PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr McCORMACK (Riverina) (19:11): I too acknowledge the number of Pacific Islanders in our midst and thank you for your attendance. I also acknowledge the member for Macquarie and her motion before the Federation Chamber. Her motion notes, among many things, the 80th anniversary of the start of nuclear weapons testing in the Blue Pacific.

It is a beautiful part of the world. I was proud to be the shadow minister for the Pacific, as well as international development, in the last term of parliament. A number of meetings were conducted during that time, at which the topic of nuclear testing many decades ago was raised.

You only have to look at the situation with Runit Island, one of 40 islands in the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. As the member for Macquarie has said, there was nuclear testing there between 1946 and 1958. Interestingly, worryingly and disturbingly, in 1982—it's really not that long ago; within a lifetime or so—a United States government taskforce raised concern about a probable breach if a severe typhoon were to hit the island.

In 2013, a report by the US Department of Energy found that the concrete dome, which measures 115 metres in diameter and 46 centimetres in thickness at sea level—which is not a lot—encapsulates an estimated 73,000 cubic metres of radioactive debris, including some plutonium-239. We spend so much money in the world on weapons and on defence. When you look at the situation there in the beautiful Marshall Islands, you have to wonder why it is not being cleaned up.

We wouldn't have a situation in Iran at the moment if nuclear weapons weren't being tested. This motion, as the member for Macquarie says, gives solemn acknowledgement of the harmful and enduring environmental, cultural and health consequences of cumulative historical nuclear testing in the region. Of course, it wasn't just the United States; it was the British and it was the French as well.

We know that. Sadly—unfortunately—Pacific Islanders and their beautiful region were used as a testing ground, and the effects are still being felt. It is up to those who did the testing to clean up their mess.

I know there's been a lot said about the AUKUS agreement. Obviously, Australia is going down the path of nuclear submarines. I know successive governments have said that nuclear weapons aren't part of that, but it does use nuclear technology.

I know there's a debate as to whether we should use nuclear energy, and I certainly think we should have a wide range of energy mixes. But this particular motion at this particular time is acknowledging an anniversary. I appreciate you could argue that things 80 years ago were different from what they are now, but one only has to remember what happened and the situation in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945.

They knew, certainly. You look at the dome and the amount of explosive force from the testing in the Marshall Islands, primarily at the Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll. The testing totalled 108 megatonnes of explosive force, the equivalent of dropping an Hiroshima sized bomb every single day for 20 years.

That's a lot; it's too much. The manifestation and the effects of that are still being felt. I only need to look at those opposite to know that you are still feeling this.

I appreciate it. I acknowledge where you are coming from, and I also, again, recognise this very important motion, brought on about this very important anniversary.