British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell visits Red Centre; no plans yet for apology

A senior diplomat from an important ally has visited the Red Centre – but has stopped short of confirming whether there were any plans to apologise for dark chapter in Australian history. Find out more.

The British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell visited Alice Springs in June, 2024. Picture: Gera Kazakov

The senior diplomat to a country who left a scar on the Red Centre says there are no travel plans arranged to go and apologise to the thousands affected by nuclear weapons testing after WWII.

The British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell landed in the Red Centre on June 17 as part of a three day tour of the town.

Speaking to this masthead, she said it was the first time in “20 to 30 years” that a senior British diplomat had visited the Red Centre.

British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell with Alice Springs Town Council Mayor Matt Paterson.

As part of her trip, Mrs Treadell met with senior leaders in the town and a number of businesses, such Alice Springs Town Council Mayor Matt Paterson and the Central Land Council.

Mrs Treadell said a big part of the trip was the Indigenous engagement strategy and understanding the First Nations peoples of Australia.

But when asked if she had any plans to go further south into South Australia to apologise to any of the thousands affected by British Nuclear tests in the 1950s and ‘60s, she said “I don’t have those travel plans arranged yet.”

“No one in all my conversations has raised this directly with me,” she said, when questioned if apologising for the tests was an important step in recognising the history.

“(sic) Whether or not that signifies that people have moved on you know, I think we have had senior visitors who have come who’ve expressed regret for what has happened, I think that is a matter of record.”

Australian Nuclear Veterans’ Association founder Avon Hudson said “almost everybody has moved on to the cemetery”.

Balaklava man and Maralinga veteran Avon Hudson, who has spent years fighting for the recognition of the plight of nuclear veterans.

Mr Hudson was a RAAF pilot when he was assigned to work at Maralinga, and said out of the 8200 Australia’s that attended the British tests, there’d be “less than a thousand now”.

“As far the British government goes ... they run a mile when you talk about ‘oh we’d like an apology’,” he said.

“I’ve been trying now for 56 years to get some sort of recognition from both the British and Australian governments.

“They’re s--t scared – to put it in plain Australian language – of apologising.”

Mrs Treadwell said she would like to come back to the Red Centre in the next few months.

“I hope having established this and establishing the contacts with the organizations and networks that are here, it gives us a foundation on which to build,” she said.

“It matters to us that there is a modern relevance in our relationship with all parts of Australia.

“And I think that perhaps you know, this is a part of Australia that perhaps has had fewer regular visits.”