Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2017. In doing so, I support the comments of the member for Kingston who spoke earlier today and reflected Labor's position on this legislation—legislation which we will support.

This legislation is long overdue. It recognises the injustice that many Australians have lived with for decades—an injustice that I have spoken about in this place on other occasions. I refer to the injustice that arose out of the British atomic testing program carried out between 1952 and 1963 at the Montebello Islands off the coast of Western Australia and at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia. The contamination and health effects from those tests still affect some Australians today.

When I spoke about this matter in 2014, I quoted the words of Reuben Lette, who summarised the injustice so well in a letter that he had sent to me and, I expect, to other members of parliament. At the time, Reuben Lette believed that there were fewer than 700 veterans still living who had been affected by the testing. Today, I pay tribute to Ben Lette and all of those people who, over the decades, have never given up the fight for justice, not just for themselves as servicemen but also for the civilians whose lives were placed at risk because of the testing. To use their language: 'We were used as human guinea pigs.'

The even greater shame is that governments in Australia and Britain continued to deny the realities of what happened and continued to deny the compensation and medical support that victims were entitled to. Service records disappeared, and a culture of deny and frustrate prevailed throughout government departments that had responsibility. Just as disgraceful, personnel who were in any way associated with the tests were obliged to sign a secrecy statement at the time preventing them from speaking about their experience and knowledge of testing in the subsequent years.

Because the Edinburgh RAAF base and the co-located weapons research establishment were linked to Maralinga, several people I came to know from Adelaide's northern suburbs had personal knowledge of the tests. One of those persons is Brian, otherwise known as Mick, Lennon. Mick was employed at the time by the Department of Supply at the weapons research establishment and was later sent to Maralinga as a fire safety officer. He was there from 1955 to I believe the end of 1956. He was there when, he believed, eight of the tests were carried out at Maralinga and Emu Field. I believe there were two at Emu Field and six at Maralinga. He also went through the so-called safety measures, which included having an antiradiation injection before the test occurred. The procedure itself confirmed that the serious risks were known and anticipated. I have also seen documents from a person who was based at Maralinga at the time, which confirmed to me that the serious risks that were associated with the tests were known to authorities at the time as well.

Mick was one of the fortunate ones who survived, but he saw several of his colleagues die within months or within a few years of the testing. He recounts to me how one of his colleagues in the days after the testing literally glowed in the dark. He saw firsthand the horrific health effects that they died from.

One of the pilots who flew the plane which dropped one of the bombs was also a Salisbury resident and also known to me. I will not name him because he has since passed away. After dropping the bomb that he was instructed to drop, he turned to return to base at Woomera using the flight path that he expected would enable him to avoid the huge dust cloud from the explosion. Unfortunately for him, the wind unexpectedly changed direction, causing his plane to fly straight through the plume of dust and smoke. Years later he too became very unwell, and he eventually died of cancer.

Throughout those years, he attempted to be granted the gold card for his service, but his applications continued to fall on deaf ears. He was never given the gold card. His medical records went missing, with some claiming that they had been sent back to the UK. Indeed, many of these service personnel who were there at the time were UK service personnel. Interestingly, a lot of them, after the tests, were immediately sent back to the UK because they had also been in the front line of the risk. There were also Canadians there at the time.

If a private company had denied their responsibility, as the Australian and British governments have, there would be community outrage and very likely government intervention. Yet, regrettably, a different set of rules has applied for governments. Six decades later, the recognition that has been denied for too long has finally been acknowledged. Whilst we support this legislation, as will, I am sure, those who are still surviving and will be entitled to the gold card and other benefits that arise from it, regrettably, for too many it is too late.

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