Author Archives: Melanie McCartney

What’s The Deal With Rare Earth Elements

Source: US Department of Agriculture

Rare earth elements (REE), have become a hot topic of discussion ever since Trump 2.0 began. Even more so since China put export limits on their REE, rare earth magnets, and semiconductor materials that contain 0.1% of REE. China first discovered REE in inner Mongolia in 1927, they have invested heavily into the research and development of rare earth technologies since then. This is why they can successfully do large scale processing today.

An American policy turned back on them

The export mechanism that China is using, is actually an American policy called the foreign direct product rule (FDPR). America has used the FDPR as a tool to restrict the sale of Huawei products in the west, and has used it to restrict semiconductor exports to China for years. America also uses it to control other transactions between other countries and China. 

China’s international obligations 

When China made their REE announcement, they explained that they have already had export controls for over 20-years. The increase of controls is to combat REE being used to make dangerous weaponry and to prevent dual use. Dual use is when REE is used for civilian and military use. This is not just about their national security and interests, it’s also about fulfilling their international obligations with the Treaty of Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. There are still four countries that haven’t signed the treaty: India, Israel, Pakistan and South Sudan. Responsible oversight of the REE global supply chain is needed more than ever in these times. 

Any company affiliated with foreign militaries will be denied export licenses. China’s Ministry of Commerce said emphatically, that any requests to use their REE for military reasons will be rejected. This is a major setback for America’s weapon production capabilities, especially at a time when their stockpiles are low. It’s also bad news for the AI industry with the restrictions on semiconductors.

REE used for Warmongering 

Last year NATO published a list of critical raw materials for defence.

  1. Aluminium
  2. Beryllium
  3. Cobalt
  4. Gallium
  5. Germanium
  6. Graphite
  7. Lithium
  8. Manganese
  9. Platinum
  10. Rare Earth Elements
  11. Titanium
  12. Tungsten

REE is essential for the production of military technologies such as: F35 Fighter Jets, Virginia and Columbia Class Submarines, Tomahawk Missiles, Radar Systems, Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and the Joint Direct Attack Munition Series of Smart Bombs.

Source: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

Australia’s role in helping America

The recent “critical mineral agreement” signed by Australia and America is not just about the supply of REE, it’s also about Australia developing a Bauxite-to-Gallium refining pipeline. The Pentagon is going to be funding the construction of the Gallium refinery in West Australia.

Gallium can only be produced as a byproduct of Bauxite mining and Australia has the second largest reserves of Bauxite, which is the main ore of Aluminium, Gallium is a byproduct of Aluminium. Australia has eight of the REE that NATO listed above as crucial for defence included in the recently signed agreement.

Australian Ambassador to America, Kevin Rudd, emphasised in an interview earlier this year with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, that critical minerals are defence assets. He also said: “Geology has been kind to us. It’s an ancient continent, it’s been worn flat, the stuff’s closer to the surface.”

First Nations People left out of the picture 

Kevin Rudd is right, Australia is an ancient continent, so shouldn’t First Nations people should be part of the REE discussion? The Mirrar people fought uranium mining on their land for decades, they won their fight just last year. Traditional land owners take responsibility not just for the land, they also care about what the impacts of activities such as mining their land, has on others. 

In 2011 Yvonne Margarula, of the Mirrar people, wrote a letter to UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, expressing her sorrow at the impacts radiation was having on the lives of Japanese people. She noted that: ‘it is likely that the radiation problems at Fukushima are, at least in part, fuelled by uranium derived from our traditional lands. This makes us feel very sad.’ 

Can China even be overtaken 

Arnaud Bertrand, wrote an excellent article that is worth reading, the Substack link is at the end of this article. He forensically outlines the impossibility of other countries being able to catch up with China. It’s not just about building refining infrastructure to match China, there’s the specialised skills of workers to consider and intensive energy requirements. As well as the fact that a whole ecosystem and logistics network needs to be built. Something that China has built for decades. There is also the question of purity, for REE to be viable for use, it needs to be at least 99.9%.

The dangers of extraction and radioactive waste

Australia is a large aluminium producer which is why it has been chosen by America to refine Aluminium for its byproduct, Gallium. Smelting aluminium in itself is bad enough for the environment. To even get to the extraction point of Gallium you need to process Alumina, then you need to refine the Aluminium before you can extract the REE. 

All of these processes lead to a form of radiation called TENORM, (Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials).

“Naturally occurring radioactive materials that have been concentrated or exposed to the accessible environment as a result of human activities such as manufacturing, mineral extraction, or water processing.”

What to do with all of the excess Aluminium 

As Arnaud explained, to produce 100 tonnes of Gallium per year, you would need to produce 12 million tonnes of Alumina and 4.7 million tonnes of Aluminium. You only need a small amount of REE to produce things, but it is an extremely intensive, extraction process. There is also the oversupply factor, there has been a global supply glut of Aluminium for years. 

It’s not just about oil in Venezuela

It’s of note that Venezuela has not just a lot of oil, it also has a Bauxite mine and is a major producer and exporter of Bauxite. Greenland has lots of REE too, but they’re extremely difficult to get to and they don’t have mines for them.

Give peace a chance

Providing REE to America for nuclear weapons to potentially use against China, is an existential threat to its existence. It’s important to know that China’s export controls aren’t aimed at hurting America economically. You just have to apply for a license letting them know what you are using REE for. If it’s for bombs etc they don’t want their products to be used for making them. If it’s for humanitarian reasons, no problem.

What happens next remains to be seen, but it’s nice to have some breathing room while America works out its next move. 

Sources

https://youtu.be/eX3WlHcTvF8?si=PdifC39kw02oVqiW

https://www.csis.org/analysis/chinas-new-rare-earth-and-magnet-restrictions-threaten-us-defense-supply-chains

https://open.substack.com/pub/arnaudbertrand/p/how-long-can-china-play-the-rare?r=k71ub&utm_medium=ios

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_231765.htm

https://www.csis.org/analysis/unpacking-us-australia-critical-minerals-framework-agreement

https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2021/11/we-ve-smelted-a-billion-tonnes-of-recyclable-aluminium–do-we-ne

https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-how-rare-earths-power-u-s-defense/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/dec/26/rare-earth-metals-us

https://www.epa.gov/radiation/technologically-enhanced-naturally-occurring-radioactive-materials-tenorm

https://www.dw.com/en/australia-uranium-mining-to-be-banned-at-indigenous-site/a-69785799

https://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/356082/11963020/1303983838710/Yvonne+Margarula+Fukushima+Lett

The Iran Question

When ASIO announced that Iran was behind an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue, and the arson of Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney. One of the first questions many of us on Twitter asked was: “What would Iran get out of doing this?”

After Israel, Iran has the second largest Jewish population in West Asia. The majority of their population lives in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan.

Iranian Jews practice their faith freely in Iran. They have a seat at the table of the Iranian government, or the Majles. It’s enshrined in the Iranian constitution, as well as the representation of other religious minorities that call Iran home.

Iranian Jews also have synagogues, kosher butchers, a Jewish newspaper and library, as well as mikvahs, (a pool of water to immerse themselves in for purification).

Scratching the surface of an ancient civilisation like Iran, as I have above, brings us back to the question of what does Iran have to gain from meddling with Jews, all the way in Australia? It doesn’t gain anything, any serious person can see that, especially with no evidence. At least Australians are learning what “cutouts” are, a word that’s usually associated with the CIA.

Everything that’s happening in West Asia (The Middle East), is premeditated and was planned long ago. For example, this clip from 2007 about America, (assisted by Israel), wanting to take out Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan.


Wes Clark – America’s Foreign Policy “Coup”

This policy paper from 2009 about Iran, is another example of the long game being played: Which Path to Persia: Options For A New American Strategy Toward Iran

It’s a blueprint for what America wants from Iran with the assistance of Israel. On page 24 it clearly states that ‘the successful American policy for Gaddafi’s Libya, is often seen as a model for how a similar approach should be applied to Iran.’ We all know what happened there.

I highly recommend reading it, it is easy to read through. I also have a couple of links by geo-analyst, Brian Berletic, (written in 2011 under his pen name Tony Cartalucci). He breaks down the important chapters and sections for you, with added background and context.

Any country in the region that doesn’t let go of their sovereignty to do what Israel says, is a target of America and Israel. If Iran falls, then West Asia falls. I suspect we will be hearing more anti-Iran stories, in the lead up to Israel warring with Iran again.

Heart To Heart

Remember that feeling inside when the Matilda’s inspired the nation? Many of us didn’t even know the rules, everyone did by the end of it though. Excited conversations were had about whether we should call it soccer or football, as we recalled the nail-biting moments of that penalty shootout. Didn’t it feel good to feel connected to everyone? To enjoy goodwill so strong that you could hear the electricity crackling in the air. To feel pride so fierce that it gave you goosebumps and brought tears to your eyes all at once. It was addictive, and satisfied a yearning you didn’t realise you had.

This is what feeling united as a country feels like.

Our commonalities

Australians have more in common with Indigenous Australians, than we do differences. When we are being welcomed to country, we are being welcomed by a culture that welcomes us and respects country all at the same time. This isn’t far away from how many of us welcome people into our homes. ‘Make yourself at home’, or ‘my house is your house’, we say with affection. We hug and kiss each other on the cheeks and thank our guests for bringing a bottle of wine, or cake for us to enjoy together.

Time for change

It’s been fifty-six-years since the 1967 constitutional referendum gave the federal parliament power to decide upon Indigenous affairs. It was also when Aboriginal people were counted as part of the Australian population for the first time.

Twelve-years of consultation between over two-hundred-and-fifty Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leaders and Elders, has led us to the Voice referendum. Politicians from governments on both sides have also been involved.

The constitution is a rule book from which laws can be made

Unless you’re a member of a local club or are a company board member, most of us have never voted to amend a constitution before. For clubs they usually relate to things like increasing expenditure to fix the facilities of the club toilets. For companies, it could be a constitutional amendment regarding shares.

This isn’t about one group of people having more rights than others

This Saturday’s constitutional vote is not about giving Indigenous people more rights than everyone else. Did you know that we are the only liberal democracy in the world without a Human Rights Act, or a Constitutional Charter of Rights? The author believes that we should be striving to include this into our constitution too.

This Saturday is about giving Indigenous people a seat at the table when it comes to the federal government making decisions about their affairs. Voting, Yes, will give them a way to provide advice directly to elected members of parliament; the ones that we vote for to do this type of work. The reason that the Voice needs to be formalised as part of the constitution via referendum, is to ensure that future governments can’t undo all of the hard work that has gone into getting to this point.

Final thoughts

As was explained to me by a voter that changed their mind about voting, No: “Who am I to stand in the way of a chance for Aboriginals to make their lives better?”

Indeed, how can we deny an opportunity that does not affect the vast majority of our lives in the slightest? Voting, No, will ensure more of the same, which clearly has not worked. Voting, Yes, will finally allow Indigenous Australians some control over their destinies.

Channel the warm glow in your heart that you felt for the Matilda’s, and vote Yes.

NSW Labor opposition leader makes sense in daily pressers

Opposition leaders and shadow ministries not getting enough air-time in traditional media, means that they’re unable to do their job keeping governments, ministers, and portfolios to account. We aren’t a democracy without their contributions. A prime example of this is NSW Opposition leader Chris Minns. Last week when NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, made the shock announcement about the daily Covid pressers, Minns announced his own presser for the vacated timeslot. Despite Berejiklian saying that Sunday was her last presser she held another one yesterday. 

Minns held his short presser yesterday at 11am via Facebook with his Shadow Health Minister, Ryan Park. The lack of dead corporate language used as well as their to-the-point communication style was refreshing. Key points made were about the need for the NSW government to do daily pressers with clear communication, and the need for the opportunity to scrutinise decisions that they make. Other points made were about our healthcare system being in crisis, for Berejiklian to be accountable, and for other people in her Covid management team to do the pressers if she can not.                            

For today’s presser Minns was joined by his Shadow Minister for IR, Work, Health & Safety, Sophie Cotsis, and Dr Jamal Rifi at Belmore Park, the home of the Western Bulldogs. Cotsis explained how the community-led response there has boosted their vaccination rate from 20 percent to closer to 90 percent, for the first vaccine dose in 2 months. 

Minns then thanked Dr Rifi for his “amazing work on behalf of the people of NSW, his care for his community and the innovative way that he approaches medicine and community care. Putting up a tent in your front yard in order to make sure that vaccinations were distributed to so many people is an example of Australian ingenuity and world class care.”   

Next on the agenda was Minns calling for NSW Parliament to be brought back so that the government can explain the reasons for their policies, and how they impact millions of people in NSW. Minns also reasoned that daily pressers were needed not for “gotchas” or “politicking” but to clear up confusion about local health orders. 

Dr Rifi then relayed the good news about his drive-through vaccination clinic at the Bulldogs sports ground being approved by the Commonwealth Department of Health, for the next 6-weeks. It will operate 3-days a week as of this week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Dr Rifi explained that people were safer being vaccinated in their cars rather than indoors where exposure to Covid is higher. As well as the benefits of vaccinating kids with their families, and whole families being immunised at once. 

Dr Rifi also said that if NSW Health gave them more vaccines on top of what the federal government has given them, they could operate 7-days a week because demand there far outweighs supply. The problem is a lot of workers there work long hours and can’t get their second jabs on weekends, but if they lift the curfew hours it will make it easier for workers to use the drive-through after hours at night. Kudos to Canterbury-Bankstown Council, Bulldogs League Club and the SES volunteers for helping to make all of this happen, heroes really don’t wear capes.

The presser wraps up with Minns reiterating that we need daily pressers from the NSW government because “you can’t make up rules that affect 7 million people, and then not explain the application of these rules over the coming weeks.” 

The NSW Labor leader also had this to say about the NSW Parliament sitting idle: “If we’re sending 15 and 16-year old kids off to Coles and Woolworths to work to keep supermarkets open, then politicians should be going back to work.”             

After watching these illuminating pressers it’s clear South West Sydney and Western Sydney are not being treated fairly. Curfews do need to be assessed and a clear explanation provided for why they still need to be in place in all areas especially those with low case numbers. Every effort should be made to help communities there to get their second dose without losing their income. It’s clearly not a case of people in these postcodes not wanting to be vaccinated, Delta made that call for them and many of us months ago. They don’t need more ‘get the jab’ messaging they just need more vaccines.

YouTube link for Monday’s presser with Chris Minns and Ryan Park: https://youtu.be/GLsv2qGVKQY

YouTube link for Tuesday’s presser with Chris Minns, and Shadow Minister for IR, Work, Health & Safety, Sophie Cotsis, and Dr Jamal Rifi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBDtW6rAwCQ

Link for Australian Story about Dr Rifi last night. 

Murdoch’s regional news takeover could help the Coalition win voters

Edited: 21/06/2021

Murdochtopus has many arms that work in unison with News Corp, one of those arms is a think tank called the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). When Tony Abbott became Prime Minister the IPA wrote a list of 75 ideas for Abbott to think about which included: 

50. Break up the ABC and put out to tender each individual function.

51. Privatise SBS. 

The Abbott government and coalition government’s since, have cut funding to the tune of $783 million. By 2023 the cuts to the ABC will amount to $1 billion. Surveys continually show that the ABC and SBS are the most trusted news brands in Australia. So many cuts makes it incredibly hard to cut through the power of Murdochtopus and other conservative friends of the coalition in the media. 

Image by ABC News.

Australia’s concentrated media ownership is one of the highest of the world      

News Corp owns nearly 60% of the metropolitan and national print media markets by readership. The Nine Entertainment Co. and Fairfax merger in 2018, means that Nine is now the second largest media owner with a combined readership share of 23%.

80% of Australian free-to-air and subscription TV revenues are collected by three corporations: News Corp, Nine, and Seven Media Holdings.

Nearly 90% of the nation’s radio licences are controlled by News Corp, Nine, and Southern Cross Media (including their associated entities). 

Why we need an independent media and newswire 

News Corp, Nine and Seven controlling our information isn’t healthy let alone democratic. Our public broadcasters, independent media and the Australian Associated Press Newswire (AAP), fill the public interest journalism voids that commercial media can’t fill. Independent media focuses on audiences that get left behind, the issues that go unreported, holding power to account, and local issues that keep rural audiences informed and connected. 

News Corp’s regional newspaper takeover in 2016 didn’t just add to his news monopoly, it gave him the power to close them down completely or to force people to buy digital subscriptions. This is exactly what happened last May. Some rural areas now have no source of news at all, some have bought News Corp subscriptions only to find that they‘re filled wih city-centric news not relevant to them, or their communities.  

The AAP had a near death experience during the Covid lockdown in March last year when their two major shareholders, News Corp and Nine, decided to close it down. The reasoning for their decision was that the AAP couldn’t compete with free information from the Internet. The AAP was saved at the last minute by a group of philanphropists. Three-months later it became clear as to why they kept the profitable arms of the AAP for themselves, they were setting up their own newswire, NCA NewsWire, in direct competition with the AAP.  

To nearly lose the AAP like that is alarming, we need our national newswire to tell all of our stories, not just those deemed of importance by the media giants. The AAP released the details of their Charter of Independence a month after relaunching as a not-for-profit news service last year. News Corp doesn’t have one, and it’s been 3-years since the Fairfax merged with Nine and they still haven’t signed one. These charters are vital for public interest journalism. 

Media ownership report

I recommend reading the “Who controls our media” report. The report explains in laymen terms why it’s important for everyone to know about how media ownership such as ours, is not only unprecedented but dangerous for our democracy.  

“I have two young daughters and I work as a registered nurse and a nurse educator. Murdoch [controlled News Corp] recently purchased the one local newspaper on the Sunshine Coast, The Sunshine Coast Daily. Now Murdoch can provide one side of a story without any competition or opposition.” Sarah – Sunshine Coast, QLD.     

Sky News Australia has more YouTube reach than the ABC    

The distribution of content across all media platforms to reach as many people as possible is where the real power exists. Sky News Australia subscriptions have been climbing since their 2019 distribution deals with YouTube, Microsoft, Facebook and Taboola. Sky News YouTube subscriptions are currently at 1.75 million and climbing, whereas the ABC has 1.38 million and let’s not forget that Sky News is broadcast 24/7 in places such as airports, hotels, and Parliament House. 

News Corp is also the most distributed news brand on Facebook. Even if you don’t read Murdoch content, or watch Sky News, or listen to 2GB on the radio, the power of Murdochtopus means that you most likely will, in some shape or form. For eg. a front-page story via the Daily Telegraph or The Australian, can easily set the agenda for the day with other news outlets on TV, online and via the radio, following their lead and reporting about the same story. When only a few players exist their reach means that they don’t just set the agenda of traditional media and social media, they also influence our conversations and our minds.

Patience is a virtue, but lobbying and power gets the job done

In 2006 Murdoch got a taste of Google revenue via an advertising deal with his newly acquired MySpace that was worth $900 million. MySpace was taken over by Facebook in 2009 due to his focusing on monetisation of the platform rather than innovation. From then on Murdoch complained that Google was stealing from him by displaying snippets and links to his content. 

In 2019, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) found that Google’s use of snippets and links was not theft. By 2021 the much-hyped mandatory Media Bargaining Code of Conduct for Facebook and Google, bore fruit with paid partnership deals for all three of the media giants.

This monetary advantage penalises smaller media players that have genuine concerns that the new deals will push News Corp content, especially in areas such as climate change, to the top of search results rather than that of the experts,   

Cheap NewsFlash app by Foxtel set to launch in the last quarter of 2021

NewsFlash will live-stream content from news services that include Sky News, and Fox News. Reports say that it will cost around $5. A cheap app like this is a good way to attract new eyeballs as well as to keep newer audiences of Sky News, after Win TV ended their deal with them by signing a 7-year deal with Nine.   

What can we do?

The petition created by former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was the largest e-petition in Australia’s parliamentary history. Over 500,000 people signed it for a Murdoch Royal Commission. The petition led to a Senate inquiry into media diversity which we can support.   

There is the voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation but the code isn’t mandatory and unfortunately has no teeth yet. Twitter, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Tik Tok and Redbubble are the only ones to have signed up so far. 

We can also get behind and support the Public Interest Journalism Initiative (PIJI). The PIJI have done research that found that a not-for-profit (NFP) news sector might be a viable solution. This approach could help to increase media diversity as well as to build sustainable new financial models. 

“News is an essential service – as highlighted by successive national emergencies. Its diversity and coverage are essential to inform our citizens, strengthen our community and safeguard our democracy.” PIJI.

Sky News is already poisoning the minds of our loved ones just like Fox News did in America

Fox News has not just destroyed families it’s killed democracy there by taking away the ability of American’s to talk with one another, without getting angry and without shutting each other down. Regional Australian’s watching Sky News are already displaying the same symptoms.

Maybe we need to take a long hard look at the 1989 Liverpool campaign in the UK . Liverpool City successfully boycotted the Sun, a Murdoch publication, after it’s role in the false reporting of the Hillsborough disaster. Sales have never recovered.

If we don’t speak up now we’ve forever lost the propaganda and misinformation war playing out right now.