Aboriginals in A-test zone — newspaper

Press, 28 May 1984, Page 10

Aboriginals in A-test zone — newspaper

NZPA-AAP Canberra Aboriginals had been in prohibited areas during and after the Maralinga and Emu atomic weapons tests during the 1950 s in South Australia, the “Canberra Times” reports, citing Department of Defence documents. A report in the “Canberra Times” yesterday said that the papers of native patrol officers, never before made public, had put the lie to the assertion that all Aboriginals had been “rounded up” and kept out of the danger zone. The newspaper said that the geography of the region and nomadic life-style of the Aboriginals had made it almost impossible to account for and control the movements of all people. In addition there had been only two native patrol officers with the specific task of covering tens of thousands of square kilo-

metres to ensure that Aboriginals were not in the test area. The “Canberra Times” said that the documents, dating from the mid-1950s to the mid-19605, had many times indicated the presence of Aboriginals in the Maralinga prohibited area. Before the first atomic test at Maralinga, on September 27, 1956, and three years after the two tests at Emu, the Department of Supply’s chief scientist, Mr W. A. S. Butement, had written on March 14, 1956, that reserve Aboriginals north of Maralinga, “will from time to time be subjected to some fall-out, but it will in no circumstances reach a level which could endanger health.” “This will be ensured by the health controller at the range for each test,” he said. Mr Butement said that Aboriginals were “quite

safe” if they stayed within the confines of the reserve. But “if they should wander very far to the south outside the reserve, some harm might result.” The last of the seven Maralinga tests took place on October 9, 1957. Nine months later a native patrol officer, Mr R. Macaulay, wrote, “There are natives living in the fringe of the Maralinga prohibited zone and in the zone itself. “Natives travel through the area and reach a point at least half-way between the border and the forward area. “This constitutes a safety factor and leaves the department open to newsBjr criticism that it taked inadequate safety precautions, lacks responsibilities towards natives, and is careless and indifferent Jo their physical plight and health,” he was quoted as saying.