Beyond Uranium Canberra - Atomic Survivors Speak Out 2023 - 06 - 15

On 15 October 2023 we will mark the 70th anniversary of the first mainland British nuclear test in Australia, at Emu Field in South Australia, on the country of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples. This week, parliamentarians have the opportunity to hear from Yankunytjatjara, Antikarinya, and Pitjantjatjara woman and nuclear test survivor, June Lennon, who was four months old, in October 1953, when the Totem 1 nuclear bomb was detonated at Emu Field. We should never forget that Ms Lennon’s family and First Nations people were treated abysmally in this matter – given no proper warning or protection, let alone consultation and prior informed consent in relation to the profoundly harmful and toxic use of their country. There is no disputing the fact that the British and Australian governments were utterly carless in their consideration of Aboriginal people. Through these secret nuclear weapons test, which were not sanctioned by an Australian cabinet or parliamentary process, Aboriginal people experienced dispossession and displacement, and their sacred lands were irrevocably poisoned. The truth about the tests and their impact was covered up, and the severe injustice went unrecognised and unaddressed for decades. Indeed, it is not well understood or acknowledged in Australia today. From: ICAN Australia media release Jun 15 2023