Hiroshima Day Protests in Australia 6 August 2022

Peace rallies and other events commemorating the US dropping nuclear bombs on the cities and people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be held across Australia in all major cities and regions.

Economic and military conflicts between rival imperialist powers are escalating, spilling across the entire world. The war in Ukraine is a dress rehearsal for a potential war between two major powers, US and China. China’s imperialist economic expansion is a major threat to the long held US imperialist dominance in Asia-Pacific (Indo-Pacific) region. The subservient Australian ruling class takes its orders from US imperialism for a war with China.

The Australian Labor government’s foreign and military policies are indistinguishable from the US. The Australia UK, US (AUKUS) military pact and nuclear-powered submarines announced In September 2021 will further integrate Australia into the US military industrial complex and its war machine. The sole purpose of AUKUS and nuclear-powered submarines is to consolidate US aggression against China.

Against this background the Hiroshima rallies across the country this year are more urgent as calls are made for Peace, No More Hiroshimas and an independent Australian foreign policy. The current situation urgently calls for the people’s united front for peace, abolition of nuclear weapons and against imperialist wars.

Hiroshima Day demands across the country:

No More Hiroshimas, No Nuclear Submarines, No nuclear industry, signing the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, No AUKUS. Included in the demands are No Nuclear Waste Dumps, and after the recent announcement of the reopening of a fourth uranium mine – No Uranium Mining. The last two demands are particularly relevant to Australian First Peoples who are the traditional owners of the lands on which these two activities are set to take place.

For decades Hiroshima Day commemorations have been held across Australia. From the late 1950s every year thousands of people rallied on 6 August calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and wars of aggression. On Hiroshima Day peace groups, workers and unions came together on Long Marches lasting 2-3 days, covering 50 kilometres, calling for No More Hiroshimas, and Peace.

The calls to end to U.S. imperialist aggression were always present at these rallies, protests and long marches.

Alice M.

Vice-Chairperson,

Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)