**This piece of writing contains images of persons who have since passed on to the spirit world ![]() RADIOACTIVE EXPOSURE TOUR === In
September 2013, I found myself sitting in an apartment
across the street from Nagano Park in Osaka. There was a
ceaseless mechanical whirr of cicadas in the background and
a sheath of fine sweat over my body as summer blared on. I
was out of money and ready to start living off of my line of
credit. I was deciding whether to return home to Canada or
go back to Melbourne where my heart strings were tugging me
towards. ![]() In
December, I ended up at a Mad Max-themed fundraiser
at a warehouse in Brunswick. To get there, I walked from the
tram and down a side street, then through a portal-esque
laneway and then turned down another laneway where people
were gathered in little pods and draped along the pavement
smoking, drinking and chatting. I found my pod inside and we
sat on the floor watching one of the opening acts, an upbeat
folk-punk band called the Glitter Rats. People were walking
around wearing elaborate homemade Mad Max-themed
outfits with mohawks and smears of black eyeliner. Artwork
and posters covered the walls and there were several mini
bars. On the upper floor, where I found the cramped solitary
bathroom, were enclaves where people lived. Everything was
warm, wooden and electrifying. ![]() The
Radioactive Exposure Tour was put together to educate
people first hand about the nuclear industry and has been
running for over 30 years. The 2014 tour was one of the
most ambitious to date and was organized by the Friends of
the Earth, the ACE Collective – an anti-nuclear group- and
former participants who volunteered their time. ![]() The first thing that had struck me about Melbourne when I arrived there was how giant and expansive the skies were. Coming from British Columbia, most of which is closed in by mountains, it felt really freeing. And the weather in Melbourne was quite unique, with warm northern desert winds mixing and colliding with icy southern winds, creating an ever shifting skyscape and extreme weather fluctuations. I fell completely in love with Melbourne and the surrounding areas and throughout the course of my interspersed time in Australia, I hadn’t left to explore any other provinces: I was going to make up for that big time. Our
convoy all met up in Beaufort and then we continued West
of Melbourne past Mount Zero and some picturesque
rolling hills. Then we went through the Grampions, Nhil
and the entrance to Desert Park. Every once in a while,
a grey Wallaby would hop by in the distance or turn and
look at us. ![]() My
decision to come to Australia was somewhat reckless. I
was pretty messed up from some personal traumas I had
been through and I found the Pacific Northwest winters
hard to take. There was a seat sale to Melbourne and I
wanted to cheat the nature godds and get two summers
in one year. I imagined myself on a pale sandy beach,
sipping lemon sodas and meeting cute boys as my PTSD
and seasonal depression melted away under a Southern
sun. ![]() We
made it all the way to Adelaide on that first day,
despite the big bus breaking down. We got it back up
and running and arrived in the evening at a large
country home on the outskirts of town where we had a
big fire and ate a delicious dinner provided by Food
Not Bombs. ![]() On a side note, in 2009, in an incredible act of hypocrisy, Peter Garret, lead singer of Midnight Oil, who in the 1980’s sang a song called 'Beds Are Burning' - a passionate plea for Aboriginal Rights - approved the expansion of the Beverly Mine and the opening of a new uranium mine in Southern Australia during his role as the Environment Minister after moving from music into politics. ![]()
From Port Augusta we headed to Woomera, a town
with a population of 146, where the Australian
and British governments carried out atomic
testing in the 1950’s and 60’s. A former
government employee turned whistleblower called
Avon
Hudson joined in on the tour and took us
to our camp on the outskirts of town. ![]()
The town exists solely for the purpose of
housing employees of the Olympic Dam mine run
by BHP Billiton, which is one of the largest
uranium mines in the world. We went on an
official tour, asked some questions and took
some photos. Huge amounts of water are used in
the processing of uranium and the material is
highly toxic and radioactive, so extreme care
needs to be taken during the entire extraction
and transportation process. The by-products of
producing energy with uranium include
plutonium, which is used in the manufacturing
of atomic weapons, the most destructive force
on planet earth. During the whole nuclear
cycle, different levels of nuclear waste are
are created, some of which is hazardous for
hundreds of thousands of years. ![]()
After visiting the mine, we travelled to
Lake Eyre. The sun was falling into the
horizon and as we arrived the sky turned
neon orange and the moon was eclipsed by the
setting sun. ![]()
The days were starting to bleed together
and the next morning we packed up all the
cooking and camping gear and packed
ourselves back into various vehicles to
make our way to Mound Springs. I ended up
moving from the SUV on to the big 'Road
Warrior' bus. ![]()
After Mound Springs, we were all lost in
our own thoughts as we drove deeper into
the desert lands. The ‘big wet’, which
spilled out 2/3 of the annual rainfall
for the region in a week, resulted in
the cropping up of little lakes all
around. Birds flocked to the water, the
sun glinted off of the fresh electric
green brush and vibrant little red,
yellow, orange, pink and purple desert
flowers were coaxed out of their dormant
shells. It was ridiculously beautiful. ![]() The next day we headed to Coober Pedy and I hung out with Fran and Jarrod from the Glitter Rats and their two young twin boys. There were so many awesome and interesting people on the tour and day-by-day I was getting to know more of them.
I ended up jumping into a different
truck with Fran and Jarrod and we
headed to our next destination,
Walatinna Station, to visit Yami
Lester, a Yankuntjatjarra elder who
had been blinded by the atomic tests
that were done in the 1950’s. As we
drove out from Coober Pedy, the
terrain morphed from bare pockmarked
sandstone to an expanse of flat,
pale sand with low brush and small
rocks. More bright desert
wildflowers were bursting out from
the pastel backdrop. After about an
hour, we officially entered the
Northern Territory. ![]()
The sun had fallen and the horizon
was humming with reds, oranges,
soft pinks, blues, and purples and
a few illuminated clouds sparkled
through the trees. On every other
night the falling sun had been
quickly followed by the rising
moon, though that night the hills
and trees kept the moon at bay for
a couple of hours and we were able
to see the unhindered beauty of
the starry sky. Mars was out and
the band of the milky way streaked
over our heads like a fireworks
tail. I laid down on one of the
open areas of the property staring
up at the sky until the moon crept
over the trees. ![]()
The next day we all hung out
with Yami, who had a generous
spirit and a giant smile. He
told us the story of how he had
been blinded by the nuclear
fallout from the testing that
had taken place. It was 1953 and
he was living in the bush near
Maralinga with his family. None
of them were notified of the
testing.
-- ![]()
It was dark when we arrived
and we were greeted by Barbara
Shaw, an ardent
anti-Interventionist and
Aboriginal rights activist,
who I recognized from John
Pilger’s film 'Utopia' and
the Our Generation
documentary. Barb has
ancestral ties to Muckaty
through her grandmother and
lived in one of the
ghettoized areas of Alice
Springs called a "Town
Camp". Some of what Barb
said when she welcomed us
was: ![]()
I decided to walk from the
camp along the Todd river
and spend the day
wandering around Alice
Springs alone. When I
mentioned it to some of
the girls who were on the
bus with me as I was
getting ready to leave,
they told me that I
shouldn't go alone because
I might "get raped". I
left the bus and found one
of the locals and
long-time activists and
asked her if it would be
safe. She said that it
wouldn't be a problem at
all and I would just see
"drunk people hanging out
around the river". When I
returned to the bus, I
brought up the comment the
girls had made previously
and they denied having
said it and said that that
it wasn't what they meant.
I left the bus and headed
through the outskirts of
the city and made my way
to the public pool. I was
ready for a hot shower.
As I continued my
exploration of the town
on foot, seeing the
Third World living
conditions in many areas
was really upsetting and
there was continual
harassment of
Aboriginals by local
police. In the evening,
we all gathered at the
Totem Theatre to hear
from people affected by
the Intervention and
learn more about the
Muckaty campaign. ![]()
Part of the
Intervention also
involved the
discontinuation of
funding for many
remote ‘homelands’ and
the moving of people
into hub communities
controlled by White
Australians. The
homelands were places
where people practiced
traditional hunting
and ceremony and many
found a lot of healing
there, so it was
devastating for a lot
of people to be moved
away. In the end, the
Intervention ended up
worsening all of the
social conditions that
the program was
supposedly trying to
address.
The next day we had
the option of
participating in a
demonstration at
Pine Gap, a
satellite tracking
station jointly run
by the American and
Australian
governments, which
many consider puts
Australia at risk in
the event of global
nuclear tensions. I
ended up staying in
town and spent most
of the day hanging
out around the camp.
I wasn’t ready to do
full-on direct
action, though I
admired those who
were. ![]()
‘Uncle Kev’, whose
traditional
territory is
around Lake Eyre,
has been involved
in anti-nuclear
and Aboriginal
rights actions for
over 40 years
including sit-ins,
peace walks,
government
eviction notices
and participation
in the Aboriginal
Tent Embassy in
Canberra. He
reclaimed the emu
and kangaroo from
the Autralian coat
of arms, charged
the government
with genocide and
traveled to Europe
in 2001 after
winnning the
Nuclear-Free
Future Award. He’s
been called a
“jedi of the
anti-nuclear
movement”.
The next day we
drove from Alice
Springs to
Tenant Creek.
Ridges and hills
disappeared into
dense brush, gum
trees and light
sandy expanses
with
stalagtite-esque
ant hills
protruding like
bizarre polyps.
It was a long
drive and we
stopped along
the way and had
a swim in a
little lake. ![]()
When we
arrived in
Tenant Creek
there were
some community
members (aka
“mob”) there
to meet us,
though a
member had
recently died
so a lot of
people stayed
home in
mourning
(“sorry
business”). We
all hung out
by a river,
had some
snacks and
then headed
out to the
outskirts of
town where
we’d be
sleeping. One
of the main
campaigners
against the
nuclear waste
dump, Diane
Stokes - a
Yapa Yapa
elder, brought
us to our
campsite and
welcomed us in
her
traditional
language. She
told us where
to light fires
for the
spirits and to
watch out for
little people
who roam
around in the
night. We set
up our gear in
the dark. ![]()
Paralleling
the
Intervention
program, which
relied on the
suspension of
the Racial
Discrimination
Act; both the
Environmental
Protection and
Biodiversity
Conservation
Act and the
Aboriginal and
Torres
Straight
Islander
Heritage
Protection Act
were suspended
during the
site selection
phase for the
nuclear waste
dump. As well,
details of the
agreement
between the
government and
the Northern
Land Council
were withheld
from the
public.
The Australian
government has
been looking
for a place to
put its
nuclear waste
since the
1950's and, as
Ferguson
stated in an
interview with
ABC News,
"It's time for
Australia to
front up to
it's
responsibilities.
It's a moral
issue. If you
want access to
nuclear
medicine, then
take
responsibility
for storing
your waste."
Yet according
to Nuclear
Radiologist
Dr. Peter
Karamoskos the
nuclear waste
had “nothing
to do with
nuclear
medicine" and
is being used
"to get the
public on side
through an
emotive
campaign of
disinformation."
![]() Diane Stokes (center), Bunny (foreground)
To finish off
our Muckaty
experience,
more of “the
mob” came out
and spent time
with us,
including Kylie
Sambo. Two
fires were lit
and a large
group sat
around each
fire
representing
to different skin
systems - one
of the many
complex social
systems that
are part of
Aboriginal
culture. It
was nice to
get to hang
out with
everyone
again; we were
able to have
more
meaningful
interactions
and I got to
meet some of
the local
children. We
ended up
exploring the
surrounding
area and found
an abandoned
school bus to
hang out in.
We were all
hopping over
the seats and
running down
the aisles and
they told me
their real
names and that
they all spoke
3 different
local
languages.
When we headed
out of Muckaty
the next day
we stopped at
a cultural
centre in
Tenant Creek
and saw some
women making
artwork. I was
told that a
lot of the
distinctive
Aboriginal dot
paintings
represents an
aerial
perspective
and are the
visions people
see in the
Dreaming. ![]()
We stopped in
Alice Springs
again for the
night and
camped next to
the Town Camp
again. The
next day we
drove from
Alice Springs
to Coober
Pedy. I ended
up staying
with a German
woman who
lived in one
of the
dugouts. She
was friends
with one of
the other tour
participants,
a retired
woman who had
been part of a
previous
anti-nuclear
campaigns in
Southern
Australia and
who had worked
as a
missionary. ![]()
We continued
on and the
scenery
flashed by
like a dream.
There were
run-down
roadhouse
cafes, wild
camels and
large ruddy
kangaroos out
in the
distance.
There was a
lot of
roadkill along
the highway of
cattle, sheep
and kangaroos,
and I saw some
bizarre,
contorted,
wild horse
carcasses,
thrashed and
gnarled and
melting into
the sandy
desert floor.
![]()
Many people
herald nuclear
energy as a
clean source
of energy and
the wave of
the future.
It’s hard for
me to see that
after
everything I
learned on the
RAD tour.
There are
extreme
hazards and
environmental
concerns from
the
astronomical
use of water
during the
initial mining
to the ongoing
dangers of
radioactive
waste. And the
continued
nuclear
armament of
nations
globally is
really scary.
We’ve seen
what horrible
destruction
nuclear
weapons cause
in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki
and the
devastation
caused by the
Chernobyl and
Fukushima
nuclear
meltdowns. I
remember
reading Keiji
Nakazawa’s Barefoot
Gen comic
about living
through
Hiroshima, and
it's hard to
fully absorb
the scale of
the
destruction
caused. ![]()
Shortly after
returning home
I discovered
that the
Muckaty
campaign had
been won,
which was so
great and I
know so many
people fought
so long and so
hard!
Unfortunately,
the fight
continues to
bring
awareness
about the
dangers of the
nuclear
industry,
prevent
nuclear
armament, stop
waste dumps
from being
imposed on
other
communities
and seek a
transition to
clean
alternatives
to nuclear
energy. And
the policies
of the
Intervention
have yet to be
fully
repealed. MORE ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIA / RAD TOUR INFORMATION:
Black
As INFORMATION ON THE NORTHERN TURTLE ISLAND / CANADIAN NUCLEAR INDUSTRY:
The
Committee For
Future
Generations
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