McClelland Royal Commission

The McClelland Royal Commission or Royal Commission into British nuclear tests in Australia was an inquiry by the Australian government in 1984-1985 to investigate the conduct of the British in its use, with the then Australian government's permission, of Australian territory and soldiers for testing nuclear weapons. It was chaired by Jim McClelland.

The Royal Commission into nuclear tests was told that 30 badly leaking drums of radio-active waste were dumped off the West Australian coast. The Commission was also told that acting Prime Minister Arthur Fadden had sent a message to the British PM asking "What the bloody hell is going on, the cloud is drifting over the mainland?".^[1] A CSIRO scientist is making use of the thin blanket of radioactive caesium-137 laid over Australia from atmospheric nuclear tests to measure soil erosion.^[2]

The McClelland Royal Commission was told that one hundred Aborigines walked barefoot over nuclear-contaminated ground because boots they had been given didn't fit.^[3] The 1953 British nuclear test that allegedly caused 'black mist' phenomenon in South Australia should not have been fired and the fallout was about three times more than forecast, according to a scientist who was involved in the tests.^[4]^[5]

A house built less than 200 metres from an area mined for mineral sands 25 years ago is still contaminated from mineral-sands tailings which are dangerously radioactive.^[6] According to a special report on an investigation of residual radio-active contamination, about 100,000 dangerous metal fragments contaminated with Plutonium still litter the Maralinga atomic test range - 25 years after the atomic tests which caused them.^[7]

A mechanical engineer has told the McClelland Royal Commission on British nuclear weapons tests in Australia, that geiger counter readings of the fallout levels near Marble Bar were "off-the-scale".^[8]^[9]

The report's approach and conclusions apparently differed from the British Government's official history, based on official British records, by Lorna Arnold.^[10] This report emphasised the partnership between the two nations, and noted that the approach taken towards safety was to international standards of the time and had contrasted with the historic disregard of Australian authorities toward the welfare of Indigenous people. Some observers have noted that both reports were framed in the politics of the time: Britain wished to minimise its responsibility, while the Australian government of Bob Hawke wished to implicate their political opponents alongside the British, and have suggested that the timeline of the enquiry was chosen so as not to implicate earlier Labor governments.^[11]

Reference in Film

The Royal Commission formed part of the plot of the film Ground Zero (1987), starring Colin Friels and Jack Thompson.

References

↑ The Age, The West Australian 5/1/85 The Sunday Times 6/1/85
↑ The West Australian, The Age 7 January 1985
↑ Daily News 5/2/85, The West Australian, The Age 6/2/85
↑ The Age, 13/2/1985
↑ The West Australian, 13/2/1985
↑ The West Australian, 8/4/1985
↑ The West Australian, 26/4/1985
↑ The West Australian, 6/8/1985
↑ The Age, 6/8/1985
↑ Arnold, Lorna (1987). A Very Special Relationship: British Atomic Weapons Trials in Australia. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-772412-2.
↑ Michel, Dieter. "Villains, Victims and Heroes: Contested Memory and the British Nuclear Tests in Australia". API Network.

Royal Commissions of the Commonwealth of Australia

1901–1920

1901–1910

1901–1905

to inquire into and report upon the arrangements made for the transport of troops returning from service in South Africa in the S.S. "Drayton Grange" (1902)
on sites for the seat of government of the Commonwealth (1903)
on the Bonuses for Manufactures Bill (1903–1904)
on the butter industry (1904–1905)
on the Navigation Bill (1904–1906)
on the affray at Goaribari Island, British New Guinea, on the 6th of March, 1904 (1904)
on customs and excise tariffs (1904–1907)
on old-age pensions (1905–1906)
on the tobacco monopoly (1905–1906)

1906–1910

on ocean shipping service (1906)
British New Guinea—Royal Commission of inquiry into the present conditions, including the method of government, of the Territory of Papua, and the best means of their improvement (1906–1907)
on secret drugs, cures, and foods (1906–1907)
on postal services (1908–1910)
on insurance (1908–1910)
on stripper harvesters and drills (1908–1909)
on Tasmanian customs leakage (1910–1911)

1911–1920

1911–1912	on the sugar industry (1911–1912) on the pearl-shelling industry (1912–1916) on the fruit industry (1912–1914)
1913–1914	to inquire into certain charges against Mr. Henry Chinn (1913) on Northern Territory railways and ports (1913–1914) on powellised timber (1913–1914) upon the Commonwealth electoral law and administration (1914–1915) on meat export trade (1914) on food supplies and trade and industry during the war (1914)
1915–1916	on mail services and trade development between Australia and the New Hebrides (1915) on Liverpool Military Camp, New South Wales (1915) on the charges made by D. L. Gilchrist concerning the construction of the western section of the Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta Railway (1916) to inquire into and report upon certain charges against the Administrator and other officers of the Northern Territory Administration (1916) on Federal Capital Administration (1916–1917)
1917–1918	on Java and the East Indies, Singapore and the Straits Settlements (1917–1918) on Navy and Defence Administration (1917–1919) on the war—Australian Imperial Force. Report as to number of members fit for active service and number of reinforcements and enlistments required (1918) on Public Service administration, Commonwealth of Australia (1918–1920) upon the public expenditure of the Commonwealth of Australia with a view to effecting economies (1918–1921) on taxation of leasehold estates in Crown lands (1918–1919) on the basic wage (1919–1920)
1919–1920	on the sugar industry (1919–1920) on industrial troubles on Melbourne wharfs (1919–1920) on late German New Guinea (1919–1920) to inquire into complaints by the munition worker passengers to Australia by the transport "Bahia Castillo" (1919) on Northern Territory Administration (1919–1920) on taxation (1920–1923) on the increase of the selling price of coal (1920)

1921–1940

1921–1930

1921–1922	on the matter of uniform railway gauge (1921) on pillaging of ships' cargoes (1921) on Cockatoo Island Dockyard (1921) upon the loyalty to the British Crown of German Nationals resident in Australia whose property is liable to a charge created by the Treaty of Peace Regulations made under the Treaty of Peace (Germany) Act 1919–1920 (1921)
1923–1924	on the circumstances attending the supposed loss at sea of the steamship "Sumatra" (1923) in connection with sugar purchases by the Commonwealth through Mr. W. E. Davies in September and October, 1920 (1923–1924) in connection with joinery supplied to the War Service Homes Commissioner in March, 1920 (1923–1924) on the Navigation Act (1923–1925) on national insurance (1923–1927) on the method for determining the unimproved value of land held under Crown leases (1924–1925) on the assessment of war service disabilities (1924–1925) to inquire into extracts from the reports in Parliamentary Debates of speeches made by Mr. Scullin in the House of Representatives on 7 and 19 August 1924, in relation to land tax matters (1924–1925) on the finances of Western Australia, as affected by Federation (1924–1925)
1925–1926	on health (1925–1926) on Norfolk Island affairs (1926) on certain matters in connexion with the British Phosphate Commission (1926)
1927–1928	on wireless (1927) on the Edie Creek (New Guinea) leases (1927) on the Moving Picture Industry in Australia (1927–1928) on the Constitution (Australia)
1929–1930	on the coal industry (1929) to inquire into allegations affecting members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee of Public Accounts in connexion with claims made by broadcasting companies against the Commonwealth Government (1930)

1931–1940

1931–1935

on Jacob Johnson (1931)
on performing rights (1932–1933)
on taxation (1932–1934)
on mineral oils and petrol and other products of mineral oils (1933–1935)
on the wheat, flour and bread industries (1934–1936)
to inquire into and report upon the circumstances associated with the retirement of Lieutenant-Commander Alan Dermot Casey from the Royal Australian Navy (1934)
to inquire into the monetary and banking systems at present in operation in Australia (1935–1937)

1936–1940

on doctors' remuneration for national insurance service and other contract practice (1938)
regarding the contract for the erection of additions to the General Post Office, Sydney (1939)

1941–1960

1941–1950

to inquire into and report upon the contract or contracts with Abbco Bread Co. Pty. Limited for the supply of bread to the Department of the Army, and other matters (1941)
to inquire into circumstances under which certain public monies were used and to whom, and for what purposes such moneys were paid (1941)
an inquiry into a statement that there was a document missing from the official files in relation to "The Brisbane Line" (1943)
to inquire into and report upon certain transactions of the Sydney Land Sales Control Office, and the Canberra Land Sales Control Office of the Treasury (1947)
to inquire into certain transactions in relation to timber rights in the Territory of Papua-New Guinea (1949)

1951–1960

on the Port Augusta to Alice Springs Railway (1951–1952)
on television (1953–1954)
on espionage (1954–1955)

1961–1980

1961–1970

on alleged improper practices and improper refusal to co-operate with the Victoria Police Force on the part of persons employed in the Postmaster-General's Department in Victoria in relation to illegal gambling (1962–1963)
on loss of HMAS Voyager (1964)
on the statement of Lieutenant Commander Cabban and matters incidental thereto (1967–1968)
into exploratory and production drilling for petroleum in the area of the Great Barrier Reef (1970–1975)

1971–1980

1971–1975

Aboriginal Land Rights Commission (1973–1974)
Australian Post Office Commission of inquiry (1973–1974)
of Inquiry into land tenures (1973–1976)
on petroleum (1973–1976)
of Inquiry into the maritime industry (1973–1976)
Independent Inquiry into Frequency Modulation Broadcasting (1973–1974)
of Inquiry into transport to and from Tasmania (1974–1976)
on Australian Government Administration (1974–1976)
on human relationships (1974–1978)
on intelligence and security (1974–1977)
into alleged payments to maritime unions (1974–1976)
to inquire into and report upon certain incidents in which Aborigines were involved in the Laverton area (1975–1976)
on Norfolk Island (1975–1976)

1975–1980

of Inquiry into drugs (1977–1980)
of Inquiry into matters in relation to electoral redistribution Queensland, 1977 (1978)
of Inquiry into the efficiency and administration of hospitals (1979–1981)
of Inquiry into the viability of the Christmas Island phosphate industry (1979–1980)
on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (1980–1984)

1981–2000

1981–1990

1981–1985

of Inquiry into Drug Trafficking (1981–1983)
into the activities of the Australian Building Construction Employees' and Builders Labourers' Federation (1981–1982)
into Australian meat industry (1981–1982)
of Inquiry into the activities of the Nugan Hand Group (1983–1985)
on the use and effects of chemical agents on Australian personnel in Vietnam (1983–1985)
on Australia's security and intelligence agencies (1983–1985)
of Inquiry into compensation arising from social security conspiracy prosecutions (1984–1986)
into British nuclear tests in Australia (1984–1985)
of inquiry into alleged telephone interceptions (1985–1986)

1986–1990

of inquiry into Chamberlain convictions (1986–1987)
into grain storage, handling and transport (1986–1988)
into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1987–1991)

1991–2000

of Inquiry into the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (1994–1995)
of Inquiry into the leasing by the Commonwealth of accommodation in Centenary House (1994)
of Inquiry into the relations between the CAA and Seaview Air (1994–1996)

2001–present

2001–2010	into HIH Insurance (2001–2003) into the Building and Construction Industry (2001–2003) to Inquire into the Centenary House Lease (2004) Inquiry into certain Australian companies in relation to the UN Oil-For-Food Programme (2005–2006) Equine Influenza Inquiry (2008)
2011–present	into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013–present) into the Home Insulation Program (2013–2014) into trade union governance and corruption (2014–2015) into the Detention of Children in the Northern Territory (2016-present)

Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth)

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McClelland Royal Commission

Reference in Film

See also

References