The likelihood of a nuclear attack on Darwin was raised during the 70th commemoration of the bombing of the city at the special Stokes Hill Wharf ceremony to honour the 23 waterside workers and 48 seamen killed during the raids. Brian Manning, with 35 years involvement on the Darwin waterfront, grimly reflected on what the next attack on Darwin might be like ."I don’t think anybody would be left to talk about it," he added. His "message," to prevent such a terrible event , was that people should be prepared to do something to stop the arms race and the terrorism taking place in the world
Standing with the aid of a walking stick , an activist involved in many campaigns , such as freedom for East Timor, Aboriginal advancement and social justice , closely associated with crusading editor Jim Bowditch , he said he wondered how the people of Iraq and Afghanistan felt about the bombing of their countries. Later, he told Little Darwin he regarded the separate , larger commemoration events on the Esplanade , attended by the PM, the Governor-General, the Leader of the Federal Opposition ,the US Ambassador , the Chief Minister of the NT , military officials , and other dignitaries as perpetuating the old king and country attitude, glorifying war and feeding the industrial military complex, about which President Eisenhower had warned.
Addressing the gathering , organised by the Maritime Union of Australia , Ms Dorothy Fox (Cubillo) spoke of the heroism and confusion that took place on the wharf the day of the attack. In particular , she mentioned a person who repeatedly dived into the water to rescue men. It was unfortunate, she said , that objects connected with the defence of Darwin had been removed as the city grew.
Ms Fox said she believed the commemoration should have started at the wharf and then moved up to the Esplanade . With all due respect to the PM and other elected politicians and officials , the day belonged to the people of Darwin . She said she would take the matter up with the NT government representatives at the ceremony –Chris Burns and Malarndirri McCarthy , with apologies from the Chief Minister, who was attending the Cenotaph function–to press for such a change at future commemorations. Wreaths were thrown into the sea and later a permanent memorial on the wharf was blessed.
Tiwi dancers who had been left out of the Esplanade commemoration by planners performed, above , in front of the memorial, one dance being the Bombing of Darwin. A member of the group recounted how Darwin had failed to act on advice that Japanese planes were heading its way. He also told how islanders had captured a downed Japanese pilot, telling him to stick up his hands, the way cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy instructed in movies*
