Senator Andrew Bartlett  Australian Democrats’ Defence and Veterans Spokesperson   Senator Lyn Allison  Australian Democrats’ Energy and Resources Spokesperson  5 August 2003 MEDIA RELEASE  03/563



Nuclear veterans still ignored

On the eve of Hiroshima Day (6 August) the Australian Democrats have called for a better  deal for veterans exposed to nuclear radiation and for the Government to push for a ban on  depleted uranium weaponry and armaments.

“Government secrecy and lack of care has marked the experience of all veterans who were at risk of  radiation exposure,” said Democrats’ Leader and Defence and Veterans’ Affairs spokesperson,  Senator Andrew Bartlett.

More than ten thousand Australian service personnel as well as many indigenous residents were  potentially exposed during the British atomic tests in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s at Maralinga,  Emu Field, Montebello and Christmas Islands.



“The Government continues to ignore both the British test veterans and those who served in Japan  after bombs were dropped, despite the Clarke Review into veterans entitlements (released in  February 2003) recommending extending their eligibility for health care benefits, and  compensation,” Senator Bartlett said.

“Fifty-eight years after the first atomic bombs were dropped by the US on Japan, the numbers of  civilians and veterans exposed to nuclear radiation grows.

“While nuclear bombs have not been used against a country since 1945, the nuclear legacy in  warfare is still growing through the use of depleted uranium (DU).

“Australia decided to stop using depleted uranium 13 years ago, but our troops are still at risk  because it was used by allies such as the US and UK in Iraq.”

The Gulf War veterans from 1991 are the latest generation of veterans to have problems with  missing military records, including medical records.

Senator Lyn Allison, Democrats’ Energy and Resources spokesperson, has written to the Defence  Minister Robert Hill calling for all Gulf Veterans to be tested for DU exposure.

The Democrats have urged the Government to make available to nuclear veterans the Dundee  University blood test which can demonstrate the level of radiation exposure even 50 years ago.

Senator Allison is a founding member of the Paris International Network on Nuclear Tests, a  network of veterans associations from French Polynesia, United States, Great Britain, New Zealand,  Fiji, France and Australia, formed after a nuclear test conference in January 2002.

To arrange interview with Senator Allison contact John Derry on 0408 056 167



www.democrats.org.au







