FoE Australia News

Pesticides, food and you

In February, FoE published a new report called 'The Dose Makes The Poison?' The report fills in some significant knowledge gaps regarding the consumption of pesticides on food products in Australia.

Whilst compiling the research for this report it was interesting to note that there is no source of information in Australia which clearly states which foods are the most risky to eat in terms of pesticides and which pesticides are commonly ingested by consumers of non-organic food. It was also interesting to note that the only state producing information concerning pesticide residues on food was Victoria.

In terms of published residue results, the following foods have produced the most positive pesticide detections over the past decade: apples (15.2% of all detections), wheat (13.2%), strawberries (10%), pears (9.5%), grapes (6.4%), and lettuces (4.1%).

Detailed research was also carried out by FoE on recently published scientific reports concerning pesticides and health. Pesticides regularly found on Australian produce have been linked to possible problems with human endocrine function, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), learning and behavioural problems, lower IQ and possible increases in lymphoblastic leukemia in children.

Also of concern is that some pesticides are suspected endocrine disruptors − chemicals that interact and disrupt human and animal hormones which regulate reproduction, metabolism, developmental behaviour, immune function, stress and growth.

The report can be purchased from FoE for $12 or downloaded for no charge from archive.foe.org.au/pesticides-and-toxic-chemicals

− Anthony Amis anthonyamis@hotmail.com

Walking for a future

In February and March, activist June Norman was joined by a growing number of people during her 29-day walk of almost 500 kms from Kumbarilla to Gladstone in Queensland.

The purpose of the walk was to highlight the impacts of the coal seam gas industry on people, landscapes and climate and followed the route of a proposed gas pipeline to the port town of Gladstone.

Norman said: "I've seen the impacts of the mining industry and I am really concerned, where will my grandchildren source their food and what quality will their water be? This industry needs to be slowed down and managed in a more sustainable manner."

The group of walkers arrived in Gladstone the same day that UNESCO was meeting to assess the impacts that the coal and gas industries are having on the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef and the surrounding Marine Park.

The walk was an initiative of Friends of the Earth and the Lock the Gate Alliance campaign.

Photos and reports:

facebook.com/groups/walk4afuture

flickr.com/photos/foeaustralia

Anti-wind power front group's junk science

Documents released in January under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to NSW Health cast doubt on the credentials of anti-wind farm campaigners who have been whipping up fears in communities around the country.

The Waubra Foundation, a front group created by Landscape Guardian activists, and which has become the main organisation opposing wind energy on health grounds, spent much of 2011 lobbying state health departments around the country.

Via an FOI request, FoE uncovered a critical assessment of the Waubra Foundation's claims made to the NSW public health authority, NSW Health.

Cam Walker, Friends of the Earth campaigns co-ordinator, said: "The documents from NSW Health cast considerable doubts over the fear-based claims of the Waubra Foundation. The assessment finds the claims of the anti-wind energy group to be of the 'lowest category of scientific evidence', and having major methodological flaws.

"Despite claims that the Foundation maintains complete independence from advocacy groups, it shares a post office box with the Landscape Guardians. The Foundation was set up by a long term anti-wind campaigner with financial interests in oil, gas, uranium and, recently, coal."

A national coalition of health groups, the Climate and Health Alliance, released a Position Statement on wind turbines and human health in January, rejecting claims that wind power poses a threat to health. The statement is posted at: www.caha.org.au/publications

Contact Cam Walker for copies of the documents received under FOI: cam.walker@archive.foe.org.au, ph (03) 9419 8700

Protesters given the green light in Queensland

On January 20 in the Brisbane courts, a magistrate gave the green light to environmental protesters in Queensland to take action to protect the environment from coal and coal seam gas development.

"This is a great day for Queensland, and a great outcome for the environment" said Derec Davies from FoE Brisbane. "Gladstone Harbour is sick, and protest action from the community has been validated today."

On November 9 last year, Davies boarded and temporarily stopped the dredging in Gladstone Harbour, gaining national media attention and connecting dredging impacts to the Great Barrier Reef and the activities of Queensland's coal and coal seam gas industries.

At the January 20 court hearing, there was no fine, no conviction, and Gladstone Port Corporation's $35,000 damages claim was thrown out.

"The risk to the Great Barrier Reef from 34 new coal mines and four coal seam gas ports is far too high," Davies said.

South Melbourne Commons open

Last December, more than 1000 people came to the opening celebration for FoE Australia's new community sustainability hub in South Melbourne.

It has taken us more than four years to get the project up and running, but the Commons, a collaboration between FoE Australia and the Father Bob Maguire Foundation, is finally up and running, with an organic cafe, a FoE food co-operative, open access gardens and a beautiful hall. The Pantry at the South Melbourne Commons is a food and grocery cooperative that provides a sustainable alternative to supermarket shopping.

The Commons runs gardening and permaculture courses, sustainable living workshops, and lots of public events. If you're in Melbourne, please drop by for a look around. Check the website for details on how to get there and upcoming events.

Corner of Bank and Montague Sts, South Melbourne

Web: http://commons.org.au

Video: http://vimeo.com/33435397

Pro-nuclear jiggery-pokery exposed

FoE Australia's Anti-nuclear and Clean Energy (ACE) campaign has written a report exposing the nuclear nonsense of Adelaide University's Prof. Barry Brook, one of Australia's most vocal supporters of nuclear power.

The critique calls Prof. Brook to account for his wildly inaccurate assessment of the Fukushima disaster, and for trivialising the repeatedly-demonstrated connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons (most recently with North Korea's use of an 'experimental power reactor' to produce plutonium for weapons).

Prof. Brook claims that nuclear waste is a trillion-dollar asset yet it is clearly a multi-billion dollar liability − nuclear power utilities around the world are keen to dump their waste in Australia or anywhere else that will take it.

Responding to Prof. Brook's claim that nuclear power is the safest energy source, Jim Green, FoE's national nuclear campaigner and author of the report, said: "Can anyone imagine Israel destroying wind turbines in Iran or Iraq, or terrorists stealing solar panels, or North Korea building secret solar water heating systems, or Pakistan's A.Q. Khan network stealing and on-selling designs for energy-efficient buildings?"

"Claiming that nuclear power is safe and clean doesn't help solve the energy/climate problem. A better way forward is to roll out renewables and energy efficiency programs and to invest in R&D to expand the capabilities and decrease the cost of renewables," Green said.

The report is posted at: archive.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/oz/barry-brook-bravenewclimate

Nuclear racism

For some years FoE has been campaigning to have the Olympic Dam uranium/copper mine subject to the same regulations as apply to other mines in South Australia. Unfortunately that work hit a major hurdle late last year when the SA Labor and Liberal parties passed amendments to the 1982 Roxby Downs Indenture Act − the legislation which sets the legal framework for the operation of the mine.

The amended Act retains most of the indefensible exemptions of the original legislation. For example the mine will still not be subject to the SA Aboriginal Heritage Act. Traditional Owners were not even consulted by the government or BHP Billiton. The SA government's spokesperson in Parliament said: "BHP were satisfied with the current arrangements and insisted on the continuation of these arrangements, and the government did not consult further than that."

The amended Indenture Act also retains exemptions from environmental protection and water resource laws. SA Liberal Party industry spokesperson Martin Hamilton-Smith said "every word of the agreement favours BHP, not South Australians” – yet the Liberal Party voted in favour of the Labor government's legislation without proposing a single amendment.

Mark Parnell, an SA Greens member of the upper house of the SA parliament, did a fine job holding the major parties to account for the disgraceful Indenture Act − but all of his amendments were rejected.

In the mid-1990s, then Olympic Dam mine owner WMC Resources used divide-and-rule tactics against Traditional Owners leading to one person being accidentally shot dead, extensive violence and several people being imprisoned. Some of the company executives responsible for that atrocity are still involved in the industry.

The Lizard's Revenge Olympic Dam expansion music/art/festival/protest will be held in July. More information is posted on Facebook − search for 'Lizards Revenge'.

More information:

Mark Parnell: http://markparnell.org.au/campaign.php?campaignn=29

Friends of the Earth: archive.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/oz/u/roxby