Still reeling from the public disclosure of its shabby attempt to bury ore samples and workers’ domestic waste in shallow pits in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, Marathon Resources has sought to gird its loins with two high profile appointments.
A couple of days ago, W. Ian McRae was appointed as Project Executive with a briefing to expedite the granting of a licence for the company to mine uranium at Mt Gee, Arkaroola.
McRae has a high profile in mining circles. In the 1980’s and 90s he was General Manager, Operations, for the Pilbara operations of the Robe River Mining Company.
Robe River Mining was the company that provoked a huge industrial dispute in 1986 when it attempted to remove over 200 “restrictive” work practices from its workforce. The Robe River dispute was a clarion call for the most reactionary sections of the ruling class to declare war on the working conditions of Australian workers, culminating in the Howard government’s WorkChoices legislation.
It is not yet known what part McRae may have played in this, possibly none, but it is indicative of a management outlook that defines “tough” as the ability to ride roughshod over the rights of others, an outlook that must invariably have had some effect on a person in the position of general manager for Operations.
But today’s announcement is the icing on the (yellow) cake!
No less a person than “The Honourable Chris Schacht” - a former Labor Federal Government Minister – has been appointed to the Marathon Board.
Schacht was a force behind the change of State Labor’s “no new mines” policy to its present pro-uranium mining position.
He has made no secret of the fact that he has held shares in uranium exploration, even as he argued for a change in the ALP’s policy.
He is also held in high esteem by local Chinese businessmen and by officials of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra and was invited last year to advise the newly-formed “South Australian Society for the Peaceful Reunification of China” in a dinner attended by Embassy officials.
Nearly all of the other advisors were leaders or officials of Chinese community organisations and businesses.
Schacht’s appointment positions him as a key conduit between the State Labor government and a major investor in Marathon, China’s state-owned China International Trade and Investment Corporation (CITIC).
For every gain made by the restorationists (those pushing the full-scale restoration of capitalism) in China, so China moves inexorably in the direction of becoming an imperialist power abroad. This means sharing in the despicable features of other superpowers: interfering in, bullying, and controlling other sovereign nations.
The stakes are high for Marathon and its major shareholders, the top twenty of whom are listed below:
Top twenty holders of ordinary shares (as at 21 December 2007)
Shareholder Name
Shares
% of Issued Capital
CITIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
6,342,164
10.47
TALBOT GROUP HOLDINGS PTY LTD
6,342,164
10.47
HSBC CUSTODY NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED - A/C 1
4,372,143
7.22
ANZ NOMINEES LIMITED
2,869,769
4.74
SHEOAK RUNNER PTY LTD
1,782,000
2.94
ARCHON RESOURCE TECHNOLOGIES PTY LTD
1,747,218
2.88
CITICORP NOMINEES PTY LTD
1,741,580
2.88
FMS PTY LTD
1,297,018
2.14
PAN AUSTRALIAN NOMINEES PTY LIMITED
1,159,642
1.91
HSBC CUSTODY NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED - A/C 2
1,008,830
1.67
UBS WEALTH MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA NOMINEES PTY LTD
855,399
1.41
NATIONAL NOMINEES LIMITED
800,980
1.32
WIESLAW BOGACZ + HALINA BOGACZ
603,989
1.00
AMMF INVESTMENTS PTY LTD
600,000
0.99
CLUAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT PTY LIMITED
600,000
0.99
MR WILLIAM SYDNEY LATIMER
570,000
0.94
HSBC CUSTODY NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED - A/C 3
420,592
0.69
SHEOAK RUNNER PTY LTD
418,000
0.69
UNDISCLOSED SHAREHOLDER
415,500
0.69
PENINSULA EXPLORATION PTY LTD
414,000
0.68
Total
34,360,988
56.72
No matter what heavies Marathon might place on its board, none carry the weight of the Australian people.
Already an alliance of sorts if emerging around the defence of Arkaroola.
No uranium mining at Mt Gee!
………………………….
See also Sydney Indymedia report:
http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story/marathon-not-running-rules-uranium-venture-dumps-waste-park
A couple of days ago, W. Ian McRae was appointed as Project Executive with a briefing to expedite the granting of a licence for the company to mine uranium at Mt Gee, Arkaroola.
McRae has a high profile in mining circles. In the 1980’s and 90s he was General Manager, Operations, for the Pilbara operations of the Robe River Mining Company.
Robe River Mining was the company that provoked a huge industrial dispute in 1986 when it attempted to remove over 200 “restrictive” work practices from its workforce. The Robe River dispute was a clarion call for the most reactionary sections of the ruling class to declare war on the working conditions of Australian workers, culminating in the Howard government’s WorkChoices legislation.
It is not yet known what part McRae may have played in this, possibly none, but it is indicative of a management outlook that defines “tough” as the ability to ride roughshod over the rights of others, an outlook that must invariably have had some effect on a person in the position of general manager for Operations.
But today’s announcement is the icing on the (yellow) cake!
No less a person than “The Honourable Chris Schacht” - a former Labor Federal Government Minister – has been appointed to the Marathon Board.
Schacht was a force behind the change of State Labor’s “no new mines” policy to its present pro-uranium mining position.
He has made no secret of the fact that he has held shares in uranium exploration, even as he argued for a change in the ALP’s policy.
He is also held in high esteem by local Chinese businessmen and by officials of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra and was invited last year to advise the newly-formed “South Australian Society for the Peaceful Reunification of China” in a dinner attended by Embassy officials.
Nearly all of the other advisors were leaders or officials of Chinese community organisations and businesses.
Schacht’s appointment positions him as a key conduit between the State Labor government and a major investor in Marathon, China’s state-owned China International Trade and Investment Corporation (CITIC).
For every gain made by the restorationists (those pushing the full-scale restoration of capitalism) in China, so China moves inexorably in the direction of becoming an imperialist power abroad. This means sharing in the despicable features of other superpowers: interfering in, bullying, and controlling other sovereign nations.
The stakes are high for Marathon and its major shareholders, the top twenty of whom are listed below:
Top twenty holders of ordinary shares (as at 21 December 2007)
Shareholder Name
Shares
% of Issued Capital
CITIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
6,342,164
10.47
TALBOT GROUP HOLDINGS PTY LTD
6,342,164
10.47
HSBC CUSTODY NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED - A/C 1
4,372,143
7.22
ANZ NOMINEES LIMITED
2,869,769
4.74
SHEOAK RUNNER PTY LTD
1,782,000
2.94
ARCHON RESOURCE TECHNOLOGIES PTY LTD
1,747,218
2.88
CITICORP NOMINEES PTY LTD
1,741,580
2.88
FMS PTY LTD
1,297,018
2.14
PAN AUSTRALIAN NOMINEES PTY LIMITED
1,159,642
1.91
HSBC CUSTODY NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED - A/C 2
1,008,830
1.67
UBS WEALTH MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA NOMINEES PTY LTD
855,399
1.41
NATIONAL NOMINEES LIMITED
800,980
1.32
WIESLAW BOGACZ + HALINA BOGACZ
603,989
1.00
AMMF INVESTMENTS PTY LTD
600,000
0.99
CLUAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT PTY LIMITED
600,000
0.99
MR WILLIAM SYDNEY LATIMER
570,000
0.94
HSBC CUSTODY NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED - A/C 3
420,592
0.69
SHEOAK RUNNER PTY LTD
418,000
0.69
UNDISCLOSED SHAREHOLDER
415,500
0.69
PENINSULA EXPLORATION PTY LTD
414,000
0.68
Total
34,360,988
56.72
No matter what heavies Marathon might place on its board, none carry the weight of the Australian people.
Already an alliance of sorts if emerging around the defence of Arkaroola.
No uranium mining at Mt Gee!
………………………….
See also Sydney Indymedia report:
http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story/marathon-not-running-rules-uranium-venture-dumps-waste-park
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