BHP BILLITON WINS GOLDFISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD!

The inaugural Blinky Award was won this morning by mining corporation BHP Billiton. Friends of the Earth Adelaide staged the official award ceremony out the front of BHP Billiton's Adelaide offices this morning to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Maralinga atomic tests - and in particular, to draw attention not only to BHP Billiton's massive environmental impact but also the unjustifiable legal privileges it holds under the Roxby Indenture Act.



The ceremony went off without a hitch - except that, strangely, no representatives from BHP Billiton could be lured outside to accept the award. We left the award and certificate on the doorstep, with a rather humourless security guard demanding their immediate removal.

Friends of the Earth joined groups around the country in marking Maralinga today - in Melbourne, a 7.00am Vigil was conducted at St. Kilda, followed by an 8.00am action at BHP Billiton Headquarters, also focussing on the Indenture Act and its impact on Aboriginal Heritage. In Alice Springs, a tree was planted in Todd Mall to commemorate the detonation of the first Maralinga atom bomb, codenamed 'One Tree'. In Darwin, Maralinga was remembered at an event in Raintree Park, and in Brisbane, a vigil was held in the evening at ANZAC Square.

You can listen to the Blinky Award being held on 'The Wire', the national community radio current affairs show, at http://www.thewire.org.au/daydetail.aspx?SearchDay=2006-09-27#2



Friends of the Earth will be hosting a community commemoration and picnic for Maralinga this Sunday, 12.00 noon at the North Terrace War Memorial. Please join us.


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Maralinga marks atomic test anniversary, ABC News Online,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1749681.htm
September 27, 2006

The first British atomic bomb test was conducted at Maralinga in South Australia's outback 50 years ago today.

Seven atomic tests were conducted there in 1956 and 1957 and minor trials continued into the early 1960s.

Maralinga was officially closed in 1967.

Remediation work at the site began in 1996 and was completed four years later.

Most of the former Maralinga test site is considered safe for unrestricted access although permanent residency is restricted to a small section.

The anniversary will be marked by an anti-nuclear group this morning, with a mock red carpet ceremony in front of BHP Billiton's offices in Adelaide.

The self-styled "world's largest diversified resources company" and "world's fourth largest producer of uranium", BHP Billiton operates the Olympic Dam uranium, copper, gold and silver mine in SA's north.

The company will be awarded a "Blinky", a three-eyed goldfish statue, for its contribution to climate change.

Joel Catchlove from the Friends of the Earth says the radioactive fallout from the Maralinga tests highlights why companies need to be environmentally responsible.

"The patterns we see in the way that Indigenous communities in particular are continuing to suffer the legacy of Maralinga, we feel that's certainly being carried on in certain aspects of the nuclear industry today," he said.

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Protests mark Maralinga tests anniversary, news.com.au/AAP
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20485559-2,00.html
September 27, 2006 05:23pm

ANTI-nuclear campaigners have held vigils throughout Australia to mark the 50th anniversary of the first atomic bomb tests at Maralinga.

Wreath-laying ceremonies also were held in some capital cities today to mark the anniversary of the first of seven atomic bombs detonated at Maralinga in South Australia's north.

The British atomic tests were staged at Maralinga over 13 months from September 27, 1956.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth said the legacy of environmental contamination remains half a century after the initial Maralinga test.

"Almost the entire Australian continent was dusted with radioactive fallout from the British bomb tests and millions of Australians received small radiation doses," Friends of the Earth spokesman Jim Green said.

"The legacy of environmental contamination remains to this day.

"The impacts on indigenous communities were severe, including radioactive contamination and forced relocation to missions."

The initial British test detonated a 12.9 kiloton atomic device, similar in size to the plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki in Japan during World War II.

Mr Green said vigils were held in Adelaide and Melbourne outside BHP Billiton offices - the operators of the Olympic Dam uranium mine in SA's north.

"We are calling on BHP Billiton to relinquish its legal privileges, in particular its exemption from the SA Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act in relation to the Roxby Downs uranium mine," Mr Green said.

"BHP can choose which Aboriginal groups to consult with, determine the nature and manner of any consultation with Aboriginal communities, and decide the level of protection, if any, that Aboriginal heritage sites receive.

In Melbourne, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the city's War Memorial before anti-nuclear campaigners protested outside BHP's Melbourne headquarters.

Sydney activists staged a vigil on the steps of the Sydney Town Hall, while a similar silent vigil was held at Brisbane's Anzac Square.

In Alice Springs, a single tree was planted at the Uniting Church lawns in Todd Mall to commemorate the "One Tree" test 50 years ago.

Anti-nuclear campaigners in Adelaide staged a mock red carpet ceremony outside BHP Billiton's inner-city office and awarded the company a Blinky Award - a three-eyed goldfish statue which they said was recognition for the company's commitment to "short term profits at the expense of a healthy society and environment".

Australian Democrat MP Sandra Kanck said the Maralinga tests took an appalling toll on the local Maralinga people and poisoned a large chunk of Australian bush for the next 250,000 years.

She said the legacy of the tests also demanded that a high level of scrutiny be attached to any future exports of uranium from Australia, which could be used in the nuclear arms industry.

"Learning from Maralinga means not just continuing to ban the export of uranium to countries that haven't signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but also refusing to sell uranium to countries that have nuclear weapons programs," Ms Kanck said.

Maralinga was officially closed in 1967. Remediation to clean-up the site started in 1996 and concluded four years later.