The Guardian 10 August, 2005
Hiroshima Day in 2005
Bob Briton
Hiroshima Day events in Adelaide last Saturday focused on the South Australian connection
to the international trade in nuclear fuel and its expanding role in supply of the raw
materials needed for nuclear weapons. This year's march from Victoria Square to Tandanya
national Aboriginal cultural institute took place against a backdrop of growing international
tensions and increased pressure from mining interests for more uranium mines and the
building of nuclear power plants in Australia.
Dr Irene Watson chaired the first part of the public meeting at Tandanya and introduced speakers
Mike Dunphy (President of the Japan-Australia Friendship Society), Dr David Palmer (Senior
Lecturer in American Studies at Flinders University), Yami Lester (Chairman of the Yankunytjatjara
Council and Maralinga survivor), Ruth Russell (Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom) and Professor Richard Broinowsky (former diplomat and expert of Australian nuclear
policy).
Anangu people speak out
Yami Lester also spoke at the later meeting at which the traditional owners of the Anangu
Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands spoke out against changes to SA's Pitjantjatjara Land
Rights Act 1981. Elders fear these might be used to allow more unwanted uses like uranium mining
on the lands. Yami was joined by fellow elder Gary Lewis from Pukatja, Simone Ulalka Tur and
Lowitja O'Donoghue in condemning the haste with which the Rann government is rushing through
the complex changes.
There are concerns that the SA legislation will combine with moves by the federal government to
strip away the few rights left to traditional owners. The proposed legislation has caused splits
among the Anangu people with the officially recognised APY Executive and some community
members siding with the government while most support the position of the Anangu traditional
owners.
At a weekend meeting on the APY lands in June, the Executive moved and had carried a motion of
acceptance of the bill's changes on the second day, but by that stage most of the traditional owners
had had to go home. The complex document had only been distributed to participants the week
before the gathering.
The government has refused elders' pleas for a period of six to 12 months before the introduction
of the amending bill to allow the community time to digest and understand the implications. It also
turned down a request for an independent lawyer to assist them in decoding the full import of the
bill.
Wesley Uniting Care has made some funds available for the hiring of an independent lawyer for the
community but it is not enough. A fund has been established along with the Land Rights Coalition
and the Anangu Justice in Our Land Campaign. Donations to the campaign should for the time
being be sent to Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR SA) Commonwealth Bank
Account no — 06 5006 10075342. More information can be obtained from Gary Lewis in Pukatja,
phone 08 8956 2816 or Yami Lester in Wallatina on 08 8670 5077. A video about the Kupa Piti
Indigenous peoples' protests at uranium mining, entitled We of the Small Voices, is also
available.
A flag representing the Anangu people was also launched on the day.
Over 1500 people rallied in Sydney's Hyde Park last Saturday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the
nuclear attacks against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They then marched through the city centre
chanting "$60 million every day — cut military spending!", and "Hiroshima, Nagasaki — now DU
weapons kill Iraqis!". Denis Doherty, Chair of the Hiroshima Day Committee, addressed the rally
drawing the link between the legacy of Hiroshima and the presence of the Pine Gap US spy base
in Australia today. "We say there must be an end to any alliance which causes us to be complicit in
nuclear war strategy. No longer are we prepared to give up our soil for the prosecution of nuclear
wars and other wars through intelligence gathering and training bases. We say no!"