Wells is fervently opposed to nuclear weapons. He is a fifth generation Australian but was born in Hiroshima to an Australian Army family. In 1995, when the French were conducting atomic bomb tests in Mururoa, Wells was one of many parliamentarians from all over the world who converged on French Polynesia to protest against the explosions. Later, back in Queensland he moved a motion in the Parliament condemning the tests. His speech finished with these words:
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President Chirac thinks that all this damage can be sustained in the interests of perfecting his evil force de frappe, but he is wrong. There are many in this country who have long admired the French for their contribution to the world’s history, culture and civilization. I am one. However, the goodwill that this admiration represents can be eroded, and will be eroded more and more if the programme of nuclear tests continues. The fallout, the seepage into the environment, the radiation, the strontium 90, the genetic mutations and reckless global vandalism of desecrating a beautiful hemisphere are things that the people of our part of the world will remember as long as we and our descendants have Chirac’s radioactive fallout in our bones. President Chirac needs to understand that the worst is indeed not over for him. Like radioactivity, the bitterness and resentment of his millions of innocent victims will have a long half-life too.
Queensland Parliamentary Debates 1995 |
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