Hiroshima Day events took place around the country on August 6-7, commemorating the victims of the US nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Current campaigns were also highlighted, including the Jabiluka uranium mine in Kakadu National Park, plans for a national nuclear dump in South Australia and a new nuclear reactor in Sydney and the shipment of nuclear reactor fuel currently heading from Europe to Japan via the Tasman Sea, which contains enough plutonium for 60 nuclear bombs.
In Melbourne, a crowd of 2500 gathered to protest against the Jabiluka mine. Rally organisers pointed out that the Mirrar people are totally opposed to the mine, that sacred sites have already been disturbed by the mine and that if it is not stopped, the mine will generate 20 millions tonnes of radioactive tailings.
The rally marched through the centre of Melbourne after hearing from speakers. Harry Van Moorst, recently involved in the successful campaign against the Werribee toxic dump, said, "People have to be mobilised, blockades have to be established" in order to stop the Jabiluka mine.
Other speakers included representatives of the Melbourne Jabiluka Action Group, Aboriginal activist Kevin Buzzacott and Mary Delahunty, state Labor MP for Northcote. Delahunty made the dubious claim that if the Labor Party had won the federal election in October, it would have stopped the Jabiluka mine.
In Sydney, 400 people marched from Town Hall for a rally at Hyde Park chaired by Bruce Cornwall from the Hiroshima Day Committee. The speakers were Jean McSorley from Greenpeace International, Genevieve Rankin from People Against a Nuclear Reactor and Peter Woods from the Local Government Association.
McSorley discussed the federal government's "solution" to radioactive waste problems — dumping low and intermediate-level waste on Aboriginal land in South Australia, and sending spent fuel rods from the Lucas Heights reactor to European reprocessing plants.
Rankin reported recent developments in the campaign to stop the Lucas as Heights reactor, including the formation of a central Sydney campaign group called Sydney People Against a New Nuclear Reactor.
Woods described initiatives to increase the involvement of local councils in anti-nuclear campaigns. This could be particularly important for councils affected by transportation of nuclear waste if the government proceeds with its plan for a national nuclear dump at Billa Kalina, he said.
Bill Mason reports from Brisbane that "Hiroshima: Never again!" was the central theme of a rally in King George Square on August 6. Three hundred people viewed a video exposing the nuclear industry. This was followed by speakers and a procession around the city, returning to the square.
Sybil McLure and Kirsten Macey from Friends of the Earth discussed the environmental and public health risks associated with the shipment of plutonium fuel through the Pacific and condemned plans for a nuclear waste dump at Billa Kalina.
Katrina Barben from Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) talked about the crimes of the Indonesian military regime at home and in East Timor and the complicity of Australian governments in these human rights abuses. She urged people to attend the public meetings with Dita Sari, prominent Indonesian trade unionist and recently released political prisoner. Dita Sari will be in Brisbane on August 20-21.
In Hobart, 200 people rallied in front of Parliament around the theme "From Hiroshima to Jabiluka!" The rally, organised by Everyone for a Nuclear Free Future (ENuFF), also doubled as the finishing point for Forest Cycle '99, an 800 km ride around Tasmania promoting awareness of forest issues.
Green Senator Bob Brown criticised the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor and the plutonium shipments to Japan.
Tony Iltis, from the Democratic Socialist Party, discussed the World Heritage Committee's decision not to place Kakadu on the World Heritage in Danger list despite the likely impact of the Jabiluka mine. Iltis applauded the role of socialist Cuba, the only country on the World Heritage Committee that voted for an in-danger listing.
Yabbo Thompson from TasDEC Global Learning Centre discussed militarism, noting that the cost of providing health, education and other social services around the world would amount to less than 15% of the money currently spent on military equipment and training.
Entertainers at the rally included Peter Hicks, who sang new songs, including one against the visits of US nuclear warships to Tasmanian ports.
Two hundred people attended a rally at victoria Square in Adelaide on August 6, which was organised by Everyone for a Nuclear Free Future and the Australian Peace Committee.
In Canberra, 60 people attended a Hiroshima Day rally at Garema Place organised by the ACT Jabiluka Action Group (JAG). Speakers included Kim Bullimore from ACT JAG, Michael Denborough (Nuclear Disarmament Party) and Jeremy Pyner from the Trades and Labour Council.
Around 100 people gathered in Lismore at a rally organised by Everyone for a Nuclear Free Future (ENuFF). Two speeches covered the horrific effects of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the need for a mass campaign to oppose the nuclear industry.
Isabelle Whyte spoke on the "nuclear exposure tour" which activists are undertaking in South Australia. Lismore Councillor Frank Swientek commended ENuFF on its successful campaign to reinstate "nuclear free zone" signs in the city.
Hiroshima Day events also took place in Byron Bay and Darwin.