Commemorating 79 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Hunter groups gathered at Peace Park in Tighes Hill to stand against nuclear power.
On Sunday August 4, representatives from the Hunter Peace Group, the City of Newcastle, University of Newcastle (UoN) Students for Palestine, and anti-nuclear campaigners called for Newcastle to remain a nuclear free-zone.
Newcastle was declared a 'Nuclear Free Zone' on June 29, 1982 by former lord mayor the late Joy Cummings.
Hunter Peace group coordinator, Lynda Forbes said they wanted to push back against all forms of nuclear power.
"We are moving to become a nuclear country, and that is just appalling. With the AUKUS pact signed, how we stop that - we don't know, but we've got to keep doing it," Ms Forbes said.
While the nine countries that own nuclear weapons continue to pump billions into upgraded weapons, Ms Forbes would rather see that money go towards humanitarian needs.
"Just think what we could have done in the world," she said.
"The $368 billion that has been allocated under the AUKUS pact, and many more large defence industry spends, could have put food in the poverty-stricken bellies, homes for the homeless, provided badly needed money for public hospitals and public schools," she said.
The Hunter Peace Group was pushing for offshore wind farms as an alternative to nuclear energy stations suggested under a future coalition government.
"We all must come together to stop this nuclearisation of Australia," she said.
"We must work together to support renewable energy driven by the sun, the wind and water power - never nuclear. Let's make Australia a safe and peaceful place to live."
Hiroshima remembered
Deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said Hiroshima Day was a reminder of the thousands of people who lost their lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9, killing more than 129,000 people in World War II.
"Hiroshima Day reminds us of our community's values of peace, unity and understanding," Cr Clausen said.
Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe called for a "renewable future not a radioactive one".
She spoke against plans to store low and intermediate-level radioactive waste from nuclear powered submarines at the HMAS Stirling Navy Base off Perth.
"This waste is significantly more toxic than any other waste currently stored in Australia," Cr McCabe said.
"There is no location, no funding and no technology to store nuclear waste for the required 10,000 to 100,000 years," she said.
She said she was strongly opposed to the ongoing push for militarisation in the Hunter region.
"We have all the potential to become a world leader in the clean, green industries of the future and I don't want to see that investment and those skills get taken up with militarisation," she said.
UoN Students for Palestine representative, Jean Louise Olivier stood against militarisation and ties to weapon manufacturers at the University of Newcastle.
"We are standing in solidarity on Hiroshima Day, which stands for ongoing peace, and saying that militarisation has no place in our educational institutions," she said.
