page_title: Anti-nuclear protests
section_title: Australia and the Pacific
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-nuclear protests / Australia and the Pacific
caption_attribution_description: English: Dr Jim Green from FoE at Melbourne Vigil for Japan talking on the nuclear crisis. Melbourne Vigil forthe people of Japan suffering the effects of the Magnitude 9.0 Earthquake, Tsunamis, and an escalating nuclear crisis. The vigil was held at the old GPO in Bourke Street Mall on March 17, 2011. The candlelight vigil was to honour the victims of this terrible tragedy, and to show concern for the safety of those exposed to radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The vigil was organised by the Medical Association for the prevention of war, the International Campaign to Abolish nuclear Weapons, and Japanese for Peace. (original text)
context_page_description: Anti-nuclear protests began on a small scale in the U.S. as early as 1946 in response to Operation Crossroads. Large scale anti-nuclear protests first emerged in the mid-1950s in Japan in the wake of the March 1954 Lucky Dragon Incident. August 1955 saw the first meeting of the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, which had around 3,000 participants from Japan and other nations. Protests began in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the United Kingdom, the first Aldermaston March, organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, took place in 1958. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, about 50,000 women brought together by Women Strike for Peace marched in 60 cities in the United States to demonstrate against nuclear weapons. In 1964, Peace Marches in several Australian capital cities featured "Ban the Bomb" placards.
  Nuclear power became an issue of major public protest in the 1970s and demonstrations in France and West Germany began in 1971. In France, between 1975 and 1977, some 175,000 people protested against nuclear power in ten demonstrations.
context_section_description: .
  In 1964, Peace Marches which featured "Ban the bomb" placards, were held in several Australian capital cities.
  In 1972, the anti-nuclear weapons movement maintained a presence in the Pacific, largely in response to French nuclear testing there. Activists, including David McTaggart from Greenpeace, defied the French government by sailing small vessels into the test zone and interrupting the testing program. In Australia, thousands joined protest marches in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney. Scientists issued statements demanding an end to the tests; unions refused to load French ships, service French planes, or carry French mail; and consumers boycotted French products. In Fiji, activists formed an Against Testing on Mururoa organization.
  In November and December 1976, 7,000 people marched through the streets of Australian cities, protesting against uranium mining. The Uranium Moratorium group was formed and it called for a five-year moratorium on uranium mining.  In April 1977 the first national demonstration co-ordinated by the Uranium Moratorium brought around 15,000 demonstrators into the streets of Melbourne, 5,000 in Sydney, and smaller numbers elsewhere. A National signature campaign attracted over 250,000 signatures calling for a five-year moratorium.  In August, another demonstration brought 50,000 people out nationally and the opposition to uranium mining looked like a potential political force.
  On Palm Sunday 1982, an estimated 100,000 Australians participated in anti-nuclear rallies in the nation's largest cities. Growing year by year, the rallies drew 350,000 participants in 1985. The movement focused on halting Australia's uranium mining and exports, abolishing nuclear weapons, removing foreign military bases from Australia's soil, and creating a nuclear-free Pacific.
  On Dec 17th 2001, 46 Greenpeace activists occupied the Lucas Heights facility to protest the construction of a second research reactor. Protestors gained access to the grounds, the HIFAR reactor, the high-level radioactive waste store and the radio tower. Their protest highlighted the security and environmental risks of the production of nuclear materials and the shipment of radioactive waste from the facility.
  In March 2012, hundreds of anti-nuclear demonstrators converged on the Australian headquarters of global mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to mark one year since the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The 500-strong march through southern Melbourne called for an end to uranium mining in Australia. There were also events in Sydney, and in Melbourne the protest included speeches and performances by representatives of the expatriate Japanese community as well as Australia's Indigenous communities, who are worried about the effects of uranium mining near tribal lands.
caption: Australian anti-nuclear campaigner Jim Green at Melbourne's GPO in March 2011
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