Avon Hudson speaking at Tandanya, Adelaide 2016

Avon Hudson (born 1937) is a South Australian

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

ex-serviceman, nuclear weapons testing

whistle-blower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

and co-author of the 2005 book '' Beyond Belief'' which he wrote with academic and historian, Roger Cross. He has appeared in several

documentary films A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about nuclear weapons testing in Australia.

Career

Hudson was educated at Whitwarta in South Australia. He joined the Australian Air Force in February 1956 and served until February 1962 as a mechanic, machinery operator and driver. After six years with the RAAF, Hudson left the armed services and worked on the Snowy Mountains Project as a mechanic before working on the civil space program in Australia. He worked at the Weapons Research Establishment at Salisbury, South Australia as a driver and operator, then at the

Woomera Rocket Range The RAAF Woomera Range Complex (WRC) is a major Australian military and civil aerospace facility and operation located in South Australia, approximately north-west of Adelaide. The WRC is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a di ...

from April 1962 until March 1964 as a driver and operator. His next job was at the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station DSIF Deep Space Instrumentation Facility where he worked as a crane operator and maintenance technician from April 1964 to 1970. He continued to work in the space industry at

Orroral Valley Tracking Station The Orroral Valley tracking station, was Earth station in Australia, supported Earth-orbiting satellites, as part of NASA's Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN). It was located approximately 50 km south of Canberra, ...

(1965-1970),

Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station (Honeysuckle Creek) was a NASA Earth station in Australia near Canberra, and was instrumental to the Apollo Program. The station was opened in 1967 and closed in 1981. History Honeysuckle Creek – with a ...

(1966) and

Island Lagoon Tracking Station The Island Lagoon Tracking Station (Deep Space Station 41), an Earth station in Australia, was the first deep space station to be established outside of the United States, near Woomera, South Australia in November 1960. This area was chosen a ...

(1964-1970). He worked on the

Bougainville Island Bougainville Island (Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Its land area is ...

copper project from 1970 to 1971 and Sensus Building Canberra in crane maintenance from 1971 to December 1975. In 1975, he became a self-employed wood turner and antique dealer and restorer, eventually retiring in 2004. Avon Hudson also served as an elected member of the

Wakefield Regional Council Wakefield Regional Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat is at Balaklava, South Australia, Balaklava. Geography The Wakefield Regional Council ...

for many years. During his time as a councillor, Hudson formally established the region, which includes his hometown of

Balaklava Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Crim ...

, as a "

nuclear free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons (see nuclear-weapon-free zone) and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question. Nuclear-free zones usually neither address nor proh ...

"; consistent with his work as an anti-nuclear activist and educator.

Anti-nuclear activist

While a member of the Royal Australian Air Force, Hudson was assigned to work at the Maralinga testing range during the period of minor trials which included the explosive scattering of

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...

. At risk of incarceration for exposing Commonwealth secrets, Hudson later disclosed undertakings of the British nuclear weapons testing period in South Australia (1956-1963) making multiple appearances in mainstream media from the 1970s through 2010s. His disclosures delayed the return of the testing range to their traditional custodians, the Anangu people due to the inadequacy of clean-up measures, persistent contamination and associated health risks of

ionizing radiation Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel ...

. He gave testimony to the Royal Commission into British nuclear testing in Australia in 1984 and 1985 and has continued to work as a spokesperson for nuclear veterans in South Australia since that time. Avon is an anti-nuclear activist and educator committed to explaining radiological hazards in accessible English – knowledge he has acquired over many decades of private study.

''Portrait of a Whistleblower'' exhibition 2015

Avon Hudson's life was the subject of a public exhibition in February 2015, as part of the

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, ...

in Balaklava, South Australia. The exhibition ''Portrait of a Whistle-blower'' presented artifacts and images which trace his journey from childhood through his RAAF service and his subsequent life as a nuclear whistle-blower. The exhibition was curated by photo-media artist Jessie Boylan, who also contributed images to the exhibition including reproductions of artifacts and portraiture of Hudson. The artifacts on display included photographs from Hudson's own collection, a piece of vitrified earth from

Maralinga Maralinga, in the remote western areas of South Australia, was the site, measuring about in area, of British nuclear tests in the mid-1950s. In January 1985 native title was granted to the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aborigi ...

, a red umbrella Hudson once used to evade an undercover government agent who was following him, and two cathode-ray tube televisions displaying TV news broadcasts and documentary film footage. The exhibition was launched as part of an expanded event called ''10 Minutes to Midnight'', presented by Alphaville and Nuclear Futures. The event combined history, art and discussion and was supported by the

Australia Council for the Arts The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

and Arts SA. It featured three stages, including a projected video installation which created an impression of the nuclear test program and its effects and an open discussion with Boylan and Hudson. The event attracted a public audience which included nuclear veterans and their relatives who were able to share their experiences and ask questions. Additional contributing artists included Teresa Crea,

Linda Dement Linda Dement (born 1960 in Brisbane) is an Australian multidisciplinary artist, working in the fields of digital arts, photography, film, and writing non-fiction. Dement is largely known for her exploration of the creative possibilities of emerge ...

John Romeril John Henry Romeril (born 1945) is an Australian playwright and teacher. He has written around 60 plays for theatre, film, radio, and television, and is known for his 1975 play ''The Floating World''. Early life and education John Henry Romeril ...

, Nic Mollison and Luke Harrald.

Documentary films

In 2020, Hudson was the lead subject in a short documentary film called ''Accounts of a Nuclear Whistleblower''. He also appeared in ''Maralinga Pieces'' (2012), ''Maralinga Atomic Bomb Test Survivors'' (2007), ''Silent Storm'' (2003) and earlier titles.

Political Views

Hudson is a left wing

social democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and Labor supporter.

References