McClelland Royal Commission

In light of the increasing evidence and public lobbying by concerned groups, the Hawke Labor Government established a Royal Commission to investigate the British atomic tests in Australia.

The Commission was also told that acting Prime Minister Arthur Fadden had sent a message to the British PM asking "What the bloody hell is going on, the cloud is drifting over the mainland?".

[6] The McClelland Royal Commission was told that one hundred Aboriginal people walked barefoot over nuclear-contaminated ground because boots they had been given didn't fit.

[11] A miner has told the McClelland Royal Commission on British nuclear weapons tests in Australia, that geiger counter readings of the fallout levels near Marble Bar were "off-the-scale".

[15] This report emphasized the partnership between the two nations, and noted that the approach taken towards safety was to international standards of the time and had contrasted with the historic disregard of Australian authorities toward the welfare of indigenous people.

This image of British nuclear testing conducted at Maralinga in 1957 was submitted to the Royal Commission. [ 4 ]