Trouble at Woomera
The recent exchanges in the. Australian Parliament between Mr. Menzies and Dr. Evatt as to the wisdom or otherwise of exploding a cobalt bomb on the Woomera range come as i the climax to a series of incidents indicating the Australians' disquiet over the 'testing of atomicweapons in their midst. Financially the Woomera range is said to be costing Australia forty million Australian pounds a year. Then there is the question of public health: Dr. Evatt feels uneasy about the explosion of a bomb, which, like the cobalt bomb, produces quantities of long-lived radio-active isotopes that might con- ceivably drift over populated areas. Lastly, there is the old Australian dislike of outside interference. The visit of Mr. Duncan Sandys has brought home the fact that Woomera is directed from London, and it was tactless to allow only a BBC camera-man to be present during his tour of the range. These are fair excuses for friction, and it is plainly the duty of the British Government to make things easier for Mr. Menzies, for the old isolationism and pacifism of the Australian Labour Party might reassert themselves. Better public re:ations should make it clear to the Australians that atomic experiments are as necessary to their defence as they are to Britain's. Some agreement might also be reached to relieve the strain on the Federal exchequer,
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