Plutonium is forever, it never goes away. It was the moral question, what if I didn't do it, rather than what if I do, you've got to think of the future, not me, not you, it's everybody who's going to pay the penalty.
Portrait of a Whistleblower
2015
This series chronicles Avon Hudson’s life, from early years growing up in regional South Australia, to service in the Royal Australian Air Force as a Leading Aircraftman, through the experience of British atomic bomb tests, to his “whistle blower” act of revealing Maralinga’s deadly legacy.
What Avon knew, and was prepared to tell publically about Maralinga, contributed to the establishment of the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia (1984-85). His motivation was to put a halt to government plans to return Maralinga to its traditional owners, pending a full clean-up of land still contaminated by radioactive debris.
The story of nuclear testing is unknown to most Australians. Between 1952 and 1963, after a decision made by Prime Minister Menzies alone, nine atomic bombs were exploded and hundreds of ‘minor’ experiments were conducted at the British-run testing ranges at Emu and Maralinga in South Australia. Three bombs were also exploded at Monte Bello Islands in Western Australia.
The impacts of these experiments continue to play out in the ill health and changed lives of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, who were exposed to or involved in the tests, over multiple generations. The tests have also left a deep future legacy of environmental contamination.
It is a portrait of someone with a photographic memory, capable of grasping and articulating every detail of the atomic age as he experienced it.
It depicts a committed citizen and serviceman, husband and father, always an advocate and an activist, who in civilian life became a Wakefield councilor for over 20 years. It shows a practical man—mechanic, wood-turner and furniture maker—and portrays a nature-enthusiast and an educator on environmental and social issues.
It is also a portrait of someone who has invariably lived by his convictions—as that’s what whistleblowers do. Since the 1970s, Avon has campaigned for recognition of nuclear veterans and civilian personnel. As his co-authored book “Beyond Belief” records, “His life has been deeply affected by a sense of injustice and by the callousness of successive Australian and British governments ignoring the plight of those caught up in ‘the grand game’.”
This series is a recognition and celebration of the significant role Avon has played South Australia’s unfolding atomic history. His life as an activist seems to belong to the present, as the future of nuclear science and technology is considered anew.
Portrait of Avon Hudson, Laverton, Victoria 1957 Photographer unknown Reproduction from an original silver gelatin photograph Digital inkjet print; 100 x 80 cm Avon Hudson’s private collection
Official Secrecy, Crimes Act, 1914-1960 Reproduction from an original document Digital inkjet print; 25 x 35 cm Avon Hudson’s private collection
Blue Steel, Balaklava, South Australia 2015 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 50 x 38 cm
Aerial of Maralinga Village, Maralinga, South Australia 1961 Avon Hudson Reproduction from an original Kodakchrome colour slide Digital inkjet print; 25 x 20 cm
Avon in front of Lockheed Neptune aircraft, Darwin Airbase, Darwin, Northern Territory, Est. 1958, Photographer unknown Reproduction from an original silver gelatin photograph. Digital inkjet print; 25 x 20 cm Avon Hudson’s private collection
Avon at the Darwin Show, Darwin, Northern Territory, 1956 Visiting HMAS Sydney, Port Adelaide, South Australia, 1952 Avon Hudson on 1920s Indian pup motorbike with Trevor Higgs, est. 1954
Road from Maralinga to Emu, South Australia 1961 Avon Hudson Reproduction from an original silver gelatin photograph Digital inkjet print; 20 x 25 cm Avon Hudson’s private collection The tree marks the 60-mile mark to Emu from Maralinga, which was the approximate halfway point. In the photo Avon is third from the left. On a spare day the men would go ‘swanning’; Avon would take out British military and science personnel and show them around the bush- they would dig out scorpions in the sand hills, track snakes, and attract emus.
Rock’s Helmet, Balaklava, South Australia 2015 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 50 x 38 cm
Tea Time, Ooldea Soak, South Australia 1961 Avon Hudson Reproduction from an original Kodakchrome colour slide Digital inkjet print; 25 x 20 cm
Scientist’s Gloves and Tools, Maralinga/Balaklava, South Australia 1961-2015 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 40 x 50 cm After driving an electronic technician down to do some finishing touches on a device related to one of the Vixen B experiments prior to explosion, the technician asked Avon to hold his tools and silk gloves. They returned 7 km to the roadside station and waited for the device to be fired. The miniature tools - a collection of pliers, wire cutters, automatic center punch, and screw driver - were made in Sheffield, England, by the famous toolmakers at William Marples under the Shamrock brand. Avon never returned the tools, and the technician never asked for them back.
Ground zero, Taranaki, Maralinga, South Australia 2011 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 80 x 70 cm
Installation, Tandanya, SA, 2016.
Portrait of a Whistleblower Jessie Boylan 2014 100 x 80 cm
Page from Avon’s scrapbook 1972-1976, Balaklava, South Australia Reproduced from an original document Digital inkjet print; 50 x 70 cm Avon Hudson’s private collection
The Menzies govt. killed all my mates, Balaklava, South Australia 1984-1985 Avon Hudson Reproduced from an original document Digital inkjet print; 25 x 20 cm Avon Hudson’s private collection This section of Avon’s scrapbook cover refers to Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies (1949- 1966), who signed off on the British nuclear testing program in Australia.
The Report of the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia, vol 1 & 2, 1984- 1985, South Australia 2015 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 25 x 20 cm
Page 415 from the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia on the conclusion of the Vixen trials, South Australia 1985 Reproduced from an original document Digital inkjet print; 18 x 18 cm Avon Hudson’s private collection
ANVA Index Cards, Balaklava, South Australia 2015 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 25 x 35 cm The Australian Nuclear Veterans Association documented servicemen’s posts and their illnesses associated with their work.
Listening to Avon, Radioactive Exposure Tour, Woomera, South Australia 2010 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 23 x 18 cm
Avon’s Camp, Gammon Ranges, South Australia 2010 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 30 x 40 cm
Photographs of Avon’s family, Balaklava, South Australia 2014 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 25 x 20 cm This photo was taken in Avon Hudson’s home in Balaklava, South Australia. The impacts on Avon’s family as a result of his actions as a whistleblower were profound; many local community members in the town where they lived had shunned them, calling Avon a ‘traitor’ and a ‘troublemaker’.
Portrait of a Whistleblower (Avon Hudson), Lake Eyre, South Australia 2014 Jessie Boylan Digital inkjet print; 100 x 80 cm