annually, but this did not occur, and Operation Antler was the last major test series conducted there. One reason was public sentiment. A 1952 poll indicated that 58 per cent of Australians supported British nuclear testing in Australia, with only 29 per cent against, but support steadily declined, and by 1957 only 37 per cent were in favour, with 49 per cent opposed. This augured poorly for the future of Maralinga should there be a change of government, and the 1961 Australian federal election reduced Menzies' majority to just one seat. The decline in Australian support for testing was part of a worldwide trend that resulted in the moratorium on nuclear testing from November 1958 to September 1961. Maralinga was now redundant, as the Australian Government's restriction on testing thermonuclear weapons had led to the development of the Christmas Island test site, where there was no such restriction, and its favourable winds carried fallout away. With the 1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement, Britain also gained access to the Nevada Test Site, where the first British major test took place underground on 1 March 1962, but there was no certainty that Nevada would be available in the future. The 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty banned atmospheric testing, and no site was located at the Maralinga Range for underground testing; the nearest suitable site was on Aboriginal land away. After 1963, Maralinga was placed on caretaker status, and although there was some discussion about conducting minor trials in 1966, in view of the fact that the 1956 Memorandum of Arrangements was due to expire in March of that year, the British Government decided that it would not seek to extend or renew the agreement. A formal memorandum on the termination of the 1956 Memorandum of Arrangements was signed on 23 September 1967, and the UK was released from most liabilities and responsibilities on 21 December 1967. In December 1968, the Minister for Defence revoked the declaration of Maralinga as a prohibited area under the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952. On 31 August 1972, the Minister for Supply removed the restrictions on most of the Maralinga Prohibited Area, retaining only a strip that became part of the new Woomera Prohibited Area. Legacy 1963–64 cleanup Cleanup operations commenced at Maralinga with Operation Clean Up in 1963 and Operation Hercules in 1964. These involved the removal of major hazards to permit entry to the