Avon Hudson (born 1937) is a South Australian

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

ex-serviceman, nuclear weapons testing

whistle-blower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

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 (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill Ni ...

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 The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is a part of the Australian Department of Defence, which provides science and technology support to Defence and defence industry. The agency's name was changed from Defence Science and Technolog ...

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 S ...

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 an Earth stations in Australia, Earth station in Australia, supported Earth-orbiting satellites, as part of NASA's Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN). It was located approximatel ...

(1965–1970),

Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station The Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station was a NASA Earth stations in Australia, Earth station in Australia near Canberra. It was instrumental to the Apollo program. The station was opened in 1967 and closed in 1981. History Honeysuckle Creek wi ...

(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 ...

(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. Its land area is . The highest point is Mount Balbi, on the main island, at . The much smaller Buk ...

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 area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat is at Balaklava. Geography The Wakefield Regional Council includes the towns and localities of Avon, Balaklava, Ba ...

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

Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...

, as a "

nuclear free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question, but are generally distinct from nuclear-weapon-free zones, in that the latter only b ...

"; 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 chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...

. 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 (ionising) radiation, including Radioactive decay, nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have enough energy per individual photon or particle to ionization, ionize atoms or molecules by detaching ...

. He gave testimony to the

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

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 Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is Australia’s biggest arts festival and is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between ...

Balaklava, South Australia The town of Balaklava (population 2048, postcode 5461) is located in South Australia, 92 kilometres north of Adelaide in the Mid North region. It is on the south bank of the Wakefield River, east of Port Wakefield, South Australia, Port Wakefie ...

. 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 is a desert area around large located in the west of South Australia, within the Great Victoria Desert. The area is best known for being the location of several British nuclear tests in the 1950s. In January 1985, in recognition of ...

, 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 Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and 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 announ ...

and

Arts SA Arts South Australia (previously Arts SA) was responsible for managing the South Australian Government's funding for the arts and cultural heritage from about 1996 until late 2018, when it was progressively dismantled, a process complete by early ...

. 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,

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 Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and Labor supporter.

References