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LEAD Action News Volume 22 Number 4 December 2024 Page 63 of 131
Circular Economy for Lead Petition to the Australian
House of Representatives
The LEAD Group’s Petition to Australian Parliament House (APH) was submitted at
https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/create/petition/confirm on Sunday 6 Oct 2024 and went Online
and was signable from 6 Nov to 12 Dec 2024 at https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN6714
or at https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/ - search for: circular
As at 12 Dec 2024, the petition was signed by 95 Citizens of Australia, was closed for signatures, and
was eligible for being presented to Parliament, but as at 30 Dec 2024 it had not yet been presented to
Parliament.
Volcano Art Prize (VAP) 2024 Entry by
Elizabeth O’Brien. Title: Petition for our
children.
Lead Safety Message: #Grandma Lead
says: please sign my Petition EN6714 -
Circular Economy for Lead to not only
stop new lead mines digging more lead
out of the ground but also start
collecting and recycling ALL the lead
already in circulation in Australia.
https://volcanoartprize.com/portfolio-
item/petition-for-our-children/
Final PETITION Details
Petition Address
To the Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives and Members of the House of Representatives
Petition Of
Certain citizens of Australia
Petition Title
Circular Economy for Lead
Petition Reason
Australia is the world’s largest lead (ore/concentrate) exporter – often to countries with lax controls
on shipping, smelting, refining, manufacturing and recycling, allowing the continuing flow of
Australian lead into cheap products that’re banned here (like lead paint, toxic Ayurvedic
medicines/spices/cosmetics); and into footpath/backyard/kitchen recycling (including by children).
The annual global cost of lead exposure is US$6 trillion (2019) - 7% of global GDP. A moratorium on
all new ‘lead mines’ (where lead is the highest tonnage metal) especially ‘greenfield’ projects like
Bowdens, will prevent land and water contamination of agricultural/grazing land/indigenous sites
and reduce water, fossil-fuel and infrastructure requirements. ‘Mining’ existing lead from the built
environment; and incentivising householders to replace lead with non-lead flashing, especially on
rainwater collection roof areas; and industry to collect, transport and recycle lead radiation shielding,
weights, pewter, brass, solder, spent ammunition along with used lead acid batteries; and to
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LEAD Action News Volume 22 Number 4 December 2024 Page 64 of 131
manufacture new lead acid batteries from 100% recycled lead; and ‘export’ lead ingots with the
technology/policy to assist other countries to achieve lead circularity, will obviate the need for newly-
mined lead, create a smarter world (more capable of solving the climate crisis), and create a lead-safe
and climate-safe planet for future generations.
Petition Request
We therefore ask the House to create lead circularity: commit to a moratorium on all new mine
projects where lead is the major mine product by weight, and incentivize ‘mining’ the built
environment and waste-streams for lead; manufacturing new lead acid batteries from 100% recycled-
lead; and exporting lead ingots, and lead-safety technologies/knowledge.
Principal Petitioner Information
Name
Elizabeth O'Brien, The LEAD Group Inc charity
Address
Summer Hill, NSW, 2130, AU
Phone 0297160014
Original full PETITION
Petition Reason
To the Honourable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives, given that Australia is the
world’s largest lead (ore and concentrate) exporter and that the annual global financial cost of lead
exposure was US$6 trillion in 2019 - equivalent to 7% of global GDP – Australia needs to become the world’s
first circular economy for lead and then export the technology and policy to assist Australian lead-importing
and other countries to achieve lead circularity. We, the undersigned, urgently petition the House to begin
by ending lead mining in Australia and especially “greenfield” lead mining which is not green but
rather new mining proposed in areas which have not been mined before. We call upon the Federal
Minister for Environment and Water to commit to a moratorium on all new ‘lead mine’ projects and to
incentivise industry to manufacture new lead acid batteries from 100% recycled lead, and to ‘mine’
existing lead from the built environment and the community. We petition the Minister to end the
approval of all new ‘lead mine’ proposals including any mine proposal where the major tonnage of
metal to be extracted will be lead. Such proposals are often presented as ‘silver mine’, ‘gold mine’, ‘tin
mine’, ‘zinc mine’, etc but should be required to name the proposal as a ‘lead mine’. For instance,
‘Bowdens Silver’ mine is proposed/estimated to produce 90 times more lead than silver and will
destroy agricultural/grazing land, tourism and indigenous sites and place a too-heavy burden on
water use and fossil-fuel use to create infrastructure for the construction, operation and ore transport
out-of-state. We further ask the Minister to incentivise householders to safely replace lead flashing
with non-lead flashing, especially on rainwater collection roof areas, and incentivize industry to safely
collect, transport and recycle previously-mined lead, such as lead flashing, radiation shielding lead
sheet, lead weights, pewter, brass, solder, spent ammunition along with used lead acid batteries and
other leaded wastes like removed lead paint waste, lead-contaminated building void dusts, soil and
sediments. The need for newly-mined lead (and other metals found with lead in these recyclables) will
be obviated, populations will be smarter (therefore potentially more able to solve the climate crisis),
and the Australian and global environment will be lead-safe and climate-safe for future generations.
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LEAD Action News Volume 22 Number 4 December 2024 Page 65 of 131
Petition Request
We therefore ask the House to take the first step towards a national circular economy for lead (the
toxic heavy metal) and commit to a moratorium on all new mine projects where the major mine
product by weight will be lead (whether it is proposed as a 'lead mine' or ‘silver mine’, ‘gold mine’, ‘tin
mine’, ‘zinc mine’, etc) and instead incentivize ‘mining’ the built environment and waste-streams for
lead and any other metals found with lead in lead-containing products and wastes, and the
technological improvements to enable all leaded products/wastes (not just used lead acid batteries) to
be collected and recycled safely and to be manufactured (both here and overseas) into lead acid
batteries made from 100% recycled-lead ingots and with the target of replacing all Australian lead ore
or concentrate exports with lead ingots, in order to avoid lax shipping, smelting and refining controls
and the continuing escape of Australian lead into street recycling by children and black markets in
non-OECD-importing countries.
Volcano Art Prize (VAP) 2024 Entry by Zoe Lu. Age: 7. School:
Creative Einstein
Title: Panda. Lead-Safety Message: Lead exposure bad.
Lead-safety good. It’s as black and white as a panda. Sign
Grandma Lead’s Petition EN6714 - Circular Economy
for Lead to keep Australian lead in the ground where it is
safe.
https://volcanoartprize.com/portfolio-item/panda/
Volcano Art Prize (VAP) 2024 Entry by Jenny Rowbotham
Title: Broken Hill Lead Dust. Lead-Safety Message:
This is where my journey began with lead and I’ve
spent more than 40 years telling my story so this
cycle of lead mine lead poisoning can be broken. New
lead mines are not going to fulfil any of the promises
broken repeatedly by existing lead mines and by the
governments that support mines instead of people.
Sign the Circular Economy for Lead to keep lead
safely in the ground, like wise First Nations Australians have done for tens of thousands of years.
Description of Work: Poster with a photo of my sons’ first back yard beside the mine train line in
Gaffney Street, and the Melissa Sweet SMH 12th April 1997 article Mother blames mine trains for
three frail sons.
https://volcanoartprize.com/portfolio-item/broken-hill-lead-dust/
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