2020-07-16
Australian Greens Spokesperson for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament Senator Jordon Steele-John has called for an acknowledgment of the role Australian Government's have played in the nuclear chain and a commitment to ban nuclear weapons to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Trinity Nuclear Test.
Since 16 July, 1945, there have been 2,121 nuclear tests around the world. 21 of these tests have taken place on Australian soil.
Senator Steele-John said these tests had a devastating impact on people and planet, particularly First Nations Peoples and their country.
"The impact of this destruction continues to be felt today with more than 400,000 cubic metres of land still contaminated with plutonium near Maralinga, where the Australian testing took place," Steele-John said.
"Worldwide, thousands of atomic veterans, as well as civilians, continue to struggle with the lasting impacts of tests on their health and wellbeing.
"Billions, if not trillions, of dollars have been wasted creating weapons that only serve to bring us closer to the destruction of humanity and for what?
"Each year the anniversary of the Trinity Nuclear Test and the devastating events that occured in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II should be a time for reflection and acknowledgment of the role that Australian Government's have played in the nuclear chain.
"There has never been a more urgent need to ban the bomb."