What was done at Maralinga was a cheap and nasty solution that wouldnt be adopted on white-fellas land. Between 1956 and 1963 the British Government, with the agreement and support of the Australian Government, carried out nuclear tests in and around Maralinga in South Australia. Maralinga has significant spiritual meaning to Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples, who were largely half-heartedly and unsuccessfully removed from the land, and had access restricted until 1994. Not only were Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples living a semi-traditional lifestyle subjected to about 5 mSv/a (five times that allowed for a member of the white public, and those within 120 kms receiving a dose 13 times greater) leading to blindness, cancer and sores, this removal and restriction contributed to a break down in social cohesion. Returning the land to the rightful owners is a plus, but the fact that tourism is seen as a positive because animals and water in the area are contaminated - let alone that this happened at all - is horrific. abc.net.au/news/2014-06-05/traditional-owners-gain-greater-maralinga-access/5502848 Some of those people have since described in media reports seeing the mushroom cloud followed by a black mist that moved across their campsites leaving them vomiting, with diarrhoea and skin rashes. Some died, some were blinded and some gave birth to deformed babies. The UK refuses to compensate Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples. theaustralian.au/in-depth/cabinet-papers/uk-opposed-compensation-for-maralinga-nuclear-victims/story-fnkuhyre-1226793123018# “A culture that values production over life values the wrong things, because it will produce things at the expense of living beings, human or otherwise.” ― Derrick Jensen, A Language Older Than Words
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 13:00:44 +0000