Rann

I am from Adelaide living in Canberra. I am glad not to inhabit any more the SA political ‘spin’ in Parliament and the mass media.

Whenever I am in Adelaide, I hear of the local soap-opera. And now it is national news – like Foley recently being blue and Rann now, with Channel 7 and his sex exploits.

Adelaide political discourse is swamped by such personal stories. This hides other policy issues more worthy of debate – such as where is SA developing strategically.

OK, I heard the Mike stories about his sex life for years. But his personal life is irrelevant to his running of SA.

Really, on running SA, one public debate could instead be over Labor connections with global corporate interests.

Take only one example, with Rann and Foley and corporate global giant General Atomics.

And GA’s Mr Blue and his drones and his uranium mining and whatever else they are up to.

The ABC’s satirical youth show Hungry Beast featured GA.
Exposes of what GA drones do in wars to civilians are seen on TV.
Mr Blue’s political lobbying style is notorious.

This is from the SMH:

‘The company General Atomics uses Hawker Britton, a lobbying firm that includes many former ALP staffers and MPs.

But among the biggest supporters of uranium mining expansion is Mike Rann …who was active
in the early 1980s when the party was opposed to uranium mining, now believes in it. He travelled to Dallas to meet Mr Blue of General Atomics last year and said on his return that he was an ‘‘unashamed supporter’’ of uranium mining.

In 2006 the South Australian Treasurer, Kevin Foley, spent $120,000 travelling the US to meet leading arms manufacturers including General Atomics, but it was apparently not his first visit. The previous year he told South Australia’s Parliament that he had already visited Mr Blue.

‘‘I have visited the Beverley mine and, recently, in San Diego I met Mr Neal Blue, the chairman of General Atomics – an outstanding company that is producing uranium oxide from the Beverley mine. I only hope that further deposits of uranium can be found. The sooner we can find it, dig it up and get it out of the country, the better,’’ he said.

Also in 2006, General Atomics flew a group from the US Congress to Australia, accompanied by company executives, to persuade the Federal Government to buy the company’s Predator unmanned aircraft. The colourful group included a retired US Navy admiral, Tom Cassidy, a former pilot who had a cameo role in the Tom Cruise film Top Gun.

A report by the US Centre for Public Integrity found the trip cost $US184,000, and established that General Atomics was the biggest corporate sponsor of travel for US Congress officials since 2000.

The Australian Defence Force tested a General Atomics robot surveillance aircraft that year.

As well as its interest in unmanned spy planes, General Atomics has employed human spies.’
See this story in the SMH

http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-company-with-the-right-contacts-20090729-e1lk.html

The drones are no good…see numerous news reports and UN concerns.

There are environmental issues with GA’s mining of uranium at Beverley.

http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Individualcompanies/G/GeneralAtomics

ACF – Wrong decision on Beverley: uranium mine fails to protect… “This expansion decision allows the General Atomics company to operate a uranium mine in more than 100 km² of land near the spectacular …www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=1905

ACF – Uranium approval a blow for the environment
“General Atomics and its subsidiary Heathgate Resources will be directly dumping increased volumes of liquid radioactive and heavy metal wastes to the …
www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=2354

ACF – Land grab for ‘acid leach’ uranium mining and groundwater …
The SA Government will consider the plan by uranium company General Atomics to enlarge the Beverley mine lease from 16 km² to more than 100 km². …
www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=1644

ACF – Uranium impacts under spotlight at Melbourne hearing
… with pro-nuclear groups including US based uranium miner Heathgate Resources / General Atomics and promotional body the Uranium Information Centre. …
www.acfonline.org.au/news.asp?news_id=541

Mr Blue: Top Gun of Travel Spy plane’s maker spent roughly $660,000, targeted legislators’ aides http://projects.publicintegrity.org/powertrips/report.aspx?aid=170

Brisbane Times ‘Arms maker behind uranium mine settled fraudulent pricing case’
NICK OMALLEY AND BEN CUBBY July 30, 2009 ‘THE arms manufacturer GA that received approval through an Australian subsidiary for a new uranium mine in central Australia this month was sued for fraudulently hiking uranium prices and manipulating costs at a neighbouring mine.’

An Updated Expose of General Atomics & Heathgate Resources 1
by Gavin Mudd Anti-Uranium Collective, Friends of the Earth (Fitzroy).

The defense contractor General Atomics has close ties to several figures under investigation by the FBI in http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/cats/general_atomics/

And these discussions with Rann

http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/08/20/general-atomics-heads-down-under-to-discuss-algae-biofuels-opportunities/

And more…

Yet Rann may go down on his personal sex life…

spare us this excuse for democracy!

profit