"The facts are shocking. The treachery is chilling. The fallout ongoing" - Frank Walker, journalist and author In 1950, the British had requested and were granted a huge chunk of South Australia to create a “permanent” atomic weapons test site. Australia’s then prime minister, Robert Menzies, was all too happy to oblige. In September of that year, in a phone call with his British counterpart, Clement Attlee, he had said yes to nuclear testing without even referring the issue to his cabinet. The damage done to Indigenous people in the vicinity of the test sites is immeasurable and included displacement, injury and death. Service personnel from several countries, but particularly Britain and Australia, also suffered – not least because of their continuing fight for the slightest recognition of the dangers they faced. Many of the injuries and deaths allegedly caused by the British tests have not been formally linked to the operation, a source of ongoing distress for those involved. From 1957-78, body parts were taken from corpses for radiological tests without the next of kin being asked for permission or even informed. Nuclear and government agencies seemed particularly interested in radiological testing of dead children – because of concerns about strontium-90 contamination and its potential impact on growing bones. A review of Fallout in the April 2, 2001 Melbourne Age concludes that, “The country will continue to pay the price, perhaps for centuries, for those acts of official stupidity by the Menzies government, which were aided and abetted by scientists who should have known better.” But the scientists knew precisely what was going on … British and Australian authorities were at pains to involve only those scientists who would play the game. The cost of the clean-up exceeded A$100 million in the late 1990s. Britain paid less than half, and only after protracted pressure and negotiations. Decades later, we still don’t know the full extent of the effects suffered by service personnel and local communities. Despite years of legal wrangling, those communities’ suffering has never been properly recognised or compensated. Six decades later, those atomic weapons tests still cast their shadow across Australia’s landscape. They stand as testament to the dangers of government decisions made without close scrutiny, and as a reminder – at a time when leaders are once again preoccupied with international security – not to let it happen again (See less) |