Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the 80th anniversary of the commencement of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, during which over 300 nuclear detonations were conducted across the Marshall Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati and surrounding region;

(2) gives solemn acknowledgment of the harmful and enduring environmental, cultural, and health consequences of cumulative historical United States', French, and British nuclear testing in the region, carried out between 1946 and 1996, including the:

(a) exposure of hundreds of thousands of Marshallese, Ma'ohi, and I-Kiribati people to levels of radiation which have contributed to increased cancer rates and other illnesses related to radiation exposure;

(b) exposure of tens of thousands of military service members and workers to radiation levels which have resulted in ongoing consequences for their health and the health of their families;

(c) loss of culture, health and social cohesion resulting from the forced relocation and displacement that separated Pacific Islanders from their families, homes, and ancestral lands; and

(d) widespread environmental impacts which include the contamination of drinking water, food sources and arable land, and the damage to coral reefs and marine ecosystems;

(3) supports the continued strengthening of Australia's deep partnership with the Pacific family and our longstanding regional cooperation, and in this context, recognises the significance of:

(a) Australia's continued efforts to support radiation monitoring and nuclear test site assessment in partnership with Pacific nations while recognising that more work can be done to fully address the fallout that persists at former nuclear test sites; and

(b) Australia's foundational role in and continued implementation of the obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which in December 2026 will mark 40 years since it entered into force;

(4) further notes Australia's history of British nuclear weapons testing in the Monte Bello Islands, Emu Field, and Maralinga, and the disproportionate and ongoing impacts this continues to have on First Nations communities and the environmental and cultural value of their country and the significant impacts on Australian service members and their families;

(5) affirms the importance of sustained international commitment to nuclear non-proliferation through established multilateral frameworks that advance peace and collective security, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and noting the contribution of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons;

(6) commends the advocacy of victims/survivors in Australia and the Pacific for their steadfast commitment to advancing global nuclear disarmament and their leading role in advancing, signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, including its entry into force in 2021; and

(7) emphasises the urgent imperative for all states to refrain from nuclear weapons testing and to engage in genuine, transparent, and verifiable nuclear disarmament efforts in line with their commitments to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty, including its entry into force, which Australia and its Pacific neighbours strongly support.

I acknowledge the more than a dozen people behind me in the chamber, even at this time of night, to hear us debate this important matter. The first of July marks the 80th anniversary of the first US nuclear detonation in the Marshall Islands. The second of July will mark 60 years since the first French detonation at Mururoa atoll. This motion is an opportunity to acknowledge the harmful and enduring environmental, cultural and health consequences of cumulative historical United States, French and British nuclear testing in the region carried out between 1946 and 1996. During that period of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, more than 300 nuclear detonations were conducted across the Marshall Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati and the surrounding region. Between 1946 and 1958, the US conducted 67 nuclear weapons explosions in the Marshall Islands. Between '57 and '58 Fijian soldiers were deployed to what is now part of the Republic of Kiribati during the series of nine British nuclear explosions. Between 1966 and 1996, France conducted 193 atmospheric and underground nuclear explosions.

I acknowledge, too, Australia's own history of British nuclear weapons between 1952 and 1963, the 12 major nuclear weapons explosions and hundreds of bomb development minor trials in the Montebello Islands, Emu Field and Maralinga.

For the Pacific, the testing resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of Marshallese, Ma'ohi, l-Kiribati people to levels of radiation which have contributed to increased cancer rates and other illnesses related to radiation exposure. People suffered a loss of culture, health, social cohesion as a result of forced relocation and displacement that separated Pacific Islanders from their families, homes and ancestral lands.

The environmental impacts are profound—the contamination of drinking water, food sources and arable land, and the damage to coral reefs and marine ecosystems. The disproportionate and ongoing impact of these actions continues, including on our own First Nations communities.

So with the legacy of nuclear testing still felt deeply in Australia, our region and across the world, we want nuclear weapons testing to be relegated to history. Australia has a longstanding regional cooperation with the Pacific family. There are our continued efforts to support radiation monitoring and nuclear test site assessment in partnership with Pacific nations, while recognising that more work can be done to fully address the fallout that persists at former nuclear test sites.

Australia has a foundational role in the establishment of and continued implementation of the obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which will mark 40 years in December this year. But there's more to do. Visiting parliament this week is a delegation with ICANN, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to establish the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the TPNW, which came into force in 2021. The delegation this week includes representatives of the Fiji Nuclear Veterans and Families Association, the Marshall Islands Student Association, the Pacific Conference of Churches, and Australia's First Nations ambassador, and they will continue the work.

Pacific nations demonstrated significant leadership in ensuring the entry into force of the TPNW, with 10 Pacific states among the original 50 when it entered into force. The Solomon Islands was the most recent Pacific Island state to ratify the treaty, in 2024. The TPNW strictly prohibits nations from carrying out, assisting or encouraging any nuclear explosive testing, as well as mandating assistance for victims and environmental remediation at past test sites. In 2023, the UN General Assembly, including Australia, overwhelmingly supported a resolution that called attention to the need to address the legacy of nuclear weapons use and testing. Through the work of successive resolutions, there will soon—later this year—be a meeting on victim assistance and remediation. I'll continue to advocate for the importance of sustained international commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Time is running out.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for this motion?

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I too acknowledge the number of Pacific Islanders in our midst and thank you for your attendance. I also acknowledge the member for Macquarie and her motion before the Federation Chamber. Her motion notes, among many things, the 80th anniversary of the start of nuclear weapons testing in the Blue Pacific. It is a beautiful part of the world. I was proud to be the shadow minister for the Pacific, as well as international development, in the last term of parliament. A number of meetings were conducted during that time, at which the topic of nuclear testing many decades ago was raised.

You only have to look at the situation with Runit Island, one of 40 islands in the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. As the member for Macquarie has said, there was nuclear testing there between 1946 and 1958. Interestingly, worryingly and disturbingly, in 1982—it's really not that long ago; within a lifetime or so—a United States government taskforce raised concern about a probable breach if a severe typhoon were to hit the island. In 2013, a report by the US Department of Energy found that the concrete dome, which measures 115 metres in diameter and 46 centimetres in thickness at sea level—which is not a lot—encapsulates an estimated 73,000 cubic metres of radioactive debris, including some plutonium-239. We spend so much money in the world on weapons and on defence. When you look at the situation there in the beautiful Marshall Islands, you have to wonder why it is not being cleaned up.

We wouldn't have a situation in Iran at the moment if nuclear weapons weren't being tested. This motion, as the member for Macquarie says, gives solemn acknowledgement of the harmful and enduring environmental, cultural and health consequences of cumulative historical nuclear testing in the region. Of course, it wasn't just the United States; it was the British and it was the French as well. We know that. Sadly—unfortunately—Pacific Islanders and their beautiful region were used as a testing ground, and the effects are still being felt. It is up to those who did the testing to clean up their mess.

I know there's been a lot said about the AUKUS agreement. Obviously, Australia is going down the path of nuclear submarines. I know successive governments have said that nuclear weapons aren't part of that, but it does use nuclear technology. I know there's a debate as to whether we should use nuclear energy, and I certainly think we should have a wide range of energy mixes. But this particular motion at this particular time is acknowledging an anniversary.

I appreciate you could argue that things 80 years ago were different from what they are now, but one only has to remember what happened and the situation in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945. They knew, certainly. You look at the dome and the amount of explosive force from the testing in the Marshall Islands, primarily at the Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll. The testing totalled 108 megatonnes of explosive force, the equivalent of dropping an Hiroshima sized bomb every single day for 20 years. That's a lot; it's too much. The manifestation and the effects of that are still being felt. I only need to look at those opposite to know that you are still feeling this. I appreciate it. I acknowledge where you are coming from, and I also, again, recognise this very important motion, brought on about this very important anniversary.

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

'For now I am death, destroyer of worlds.' Robert Oppenheimer understood the potential, the damage and the fear that his research and invention could create. I am old enough to remember the French testing at Mururoa Atoll in the late 1990s. I remember watching the underground video footage, grainy as it was back then, then—boom!—watching the entire ocean convulse. There was the fear and the confusion, the belief that we'd been past all of this and the enduring question: why? That was the question that I asked tucked away in south-east Victoria, safe and unable to be touched. Why? It's a question that I'm sure goes through many of your minds every day. Why?

So I rise to speak today to recognise this sombre and important anniversary, and to begin by acknowledging everyone who has suffered real and lasting harm from the nuclear testing that we're talking about here today. There's no denying the human toll and the cultural toll—what that means to traditional fishing rights and traditional lands. Important things that had been there, cultural touchstones that had been around for generations, were erased for no gain, for no reason. I acknowledge that loss, that suffering and the cultural, emotional and physical pain that so many of you must be suffering.

Marking anniversaries like this is important. If you do not remember the past, you are doomed to repeat it. They will serve as a reminder of what can never be allowed to happen again in the future. And, hopefully, they provide time for those who need to grieve, mourn and heal and to understand that we, in this place, try to facilitate that as best we can. I know that over the next month there'll be many vigils and commemorations, some out the front on Wednesday morning. And I know that there are dedicated residents from the Far North who have come here to attend this vigil. The South Pacific and the Far North have a very, very close relationship, an honoured relationship—from the trade that has gone back thousands of years to the work that continues to be done in training and in health.

July will mark the 80th anniversary of the first nuclear test detonation at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Between 1946 and 1996, the US, the UK and France detonated over 315 nuclear devices, almost one a day for an entire year. They started above ground with the mushroom cloud that is now ingrained so much in the collective memory—everyone knows what that means and what it brings—and they finished underground, perhaps to try to hide that arresting visceral visual from the rest of the world.

I also wish to acknowledge that this was not just the Pacific and that testing occurred here in Australia as well at Maralinga, Emu Field and the Monte Bello Islands. We need to keep talking about this. We need to make this a part of our collective consciousness—1996 is not long ago; I still listen to music from the nineties. If we're not able to tell the truth about these events, both from the recent past and from the more distant past, then we betray everyone who suffered and we leave behind those who had everything taken from them. This included forced removal of communities. Once you're removed from a place that your ancestors have called home, you lose that spiritual connection as well. The ancestors need to be present. There can be no greater devastation than a nuclear weapon upon ancestral land. It changes everything, right down to the molecular DNA. We know what radiation sickness does. We've seen it. We saw it firsthand when nuclear weapons were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This didn't have to happen, but it did. It is now on us to remember and ensure that this never happens again. My thoughts are with you all. Thank you for attending.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the 80th anniversary of the commencement of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. I commend the member for Macquarie for putting forward this important motion, and I welcome our honoured guests in the chamber today from the Pacific. When nuclear weapons testing began in the Pacific in 1946, the world was fragile. The Second World War had just ended and the use of an atomic bomb a year earlier had changed the nature of war and the nature of global power. The United Nations was established to help stabilise world order, but there were no agreed rules to govern nuclear weapons and deep mistrust between world powers fuelled the acceleration of the arms race.

In the Pacific post war, many islands were controlled by colonial powers or administered as United Nations trust territories. Designed to provide stability and protection, it also left the region vulnerable to decisions not in their interests, and the Pacific became a testing ground for the most destructive weapons ever created. The first postwar nuclear test, aptly named Operation Crossroads, took place on 1 July 1946 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Entire populations were displaced to enable the tests. They were removed from their ancestral lands to remote islands with little food, unreliable water supply and limited natural resources. Within two years, people were starving. The second test—Baker—followed soon after as an underwater detonation, leaving the area seriously radioactive and unable to be safely approached for some time. The Baker test prompted President Truman to abandon his third underwater test. Over the following decades, hundreds of nuclear detonations were carried out across the Pacific by the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

The nuclear legacy in the Pacific is profound and enduring. Extreme radiation exposure has caused lasting health impacts, including increased rates of cancer, birth defects, reproductive health issues and chronic illness. Ecosystems were contaminated, damaging reef structures, polluting groundwater, rainwater and traditional food sources. Communities were forced from their homes and ancestral lands, fracturing cultures and disrupting practices sustained over generations.

Australia was not just a neighbour to nuclear testing but part of the system that enabled it. British nuclear tests were conducted on Australia's own soil between 1952 and 1963 at Monte Bello Islands, Emu Field and Maralinga, with particular consequence, as we've just heard, for our First Nations people and for veterans personnel. The relationship between Australia and the Pacific is deep and affectionate and we have a responsibility to play a role in ensuring nuclear testing never occurs again in this region. I am proud that Australia does not have a program to develop nuclear weapons and has consistently supported the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. However, I want Australia to strengthen this resolve further by joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This treaty is a commitment to never develop or use nuclear weapons or to host another country's nuclear arsenal. Importantly, it would require countries to assist victims and remediate contaminated environments. It fills a significant gap in international law and, importantly, it provides a framework to eliminate nuclear weapons and their associated facilities. I acknowledge the work of organisations such as the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize recipients—ICAN—and the Quakers for their persistent advocacy.

I'm not naive about the strategic challenges we face in our global environment. In the face of the Middle East crisis, Associate Professor Tilman Ruff AO, founding chair of ICAN Australia, has urged Australia not to be 'complicit partners in a system that normalises nuclear threats'. We cannot ignore that these weapons have the capacity to cause immense human suffering and environmental harm, nor can we allow their threat to become routine in international disputes.

So this week we welcome this delegation representing nuclear impacted communities from the Pacific. I'm looking forward to hearing from you about your lived experience, the challenges you face and what you are asking of us, because this anniversary is not just a moment of remembrance; it is truly a call to action, to listen to the lessons of history and to play our part towards a future free of nuclear weapons. I commend this motion to the House.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I too welcome the delegation to the chamber this evening, and I welcome them to Parliament House for the events that are planned to mark the 80th anniversary of the first nuclear detonation at Bikini Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Our modern Pacific is very different to the Pacific that saw that event 80 years ago. I stand here as a chairperson of the Parliamentary Friends of Pacific Island Nations, a role that I take very seriously. I stand here as a representative. In my electorate, in the city of Wyndham, there is a 10,000-strong Pacific community whose relationship with me and whose relationships here in Canberra are critically important to the way we work. Acknowledging this 80th anniversary is really an important part of that relationship. The work that this government is doing in re-energising our relationships with the Pacific is incredibly important, and your visit is part of that.

The experience of the Marshall Islands eight decades ago remains a powerful reminder of the human cost of nuclear weapons, and I would go further and say it also reminds us about how the relationship in the Pacific has changed. We have proudly acknowledged that here in recent weeks. Today I pulled together a list of prime ministers from the Pacific, and it is now the sovereign states of the Pacific with whom we're in a relationship, rather than the space that was reflected 80 years ago, which was the colonial past that the member for Indi referred to so beautifully. Recently, of course, we've had the Solomon Islands prime minister, Matthew Wale, here, and today in the chamber we had Prime Minister Jotham Napat from Vanuatu with us. In my role, we have welcomed many, many leaders from the Pacific coming into our parliament.

So what is this motion about tonight? I will be cut short, so I will go quickly. A sustained international commitment to practical measures that reduce nuclear risks, strengthen the global non-proliferation and disarmament architecture, and lower the chances of nuclear weapons ever being used again is critical. The Australian Labor Party has a proud and longstanding history of championing practical international efforts on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and we remain steadfast in support of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation and disarmament architecture.

As a government, we acknowledge and welcome the advocacy that's present in the room this evening, and we want to stand with the Pacific in making sure that our world here has changed and that we work together as sovereign cousins, if you like, to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons internationally. The Pacific has a loud voice in this space. I welcome that, and I welcome it here in Canberra this week.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:30