from the Australian Embassy and top honchos from the Sagittarius Mines Incorporated (Xstrata-SMI) held a closed-door meeting with ranking military and police officials on security issues in the region in a posh restaurant here Monday evening. The names of Australian Embassy officials were not disclosed.

It is believed that increased guerilla activities around the main drilling site of the Xstrata Plc-controlled mining company in Tampakan, South Cotabato have raised concerns in Australia.

(Trust the Criminal Nazi Jackboot Aust Government to only be interested in activity having a negative impact on Xstrata rather than having any focus on Xstratas observance of human rights or environmental standards or implicated involvement in the murder of Billanes.)]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=6156&amp;Itemid=160</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:19 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/126</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>KRuDD - Serial Pest and Know-It-All</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Rudd has become a serial pest in the weeks leading up to the London G20, making "several" phone calls each week to G20 leaders such as the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

When it became apparent that achieving consensus on everything would be difficult, Rudd was among the first to run for cover with the glass-half-full approach, undermining Browns push for a global New Deal involving another round of co-ordinated fiscal stimulus.]]></description>
			<link>http://wag.org.au/news/display/125</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:49 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/125</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>State owns biggest polluters</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Delta Electricitys plants near Lithgow recorded high levels of sulphuric acid and nitrogen oxide emissions. Macquarie Generation, also government-owned, reported high emissions of sulphuric acid.

The data comes just days after a new report, Hidden Costs Of Electricity, estimated the health costs of coal and gas generators were $2.6 billion, about the same as vehicle pollution in the cities.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/state-owns-biggest-polluters-20090331-9i9n.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:43 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/124</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Scrap coal plan, says Rudds man</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A MEMBER of the Rudd Governments group charged with rebuilding Australias infrastructure says plans to double the coal export capacity in Newcastle should be abandoned.

Professor Peter Newman, who is a member of Infrastructure Australia, said the environmental damage done from burning coal meant the construction of new coal loading facilities in what is already the worlds biggest coal exporting port should be stopped now.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/scrap-coal-plan-says-rudds-man-20090331-9i9l.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:41 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/123</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Intervention is hurting health</title>
			<description><![CDATA[As we all realise the "Intervention" is all about dismantling the final vestiges of self-determination for First Nation peoples,, denigration of lifestyle, restrictions on freedom, seizure of lands etc etc [Nazi style policy] couched in warm motherhood terms of saving the children. The Final Solution will see lands forcibly ceded to the Federal government, without compensation, and handed over for strip mining while the native populations are bundled off silently into shining new towns where services and support will quickly be removed and the cycle of self-destruction begin anew. What is needed is formal and legal acknowledgement of the First Nations, dialogue and direct funding to enable First Nation Peoples to establish true traditionalised post Invasion cultures, language and economies. But not likely to occur in our "Nazi Occupied Aussie Palestine".]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/intervention-is-hurting-health-20090330-9gzm.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:07 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/122</guid>
			<author>John Shewan</author>
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			<title>European Stocks Drop Most in Four Weeks as U.S. Warns on Banks</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata Plc, the fourth-biggest copper producer, dropped 10 percent to 425 pence.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&amp;sid=apMgASvobzWk&amp;refer=europe</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:05 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/121</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Aust Newcastle coal exports fall 21.5%</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Coal exports from Australias Newcastle port, the worlds largest coal export terminal, fell 21.5 per cent to a five-week low in the past week, while the number of coal ships entering the port also fell "due to maintenance work." - "maintenance work" being a timely response to and euphemism for major fall in demand]]></description>
			<link>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Australia-Newcastle-coal-exports-down-215-pct-QM7H4?OpenDocument</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:56 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/120</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Tahmoor trains slow for Old King Coal</title>
			<description><![CDATA[TRAINS passing through Tahmoor have been slowed to 40kmh while mining continues under the area.... The Advertiser contacted Xstrata Coal for a comment about the changed speed limit but received no response.]]></description>
			<link>http://Tahmoor trains slow for Old King Coalwollondilly.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/tahmoor-trains-slow-for-old-king-coal/1473305.aspx</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/119</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>The Execution of Eliezer "Boy" Billanes - Xstrata SMI implicated</title>
			<description><![CDATA[It is believed that the killing of Boy is a chilling warning to all those who are involved in the opposition to mining. We believed that the killing is part of the extra-judicial killing promoted by high-ranking agents of the government. Their objective is to horrify the mass activists and environmentalists so as to incapacitate or silence the growing anti-mining mass movement of the people.

Why Boy Billanes so committed to denounce and oppose the large-scale mining operation of Xstrata-SMI?

Because Boy Billanes, along with many experts firmly believe that giant multinational mining company will destroy the livelihood of millions of people in about 19 municipalities of the region.

Sound familiar... read on....]]></description>
			<link>http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=6136&amp;Itemid=95</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:03 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/118</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Climate action rises above hot air</title>
			<description><![CDATA[While Woodsides American boss, Don Voelte, has been at loggerheads with the Rudd Government over how to cut Australias greenhouse gas pollution, his engineers have been working closely with scientists from the CSIRO and elsewhere to make sure Woodside can protect its own multibillion-dollar operations from climate change impacts.

The company initiated its own climate change study to assess how warming temperatures, rising sea levels, storm surges and a possible increase in tropical storms could hit the bottom line of the super-profitable North West Shelf gas project.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/earth-hour/climate-action-rises-above-hot-air-20090327-9e6z.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/117</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Oil company cost cutbacks threaten future oil supply</title>
			<description><![CDATA[One prediction of the future consequence of global recession, credit tightness and unsustainable debt binging KRuDD type stimulus packages is a future of uncontrolled inflation and food resource restriction. The billionaires advice - buy a farm and shotgun - youre going to need both...]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25249669-36375,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:09 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/116</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Mandarins hit the wall as China slows</title>
			<description><![CDATA[An eye opening expose of the rise and fall of China. Read between the lines on the wave of social unrest and military intervention previously warned by none other than the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25250391-643,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:58 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/115</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Hypocrite extolls virtue of "the need for swift action to reduce emissions"</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Mr Rudd said his position on the need for swift action to reduce emissions had not changed. The lecturing Hypocrite sets own cuts at 5-15% - a level that will fry the earth.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25250439-601,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:53 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/114</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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			<title>Hidden costs of fossil-fuel power</title>
			<description><![CDATA[the combined cost of greenhouse gas emissions and damage to peoples health would add on average per megawatt hour $52 to the cost of brown coal power, $42 to the cost of black coal power and $19 to the cost of natural gas. These are "very significant" costs, given the average wholesale price of electricity is about $40 per megawatt hour. Moreso when for electricity produced by solar panels the added average per megawatt hour cost is $5 per megawatt hour and $1.50 per megawatt hour for wind power. The costs of the latter come mainly from the manufacture of the technology, not from generation.

Nuclear power also had a smaller external cost than fossil fuel power - about $7 per megawatt hour, largely from the construction and decommissioning of power stations.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/hidden-costs-of-fossilfuel-power-20090326-9cer.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:35 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/113</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Gas glut puts coal under pressure</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A PRICE war between liquefied natural gas and coal could lead to the temporary closure of coal mines, according to leading energy consultants, because of a surge in shipments of the gas from the Middle East into Europe and North America.

Gas prices, already tumbling as a result of the recession, are suffering a triple whammy from recession in Asia, a long-awaited build-up in new supplies of LNG, and unexpected discoveries of new gas reserves in the US]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25207392-16222,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:12 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/112</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Big coal digs in on emissions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Xstrata and mates cant see the horizon for the coal dust and methane that is clogging their brains and the earths lungs. So hooked on coal that they will try and buy their future by corrupting political process at our expense.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/big-coal-digs-in-on-emissions-20090319-93cw.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:55 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/111</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Economic index contracts 3.1pc, signalling recession</title>
			<description><![CDATA[A leading index of the Australian economy contracted at an annualised rate of 3.1 per cent in January, signalling recession.

The Westpac/Melbourne Institute leading index signals the likely pace of economic activity three to nine months in the future.]]></description>
			<link>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25204577-643,00.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:52 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/110</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Labors dirty coal dependency</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The Labor Party has been seduced by coal industry PR hacks who are saying that carbon-capture technology will be ready by 2020. This happy talk soon melts away when you talk to the engineering side of the mining industry - the people who actually cut the rock. They are saying it is unlikely they will be able to store anything like the volumes of carbon currently being produced. They will be able to store some of it, but have serious doubts whether even that little bit will ever be at a price competitive with renewable energy]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/labors-dirty-coal-dependency-20090322-95ke.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:45 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/109</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Secret searches spreading too far</title>
			<description><![CDATA[This week, the upper house of State Parliament is expected to consider a law to allow police to enter in secret and search the homes of those suspected of committing crimes. The bill was pushed through the lower house this month and, assuming it passes, will allow general duties police to use covert search warrants to investigate a range of ordinary criminal offences, which can be heard by a jury and are punishable by seven or more years in prison.

Not only suspected offenders and those suspected of helping them are covered - so are the neighbours]]></description>
			<link>http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/secret-searches-spreading-too-far-20090322-95kb.html?skin=text-only</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:44 +1000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://wag.org.au/news/display/108</guid>
			<author>Wybong Action Group</author>
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		<item>
			<title>Protest at secret search powers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[The NSW Attorney-General introduced legislation to Parliament this month that would allow police to search the homes of people not suspected of any crime, but whose homes adjoined those of people who are. People whose homes were searched under the laws would not find out about it for up to three years. The Government would decide which judges could approve the action and blur the separation of powers, The new laws would e