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HIROSHIMA DAY and MARALINGA: THE FALLOUTBuy "Fallout" by Dr. Roger Cross Public Forum: Sunday 5th August at 1.30pm (back to top)Trades Hall, 11 South Terrace, ADELAIDE
Speakers:Dr. Roger Cross, author of book "Fallout" about the British bomb testsRebecca Bear-Wingfield, Indigenous representativeAvon Hudson, Maralinga ex-serviceman, and other Maralinga survivors
Approximately 300 people attended the meeting. The Hiroshima / Nagasaki commemoration in Adelaide this year was linked to the British atomic bomb tests in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the United States' push for missile defence. In all of the nuclear weapons tests, human beings have been callously used as guinea pigs. Those affected continue to suffer and die as a result. August 6th marks the anniversary of the dropping of a nuclear bomb on civilians in 1945. Each year, around the world, people remember this event for the horror and suffering caused by the decision of the USA to drop the bomb and its long-term consequences for the health of those who survived the blast. It is also an important day to remember as the first of two incidents which left the world with the certain knowledge that nuclear weapons had been used against civilians - and might be used again. The second incident was the dropping of a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki a few days later. We learnt then that governments are capable of making decisions that lead to horrific consequences for civilians. South Australians have a particular reason to remember these events, as our state was also used in the nuclear arms race with the testing of nuclear bombs at the Maralinga and Emu Field nuclear test sites in the 1950's. Servicemen were exposed to nuclear radiation and fallout, as were Aboriginal people living near the site - and a radioactive cloud moved eastwards, affecting rural communities and Adelaide in the period of the tests. We need to ask ourselves "What price have South Australians paid for the legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?"It may not be the kind of issue we want to confront. We may feel it's better to leave it for others to deal with, but when we come to realise that ordinary Australian servicemen and Aboriginal families were put on the front line of nuclear weapons testing without the full knowledge of the risks to their health and the subsequent imposition on family and friends, surely we must consider future government policies to do with nuclear weaponry. It may be difficult for us to come to terms with the fact that our government unconditionally supports United States plans to build a Missile Defence system; that they show this support by giving the USA facilities in Australia to assist in the development of this scheme which has the potential to destroy not only Australians but other peoples throughout the world. We were told that the dropping of the nuclear bombs was to end the war, but the Japanese government was on the threshold of surrendering in July 1945. However, the procedures carried out prior to the event strongly suggest other motives. At 8am on 6th August, two US fighter planes dropped four cylinders in specific locations around the city of Hiroshima. At 8.20am the nuclear bomb was dropped. The cylinders were in fact instruments to measure the extent of the blast. Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the events surrounding the British bomb tests clearly display the cavalier attitudes shown to human beings by the authorities responsible for these horrific experiments. The use of depleted uranium weapons by the US military in the Gulf War and the Yugoslav conflict saw many thousands of American and other army personnel as well as local civilians affected by the resulting toxic residues in the bombed countries. This shows that modern warfare has long-lasting effects on vast populations without providing peaceful solutions to problems. The Australian government is presently almost alone in voicing support for the US Missile Defence system, which many countries believe will lead to a new arms race, and Pine Gap is part of the US information gathering network. Australia must play a more independent role in the world scene and concentrate on building positive relationships with countries in our own region. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hiroshima / Maralinga Day is sponsored by: United Trades and Labor Council; Australian Peace Committee; Australian Conservation Foundation; Conservation Council of SA; SA Nuclear Free Future Party; Graeme Smith Peace Trust; Greenpeace Local Group-Adelaide; Union of Australian Women; Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; Uniting Church Synod of South Australia; South Australian Council of Churches; & others. Resolutions: (back to top)This Hiroshima Day Public Forum on Nuclear Weapons Tests in South Australia calls for: 1. An apology from the Federal Government to those who were affected by the tests at Maralinga, Emu, Monte Bello Islands and Christmas Island. 2. Compensation by the Federal Government of workers, indigenous people and others who were affected by the tests at Maralinga, Emu, Monte Bello Islands and Christmas Island. 3. The Federal Government to retain responsibility for management of nuclear weapons test sites and plutonium nuclear waste dump. 4. State and Federal Governments to fully disclose the results of the radioactivity tests on deceased children. 5. An Inquiry by the SA Government into the health of people who were resident in Whyalla, Port Augusta, Port Pirie, and Adelaide at the time of the Maralinga and Emu tests. 6. The Australian Government to take steps to prevent a repetition of events
such as those that occurred as a result of the nuclear weapons tests in
Australia. In particular to: -- adopted unanimously by those in attendance. Actions taken: (back to top)Letters were sent from the Hiroshima Day Committee 2001 to relevant Federal and State politicians. Examples follow. Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet:15 August 2001 Prime Minister and Cabinet Dear PM Howard and Cabinet Members, The enclosed resolutions were passed unanimously by over 200 people at a public meeting in Adelaide, South Australia on Sunday August 5 2000. Accordingly, on behalf of the people of South Australia we call upon you, as the Prime Minister and Cabinet Members to: 1. Seek an apology from the Federal Government to: Ø Military and civilian personnel at the British nuclear weapons test sites in Australia. Ø The indigenous people on whose traditional lands the British nuclear weapons tests were carried out. Ø The pastoralists and farmers living in the vicinity of the British nuclear weapons tests. for the harm caused by the British nuclear weapons tests in Australia. 2. Request appropriate and immediate compensation from the Federal Government to the above people. 3. Maintain responsibility over the nuclear weapons test sites, including the nuclear waste buried there, until such time as it can be proved to the satisfaction of the people of South Australia that those sites are safe. 4. Request that the Federal Government oppose the proposal by the USA for a nuclear missile defence system. 5. Request that the Federal Government oppose the dumping of either national or international nuclear waste in South Australia. 6. Request that the Federal Government cancel its plans to build a nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights. Yours Sincerely Letter to South Australian PremierHon John Olsen MP Dear Mr Olsen, The enclosed resolutions were passed unanimously by over 200 people at a public meeting in Adelaide, South Australia on Sunday August 5 2000. Accordingly, on behalf of the people of South Australia we call upon you, as the Premier of South Australia, to immediately order an inquiry into: 1. The results of radioactivity tests, both in Australia and overseas, carried out on the remains of aborted children, stillborn children, deceased infants and deceased young children from South Australia. 2. The health effects, especially cancer and birth defects, of radioactive fallout in South Australia as a result of the British nuclear tests in South Australia. Buy "Fallout" by Dr. Roger Cross (back to top)Roger Cross is a senior lecturer at the Dept. of Science & Maths Education, Melbourne University. He was educated at London University and Adelaide University. His interests in Australian history and the social responsibility of science have been combined in the book "Fallout" about Hedley Marston and the British atomic tests. "Fallout" is the strange but true story of a celebrated Australian scientist's involvement in the 1956 British atomic bomb tests. Marston was determined not only to reveal official lies and chicanery, but to expose as charlatans the Australian scientists who were appointed to protect the nation from any possible harm. Contrary to official pronouncements, radioactive fallout was blowing across the country and contaminating many towns and communities, including Marston's beloved Adelaide. The dispute that ensued was perhaps the most acrimonious in the history of Australian science. "Fallout" tells us much about the nature of science and our society. It is about science in service of the bomb, and in service of self. Roger Cross tells a story that must make us ask the alarming question: "Could we be fooled again?" "Fallout", is published by Wakefield Press (RRP: $A24.95)
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