Author: Denis Doherty

Media Release 2 2026

Denis Doherty

Nuclear War is closer than ever

30/7/2026

The current two wars in Ukraine and Iran are both possible sites where a nuclear exchange could take place.  Any exchange will not be confined to both these states and radioactive clouds will travel to adjoining states and further afield.  The combatants Russia, Israel and the USA are all nuclear owning states who have the capability to deliver these weapons over thousands of kilometers.  Russia and the USA are the two most nuclearized states in the world.  As well Pakistan is not going to stand by and watch Islamic states being destroyed as well Iran is closely associated with China who have nuclear weapons with sophisticated missiles and technology.

“European countries especially the UK, France and Germany are not in any way intimidated by the fact that Russians have the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world and keep taking steps to provoke Russia with massive assistance to Ukraine to help it to kill Russians.” Said Denis Doherty of the Hiroshima Day Committee Sydney.

“There is no alternative that Ukraine must move for peace and readjust its borders with Russia and accept that it cannot be a member of NATO.  The future demands a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, the alternative of continuous war with help from US and Western intelligence agencies helping with targeting sites deep into the heart of Russia.”

“Voices inside Russia are calling for strikes and nuclear strikes in Europe if the situation continues to go out of control.  What the response to these possible strikes would be, we do not know but the risks are great and the Governments of UK, France and Germany appear not to be very sensible about these issues and is apparently sleeping walking into disaster.”

“Similar problems are arising in the conflict US vs Iran where both US and in a lesser way Israel are nuclear armed.  The volatile nature of Trump’s personality where he has a reputation for disliking any sense of losing.  Israel too has a sense it will use nuclear weapons if it is threatened and feels it has no other alternative.  The recent experience in Israel where it called for help when Iran fired many thousands of missiles into its territory.”

Time for Australia to sign the UN treaty on the prohibition on nuclear weapons (TPNW).

Media Release 1 2026

Denis Doherty

Sydney marks the 81st Anniversary of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings

Media Release: for immediate release

The use of nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities at the end of World War 2 continues to haunt us with the advent of this terrible weapon.  The weapons are so indiscriminate and killing so many civilians at once make these weapons unusable.

This year is the 80th anniversary of the testing of nuclear weapons by the US in the Marshall Islands and reminds us of the massive damage done to First Nations peoples in the Pacific and later in Australia by the British starting in 1952.

The current wars in Ukraine and Iran could both spin out of control and the risks of the use of nuclear weapons in these conflicts are real. 

Australia must sign the UN Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Prime Minister prior to his winning the election promised to sign the treaty but he has not made any moves to do so and we are calling on him and the government do so now in this time of crisis.

Details of the Event

Hiroshima/Nagasaki March and Rally

August 1, 1 pm Meet at the Sydney Town Hall Square and later march to the Defence Plaza 320 Pitt.

Speakers include:

Dr Ruth Mitchell – children’s specialist; Matt Murphy Gen Sec ETU; Ms Abigail Boyd Greens Member of the NSW Legislative Council; Dr Alison Broinowski former Australian Diplomat.

Media release for Hiroshima/Nagasaki Rally

Denis Doherty

Aug 2 2025

The world on the brink of nuclear disaster

A Fourth Time this year we have been on the brink of a nuclear disaster

President Trump’s decision to place nuclear subs in position in response to Russian reminders of their nuclear weapons proves that the lessons of Hiroshima/ Nagasaki have NOT been learnt.  This is the fourth occasion that we have come on the brink of a nuclear disaster.

The World on the Brink of Nuclear Disaster

Three times this year we have been very close to nuclear catastrophe of one form or another.  We had the India – Pakistan conflict, Ukraine – Russia conflict and recently Israel/US – Iran in the ‘12 day war’.  We were faced with either nuclear facilities being bombed or nuclear weapons being used by one country on another!  Either way nuclear radiation and massive numbers of deaths were on the cards.

Last year the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Hibakusha of Japan.  The heroism of these victims of Hiroshima/Nagasaki constantly campaigning for nuclear disarmament has been recognised by the world but the message has not seeped into the heads of the major governments of the world including our own.  The US and Israel are constantly breaking agreements and treaties while they take warlike actions that increase the likelihood of more war and brings the world closer to a nuclear exchange from which no nation will be spared.

It is time to double our efforts to get Australia to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).  The PM promised before he was elected that he would sign the treaty, but it has been ignored.

Australia continues to promote war by assisting Israel to complete its ethnic cleansing of Gaza by massive violence.  Continues to make plans to buy the hideously expensive AUKUS submarines while the US hammers us to double our military spending and to get us involved in a war against China.  Meanwhile our housing crisis is still not solved, our hospitals are without psychiatrists and our nurses are angry because they are being underpaid.  Australia is going in the wrong direction.

Organised by: The Hiroshima Day Committee PO Box 145 Glebe NSW 2037.  Email: hiroshimacommitteesydney@gmail.com; Website: hiroshimacommittee.org

for more information contact Denis Doherty 0418 290 663

Conference

Denis Doherty

80 years of Hiroshima and Nagasaki –
89 seconds to midnight

In person conference

book your ticket

https://events.humanitix.com/80-years-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-89-seconds-to-midnight

August 10 Sunday 4 pm- 6 pm

NSW Teachers Federation Auditorium

37 Reservoir St, Surry Hills

Online use this link

click here at the appropriate time

This link will open a zoom link – please open at around 4 pm on Sunday 10th August

conference advertising

Speakers

Ruth Mitchell

Ruth Mitchell is a neurosurgeon at Sydney Children’s Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW. She is currently Chair of the Board of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). She also chairs the board of the Ubuntu Lab, an emerging museum of the humanities. Recently awarded the 2022 Convocation Medal by her alma mater, Flinders University, for her work with ICAN, she was also the 2019 winner of the John Corboy Medal from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons for her advocacy for diversity and inclusion in surgery, and was the inaugural Australian Medical Association Doctor in Training of the Year in 2016. She has previously served as Co-Chair of the ICAN Australia Board, and Vice President of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.

Dr Vince Scappatura

Dr Vince Scappatura is currently Sessional Academic in the School of International Studies at Macquarie University. He has a PhD in International Relations and is author of The US Lobby and Australian Defence Policy. He is currently working on the Nuclear-Capable B-52H Stratoforterss Bombers Project for the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainabillity. A compilation of his recent publications can be found at https://mq.academia.edu/VinceScappatura

Tom Unterrainer

Tom is the chair of the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). His role in the country (the UK) which will be building the next generation of AUKUS submarines which will eventually arrive in this country around 2040’s or 2050’s is extremely important to us. We want to forge a relationship with people in the UK who oppose this AUKUS madness. We want the peoples of both our countries to see that spending the huge sums on submarines will make both countries not more secure but poorer with huge social problems.

Rally and March for Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Denis Doherty

Saturday August 2 12 noon

details for the March and Rally

Route of the March

Route of the March

Speakers

Jenny Leong – Greens MP for Newtown

Gem Romuld – Director ICAN Australia

Sara Haddad – Palestinian Writer

Message for Hiroshima /Nagasaki Day 2025

World on the brink of Nuclear Disaster

Three times this year we have been very close to nuclear catastrophe of one form or another.  We had the India – Pakistan conflict, Ukraine – Russia conflict and recently Israel/US – Iran in the ‘12 day war’.  We were faced with either nuclear facilities being bombed or nuclear weapons being used by one country on another!  Either way nuclear radiation and massive numbers of deaths were on the cards.

Last year the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Hibakusha of Japan.  The heroism of these victims of Hiroshima/Nagasaki constantly campaigning for nuclear disarmament has been recognised by the world but the message has not seeped into the heads of the major governments of the world including our own.  The US and Israel are constantly breaking agreements and treaties while they take warlike actions that increase the likelihood of more war and brings the world closer to a nuclear exchange from which no nation will be spared.

It is time to double our efforts to get Australia to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).  The PM promised before he was elected that he would sign the treaty, but it has been ignored.

Australia continues to promote war by assisting Israel to complete its ethnic cleansing of Gaza by massive violence.  Continues to make plans to buy the hideously expensive AUKUS submarines while the US hammers us to double our military spending and to get us involved in a war against China.  Meanwhile our housing crisis is still not solved, our hospitals are without psychiatrists and our nurses are angry because they are being underpaid.  Australia is going in the wrong direction.

Organised by: The Hiroshima Day Committee PO Box 145 Glebe NSW 2037.  Email: hiroshimacommitteesydney@gmail.com; Website: hiroshimacommittee.org

Nobel Peace Prize award to Hibakusha Organisation

Denis Doherty

We send our warmest congratulations!

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization representing survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, known as Hibakusha. We offer our enthusiastic congratulations. 

Quotes from the citation

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation the group was receiving the Peace Prize for “its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again”.

“The hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons,” the committee said.

Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize

Hiroshima Day Committee Media Release

Media Release

13/10/2024

Congratulations to Nihon Hidankyo

The Sydney Hiroshima Day Committee which has been commemorating the atrocious bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for over 60 years in this city congratulates the Nihon Hidankyo group of Japan.  This grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki who are also known as Hibakusha, have won the Nobel Peace Prize for this year.

The Hibakusha motto of there never being another use of atomic or nuclear weapons has been accepted by our committee since its inception, Hiroshima/Nagasaki never again’. 

The Hibakusha have spread their message all over the world, working for peace and harmony between all the people of the world.  Each year in Hiroshima and Nagasaki the victims of this terrible bombing are commemorated.

This year Mayor of Nagasaki invited all the ambassadors who presently reside in Japan to his city to remember the victims of the 1945 bombing by the USA but he expressly forbad the Russian, the Belarusian and Israeli ambassadors on the grounds that these countries were currently prosecuting wars in their countries or with their neighbours.  The G7 countries boycotted the service claiming Israel had been victimized and apparently Australia joined in with them only sending a junior official of the Australian Embassy in Tokyo.

“We have sought an explanation from the Foreign Minister for this grievous slight of the people of Nagasaki and the Hibakusha of that city.  So far there has been no response.” Said Denis Doherty of the Hiroshima Day Committee.

“Australia’s DFAT must feel very embarrassed now that the world’s focus is on the issue of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and its victims when just a few short weeks ago they boycotted the commemoration of Nagasaki to please the G7 countries and protect Israel.

“Israel’s vicious and indiscriminate war on civilians stands in stark contrast to the values Nihon Hidankyo who work for peace and harmony in the world.

“The grassroots movement for the prohibition of nuclear weapons is strengthened by this decision and now puts pressure on our government to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW).

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Statement 2024

Denis Doherty

We are here to remember that on August 6 and 9, 1945, 79 years ago, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Almost 200,000 men, women and children were killed instantly and many thousands more died later of burns or radiation sickness. 

We are here to remember those who died in this horrific event and to remember all victims of nuclear war preparations including those who lived on Pacific Islands and our own first nations people who died during British testing. 

Since that terrible event, France, Britian, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Israel have acquired nuclear weapons. 

We say that no country should ever have nuclear weapons.

Civil Society has pushed back against nuclear weapons and an organisation founded in Melbourne – the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons ICAN – has successfully got the UN to pass the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  So far 70 States have ratified this treaty.

We demand that the Australian Government ratify the UN treaty to ban Nuclear Weapons, reject the AUKUS nuclear powered submarines and reject the Opposition’s proposal for nuclear power reactors on 7 sites. 

Australia is supporting wars and preparing for war instead of concentrating on solving the social issues in Australia and the region.

There are no victors or vanquished in a nuclear war.

Today we solemnly vow to do everything we can to make sure that Hiroshima and Nagasaki never happen again.

Get Active in 2024

Denis Doherty

The Australian Peace Movement, the Sydney part of it needs to be more active and united as we face the prospect of more wars and more divergence of resources away from our needs to the needs of the arms industry lobby. 

Need for Committee Members

Hiroshima Day Committee meets from May to August every year and needs more people on its committee as people are getting older and less able to devote energy to this project.  In short we need new committee members.

Contact us: hiroshimacommitteesydney@gmail.com

Other peace groups in Sydney

  1. Australian Anti-Bases Campaign – aims to close US bases in Australia such as Pine Gap etc as well as campaigning for an end to the US-Australia alliance.  Covers issues such as the arms trade, military exercises and the like.

Visit their web page: www.anti-bases.org , or email info@anti-bases.org

  1. Sydney Anti-Aukus Coalition (SAAC) -is the local campaign against AUKUS which includes the nuclear powered submarines and other aspects of the relationship with the US military.

Visit their facebook page: SydAntiAukusCoalition

Hiroshima/Nagasaki media release 2 2023

Denis Doherty

On Hiroshima Day peace groups call for Govt to abandon AUKUS

“On Hiroshima Day, 6 August, we call on the Albanese Government to announce the cancellation of the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal and steps to promote peace and co-operation within our region and globally,” Denis Doherty from the Hiroshima Day Committee said in Sydney today.

“These submarines will cost an eye watering $386 billion or $32 million every day for the next 30 years, adding 1.6 per cent to our GDP.

“This exorbitant cost inevitably means the government will have to raid other portfolios such as environment, health, housing and education. It is simply not acceptable that we suffer because of US ambitions to remain top dog in the region,” Doherty said.

“Many of our regional neighbours are deeply concerned by AUKUS, criticising it as destabilising and a threat to their security. They carry the scars of the nuclear age and want the Treaty of Rarotonga observed so that the Pacific is nuclear free.

“The submarines will produce high level nuclear waste which the government has agreed to store for around 200,000 years.  No country in the world has yet found a way to store high level radioactive waste so is the government going to simply dump it on Indigenous land?

“Australia is losing its ability to be a nuclear free country and to comply with the provisions of the non-proliferation treaty. And the Albanese Government still has not honoured its commitment to sign the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the almost quarter of a million men, women and children who perished there, give us a bitter history lesson on the nuclear age. Yet the AUKUS deal has opened up the prospect of more Hiroshima in our country, only this time both sides will have nuclear weapons,”. Denis Doherty concluded.

The 78th anniversary of Hiroshima will be commemorated in many cities and towns around Australia on August 6

Details of the Sydney event are:

Sunday August 6 at 2 pm in Town Hall Square.

Speakers will be followed by a procession to the Defence Department at 320 Pitt St where wreaths for the victims of nuclear weapons and nuclear testing will be laid.

Virginia Class