Nuclear weapons testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear power have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–1973 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–1977 debate about uranium mining in Australia.Green, Jim (26 August 1998). Australia's anti-nuclear movement: a short history Green Left Online. Retrieved 15 December 2010.Koutsoukis, Jason (25 November 2007). Rudd romps to historic win The Age. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

Several groups specifically concerned with nuclear issues were established in the mid-1970s, including the Movement Against Uranium Mining and Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (CANE), cooperating with other environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and the Australian Conservation Foundation.McLeod, Roy (1995). "Resistance to Nuclear Technology: Optimists, Opportunists and Opposition in Australian Nuclear History" in Martin Bauer (ed) Resistance to New Technology, Cambridge University Press, pp. 171–173. The movement suffered a setback in 1983 when the newly elected Labor Government failed to implement its stated policy of stopping uranium mining.Friends of the Earth (Canberra) (January 1984). Strategy against nuclear power But by the late 1980s, the price of uranium had fallen, the costs of nuclear power had risen, and the anti-nuclear movement seemed to have won its case; CANE was disbanded in 1988.McLeod, Roy (1995). "Resistance to Nuclear Technology: Optimists, Opportunists and Opposition in Australian Nuclear History" in Martin Bauer (ed) Resistance to New Technology, Cambridge University Press, pp. 175–177.

As of 2015, Australia has no nuclear power stations and five uranium mines, four of which are located in South Australia. Olympic Dam (Roxby Downs) is a large underground mine, Beverley, Four Mile and Honeymoon are in-situ leach mines and Ranger is an open pit mine in the Northern Territory.Work begins on Honeymoon uranium mine (24 April 2009), ABC News. Retrieved 15 December 2010. As of 2021 only two mines are operating (Olympic Dam and Four Mile) following the closure of Beverley and Ranger and the placement of Honeymoon into care-and-maintenance. Uranium mined in Australia is mainly for export. Australia has no nuclear weapons or nuclear-powered vessels.

History

1950s and 1960s

In 1952 the Australian Government established the Rum Jungle Uranium Mine south of Darwin. Local Aboriginal communities were not consulted to the extent of a formal treaty or agreement about mining and the mine site became an emblem for environmental disaster, with a small area of disturbance easily repaired and remedied.

Also in 1952, the Liberal Government passed legislation, the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952, which allowed the British Government access to remote parts of Australia to undertake atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. The general public were largely unaware of the risks from the testing program, stemming from official secrecy about the testing program and the remote locations of the test sites.Australian Government. A toxic legacy: British nuclear weapons testing in Australia . But as the "Ban the Bomb" movement gathered momentum in Western societies throughout the 1950s, so too did opposition to the British tests in Australia. An opinion poll taken in 1957 showed 49 per cent of the Australian public were opposed to the tests and only 39 per cent in favour.

In 1963, Australia was one of the first signatories to a Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty."Treaty banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water ATS 26 of 1963" . Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017. In 1964, very small Peace Marches which featured "Ban the bomb" placards, were held in several Australian capital cities.Women with Ban the Bomb banner during Peace march on Sunday 5 April 1964, Brisbane, Australia Retrieved 15 December 2010.Girl with placard Ban nuclear tests during Peace march on Sunday 5 April 1964, Brisbane, Australia Retrieved 15 December 2010.

In 1969, a 500 MW nuclear power plant was proposed for the Jervis Bay Territory, south of Sydney. A local opposition campaign began, and the South Coast Trades and Labour Council (covering workers in the region) announced that it would refuse to build the reactor.Falk, Jim (1982). Global Fission:The Battle Over Nuclear Power, p. 260. Some environmental studies and site works were completed, and two rounds of tenders were called and evaluated, but in 1971 the Australian government decided not to proceed with the project, citing economic reasons.'Gorton gave nod to nuclear power plant', (1 January 2000), The Age.

1970s The Ranger uranium deposits were first discovered by a joint venture between Peko-Wallsend and Electrolytic Zinc Corporation, by airborne survey radiometric signals in October 1969. Remoteness and difficult terrain set the pace of ground investigation, but by about 1972 there was confidence that the Northern Territory of Australia hosted the largest and richest uranium deposits then known to the world.

The 1972–73 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific mobilised several groups, including some trade unions. In 1972 the International Court of Justice in a case launched by Australia and New Zealand, and advocated by Dr Helen Caldicott, ordered that the French cease atmospheric nuclear testing at Mururoa atoll.Dewes, Kate and Green, Robert (1999). Aotera/ New Zealand at the World Court The Raven Press, pp. 11–15. In 1973 Australia's concerns saw it as a champion and an early adopter of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,“Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons . ATS 3 of 1973” . Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017. and around this time, the Government ratified the Seabed Arms Control Treaty.“Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof . ATS 4 of 1973” . Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017. Shortly after this, the Government negotiated with the International Atomic Energy Agency to put in safeguards to ensure Australia could mine and export nuclear material but not breach the intent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty."Agreement between Australia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1 July 1968 ATS 16 of 1974 " . Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017.

In 1974 and 1975 concern came to focus on uranium mining in Australia and several Friends of the Earth groups were formed. The Australian Conservation Foundation also began voicing concern about uranium mining and supporting the activities of the grass-roots organisations. Concern about the environmental effects of uranium mining was a significant factor and poor management of waste at an early uranium mine, Rum Jungle, led it to become a significant pollution problem in the 1970s. The Australian anti-nuclear movement also acquired initial impetus from notable individuals who publicly voiced nuclear concerns, such as nuclear scientists Richard Temple and Rob Robotham, and poets Dorothy Green and Judith Wright.Martin, Brian (Summer 1982). The Australian anti-uranium movement Alternatives: Perspectives on Society and Environment, Volume 10, Number 4, pp. 26–35. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

In 1975, Moss Cass, Minister for the Environment and Conservation, led parliamentarians and ALP branch members in expressing concerns about the effects of uranium mining. A key concern was the adverse effect that uranium mining would have on the northern Aboriginal people. Cass said: "nuclear energy creates the most dangerous, insidious and persistent waste products, ever experienced on the planet".Jim Falk (1982). Global Fission: The Battle Over Nuclear Power, Oxford University Press, pp. 258-259.

The years 1976 and 1977 saw uranium mining become a major political issue, with the Ranger Inquiry (Fox) report opening up a public debate about uranium mining.Bauer, Martin (ed) (1995). Resistance to New Technology, Cambridge University Press, p. 173. Several groups specifically concerned with nuclear issues were established, including the Movement Against Uranium Mining (founded in 1976) and Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (formed in South Australia in 1976), cooperating with other environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth (which came to Australia in 1975) and the Australian Conservation Foundation (formed in 1975).Hutton, Drew and Connors, Libby (1999). A History of the Australian Environmental Movement, Cambridge University Press.

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.Falk, Jim (1982). Global Fission:The Battle Over Nuclear Power, pp. 264–5. 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.Cawte, Alice (1992). Atomic Australia 1944–1990, New South Wales University Press, p. 156. During 1977 environmentalists also disrupted the loading of yellowcake for export at Sydney's Glebe Island container terminal.

In 1977, the National Conference of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) passed a motion in favour of an indefinite moratorium on uranium mining, and the anti-nuclear movement acted to support the Labor Party and help it regain office. However, a setback for the movement occurred in 1982 when another ALP conference overturned its anti-uranium policy in favour of a "one mine policy". After the ALP won power in 1983, its 1984 National Conference voted in favour of a "Three mine policy".Burgmann, Verity (2003). Power, Profit and Protest pp. 174–175. Retrieved 15 December 2010. This referred to the then three existing uranium mines in Australia, Nabarlek, Ranger and Roxby Downs/Olympic Dam, and articulated ALP support for pre-existing mines and contracts, but opposition to any new mining.Evans, Chris (23 March 2007). Labor & uranium: an evolution, Labor E-herald.

In 1977–78, the Government of Western Australia, under the leadership of Charles Court, announced plans for a nuclear power reactor near Perth. 1977 was seen as the year of mass mobilization in Western Australia, with 300 at the first anti-nuclear demonstration to 9,000 at the third protest in the inner city of Perth. Despite public protest, the Government of Western Australia selected a first site for a nuclear reactor in 1979 at Wilbinga, north of Perth. Court predicted that at least another 20 nuclear power plants would be needed by the end of the century to meet rapidly growing power demand, but all of this never eventuated.

From the late 1970s, a number of agreements were signed enabling the potential peaceful export (and import) of nuclear material: In July 1978 with Finland“Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of Finland concerning the Transfer of Nuclear Material between Australia and Finland. ATS 4 of 1980” . Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017.