Nuclear vets deserve better,
20Jan2002
Democrats tell Paris conference
The Nuclear Test Veterans Conference in Paris has been told the Australian
Government should support claims for compensation from veterans used as
guinea pigs in the 1950s atomic tests and Britain should provide funding.
Australian Democrats' Nuclear Issues Spokesperson, Senator Lyn Allison, made
the call for Britain to face up to its responsibilities today in France at a
speech marking 2002, the 50th Anniversary year of the first test.
Britain has so far only paid half the cost of the botched and inadequate
clean up.
Senator Allison said, "The Australian government must reinvent itself as an
advocate for its servicemen and the civilians affected by the British tests
instead of fighting them in the courts.
"And Britain must pay its dues - there is no justification for Australia to
bear the pain and the contamination as well as the costs."
Senator Allison said the sacrifices made by Australia in the name of loyalty
to its British motherland fell heavily on servicemen, civilians and
Indigenous people.
"It is time to reward that loyalty by declaring duty at nuclear tests to be
hazardous - All documents must now be released for public scrutiny."
Senator Allison repeated her call for survivors to be given radiobiological
blood tests immediately and compensation paid on the basis of their
radiation exposure, their illnesses and the damage they have passed on to
their children.
Senator Allison said, "The Australian experience of the British nuclear
tests has been one of serious mistakes and cover-ups at the highest level of
government. The safety of Australians... proved less important than the
race to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Around 17,000 Australian servicemen and civilians took part in nuclear tests
in Australia between 1952 and 1958 at Maralinga and Emu Field in South
Australia and the Monte Bello Islands.
19 January 2002
'Paris Network' for nuclear test vets
Time is running out for dying survivors
Australian veterans still battling for recognition and compensation, 50
years after exposure to nuclear tests, will have another ally in an
international network.
Australian Democrats Nuclear Issues Spokesperson, Senator Lyn Allison,
helped found the new 'Paris International Network on Nuclear Tests'.
Senator Allison said, "The founding members will work in our respective
countries to facilitate communication between nuclear veterans groups and to
coordinate campaigns".
The network is the product of a meeting with representatives of veterans
associations from French Polynesia, United States, Great Britain, New
Zealand, Fiji, France and Australia, following the nuclear test conference
in Paris on January 19.
It brings together survivors of the French nuclear tests including those at
Mururoa in the 1990s and the Sahara Desert in Algeria, US tests and British
tests at Maralinga, Emu Field, Montebello and Christmas Islands.
High on the list of priorities for members of the Network is to make the new
Dundee University blood test available to participants. This test can
demonstrate the level of radiation exposure even 50 years ago.
"Network members in each country will be urging their governments to follow
New Zealand's example and fund these state-of-the-art tests, and this should
be done before more test participants die from their radiation-related
illnesses."
Network members will also be pushing for Britain, Australia, France and the
US to release medical and exposure records vital to establishing the right
to compensation in the courts.
Senator Allison will also set up an international network of
parliamentarians in support of veterans and civilians. "I am convinced that
coordinated parliamentary action is necessary to persuade the Government to
act in the interests of veterans instead of fighting them in the courts as
Australia has done so spectacularly," Senator Allison concluded.
The 'Observatory of the French Nuclear Arms', based in Lyon (France), will
host the brand new association.
Phone : +33 (0)4 78 36 93 03 Fax
: +33 (0)4 78 36 36 83
e-mail : cdrpc@obsarm.org
<mailto:cdrpc@obsarm.org> Internet Site : www.obsarm.org
<http://www.obsarm.org>
Daele Healy
Adviser
Suite 14 B1, 7/421 Brunswick St
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
Ph: 07 3252 7101 Fax 07 3252 8957
www.democrats.org.au