Today's the 70th anniversary of the first British atomic test on the mainland of Australia, codenamed Totem 1. On 15 October 1953, the UK government – with the complicity and approval of Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies – sent radioactive fallout across the desert. THREAD Yami Lester was ten years old when Totem 1 was detonated at Emu Field on 15 October 1953. The isolated test site in the desert of South Australia was downwind from his home at Wallatinna, and he later spoke of the ‘puyu’ or black mist, as wind carried dust into his eyes.

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Operation Hurricane: the first atmospheric test of a British #nuclear weapon in Australia. A plutonium implosion device was detonated on 3 October 1952 in Main Bay, Trimouille Island, in the Monte Bello Islands off Western Australia. THREAD After the United States refused to let Britain use test sites in Nevada and Marshall Islands, the first UK atomic device was transported to Australia aboard HMS Plym. At Monte Bello the bomb was detonated inside the frigate, to simulate an enemy sailing a bomb into a British port

Launch at #SOTP22 of the first Pacific Attitudes Survey (PAS), conducted in Samoa. PAS gauged views of ordinary Samoans on questions related to democracy, economics, governance, tradition, climate change, social media and international relations.
openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/26… Lots of interesting findings on generational differences in political attitudes: Samoan respondents aged 21-29 were significantly less likely (57.9%) to agree that ‘democracy is always preferable to any other kind of government’ than respondents aged 30-59 (67.3%) or 60+ (68.8%).

Today is the anniversary of Britain's Grapple X nuclear test, a 1.8 megaton hydrogen bomb exploded on Christmas (Kiritimati) Island in 1957. Decades on, Britain still refuses to provide compensation and health care to the surviving Fijian, NZ and i-Kiribati participants. Thread… Three previous tests had been held at Malden Island, hundreds of miles to the south of the UK base on Kiritimati. In a hurry, Grapple X was conducted on the South East corner of Kiritimati, close to camps where hundreds of British, Fijian, NZ and Gilbertese personnel were living.

Former French Ambassador to the United Nations @GerardAraud highlights the current state of Franco-Anglosphere relations (made worse by the way that post-Brexit UK wants to revive its Empire 2.0 in the colonies). NB role of former PM Tony Abbott as Aust trade envoy to the UK

https://twitter.com/GerardAraud/status/1438252971893141515

On 31 August, Foreign ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Marise Payne and Defence ministers Florence Parly and Peter Dutton held a joint ministerial meeting pledging Indo-Pacific cooperation based on “shared values, interests and principles that underpin the bilateral relationship”

Australia’s decision to purchase nuclear powered submarines, part of a broader Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) partnership, has many diverse implications. Early days yet, but it ties Australia further into US nuclear warfighting strategies and containment of China.

https://twitter.com/abcnews/status/1438140617746358274

A big blow to Australia-France relations and President Macron’s “India-Australia-France” alliance. France’s Indo-Pacific strategy has been based in part on arms sales to India, Australia and ASEAN, so the loss of the $90 billion submarine contract with Naval Group will hurt.

The Australian Government announces the first stage of reforms to Australia's labour mobility programs for the Pacific Islands – the Pacific Labour Scheme #PLS and the Seasonal Worker Program #SWP. foreignminister.gov.au/minister/maris… There will now be a single streamlined application process for both the PLS and SWP. Eligible approved employers will also have their status recognised for both programs. The new Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) website allows a single application. palmscheme.gov.au