To mark two solemn anniversaries of nuclear testing in the Pacific region. Susan Templeman MP – Labor Member for Macquarie and member of the Parliamentary Friends of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) moved a motion in the Federation Chamber in the House of Representatives.

Eighty years ago this week, nuclear weapons began devastating our Pacific region – in the Marshall Islands, Mā’ohi Nui, Kiribati, and here in Australia at Maralinga, Emu Field and the Montebello Islands. Over 315 nuclear ‘test’ explosions scarred the lands, waters, bodies, cultures and poisoned the food chains on which the regions people depended on.

In attendance were Pacific representatives visiting Parliament to raise the profiles of the anniversaries in Austalia and highlight Australia’s moral and regional responsibility to step up efforts in the region to support affected communities, making a clear call for Australia to advance these objectives by signing and ratifying the TPNW.

The delegation this week included Mere Tuilau from the Fiji Nuclear Veterans and Families Association, Samuel Barton from the Marshall Islands Student Association, Rev James Bhagwan and Frances Namoumou of the Pacific Conference of Churches, and Australia’s First Nations Ambassador and second generation test survivour Karina Lester.

In speaking to the motion in the lower house, Susan Templeman MP highlighted the shared histories of nuclear testing in the Pacific region, including in Australia, and the significant leadership of Pacific Island Nations in breathing new life into disarmament endeavours with their early embrace of the TPNW.

The motion was also spoken to by Michael McCormack MP -Nationals Member for Riverina, Matt Smith MP – Labor Member for Leichhardt, Helen Haines – Independent Member for Indi, and Joanne Ryan MP – Labor Member for Lalor.

The full transcipt of speeches is available here.

The motion moved in the Federation Chamber on Monday 29 June:

 Ms Templeman : To move—That this House:

That this House:

(1) notes the 80th anniversary of the commencement of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, during which over 300 nuclear detonations were conducted across the Marshall Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati and surrounding region;

(2) gives solemn acknowledgment of the harmful and enduring environmental, cultural, and health consequences of cumulative historical United States’, French, and British nuclear testing in the region, carried out between 1946 and 1996, including the:

(a) exposure of hundreds of thousands of Marshallese, Ma’ohi, and I-Kiribati people to levels of radiation which have contributed to increased cancer rates and other illnesses related to radiation exposure;

(b) exposure of tens of thousands of military service members and workers to radiation levels which have resulted in ongoing consequences for their health and the health of their families;

(c) loss of culture, health and social cohesion resulting from the forced relocation and displacement that separated Pacific Islanders from their families, homes, and ancestral lands; and

(d) widespread environmental impacts which include the contamination of drinking water, food sources and arable land, and the damage to coral reefs and marine ecosystems;

(3) supports the continued strengthening of Australia’s deep partnership with the Pacific family and our longstanding regional cooperation, and in this context, recognises the significance of:

(a) Australia’s continued efforts to support radiation monitoring and nuclear test site assessment in partnership with Pacific nations while recognising that more work can be done to fully address the fallout that persists at former nuclear test sites; and

(b) Australia’s foundational role in and continued implementation of the obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which in December 2026 will mark 40 years since it entered into force;

(4) further notes Australia’s history of British nuclear weapons testing in the Monte Bello Islands, Emu Field, and Maralinga, and the disproportionate and ongoing impacts this continues to have on First Nations communities and the environmental and cultural value of their country and the significant impacts on Australian service members and their families;

(5) affirms the importance of sustained international commitment to nuclear non-proliferation through established multilateral frameworks that advance peace and collective security, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and noting the contribution of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons;

(6) commends the advocacy of victims/survivors in Australia and the Pacific for their steadfast commitment to advancing global nuclear disarmament and their leading role in advancing, signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, including its entry into force in 2021; and

(7) emphasises the urgent imperative for all states to refrain from nuclear weapons testing and to engage in genuine, transparent, and verifiable nuclear disarmament efforts in line with their commitments to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty, including its entry into force, which Australia and its Pacific neighbours strongly support.

From the beginning of the nuclear age, Pacific islands have been used for the development
and proliferation of nuclear weapons. The plane Enola Gay left the Micronesian island of Tinian to carry the atomic bomb to Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945. The following year, the United States began testing nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands

Labor Assistant Minister Josh Wilson MP attends 80th Anniversary commemorations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

On Wednesday August 6th, the world looked to Hiroshima, where commemorations began, to mark the anniversary of the nuclear annihilation of the city, which took place 80 years ago in 1945.

At 8.15am on 6 August 1945, the United States of America detonated the first of two devastating atomic blasts in Japan above the city of Hiroshima, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people instantly. The second, three days later on August 9th over the city of Nagasaki killed 74,000. By the end of 1945, upwards of 210,000+ people had died as a result of the bombings and radiation exposure.

As commemorations commenced on Hiroshima day in Japan to remember the victims, and survivors, of the of the bombs, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Australia, welcomed the formal attendance of an Australian parliamentary representative at the official ceremonial proceedings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

A statement from the Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) during the anniversary week states ‘The devastation caused to Hiroshima and Nagasaki serves as an eternal reminder that we must make every effort to avoid these weapons being used or tested again.’

Josh Wilson MP, Labor’s Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, and Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was in Hiroshima alongside representatives from 120 countries, countless civil society groups to mark these anniversaries, in a special ceremony at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park.

Nagasaki Peace Park sculpture highlights shared histories of Australian and Japanese nuclear survivors. 

On Nagasaki Day, Saturday August 9th, commemorations were held in the city of Nagasaki, marking 80 years since the second US nuclear attack on Japan.

Mr Wilson attended the official commemorations in Nagasaki and shared a sculpture gifted to the Nagasaki community in 2026 from First Nations survivors of nuclear weapons testing in Australia.

The sculpture, titled ‘Tree of Life, Gift of Peace’ was created by communities in Yalata, Oak Valley and Maralinga in South Australia. First Nations communities exposed to the the British nuclear tests in Australia in the 1950’s and 1960’s share a bond with nuclear survivors everywhere, and this is reflected in this gift, which was installed in the Nagasaki Peace Park in 2016.  The sculpture symbolises a Piti Dish, used to collect water in desert communities, answering the desperate calls for water (mizu) heard across Nagasaki in the immediate aftermath of the bombing. 

Watch the video below.

New poll reinforces Australian public support for Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty

Australia’s official attendance at commemorations in Japan came just hours after the release of new polling results which revealed that two-thirds of Australians support Australia joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and followed an outpouring of public support for Australia to advance its position on the treaty in the lead up to these 80th anniversaries.

Australia’s attendance at the anniversary ceremonies followed a recent parliamentary visit from second generation Hiroshima Hibakusha (survivor), Isao Morimoto, alongside representatives of ICAN Australia to highlight the significance of these 80th anniversaries for survivors and their descendants, and draw attention to the calls from Hibakusha for nuclear weapons abolition in their lifetimes

A Hiroshima Day event with Peter Garrett and ICAN Australia

Eighty years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the fire still burns — in memory, in resistance, and in the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons.

On 6 and 9 August 1945, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated by American nuclear weapons. Tens of thousands were killed instantly. Survivors and their descendants still bear the physical and emotional scars.

Eighty years on, nuclear-armed states continue to threaten the world — and Australia risks becoming more deeply complicit. But there is another path, one that the global majority is already forging. The vehicle to take us down that path is the nuclear weapon ban treaty.

As nuclear tensions escalate and Australia becomes more entangled in nuclear alliances, this one-hour online event brought together survivors, artists, campaigners and parliamentarians to reflect on Hiroshima’s legacy — and the urgent task of disarmament.

Watch the recording of The Fire Still Burns: Hiroshima, Resistance and Disarmament here:

Speakers included:

Peter Garrett – Musician, environmentalist and former federal cabinet minister. Best known as the frontman of Midnight Oil, Garrett has spent decades campaigning on issues of peace, justice and nuclear disarmament. He served as Minister for the Environment and Minister for Education, and is a longstanding critic of nuclear weapons and the nuclear industry.

Isao Morimoto – Second-generation Hibakusha and son of the late author/illustrator Junko Morimoto. Isao will share personal reflections on his mother’s life and survival.

Gem Romuld – Director, ICAN Australia, leading national efforts to promote the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and challenge Australia’s support for nuclear militarism.

Scott Ludlam – Writer, former Greens Senator and lifelong national and international campaigner for peace and climate justice (MC)

The event also featured video contributions from Australian parliamentarians and civil society leaders, music and storytelling to honour the memory of Hiroshima and those working for peace today.