PRESS RELEASE Vi 7 0

NUCLEAR PROTESTS

Mr H. AKERS,  the Bundaberg dentist who attracted national

attention with his "one man and a dog" protest march, has

interviewed Dr Doug Everingham in Bundaberg on behalf of the

local nuclear campaign.

He asked Dr Everingham, Federal Shadow Minister for Northern

Australia and Aboriginal Affairs, why the ALP had not asked for

an outright ban on uranium mining, what alternatives did he

propose to replace nuclear power, what effect did mining have on

Aborigines, what did Hiroshima Day (August 6) mean to him and

other questions.

Dr Everingham's taped replies are to be uSed in a public forum

to be arranged in Bundaberg on Hiroshima Day. Some of his points

included:

.  THE Labor Party always strives to get as broad

a consensus of views as possible.

This sometimes has led to splits in the Party, but it is still

probably the broadest-based Party in Australia. While some proÂ­

mining views are still heard in the A.L.P., and some are for a

total ban of all but minor uses of radiactive material (mainly

medical and scientific tests and treatments) the last Federal

Conference moved markedly towards restriction of mining. This

was totally in line with the Report of Mr Justice Fox's Commission

set up by the Whitlam Government. The Fox Report was not adhered

to by the Fraser Government,  because Labor's proposal to await

safety standards from the International Atomic Energy Agency before

undertaking more uranium sales was rejected by the present

Government.

. . . 2 /

2 .

THE Australian National University has the

world’s first viable solar energy plant ready

for commercial developments. The Government

has refused its funds while giving tens of

millions to Lucas Heights for complex research

in nuclear plasma physics which Australia will

never be able to use.

ABORIGINES do not want mining which speeds up

the white man's mass destruction of their tribal

structure, and their sense of identity with the

land they have served for 100,000 years. They

would rather have no mine and no money but are

prepared to bargain for the best deal to restrict

mining and earn funds for their long legal fight

to own land they.traditionally belong to.

"HIROSHIMA Day 1946 was a day on which I rejoiced

because I had been brainwashed into believing the

Japanese were less than human. I now see the ,

folly of war and the urgent need for alternatives’’,

Dr Everingham said.

Dr D. Everingham, MP  Federal Shadow Minister for Northern  Australia and Aboriginal Affairs

18 JULY 1978

