[Green-Activist] Fw: Maralinga vets - pls write submission

[John Hill]

What about the many Aboriginal people and missionaries, etc., who were badly contaminated by fallout? Many Pitjantjatjara people in northern South Australia actually died soon after the blasts and many more were affected. Many of them have given testimony at the various hearings over the years. How come they are not being included here?

John Hill
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Anne Goddard 
  To: Group 1 ; green-activist at lists.altnews.com.au 
  Cc: GreenLeft_Discussion at yahoogroups.com ; enviro-people at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 6:50 PM
  Subject: [Green-Activist] Fw: Maralinga vets - pls write submission



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jim Green 
  Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 3:38 PM
  Subject: Maralinga vets - pls write submission


  Hello, 


  It would be very welcome if before the end of this week (October 27), you could put in a brief submission to a Senate inquiry into the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Bill 2006.

  In short, the Howard government is offering minimal health care to some affected veterans of the British bomb tests in the 1950s. It's too little too late and we're hoping that this Senate inquiry will embarrass the government into being a little bit less ungenerous.

  Below is a letter from Ric Johnstone, President of the Australian Nuclear Veterans Association. You could base your submission on Ric's letter. Also below is a media release from the shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs.

  Please email submissions to:
  Standing Committee On Foreign Affairs, Defence And Trade
  Inquiry into the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Bill 2006
  Email: fadt.sen at aph.gov.au

  If you want more information on the issues and controversy surrounding the recently-completed health study (which found an 18% increased rate of cancer incidence among nuclear veterans)
  * see submission by physicist and armed forces veteran Jack Lonergan:
  www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fadt_ctte/nuclear_tests_bills_06/submissions/sublist.htm
  or direct download
  www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fadt_ctte/nuclear_tests_bills_06/submissions/sub01.pdf
  * or you can email <jim.green at foe.org.au> to be sent some info.

  More information on this Senate inquiry:
  <www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fadt_ctte/nuclear_tests_bills_06/index.htm>

  Thanks, Jim
  -------------------------------------------
  Jim Green
  Friends of the Earth / Beyond Nuclear Initiative
  Ph 0417 318368
  jim.green at foe.org.au

  ------------------->

  Letter from Ric Johnstone:
  National President
  Australian Nuclear Veterans Association


  It is the opinion of the Australian Nuclear Veterans Association that the provisions of the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Weapons Tests (Treatment) Bill 2006 do not go far enough in extending adequate compensation coverage and support to Australian Tests Participants (Nuclear Veterans) of the British Nuclear weapons Tests in Australia.

  It is our sincere opinion that full coverage under the Veterans Entitlement Act should be extended to all of those military personnel who are bona fide British Nuclear Weapons Tests participants and whose names appear in the Government’s nominal roll, and to those civilians who were fully employed by the Federal Government and were present during the actual tests or may have been involved in the cleanup period after the actual tests.

  The general difference between Military and Civilian participants is that civilian participants where only involved if they wanted to be and earned extremely high wages and bonuses, they could leave at any time that conditions were not to their liking.

  Military personnel on the other hand were there because they were ordered to be there and had no say in the matter; they were all forced to sign the Secrecy Act. And they came under military law as well as civilian law.

  Most of the civilians whose names appear on the nominal roll had left the test site before any tests were carried out and were put on the nominal roll purely to water down any tests or studies that would follow.

  It is our opinion that military nuclear tests participants (Nuclear Veterans) should be allowed full qualifying service under the Veterans entitlement Act. or at the very least, immediate full implementation of the Clarke Committee’s Recommendations.

  ------------------->

  Media Release
  ALAN GRIFFIN MP
  Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
  BILLSON BACKFLIPS ON HIS SUPPORT FOR NUCLEAR VETERANS

  The Minister for Veterans Affairs, Bruce Billson MP, has reneged on his support for Australian Nuclear Veterans.
  Mr Billson, in a submission to the independent Clarke Review into Veterans Entitlements in 2002, argued for Nuclear Veterans’ service to be declared non-warlike hazardous service.  
  In its final findings the Clarke review supported this position recommending that:
  "participation by Australian Defence Force personnel in the British atomic tests be declared non-warlike hazardous and the legislation be amended to ensure that this declaration can have effect in extending VEA coverage"
  The House of Representatives has today considered the Government’s response to the issues relating to Nuclear Veterans in the Australian Participants in the British Nuclear Test Bills. The Bills give effect to the Government’s decision to provide no-liability treatment of cancers to Australian participants in the tests. 
  The Bills do not implement the Clarke Recommendation to declare the Nuclear Veterans’ service as non-warlike hazardous service. 
  This means that the Nuclear Veterans are not given the chance to apply for a disability pension for war related injuries. It also means their widows cannot apply for a pension when the Veteran has died of his war injuries. 
  This was what the Clarke Review recommended, and this was what the Minister had previously supported. 
  The Nuclear Veterans understandably feel betrayed.
  Labor supports the measures contained in this bill for all participants, military and civilian. However, it questions whether the Bill has gone far enough for Veterans given the Clarke Recommendations on this issue.
  Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, questions why the Minister is avoiding the opportunity to fix what he himself described as “unfair” and “disappointing” treatment of Australian Nuclear Veterans.
  “Is this just another example of the Howard Government being strong on rhetoric when it comes to its treatment of the Veterans’ community, yet weak on action?” Mr Griffin said.
  “This is unfortunately yet another example of the Howard Government ignoring the recommendations of its own independent reviews that were conducted at great taxpayer expense”.
  11 October 2006


  -------------------------------------------
  Jim Green B.Med.Sci. (Hons.) PhD
  National nuclear campaigner - Friends of the Earth
  Ph 0417 318 368
  jim.green at foe.org.au








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