§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department provided information about radioactive levels at the British atomic test in 1950, to the Australian Supreme Court which awarded £300,000 compensation to an Australian present at the atomic tests.
§ Mr. SainsburyCopies of United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and Ministry of Defence reports which had previously been made freely available to Her Majesty's Government of the Commonwealth of Australia on many past occasions, were available to the Supreme Court of New South Wales which dealt with the civil claim in question.
Some United Kingdom citizens, including one who is currently a senior Ministry of Defence officer, who had been present in the tests in 1953 and 1956, gave evidence before the court on a personal basis, on factual matters on which they had a direct personal knowledge. This included information on the radioactive levels at Emu field in the evidence given by the current Ministry of Defence officer.