SWITCHED ON: FILM

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Dirty nuclear secret revealed

Given the ongoing debate about the storage of nuclear waste in the Northern Territory, the Deckchair Cinema will be hosting a timely event tomorrow night.

The fundraiser evening will feature the Darwin premiers of the film Australian Atomic Confessions and the launch of a new book Talking Straight Out – stories from the Irati Wanti Campaign.

Australian Atomic Confessions is a film highlighting one of Australia’s least known stories… the testing of British nuclear weapons in South Australian and Western Australia.

Speakers include Arrernte man Benedict Stevens – senior custodian of a central Australian site that may soon house radioactive material.

Filmmaker Greg Young said the testing beginning at Monte Bello Island in Western Australia in 1952 was hidden from the Australian public.

“The British Prime Minister simply asked Menzies if they could ‘borrow’ land to carry out tests, and he said yes without consulting his own cabinet, let alone the public.

One of the ways people found out about testing in South Australia, was when a Geiger counter used at Adelaide university showed background radioactivity 20 000 times higher than normal levels.

“The nuclear fallout from these tests stretched right across the continent, from Darwin to the eastern seaboard.”

Aboriginal people in South Australia – and Australian soldiers involved in the testing – bore scares from radiation burns and the ongoing effects of exposure to radioactivity.

Aboriginal people were still living semi-nomadic lifestyles in areas where nuclear bombs were tested – such as Emu Juction and Maralinga.

Aboriginal women from Kupa Piti Kunga Tjuta in South Australia tell the story of a second struggle against nuclear exposure in the book Talking Straight Out – Stories from the Irati Wanti Campaign.

No Waste Alliance campaigner Justin Tutti said the book was important as “proof that the people can win.”

“These women had to struggle against nuclear material in their lands twice in their lifetime,” said Mr Tutty.

“Their victory over the threat of a radioactive waste dump should be celebrated and embraced.

“Especially by anti-nuclear campaigners in the Northern Territory.”

Atomic Confessions will be screening at the Deckchair Cinema on October 3 – films start at 7.30pm, food available at 6.30pm.

Funds raised go towards the campaign against a radioactive waste facility in the Northern Territory.

Pic. of Women “Twice in our lifetime” … the Senior Aboriginal Women’s Council of Coober Pedy launching their new book

Picture of bomb - A state secret… British nuclear tests were carried out in SA and WA