Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This week I introduced a motion in solemn remembrance of one of the darkest chapters in human history, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which occurred 88 years ago this August. Over 2,000 lives were lost, and the course of history was changed forever. Those who survived, the hibakusha, carried not only the physical scars but the burden of memory and intergenerational trauma.

Mr Isao Morimoto, present here today, is a second-generation hibakusha who has shared with me his then 13-year-old mother's, Junko's, reflection of the day—of the screaming voices, of the opening of that door to hell, of finding the bones of her friends. Morimoto-san, we spoke about how indiscriminate it is, how no emergency service can cope with the scale of destruction of nuclear detonation. You asked that we not rest in the narrative for why they were used but focus on the pledge to victims, 'We shall not repeat the mistake.' We honour the survivor group Nihon Hidankyo who were awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize and to ICAN for their steadfast advocacy here and abroad, particularly with First Nations communities and military personnel affected by British nuclear testing. Many lived through the devastation without consent, without information and—far too often—without justice. But change is possible through treaties, diplomacy and peace. Morimoto-san, your mother asked to you pass the baton so that door will never open again. Today you did.

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