Please support representatives from nuclear-affected First Nations communities to travel to the annual gathering of the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA).
With rising petrol costs disproportionately affecting First Nations communities, particularly those in remote regions, the cost of getting mob to this year's ANFA Gathering in regional South Australia will be significant. We are asking for donations to support the transport and travel expenses to help these representatives make it to the meeting.
What is ANFA?
Formed in 1997 by the late Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, the founder and first president of ANFA, alongside current president Auntie Sue Coleman-Haseldine, the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance brings together Aboriginal people and relevant civil society groups concerned about existing or proposed nuclear developments in Australia, particularly on Aboriginal homelands. .
The Alliance provides a forum for sharing knowledge, skills and experience. It is an opportunity to come together and find strength through our shared aims to protect Country and culture from nuclear developments. The Alliance helped to build the successful campaign to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory, and proposed national nuclear waste dumps in South Australia and Muckaty in the NT. Currently, Aboriginal communities face a wave of uranium exploration, rehabilitation and remediation of former mine sites, several proposed new uranium mines, and the threat of AUKUS nuclear waste dumping.
From our 2025 Gathering Statement:
The stories of lived experience shared in the meeting highlighted the long lasting, intergenerational impacts and the sense of loss resulting from unwanted nuclear projects. These projects whether uranium mining, proposed waste dumps or the ongoing effects of nuclear weapons testing leave a toxic legacy for hundreds of thousands of years. Even if the proposed projects do not go ahead, the process often divides communities and families in very painful ways. The meeting recognised that the history of nuclear weapons testing at Emu Fields and Maralinga as well as the presence of the biggest uranium mine in the country makes South Australia the nation’s nuclear crime scene. If uranium is not contributing to nuclear weapons it is always contributing to nuclear waste.
The meeting called on the Australian Government and state leaders to respect the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, as outlined in the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, for any project proposed on their lands. ANFA supports the Nuclear Truth Project’s protocols in any engagement by government, companies or organisations.
Meeting participant and Adnyamathanha Kuyani woman Reverend Denise Champion summed it up: “If we tell them we don’t want it, they can’t claim to have our free prior and informed consent. First Nations need to stand together and say NO.”
Please donate what you can to support representatives from nuclear-affected First Nations communities to travel to the annual ANFA gathering to share stories, struggles and strategies to reduce nuclear threats and help keep Country clean and culture strong.