Australian Peace Committee (SA) Inc.

 Contact/Feedback | Membership | APC Site Map | Site updated 19 July 2008

 

APC-SA NEWSLETTER APRIL 2004

Next Meeting

Next meeting is on Saturday April 17th at 2pm at FILEF, 15 Lowe Street, Adelaide. All welcome. (Lowe Street is the 3td street west of Morphett Street, running between Gouger and Wright Streets.) New video "Arsenal of Hypocrisy" will be shown and there will be discussion after. The video features GN Coordinator Bruce Gagnon, Noam Chomsky and Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell talking about the dangers of moving the arms race into space. the one-hour production features archival footage, Pentagon documents, and clearly outlines the US plan to "control and dominate" space and the Earth below. The video spells out the dangers of the Bush "Nuclear Systems Initiative" that will expand the use of nuclear power in space by building Project Prometheus - the nucelar rocket. Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon, warns that a war in space would create massive bits of space junk that would create a mine field surrounding the Earth making it virtually impossible to launch anything into the heavens. Mitchell calls space a fragile environment that must be protected. Noam Chomsky talks about how the US intends to use space technology to control the Earth and reminds the viewer that the US refuses to negotiate a global ban on weapons in space. He also speaks about the role of the media in suppressing this important issue. The video contains archival sound of President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961 warning the American People about the power of the military industrial complex. Arsenal of Hypocrisy was produced by filmmaker Randy Atkins from Gainsesville, Florida.

Please write or fax Foreign Minister Alexander Downer urgently

PLEASE FAX ALEXANDER DOWNER ABOUT UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL NONPROLIFERATION RESOLUTION, NPT PREPCOM, APRIL 26 - MAY 7, 2004
Dear Australian Activists, and all who are likely to be affected by Australian Government foreign policies,
From April 26 to May 7th, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Prepcom will be meeting in New York at the UN.
So why should we be bothered or take any action, such as writing to our foreign minister?
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is the main bulwark against nuclear proliferation. Article VI of the NPT, signed by every nation except India, Pakistan and Israel (North Korea has withdrawn), obliges the nuclear weapons states to achieve the total and unequivocal elimination of their nuclear arsenals. Yet the US has recently announced that it will not be trying to achieve even the modest reductions in nuclear warheads envisaged in the Moscow Treaty.
Every five years, a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference is held. The next review conference will be in 2005, and the last one was in 2000. Two Prepcoms (preparatory conferences) are held before the review conference.
The NPT is under unprecedented challenge, both from the actions of proliferators such as Pakistan and North Korea, and from the policies of the Bush administration, which pay no attention at all to the legal obligations of the nuclear weapons powers to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
The nonproliferation resolution currently before the UN Security Council, while it is strong on measures to prevent North Korea in particular from obtaining nuclear weapons, pays no attention whatsoever to the clear obligations of the established nuclear powers to eliminate their nuclear arsenals in spite of El Baradei's recent statement that:
"We must abandon the unworkable notion that it is morally reprehensible for some countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them for security - and indeed to continue to refine their capacities and postulate plans for their use."
The complete unravelling of the NPT would mean a global nuclear weapons free-for-all, and certainly a large increase in the number of countries that currently have nuclear weapons, with the probability of their use at some point in the not too distant future approaching certainty.
You are urged to ask the Australian government to support the NPT in its disarmament dimension as well as in its nonproliferation dimension, and to lend its support to the practical measures suggested by Mr El Baradei, as well as in resolution after resolution by the New Agenda Coalition and the Non-Aligned Movement in the UN General Assembly and successive NPT Review conferences.
Do please fax Mr Downer a letter, preferably handwritten, or else typed on organisational letterhead.
It is also important to include in your letter to Mr Downer, your concerns about the nonproliferation resolution which is now before the UN Security Council. More Information on the topic of nuclear weapons and the NPT is available at the following website: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/

Ukrainian Missiles "gone missing" - Ukraine is still dealing with the legacy of the Cold War

Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhen Marchuk has said that several hundred of his countries missiles are unaccounted for....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3568139.stm

Many reasons to smile

by Michelle Murphy.

For the past year children from Baxter Detention Centre... have attended school. Their happiness and achievements tell 1000 words.

Landmine Action Week Dinner Dance

Austcare (Australians Caring for Refugees) in conjunction with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines - Australian Network (SA) have much pleasure in inviting members, friends and their families to their Landmine Action Week Dinner Dance, to be held at Molinara Social and Sports Club 57 Lyons Road, Windsor Gardens on Saturday 22 May, 6.30pm til late. Adults $22 gst inc. children under 12 years $15. Continental Antipasto, pasta entree, main course, cakes and coffee. All night we have live music for your entertainment. Drinks available from the bar for modest prices. 

APC Young Writers Competition

Watch out for details of this year's APC Schools Competition in your next newsletter. The competition will be launched shortly and will take the form of an essay based on research into the effects of war and conflict on individuals. Detailed information on rules and requirements, as well as the way in which the research is to be carried out will be in next month's newsletter. Once these details are available please make every effort to have your local schools become involved in the competition.

A better Australia is possible!

Strategic activists meeting: calling all groups to come together to plan the establishment of an ongoing network of activist groups to plan joint actions on the issues which concern us all. A meeting will be organised for later in April - details will be announced.

Our aim is to ensure that 

peace and social justice issues are on the public agenda for the coming federal election.

people understand the issues through community education

politicians are aware of these issues and have time to respond to them, knowing that their responses will be distributed widely.

This is an opportunity for the serious issues now facing Australian's future as a civil society to be widely debated in our communities.

As small groups we all have limited resources to reach wider audiences to inform them of our concerns. It is suggested that we meet to find ways of working together with a common goal of educating communities.

The theme "a better Australia is possible" follows on from the recent World Social Forum in Mumbai, India in January 2004, where a similar world theme was used.

Ruth Russell was a delegate at this forum and has returned with some ideas for the way forward. Ruth would like to present these to an activists meeting.

Proposed Agenda:

  • Welcome

  • List current issues - agree on a lead agency or person for each campaign.

  • Agree to all support the campaign that lead agencies propose.

  • Hear about some strategies from the World Social Forum 

  • Develop a strategic plan for campaigning collectively

  • Commit to working together to create a "better Australia"

There is strength and power in working together. Remember that the New York Times said that a second superpower is emerging - the will of the people! It is time now to harness that power for a better Australia. Please consider being part of this planning group. If you are unable to send a representative but would still like to be part of this - let Ruth know. Contact Ruth Russell NOWAR Liaison Officer

 

 

Back to Top

A Peace of the Action

Radio program A Peace of the Action is dedicated to commentary on peace and social justice issues. 
Radio Adelaide 101.5FM every Sunday at 12.30.

Ron Gray Human Rights Foundation

Click here for more information about the RGHRF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opinions expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect those of the APC

This site Copyright of the Australian Peace Committee , contact APC-SA