Pātea seabed mine: Caution as Taranaki councils called to declare positions on mine
Taranaki local body politicians are looking to keep their powder dry as the battle over seabed mining intensifies through the new fast-track process.
Pressure is mounting as the Environmental Protection Authority selects its panel to rule on an Australian company's bid to mine the South Taranaki seabed under the Fast-track
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Scoop
16 hours ago
- Scoop
A Vassal's Impulse: Australia Backs US Strike On Iran
The initial statement from Australian government sources was one of constipated caution and clenching wariness. Senator Penny Wong's time as head of the Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs has always been about how things come out, a process unsatisfyingly uncertain and unyielding in detail. Stick to the safe middle ground and sod the rest. These were the cautionary words of an Australian government spokesperson on June 22: 'We have been clear that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security.' That insipid statement was in response to Operation Midnight Hammer, a strike on three nuclear facilities in Iran by the US Air Force, authorised by US President Donald Trump on June 22. With such spectacular violence came the hollow call for diplomatic prudence and restraint. There was an important difference: Tehran, not Israel or Washington, would be the subject of scolding. Iran would not be permitted nuclear weapons but jaw jaw was better than war war. 'We note the US president's statement that now is the time for peace,' stated the spokesperson. 'The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.' Within twenty-four hours, that anodyne position had morphed into one of unconditional approval for what was a breach of the United Nations Charter, notably its injunction against the threatened or actual use of force against sovereign states in the absence of authorisation by the UN Security Council or the necessity of self-defence. 'The world has long agreed Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, and we support action to prevent this. That is what this is,' accepted Wong. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading This assessment was not only silly but colossally misguided. It would have been an absurd proposition for the US to make the claim that they were under imminent threat of attack, a condition seen as necessary for a pre-emptive strike. This was a naked submission to the wishes of a small, destabilising and sole (undeclared) nuclear power in the Middle East, a modern territorial plunderer celebratory of ethnonational supremacy. The Australian position, along a number of European states, also failed to acknowledge the General Conference Resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (in particular GC(XIXI)/RES/444 and GC(XXIV)/RES/533) declaring that 'any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the United Nations Charter, international law and the Statute of the Agency.' Wong also misrepresented the circumstances under which Iran was told they could negotiate over their nuclear program, erroneously accepting the line from the Trump administration that Tehran had 'an opportunity to comply'. Neither the US diplomatic channel, which only permitted a narrow, fleeting corridor for actual negotiations, nor Israel's wilful distortion of the IAEA's assessment of Iran's uranium enrichment plans and prevarication, ever gave chance for a credible resolution. Much like the calamitous, unlawful invasion of Iraq in 2003 by a crew of brigand nations – the merry trio of US, UK and Australia stood out – the autopilot to war was set, scornful of international law. Wong's shift from constipated caution to free flow approval for the US attack, with its absent merits and weighty illegalities, was also a craven capitulation to the warmonger class permanently mesmerised by the villain school of foreign relations. This cerebrally challenged view sees few problems with attacking nuclear facilities, the radioactive dangers of doing so, and the merits of a state having them in the first place. The US attack on Iran found hearty approval among the remnants of the conservative opposition, who tend to specialise in the view that pursuing a pro-Israeli line, right, wrong, or murderous, is the way to go. Liberal Senator and former Australian ambassador to Israel, David Sharma, thought the Albanese government's initial response 'underwhelming and perplexing', claiming that support for this shredding of international law 'a straightforward position for Australia to adopt'. Sharma is clearly getting rusty on his law of nations. His side of politics is also of the view that the attacked party here – Iran – must forgo any silly notion of self-defence and retaliation and repair to the table of diplomacy in head bowed humiliation. 'We want to see Iran come to the negotiating table to verify where that 400 kilos of enriched uranium is,' stated a very stern opposition home affairs minister, Andrew Hastie. 'I'm very glad to see that Penny Wong has essentially endorsed our position and I'm glad we have bipartisanship on this.' Australia's response has been that of the weary poltroon. Little has been asked about Canberra's standout complicity in assisting the US imperium fulfil its global reach when it comes to striking targets. The role of the intelligence signals facility in Pine Gap, cutely and inaccurately called a joint venture, always lends its critical role to directing the US war machine through its heavy reliance on satellite technology. Wong, when asked about the role played by the facility in facilitating the attacks on Iran, had little to say. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also cold towards disclosing any details. 'We are upfront, but we don't talk about intelligence, obviously. But we've made very clear this was unilateral action taken by the United States.' At least on this occasion, Australia did not add its forces to an illegal adventure, as it all too wilfully did in 2003. Then, Iraq was invaded on the spurious grounds that weapons of mass destruction not only existed but would somehow be used either by the regime of Saddam Hussein or fictional proxies he might eventually supply. History forever shows that no such weapons were found, nor proxies equipped. But the Albanese government has shown not only historical illiteracy but an amnesia on the matter. Unfortunately, it's the sort of amnesia that has become contagious, afflicting a goodly number of Washington's satellites, vassals and friendly states.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Plan to bowl TV house for bougie boutique hotel
An artist's impression depicts a proposed four-suite boutique hotel on Man St. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A 'landmark' boutique hotel is planned for Queenstown. Cactus Kiwi Ltd Partnership wants to bowl a two-level 1960s character home at 10 Man St — which served as the police station for the first two series of locally shot TV crime thriller, One Lane Bridge — and replace it with a four-level hotel, accessed from the Brecon St stairs and Man St. The 339sqm site, sandwiched between Queenstown's established CBD and the emerging expansion towards Skyline's gondola, sold to a local buyer in 2021 for $3.1million + GST. Originally a residential home, it was, for many years, home to a language school, which has since ceased. It's directly beside the Man St carpark, above which a 173-room hotel was approved last year through the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020, and a stone's throw from the Sofitel Hotel. According to the application, the high-quality boutique hotel, designed by Monk McKenzie, will have just four guest rooms, with total capacity for eight people. At the basement level, accessed via lift or the Brecon St stairs, a small wine bar's proposed, open to guests and the public, from 8am to 4am daily. The lobby will be on the ground floor, accessed via Man St, with two suites each on the second and third floors, each with large living spaces, master bedrooms, and spa/shower facilities. From Man St, it'll look like a three-storey building; from the Brecon St steps it'll present as four. "While the hotel will be of a much higher elevation than the built form below on Brecon St, the height of the building will not be out of character, withthe adjoining level of built form, including Sofitel Hotel and the consented hotel on top of the Man Street carparking building," the application says. And, according to an urban design report from Williams & Co, it can be described as a "landmark corner site", with the hotel providing a "strong edge" to the Brecon St steps, and will signal the future extending line of built form along Man St towards Lakeview. Queenstown's council's currently vetting the application.
1News
a day ago
- 1News
Australian Greens candidate undergoes surgery after protest arrest
A Greens candidate who challenged Anthony Albanese at the May federal election is in hospital after being arrested at a protest, as police face brutality claims. Five people were arrested while protesting Israel's war in Gaza outside an Australian firm linked to the manufacturing of fighter jets used by the IDF. Hannah Thomas, 35, who was the Greens candidate for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's seat of Grayndler, was taken to hospital with facial injuries suffered in the process of her arrest. A photo of Thomas in an ambulance shows her eye swollen shut and with blood on her face before she was taken for surgery. Video of the incident shows multiple police dragging one of the protesters as on-lookers repeatedly shouted, "get off her" and "let go of her". ADVERTISEMENT Police said matters escalated after officers issued a move-on direction to a group of 60 protesters who had blocked pedestrian access to SEC Plating in Belmore in Sydney's southwest Friday morning. They said Thomas was arrested for not complying with that direction. NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson labelled the policing "excessive" and "unnecessary" and called for an investigation "to avoid further horrific instances of innocent people being seriously injured". She has written to Police Minister Yasmin Catley, the NSW police commissioner and the state's police watchdog demanding the investigation. "Having witnessed the grievous injuries caused by the police to Hannah Thomas, spoken to on ground witnesses who witnessed what occurred, and with the knowledge that Hannah has experienced serious injuries and hospitalisation, I am calling for a critical incident to be declared urgently," Higginson wrote in her letter. A police statement said the medical advice they had received about the incident did not meet the threshold for a critical incident declaration. "Should further medical advice be received, the decision can be reviewed," it said. ADVERTISEMENT Protest organisers say another protester was grabbed by the neck and choked, while others were knocked to the ground. SEC Plating is reportedly providing plating services for various parts used in F-35 jets, of which the Israeli military has about 40. Zack Schofield, a 26-year-old Rising Tide organiser who was arrested, said he was "objecting to genocide and the complicity of Australia in this". "The excessive force used by police was brutal and will be put into question," he said. Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said Thomas had been a "tireless advocate" for the tens of thousands of people killed in Palestine. "Hannah has long been a fearless and strong advocate for the rights of all people to live without oppression and occupation... I am in awe of her courage and conviction in supporting people who need help," she said. The five arrested protesters were granted bail to appear in Bankstown Local Court on July 15.
