Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the first mainland nuclear test at Emu Field, South Australia. This test—Totem 1—spread fallout across vast areas of land and it brought illness and death to people who were over 150 kilometres away. Karina Lester, a Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman whose late father, Yami Lester, was blinded by this test, has explained the intergenerational impacts of this testing. No consent was ever sought or given by any Anangu in the region for the use of their lands.

I take this time today to acknowledge the deep and ongoing consequences of nuclear testing in Australia, which have disproportionately impacted First Nations people. I also acknowledge the impact of nuclear testing on the first peoples of the Pacific. In the 1990s I recall attending marches with thousands of others calling on the world to stop nuclear testing in the Pacific. The harm done by Australia's testing programs is still being felt by Australian people, along with calls from survivors and the general community for Australia to join the nuclear weapons ban treaty. This call is real and present. A core part of that call is due to the treaty containing provisions for victim assistance, environmental remediation and international cooperation under articles 6 and 7.