CAMPAIGN NEWS:
Hibakusha testimony brought to federal parliament ahead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversaries
Hibakusha testimony brought to federal parliament ahead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversaries
On 6 and 9 August, the world will remember the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 80 years on from these abhorrent attacks, people everywhere are demanding urgent action to ensure nuclear weapons are never used again.
Here in Australia we have been in Parliament House in Canberra with Isao Morimoto, second-generation Hiroshima Hibakusha (survivor) Isao Morimoto to encourage federal Parliamentarians to acknowledge these anniversaries and turn acknowledgement into action on the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty.
Isao is the son of late Junko Morimoto, author and illustrator of the Children’s book ‘My Hiroshima’, who was born in Hiroshima in 1932 and came to Australia in 1982, and lived in Sydney until she passed away in 2017. Isao carries his mothers testimony and will for nuclear weapons abolition. Before she passed away in 2017, she urged then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to sign an ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
While in Canberra we met with MPs from across the political spectrum so they could hear directly from Isao about the lasting impacts for survivors and their descendents, and the Hibakusha’s call for all government’s to urgently sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in their lifetime.
“Peace is not passive. It requires effort, courage, and above all, memory.”
This week we also welcomed a powerful motion commemorating the 80th anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks put to the House of Representatives by Tania Lawrence, Labor MP for Hasluck, WA.
In speaking to the motion, Ms Lawrence solemnly remembered the more than 200,000 victims of the attacks, and noted the trauma and intergenerational legacy of the bombings. Ms Lawrence honoured the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Winners Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group of atomic bomb survivors, for their tireless advocacy over 8 decades to drive forward action on nuclear disarmament. She further ackowledged the suffering and lasting impacts on communities in Australia and the Pacific exposed to nuclear weapons testing.
Lawrence outlined Australia’s histroy of support for the international legal frameworks that underpin nuclear disarmament, and welcomed the growing number of countries joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Peace is not passive. It requires effort, courage, and above all, memory. That’s why this anniversary is crucial.
We do not remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki to dwell on the past; we remember them to shape a better future. A future where no child grows up under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. A future where no land is poisoned by radiation. A future where diplomacy, not devastation, is our default.
Let us honour the victims, the survivors, and the advocates with more than words. Let us honour them with action.
The Fire Still Burns: Hiroshima, Resistance and Disarmament
If you would like hear Isao share his mothers testimony, and more about the significance of the 80th anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, please join our webinar on Hiroshima Day.
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.
As nuclear tensions escalate and Australia becomes more entangled in nuclear alliances, this one-hour online event brings together survivors, artists, campaigners and parliamentarians to reflect on Hiroshima’s legacy — and the urgent task of disarmament.
Speakers include:
- 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 will also feature:
- Video contributions from Australian parliamentarians and civil society leaders
- Music and storytelling to honour the memory of Hiroshima and those working for peace today
Introducing New Parliamentary Pledge signatory – Matt Smith MP, Member for Leichhardt
We were delighted to meet with newly elected ALP Member for Leichthardt, Matt Smith MP, share the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to ICAN in 2017 and brief him on Australia’s progress on the TPNW to date. Matt has shared his support for Australia signing and ratifying the TPNW by signing the ICAN Parliamentary pledge, which has now been signed by 104 Federal and 192 State and Territory parliamentarians.
We also were please to have the opportunity to catch up with reprsenatives from the Foreign Minster’s office, and to update many others on Australia’s opportuntiy to make history by signing and ratifying the TPNW, including Julie-Ann Campbell MP, Rob Mitchell MP, Alicia Payne MP Louise Miller-Frost MP, Tania Lawrence MP Josh Burns MP, Mark Dreyfus MP, Steve Georganas MP, Sharon Claydon MP, Senator David Shoebridge and Senator Lisa Darmanin.
Matt Smith MP (ALP)
Sharon Claydon MP (ALP)
Julie-Ann Campbell MP (ALP)
Alicia Payne MP (ALP)
Rob Mitchell MP (ALP)
Fiona Phillips MP (ALP)
In the last month, more than 15 Australian councils have passed motions commemorating the anniversaries and calling for Australia to sign the TPNW – incuding new endorsements of the ICAN Cities Appeal from with City of Perth, West Arnhem Regional Council and the City of Victor Harbor – and a number of landmark buildings around the country will be illuminated during the anniversary week.