Radioactive Show

In this week's episode Johan interviews Diné anti-uranium and land protector Leona Morgan. Leona organizes with Haul No! An indigenous-led group collaborating with Indigenous communities and leaders, environmental orgs and community based advocates to stop nuclear colonialism in the SouthWest. Over the next few weeks, Leona will share with us about her people’s continued struggle against the colonial project of the United States, uranium extraction and the intergenerational legacies of harm and ill-health as well as resistance. Leona will also share dreaming for indigenous futurity and a world beyond radioactive racism. Today we will hear Leona talking about the divide and conquer tactics of the colonial project specific to Turtle Island including the 1887 Dawes Act. To support the work of Haul No! or to find out more we encourage our listeners to visit https://haulno.com/ or follow them on instagram @haul_no.

Earlier this year it was revealed that the Federal Government will use taxpayers’ money to fund a $917 million contract with Elbit Systems – Israel’s largest privately-owned arms company.  Today we're joined by organiser with the Elbit Out of Victoria campaign Nat to take a close look at just one of the military partnerships the Australian Government is using our money to fund, the various ways that these relationships are enabled and the influence they have on our community locally and globally.We open the program with an excerpt of independent political analyst Hashmat Moslih, speaking at the ‘Your Taxes Fund Weapons’ Community Forum held at the Coburg Town Hall on 29 October and you can watch the full presentation on the Renegade Activists you tube channel.Elbit produces numerous weapons, is a key research and development partner to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and Elbit surveillance technology and military equipment is used to maintain Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip. Elbit markets its weapons systems, including drones, as “battle-proven”, meaning that they have been used against Palestinians living under Israel’s deadly military occupation. The company has been involved in many controversial arms deals, and has been previously banned for producing illegal weapons such as cluster munitions and white phosphorous. Elbit systems also supplies weapons to the Myanmar Junta to attack the Rohingya and the Indonesian military to oppress the West Papuan population, among others.  In 2021 the Australian Defence force began stripping Elbit systems out of their equipment due to serious security risks they believed the systems posed.  There have been many successful Boycott Divestment and Sanction campaigns against Elbit:  the Royal Flying Doctor Service rejected Elbit’s tender for flight training equipment following a campaign by Palestinian supporters, including BDS Australia in 2017; HSBC and AXA Investment Managers divested from Elbit in 2018 due to its involvement in the production of cluster munitions and white phosphorus shells; the City of Liverpool in the UK cancelled the 2020 Elbit-sponsored Electronic Warfare Europe arms fair after a campaign of 40,000 emails protesting at the city’s involvement; and the 2021 arms fair in Seville, Spain, was cancelled by the City Council, also on ethical grounds. Japanese trading giant Itochu Corp’s aviation arm announced in February that it was suspending all work with Elbit “Taking into consideration the International Court of Justice’s order on January 26, and that the Japanese government supports the role of the court".Links & Events:Music on the show is 'First Casualty' by Pataphysics from his 2017 album Tip of the Spear. Pataphysics will be joining an epic line up of guests to play at the 'Stop Genocide' humanitarian fundraiser to raise funds for Sovereign grassroots activists so they can keep up the fight to stop genocide here and globally, at Miscellania, 401 Swanston St on Sunday 3 November from 2pm - 1am.Sunday 3 November at 10.30am there’s the 'Rally for Native Forests' organised by the Bob Brown foundation and in Naarm it starts at Princes Park.The weekly Rally for Palestine is at midday at the State Library.There’s a fire ceremony at Camp Sovereignty at 2pm with Djuran Bunjileenee Robbie Thorpe.Don't Nuke the Climate invites you to attend our online session on 'Defeating Dutton’s Nuclear Power Plans / Federal Parliamentary Inquiry' this coming Wednesday November 6.To learn more about the inquiry and to make a submission: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Select_Committee_on_Nuclear_Energy/NuclearpowerThese notes might be helpful in making your submission: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/friendsofearthmelbourne/pages/9246/attachments/original/1730077881/2024_federal__nuclear_power_inquiry_notes.pdf?1730077881If you don’t have time to make your own submission, please take a minute to sign this pro-forma submission: https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/nuclear_power_submission_2024

To discuss the latest governmental inquiry into nuclear power for Australia, first up we'll hear from Dr.Jim Green Friends of the Earth's Anti-nuclear campaigner.  Followed by Wendy Farmer, President of Voices of the Valley, a community advocacy group that formed during the catastrophic 2014 Hazelwood brown coal mine fire in Victoria with the aim of dealing with the impacts of the coal industry on their community and planning what the community would look like as they transition away from coal. She is also Gippsland organiser with Yes to Renewables - Friends of the Earth's campaign for 100% renewable energy, climate jobs, and strong communities.On 19th June Opposition Leader Peter Dutton revealed the details of his pledge to build nuclear reactors in Australia with public funding under a government-owned business model. The Coalition plans would see seven nuclear plants be built at the sites of former coal power plants: Lithgow and the Hunter Valley in NSW, Loy Yang in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Tarong and Callide in Queensland, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.In response Prime Minister Anthony Albanese established The House Select Committee on Nuclear Energy on 10 October 2024 to inquire into and report on the consideration of nuclear power generation, including deployment of small modular reactors, in Australia.The House Select Committee on Nuclear Energy is seeking submissions by Friday, 15 November 2024. The Committee will consider late submissions. If you are unable to submit by the above date, please advise the secretariat of your intention to submit and the date on which you plan to provide your submission.Friends of the Earth Melbourne have prepared information to support you making a submission.The International Energy Agency's renewables market report.

Today we continue looking at the AUKUS military pact and in particular the tightening of the relationship between Australia and US military operations.As Vince Scappatura points out in his article 'Australia’s evolving nuclear posture: avoiding a fait accompli' published in Pearls and Irritations on the 12 October "AUKUS epitomises Australia’s geostrategic transformation and evolving nuclear posture within the US alliance. The significance of this transformation is reflected in the fact that Australia will soon become ‘the only ally in the world to host and support military operations by forward-deployed US strategic bombers and SSN attack submarines’. This comes in addition to hosting mature US expeditionary Marine capabilities and a more recent rotational presence of US Army personnel and permanent associated support infrastructure.  Perhaps more significant than providing a ‘vast military launchpad’ for multiple forms of US power projection is the developing role of the ADF to seamlessly integrate with American military forces and to provide what is approaching full-spectrum support operations, including for nuclear missions."Countering this was a focus of the recent Independent and Peaceful Australia Network 2024 Conference 'Sleepwalking into war?' We hear Dr Lisa Natividad from Guam where the US has both airforce and naval bases speaking at a public meeting to open the conference at the Perth Library on Friday 4 October.  Lisa Natividad is a professor of social work and Chamoru Studies at the University of Guam. She is a founding member of the Pacific Indigenous Women’s Network and I Hagan Famalao’an Guahan.  She has been affiliated with the International Peace Bureau and the International Network of Women Against Militarism. We then catch up with long-time peace and anti-nuclear campaigner and former Independent Senator for Nuclear Disarmament Jo Vallentine to discuss the outcomes of the conference.You can read the conference decalaration here.

Today we hear from Whadjak Nyungar man Reverend Mitch Garlett and Senator Jordan Steele-John speaking at a Public Meeting at the Perth Library on October 4 that opened the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network's 2024 Conference called 'Sleeping Walking into War?"On Thursday 10th October the controversial Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Bills were rushed through parliament without debate after the Labour government secured last minute support from the Coalition to pass the legislation,  sidelining crossbenchers they had been in negotiations with. The Bills establish a nuclear safety framework for the AUKUS nuclear submarines, including a new Naval Nuclear Safety Regulator and transitional arrangements. A Senate Inquiry into the Bills recommended amendments to prevent high level nuclear waste from other countries from being stored in Australia. But while amendments to the bill partially addressed this by preventing storage of spent nuclear fuel, the reprocessed fuel from submarines, as well as any irradiated reactor parts, are still allowed to be stored here under the legislation that passed on Thursday.

Today we speak with Dr. Margie Beavis about the newly released report from the Quit Nukes campaign 'Risky Business: An Update on Super Funds and Nuclear Weapons'.  The campaign is a collaboration between the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The report shows that in 2023 fourteen major Australian superannuation funds invested $3.4 billion in the companies that produce the worst weapons of mass destruction.  We also speak with the QLD Convenor of the Independant and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) Annette Brownlie about the IPAN 2024 Conference 'Sleepwalking into war?'.  And we bring you a message from Kokatha representatives Aunty Sue Coleman-Haseldine and grandson Alex on the anniversary of the first Maralinga atomic tests on 27 September.

We reflect on a week of activities, presented by the Disrupt Land Forces 2024 coalition of organisations, in protest to the biggest weapons expo in the southern hemisphere that was held at the Melbourne Convention Centre from 11-14 September.  We hear a speech given by Walpiri elder Ned Hargraves Jampijinpa at the 'Vigil for Gaza:  Shared Voices in Solidarity' held in Batman Park on 12 September.  And Marisol Salinas, Mapuche organiser with the Latin American Solidarity Network, lets us know about the 'Tejiendo Rebeldias: Grassroots Movements and First Nations Solidarity Gathering' coming up from 17-20 October.

We're joined by Wage Peace organiser Margie Pestorius, long-time peace activist Lee Rhiannon and Walpiri elder Ned Hargraves Jampijinpa to talk about the Disrupt Land Forces Festival of Resistance.  We discuss the impacts of the military industrial complex on communities here and around the world, and the importance of coming together to work in solidarity to build a future of peace and justice for the world!

Today we speak with Dr. Vince Scappatura about the NUCLEAR-CAPABLE B-52H STRATOFORTRESS BOMBERS: A VISUAL GUIDE TO IDENTIFICATION that he has prepared alongside his colleague Richard Tanter.  You can learn more at the Nautilus Institute's website. Dr Vince Scappatura teaches Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University. His latest book is The US Lobby and Australian Defence Policy and he was a Panel Member for the Independent and Peaceful Australia Networks People's Inquiry (2020-2022).We also play a part of a presentation by long time Anti-nuclear campaigner David Noonan at an IPAN webinar on August 13 2024, entitled "Suboptimal: Understanding and contesting AUKUS and the domestic nuclear power push”.You can put in a submission to an inquiry underway by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCT) into AUKUS. Submissions to the inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCT) into AUKUS are being accepted until September 2, 2024.The Independent and Peaceful Australia network have created a submission template with key points for consideration, that should lessen the workload for anyone who can make a submission.Treaty Title: Agreement among the Government of Australia, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation Related to Naval Nuclear PropulsionMore details available here: https://www.aph.gov.au/jsct'Tips on making a submission' by IPAN.Final Submissions are to be lodged online Lodge my submission – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)If this is your first time submitting online to an inquiry you will need to create a My Parliament log in.For any queries: Email [email protected] also Making a submission to a committee inquiry – Parliament of Australia.See also Making a submission Summary of Guidelines.Here are some suggested concerns and matters to raise in your submission – use your own words as much as possible. And do not feel you have to comment on all of the 7 points listed in the ‘Points for Submission’ doc.For more info: Jonathan Pilbrow, Executive Officer 0403 611 815 [email protected]