ABOUT 25 peace activists, nuclear-free advocates, and Stop AUKUS WA campaigners assembled outside the National Labor Women’s Conference at the Esplanade Hotel on Saturday.

The group urged the Labor faithful to abandon the AUKUS deal they’d inherited from the former Morrison government, saying the potential dangers of nuclear-powered submarines weren’t being appreciated.

Nuclear Free WA co-convenor Karrie-Ann Garlick said there was a serious lack of public awareness about the risks associated with nuclear reactors. 

“Many folk are still unaware of the risks of nuclear reactors and how Australia has blindly agreed to dealing with highly enriched uranium waste, for which there is still no global solution,” Ms Garlick said.

“AUKUS is also stealing our children’s future. 

“The estimated $368 billion is desperately needed for housing, health, education, and fighting climate change.”

At the conference, Labor finance minister Katy Gallagher also “categorically” denied misleading Parliament over the Brittany Higgins controversy when she said “no-one [in Labor] had any knowledge” of the former Liberal staffer’s rape allegations before they became public.

Ms Gallagher has since acknowledged that she had been briefed about “some allegations” before then, but said her denial was about a suggestion from Liberal senator Linda Reynolds that Labor had been planning to use the information for political gain.