Wollongong and the Illawarra would become one of Australia’s foremost military targets should Port Kembla be confirmed as the home base for the AUKUS nuclear submarines, according to protestors at today's launch of a new declaration calling for a nuclear-free Port Kembla.

Those protestors also claimed Port Kembla would cease to be a viable trading port with the introduction of strict exclusion zones preventing the free movement of import and exports through the port whenever an AUKUS sub is moored there.

On a cliff-top overlooking the harbour, more than 40 groups and community organisations gathered to launch the Port Kembla Declaration, which states:

"We recognise the unique health and safety risks that come with nuclear-fuelled submarines and the potential impact of a major or minor incident on the broader community and the environment we all enjoy.

“We are concerned by the lack of community consultation and fear the federal government will override local dissent to impose and nuclear submarine base, as well as a nearby site to store associated long-lived hazardous radioactive waste from Australian, USA or UK submarines. We will not let this happen.”

Gem Romuld, speaking for Wollongong Against War and Nukes (WAWAN), said: “The Illawarra has a really proud history of opposing militarism. We are a city for peace.”

Gem said if Port Kembla was selected as the AUKUS nuclear submarine base “our port and region would become a high priority target for future military attacks. We are concerned that plans are being made behind closed doors with no local consultation.”

Gem said that was the reason why 42 groups – “and the number is steadily growing” – supported the Port Kembla Declaration.

“Today we are calling for Port Kembla to be unequivocally ruled out for a nuclear submarine base, forever,” Gem said.

Backing the declaration, Tina Smith, the president of the South Coast Labour Council, said: “I was going to come to today’s gathering wearing a target on my back, because if we have a nuclear base here everyone of us here in the Illawarra will be a target.

“Let’s be absolutely clear, Port Kembla is not for sale, we want no nuclear base here and our future is ours to shape.”

Tina said the Port Kembla Declaration was “a bold statement for peace, not war; jobs, not bombs; justice, not militarisation.

“We reject the idea of turning our region into a frontline for war games or nuclear escalation. The risks – environmental, social and strategic – are too great and the community has not been properly consulted.”

Tina said the prospect of Port Kembla being the home of a cruise ship terminal while also being a nuclear submarine base was “unfathomable”.

"A cruise ship with thousands of people on board would make a pretty big target,” she added.

Gary Keane, from the Maritime Union of Australia, said trade through Port Kembla harbour would "be changed forever” if plans for a nuclear submarine base were realised.

“Right now I’m watching a car-carrying ship coming in with 5000 vehicles on-board,” Gary said. “If there was a nuclear submarine in the harbour, that ship couldn’t enter the port through the military exclusion zone. It would effectively stop the port from functioning. It would impact everything coming in and out of the port. The impact on trade would be massive and so would its impact on jobs here and the entire local community.”

Gary said no one seems to have grasped the impact a nuclear submarine base would have on Wollongong or the wider region.

“Putting the dangers and safety aspect to one side, consider the thousands of military personnel and 1000 US marines who would need to be based here. We don’t have enough housing for the people who live here now."

He said a military base would need to be established on a section of the harbour and coastline now accessible to the public. “And this base would need to be protected by missile launchers. Is that really what we want?

“There is a very real danger of making this city a military target. Why would you do that? Why put these subs in a major population zone?”

Joan Crabb, aged 91, said she supported the Port Kembla declaration for one good reason: “For peace. Peace for my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. That’s what I want for them.”

City of peace

At an August 9 vigil to mark 80 years since the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, Lord Mayor of Wollongong Councillor Tania Brown spoke of the city’s proud history of standing for peace. “Wollongong City Council has reaffirmed its commitment to our being a nuclear-free zone,” she said. “Our community has long stood for peace. We want to stand up for peace, for humanity, for safety, protecting our environment, and protecting our people."

Today, the Lord Mayor confirmed that Wollongong City Council stands by its position as a nuclear-free city. "This was reaffirmed in June when we recognised the continued threat posed by nuclear weapons and the catastrophic impact their use would have globally on cities, civilians, and ecosystems," she said. "We also reaffirmed our support for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Cities Appeal, which supports the United Nations Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. Our stance has not wavered.

"I’m not aware of any current plans for nuclear submarines at the Port of Port Kembla. Instead, I will keep fighting for it to host the next cruise ship terminal for New South Wales.”

Who endorsed the Port Kembla Declaration 

Forty-two organisations support the declaration calling on the federal government to rule out a nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla. 

They are: Australian Conservation Foundation Community Illawarra & South Coast; Australian Services Union (ASU) Illawarra Subdivision; Australian Youth Climate Coalition (Wollongong); Better Births Illawarra; Central Church Port Kembla; Dapto Labor; Food Not Bombs Wollongong; Gong Commune; Good for the Gong; Growing Illawarra Natives; Healthy Cities Australia; Illawarra Greens; Illawarra Knitting Nannas Against Greed; Illawarra Intrepid Landcare; Illawarra Teachers Association; Illawarra Women’s Health Centre; Illawarra Union Singers; INsolidarity; Independent Education Union (South Coast branch); Maritime Union of Australia Port Kembla; National Tertiary Education Union, Wollongong University; North Nowra / Bomaderry ALP; NSW Socialists Illawarra; Peaceful Birth Partnership; Port Kembla Pollution Committee; Project Contemporary Artspace Inc; Protect Our Water Alliance; Refugee Action Collective Illawarra; Rising Tide Street Band; Shoalhaven Teachers Association; Society City; South Coast Labour Council; South Illawarra Teachers Association; Southern Highlands Teachers Association; Southern Youth and Family Services; Sutherland Greens; Thirroul Labor; Tomorrow Movement Wollongong; Unions Shoalhaven; Wollongong Against War and Nukes; Wollongong Friends of Palestine; Wollongong Undergraduate Students’ Association.