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APC SA NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2004
APC AGM
Annual General Meeting, Wednesday 29th September at 7pm at the
Friends (Quaker) Meeting House 40a Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide (just
behind the St Peter's Cathedral). Election of Officers will take place from 7pm
to 7.30pm, followed by guest speaker: John Harley, from the Office of the Public
Advocate
Topic: The Role the Public Advocate plays in protecting Human Rights. The
meeting will be held during the International Week of Action Against the
Militarisation of Space ~ Keep Space for Peace !! Questions & discussion
will precede refreshments. All welcome.
Ron Gray
The Australian Peace Committee have been deeply saddened by the
death of Ron Gray on 13th August. Ron's entire life was characterised by his
commitment to peace and social justice issues. Before Ron died he was surprised
and very pleased to learn that the Executive Committee had resolved to establish
a special fund in his name, to continue his work, especially in the field of
Human Rights. People at his funeral donated generously to the Ron Gray Human
Rights Foundation. Some people donated anonymously, so we are unable to thank
them personally. We therefore sincerely thank them here.
We dedicate this Newsletter to Ron's memory and include some of the eulogies
given at the celebration of his life. We also include an envelope for those who
may wish to send a donation (cheques made payable to: APC - Ron Gray
Foundation).
Upcoming Newsletters will outline the work of the Foundation, its goals and
future direction.
 Ron
Gray died on 13th August
2004
at the age of 79 years.
Ronald Edward Gray
-- biographical notes by Sally Gray
Ron Gray was my father. He was born in Glasgow, on 9th February 1925, where
his parents, Edward and Emma, and sister Sylvia had moved to from the North-East
of England. His father was a manager for British Home Stores, and they moved
regularly. Dad lived in many, many different houses in his youth - somewhere of
the order of eleven in Chester alone.
He did well at lessons and was awarded a scholarship to Chester City and County
School in 1936.
The family moved back to the north-east in the late 1930s where they lived in
Gateshead, and Walkerville, and Whitley Bay -- more moving house again, and Dad
went to the grammar school, and at Boy Scouts was tested for proficiency badges.
He was 14 when the second world war began in 1939. He was evacuated along with
many other children to the country for a while, then that was it for formal
education, and at sixteen he began his fitter's apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce in
Crewe, making Merlin aircraft engines.
So he was out on his own at a young age, working two part-time jobs as well as
his apprenticeship to earn enough money to pay for his digs. He told me that he
learnt early on in life to work things out for himself, and he retained a very
independent point of view.
With the war on, he was a private in the Home Guard, and after his job at
Rolls-Royce was no longer a reserved occupation he joined the RAF, serving in
Egypt and Malta before returning to civilian life as an aircraft fitter for A V
Roe. This work took him all over the United Kingdom, so he was still on the
move, and it was when he was 29 and working near Amesbury in 1954 that he met
Lyn and they were married later that year.
They moved to Cornwall next. We three children were born there. Mum and Dad were
buying a house, we lived in a coastal town in a beautiful part of the country,
Dad had a good job. -- and then they decided to give that up and take a chance
for a new life in a new country, hoping for better opportunities for their
children.
In 1963 we were on the way to Australia, and got off the boat in Adelaide - Dad
still hadn't stopped travelling - taking a job at the ETSA (Electricity Trust of
Sth Australia) coalfields at Leigh Creek in the northern Flinders Ranges.
I dare say there couldn't have been a much greater contrast between Cornwall and
our new home, but we loved living in the desert, and Dad took us exploring the
surrounding bush tracks and local countryside on weekends.
After a couple of years, we moved again, this time to Adelaide, and here Dad
found his place in the sun - he was 41 when he arrived, and after all the moving
around of the first half of his life, spent more than twenty years in his next
house, at Hillcrest. He was still working for ETSA, at the Osborne
power-station.
Adelaide was a good place to grow up in, especially with parents who took us out
and about. Mum and Dad took us bushwalking, swimming, beachcombing, exploring
the state on weekends, around the parks and gardens and so on --Dad was
notorious for his rather adventurous shortcuts on bushwalks, and we made some
precipitous ascents and descents in the Adelaide Hills when he got bored with
following the trail. More than one of my friends refused a second invitation to
go bushwalking with us after having had a good fright the first time.
We were the only children at our High School whose Dad took us to demos -
against the electoral gerrymander, the Vietnam war, conscription . He was active
in the Trade Union movement, in the AEU while he was a fitter, and in the MOA
after becoming a safety officer. As well as dealing with health and safety
issues like dust and asbestos, he was keen to see all grades at ETSA opened to
both men and women.
We children had all left home and Mum and Dad should have been looking forward
to some time for themselves, and to enjoy their grand-children but my mother was
ill and died in 1982, leaving him on his own when he was 57.
Two years later Dad retired from ETSA, in order to work full-time for peace and
justice.
It wasn't so long after that, in 1986, that we found out that he had fallen in
love again, this time with Irene, and they looked after each other ever since.
Our Dad was an honest and generous man. He was shy, and didn't enjoy putting
himself forward in public, but made the effort because he saw things that needed
doing, and he did them. I never heard him swear. He had a dry sense of humour,
and I still smile when I find myself repeating to children one or other of the
witticisms I heard from him when I was small.
He and Mum brought us up in a safe and loving home, and we thank them for it.
Ron Gray was a fundamentally good and decent man, we loved him, and we will miss
him.
Sally, Mecky &
Ron (with collection bucket) at a peace march
Sally & Ron at Peace Park Ready for a march to
begin at Victoria Square
Linda Gale's speech/dedication at Ron's funeral:
Ron Gray joined the Gale family when he and Irene became partners. It is always
difficult to find the right words to describe a relationship where the lovers
decide not to get married. Our language doesn't know how to deal with it.
"Partnership" often sounds a bit formal for such a close and intimate
relationship. But in this case, I think it fits. Because Ron and Irene were a
true partnership - in life, in love, and in their passion for a better world.
It was wonderful to see how happy and in love Irene and Ron were, and remained.
They shared two decades of love and companionship.
But it was not just Irene that Ron shared his love with. We soon discovered that
he was a true member of our family, a friend, advisor and support to my
generation, and a loving grandfather to our children. We learned that behind his
quiet reserve lay a wicked sense of humour, a sharp mind, and a wonderfully
mischievous grin. We have been so lucky to have been able to share Ron with
Sally, Susie, Rob and their kids and grandkids.
Before Irene was ever a part of that team called Grayle, and before she was even
a Gale, she was a Taylor - a member of a vast clan with its own peculiar ways.
It is a mark of Ron's gentle grace and impressive diplomatic skills that he was
universally welcomed by the Taylors as one of their own.
Visits to Ron and Irene's place always carried a fairly high chance of being
roped into a project. There would be trees for life seedlings to thin out, or
newsletters to fold, or layout and printing to be done. A visit around Christmas
or New Year was fraught with danger, since you might find yourself conscripted
into the arduous task of filling hundreds of tubes of soil and planting the
seeds of yet another crop of native trees and shrubs destined to help revegetate
farmland.
But such visits have always been something to look forward to. Along with the
shared work would come laughter, intelligent conversation, and a wealth of
knowledge across a huge range of subjects
and a glass of good red wine.
Ron brought a mix of realism and optimism to his activism. He recognised that
the problems facing the world are many and complex - and then set about doing
something about it. Ron and Irene have inspired many of us to further effort
because they have combined their determined campaigning on the world stage, with
practical, achievable steps at a personal and local level. While many others
talk about the environment, Ron Gray acted.
He believed in walking lightly on the earth - and from his early campaigns to
improve working environments by eliminating that killer, asbestos, to his
longstanding participation in the trees for life project, to converting his home
to solar power, Ron has left us all with a planet that is in better condition
for his having been here. This commitment to the environment even extends to the
ceremony today, where Ron is taking his leave in a recycled cardboard coffin -
the wooden façade you see will be saved and reused. after so many years of
carefully raising seedling trees, Ron did not want any tree to be felled to make
him a coffin.
I have had the great privilege of knowing Ron, not just as my mother's beloved,
but also as a comrade on the campaign trail. In the reception which will follow
this ceremony, you will see some photos of Ron campaigning - marching, getting
petitions signed, doing radio interviews, staffing information stalls, marching
again. In many of those photos you will see him accompanied by his children and
grandchildren. In all, he is accompanied by friends and comrades. Ron's great
talent was to bring others into campaign work, with a quiet, unassuming
confidence that we would, of course, see that this was the right thing to do.
No-one was bullied into taking part. People were welcomed, encouraged, and
valued.
In 2002 I joined Ron and Irene on their return visit to Pine Gap. Neither was in
the peak of health at the time, but little things like dicky knees and dodgy
lungs were not going to stop them. In the driving, dusty wind of three hot hot
days, Ron never stopped. He attended camp meetings, marched the bloody long way
from the campsite to the gates of the spy base, all the time providing a huge
range of old and new activists with information and analysis about the role that
place plays in fostering conflict and war. And exercising his special talent for
gently reminding people of the need for tolerance and cooperation within such a
broad and diverse movement.
Ron was a great peacemaker - on both a global and a personal level.
Cards and emails have been flooding in, and people have said some wonderful
things about Ron. I wish I could read them out to you, but there are simply far
too many. Instead, we have printed out the emails so that you can have a look,
and they will be in the reception. But I would like to read you just one comment
from Maureen and Brian:
"There is a saying about a butterfly moving its wings in the forest which
causes larger events to happen elsewhere. Well here in Australia, Ron certainly
kept his wings moving, to great effect."
The web of cause and effect is vast and complex, but one thing we can all be
sure of - the effects of that very determined butterfly, Ron Gray, will continue
to make our world a better place for many years to come.
Another friend, Helen, sent us this quote (I'm afraid I don't know the author):
What matters most in life
is not the beginning or the end
but the "dash" between the years.
It doesn't matter how much we own;
the cars...the house...the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our "dash".
Ron could be truly proud of how he spent his "dash'.
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Don Jarrett's speech/dedication at Ron's funeral:
I first became aware of Ron back in the heady days when the metal unions
amalgamated in the early '70's at meetings held in the union offices in Halifax
St. Some years later in the latish eighties, when Ron was on the International
committee of the UTLC. Ron organized my trip, as a delegate of the UTLC, to
participate on a Peace cruise on the Dnieper River, in the Ukraine. It was
mainly a meeting of peace activists from the U.S. and the Soviet Union with
delegates from other European Countries and Australia included. It was a great
experience to be with people from diverse organizations discussing a range of
issues, from preventing a nuclear catastrophy to concerns for the environment.
On my return I decided to involve myself in the peace movement here in Adelaide.
It was from that moment that I witnessed the extraordinary energy of Ron Gray in
his efforts to build a broad peace movement not only in Adelaide by nationally.
Of course he was not alone in this endeavour, there was Irene and the committee.
An aside - Ron was the treasurer. He was a dab hand at collecting subscriptions.
If you offered him $20 for a $15 sub the $5 change suddenly became a donation. I
think this is called the multiplier effect?
I think it interesting to spend a moment thinking about where the Ron Grays of
this world come from and what turned them on. Living as working class people of
Ron's age group did, through the traumas of the Great Depression, the Spanish
Civil War, the horrors of World War Two, and then the birth of the nuclear age
and the consequent threat of nuclear holocaust, it is not surprising that Ron
became involved in the struggles of the people for a better life - of security
for families in a peaceful world.
But let's take a step back for a moment. Ron worked as a Fitter and was a member
of the Amalgamate Engineering Union. He was a member because he regularly
attended union meetings, where he paid four pence dues. He was more a listener
than an orator, quietly absorbing the political debates of the time and quietly
forming his opinions about life. However when the conservative government of the
time banned the communist paper The Daily Worker, Ron and his mates smuggled the
paper onto the job. Freedom of information and honesty in government were
important principles to protect. Now where have I heard that before?
Soon after arriving in Australia Ron found work with ETSA at the beautiful
location of Leigh Creek where he maintained the machinery at the open cut mine.
After three years he returned to Adelaide in 1966 to work at the ETSA Osborne
power station. He became very much involved in union activity and was elected
to the shop committee. Of particular note was the strike Ron successfully led
against the use asbestos. As we now know, this was an important initiative not
only for the time but a wake up call in the use of such a devastating lethal
product. He seemed to be on every committee known to a union member. President
of the rank and file committee, the first rank and file vice-president of the
A.E.U., elected to the district committee and a delegate to state conference. He
was also a delegate to the UTLC and on their International Committee. His last
paid position was involved with the health and safety unit with ETSA. If you
can't control them out on the job with the rank and file put them in the office.
In 1972 Ron joined the newly formed Socialist Party of Australia, later to be
renamed the Communist Party. Among his contacts he had over time built up a
group of readers of the Guardian, the CPA weekly newspaper, and despite his
difficulty climbing stairs because of his emphysema he did his round every
Friday morning up to the time when he became aware of his other health problems
and had to enter hospital. This was typical of Ron.
On his retirement from work in industry, Ron took up voluntary work in the peace
movement and since that day dedicated much of his time and energy developing the
work of the peace movement. He believed that to change the world it is
absolutely necessary to broaden the movement, taking up issues that had wide
appeal without lessening the impact. For Ron, Peace was trade union business as
it was for the community. And so he set about working among church and other
community groups as well as the CPA and Labor party people.
He worked to get the message out to people that wars were the product of greed
and a lust for military and economic power, in which our taxes were being
expended on the machinery of war instead of converting that machinery for
peaceful purposes. Ron, along with others, spread the word through meetings,
leaflets, petitions and rallies. There was Ron with his clip board extracting
another signature, or Ron handing out leaflets, or Ron encouraging someone to
carry a Peace Committee flag or banner. Talking about banners - the APC is the
proud owner of a beautiful banner, too big to carry, requiring something more
sophisticated - a frame. With great ingenuity Ron built the frame of all frames,
and on wheels. A fantastic banner required an equally fantastic piece of
equipment to transport it the rally destination. You may have actually seen it
in action at the 2003 festival parade. Pushing the banner was usually fairly
comfortable unless there was a breeze blowing down King William St, when it
required the skill of a yachtsperson to tack our way along the route.
Ron's humanitarian response was evident when he strongly encouraged the Peace
Committee to send a delegate to the Campaign to Ban Land Mines. Adelaide was a
part of the national network with international connections. Ron was our
delegate, reporting regularly to our meetings and seeking our support to assist
where possible with a photo exhibition, stalls in Rundle Mall and involvement in
Refugee Week. Internationally this group were successful in bringing together
many governments to influence the UN to review its policies on conventional
weapons and Land Mines.
Ron would consider it negligent of me if I did not take this opportunity to
refer to current issues confronting the peace movements around the world.
Recently we commemorated the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
August, 1945. This action by the Truman administration irrevocably changed the
world. It was an action that defied humanity. It was a warning to the world and
especially the Soviet Union that the American government is prepared to use such
weapons in the pursuit of American self interest. We are now witnessing the
development of that threat with the U.S. government engaging in research and
development of mini-nukes and other usable weapons of mass destruction.
Undercover of countering terrorism the US is encouraging other nuclear states to
produce more nuclear weapons and thereby encouraging proliferation. Therefore, I
believe it is necessary for the our government to join with other states to
support the Abolition 2000 campaign to begin the process of eliminating nuclear
weapons by 2010 with their complete removal from storage by 2020. This can
happen at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference in New York in 2005. The
outrage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki must never be repeated. The peace movement
must work towards a new world based on peace and justice.
And in the spirit of Ron Gray - a plodding, prodding and steadfast activist for
peace and justice - we should consider that :
- We the people of this country should decide who is welcome to this country and
we will welcome refugees.
- We should also decide whether this country should have foreign military bases
- that all foreign military bases should be removed.
Ron's dedication to the welfare of his fellow workers and to the aim of a world
of equal opportunity and peace will not be forgotten. Remembering though is not
enough; we must in some way help to fill the gap.
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Wanda Fish is an Australian freelance journalist who dedicates
her research and writing to the building of a more equitable and just world.
Wanda has lived and worked in the United States, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
After a 30-year career in corporate marketing and public relations, Wanda left
the corporate world and began to campaign for humanitarian rights, peace, and
the creation of a world where all workers are given fair reward for their labour.
Wanda's articles are offered copyright free as part of her contribution towards
a better world.
These articles are available on http://www.eftel.com/~cleverfish
We recommend that those with internet access read Wanda's
thought-provoking article in full.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6774.htm
An Ordinary View of Extra-Ordinary Times
By Wanda Fish -- 08/19/04 "ICH" -- [an edited extract
from original article, which can be seen at the above URL]
. . . . Each of us is a unique human being with a unique destiny. Most of us
want to live peacefully with others, to enjoy life, and to feel love. Our
challenge now is to learn to live in communities, to honor and work with our
environment, to reject the prejudice of national pride and to welcome the birth
of an international community where sharing replaces ownership.
There is hope. Many of us are campaigning to transform the new world order into
a new humanity. Millions of ordinary people marched in anti-war protests in
almost every major city in the world during the lead up to the invasion of Iraq
last year. The crisis created by third world debt has also made us aware of the
stranglehold that organizations like the IMF, the World Bank, US Treasury and
the Bank of England have on the world. Some activists work for the deletion of
third world debt while others expose multi-national corporations that exploit
third world labor, pollute the planet and consume finite resources. Anti-war and
human rights activists expose the corruption of military expenditure and
advocate the re-direction of these funds to feeding and educating the world's
poor. If we disarmed every nation and ceased all military operations, the money
saved in the first month would shelter, feed, clothe and educate every child in
this world.
We can turn consumerism upon itself, and boycott the products and services of
corporations that abuse third world and developing nations. Collectively, the
ordinary folk have enormous buying power, and our choice to purchase or to
boycott can force mammoth change. Over time we can find an alternative to money,
or at least an alternative to an interest-based banking system. The ordinary
people will be able to exchange labour and goods, to recycle rather than
consume, and to work in rewarding jobs that promote peace.
New and alternative approaches are available to ordinary people. We can choose
to free ourselves from pharmaceutical companies by investigating healthier
alternatives to western medicine. We can boycott the major corporate chains by
choosing to shop locally, to support charity second hand shops, and to grow and
exchange our own food. We can work within our local communities to encourage
local fairs, swap meets, and bartering. We can become involved in political
lobbying and vote out the corrupt leaders who continue to support war. We can
reduce the power of banks by cutting up our credit cards and striving to live
"debt free". We can support the Jubilee action to eradicate all third
world debt. We can make our voices heard by writing letters to newspapers, by
calling talk back shows, and by participating in one of the many alternative
forums on the net.
When we regain control of our society, we will build our social capital so that
everyone on this planet has shelter, food, water, and access to education. We
will learn to create communities through common interest, to take responsibility
for our lives, and to empower ourselves. As we work towards equality and as we
learn to practice compassion, we will become wealthy without money, free, and
human.
It's time for a ceasefire on terrorism. It's time we turn the pyramid upside
down. It's time we reclaim our humanity. We can turn this ordinary world into an
extraordinary community.
The terrorism of debt
by Wanda Fish http://www.eftel.com/~cleverfish/debt.html
[another extract -- see entire article at the URL above]
Imagine two scenes in different parts of the world.
In our first scenario, three hooded gunmen raid an embassy. After a bloody gun
battle, the terrorists take the Ambassador and other survivors as hostages. They
demand the release of certain prisoners, or they will destroy the embassy and
kill their hostages.
In our second scenario, three grey-suited executives raid a country. The
collapsing economy has left the government powerless to administer essential
services. Failed crops, internal corruption, and natural disasters have taken
their toll. People are desperate and dying. The IMF and World Bank executives
outline the terms and conditions of the $50 billion loan.
The terrorists in the first scene are eventually captured and executed for
terrorist crimes. The bankers in the second scene are rewarded for their
successful hijacking of the country's economy. Their corporations will be paid
many times the loan over the next decade. The debt trap will cripple and
imprison the country's future earning capacity. The executives receive bonuses
and promotions that take their collective salary to a sum greater than the
salaries of all the lowest paid workers in the country they had signed up to the
debt trap. . . .
It's More Important Than Ever:
Speaking Out in NYC
www.codepinkalert.org
Explaining the decision to use three-year-old information to
raise the alert status to Code Orange, George Bush told the country, "We
are a nation in danger."
And so we are.
Bush was talking about the threat of terrorism. And it's real, to be sure. But
just as real is the ominous threat looming large over the vast majority of
Americans nationwide - the danger of losing a viable future for our children due
to the disastrous environmental, fiscal, social, and international policies that
are the Bush Agenda. But this agenda supplies more than a threat; far too many
of us are already living the loss of a viable present. Countless numbers of our
nation's children currently find themselves in dilapidated school rooms with
outdated books and underpaid teachers, their promised monies diverted to war.
Our veterans find the thanks they get for risking their lives is a greatly
reduced benefits package. Workers of all kinds are laboring in an environment
that until recently was unthinkable, no longer guaranteed overtime pay or
guaranteed a safe working environment. The middle class and poor find a downturn
in their economic picture, with any upturn only felt by the wealthiest 2%. And
each and every one of us breathe increasingly unsafe air and drink unsafe water
due to Bushıs relaxation of more than 200 environmental regulations.
The threat of the Bush agenda extends beyond our borders. Waging two wars in
four years, the Bush administration has irreparably harmed the lives of the
people of Afghanistan and Iraq, destroying infrastructure and economies, killing
thousands of innocent people and torturing and detaining others. And in
exploiting the tragedy of 9.11, implementing a policy of preemptive strikes and
permanent war, backing out of treaties years in the making from the
International Criminal Court Treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, Bush has squandered
the good will of the world, violated international law, and imperiled global
security.
In his statement, George Bush also proclaimed, "We have an obligation: When
we find out something, we got to share it."
Like George Bush, activists and protestors of conscience, too, have an
obligation. But, unlike Bush, ours is an obligation that all of us have to one
another in this country and across the globe. And unlike Bush, it is not an
obligation cloaked in an agenda of secrecy, lies and distortions, but it is an
agenda of the people to speak out and to spread the word that another world
outside of the Bush agenda is possible. Enough is enough. It's time to take our
country back, to create policies that truly respect those at home and abroad.
That's why CodePink will join countless thousands of individuals, veterans,
military families, faith-based groups, workers' rights groups, and organizations
of all kinds who have come from across the country to speak out in NYC on August
29th. And that, too, is why CodePink has sounded a CodePink Alert in New York
City that will reverberate through the election and beyond. But, leave your duct
tape in the drawer. Our alert is not one of color-coded, self-serving
fear-mongering. It doesn't ask us to be suspicious of one another, it doesn't
bully nations, and it doesn't cater to the "haves and have-mores,"
Bush's self-proclaimed base. It's a call for compassion-in-action, for people of
all ages and races and agendas to set aside their differences and come together
to sift through the rhetoric, the doublespeak, and the distortions and get down
to what's really going on and what we can do about it. It's a call borne from
the belief that in coming together in peaceful protest we show George Bush, the
RNC, the country, and the world that so many of us say no to the Bush agenda.
In our protest we represent the innumerable Americans in every state who agree
with us, those that the media so often fail to give voice to. We speak for the
countless thousands who canıt be with us, but who stand in solidarity in
events, protests, rallies, and vigils nationwide. And in our protest we model
the democracy our country was founded on. We remind the world that all of New
York City and the U.S. is a free speech zone and the First Amendment is our
permit. And in our protest we create a dialogue, an open door that aspires to be
accessible to all, one that can lead us down a vastly different path than the
treacherous one the Bush agenda is attempting to drag us down.
Human Rights Forum in SA
On a chilly Wednesday evening in July, 350 people attended a
forum entitled "Protecting Human Rights: A renewed Challenge in an Age of
Fear". It was a first in what is anticipated to be a series in which South
Australians can be informed on the advantages / disadvantages of a Bill of
Rights for our State. The venue was intended to be the Atrium at the City-West
campus of UNISA, but due to the numbers it was moved to a lecture hall.
Claire O'Connor facilitated the talks, with John Harley (the Public Advocate)
being the principal speaker, followed by panelists Julie Redman (solicitor -
Alderman and Redman), Tom Trevorrow (Chair of the Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress
and Heritage Association Inc. and Chair of the Ngarrindjeri/Meningie Land
Council Inc.), Elliott Johnston QC (retired judge).
The audience participation in the form of questions highlighted the fact that
Australia's constitution offers only limited protection in terms of Human
Rights.
Claire wound up the evening inviting people to become part of a formative
committee to progress the discussion further. So far 34 people have signed up
and when the committee becomes properly constituted, APC have agreed in
principle to assist with funds to operate further metropolitan and regional
seminars through the Ron Gray Human Rights Foundation.
The evening was very successful and thanks must be extended to the Bob Hawke
Ministerial Centre, the International Human Rights Day Committee, and the
affiliated organisations, being the APC (SA branch)Inc., SOPHIA Inc., SA Council
for Civil Liberties, the UNAA, and WILPF.
The oranisers wish to particularly thank the excellent speakers and Betty Sumner
who sang the Kaurna welcome song.
Serving officers share truth
concerns
August 8, 2004 - www.smh.com.au İ 2004 AAP
A number of serving defence force officers shared the concerns of a group of 43
former defence chiefs and diplomats who wanted a return to truth in government,
retired defence chief General Peter Gration said.
Mr Gration, who headed the Australian Defence Force from 1987 to 1993, said he
and the other signatories believed Australia joined the invasion of Iraq on the
basis of false assumptions and deception of the Australian people.
"I can tell you that number of serving offices do share these concerns and
serving diplomats too, I guess. But quite properly in their present positions,
they can't speak out," he told reporters.
"Demonstrably, over the last year or two, truth in government has been less
than it should be.
"The primary focus is on Iraq, where the government took us to war, the
most serious decision a government can take on the basis of false assumptions
and, arguably, deception. We want to see a moving away from that and a return to
truth in government."
The signatories to the statement include former defence force chief Alan
Beaumont, former defence department secretary Paul Barratt, former prime
minister's department secretaries Alan Renouf and Richard Woolcott, plus and
former ambassadors including Rawdon Dalrymple, Stephen Fitzgerald and Ross
Garnaut.
They call for whichever government is elected later this year to give a priority
to truth in government, calling for more carefully balanced policies presented
in a more sophisticated way.
"These should apply to our alliance with the United States, our engagement
with the neighbouring nations of Asia and the South West Pacific and our role in
multilateral diplomacy, especially at the United Nations," they said.
Mr Gration said roch he and the other signatories wanted get their views out
before the election was announced.
He said it was intended to be a bipartisan call, on whichever government was
elected, to give more priority to truth in government.
"I and all the other signatories have had quite senior positions in
government over a long period of time, about a quarter of a century," he
said.
"We feel that it is urgent to speak out on this issue.
"Most of them, you will see, are not prone to taking public positions on
any issues and the fact that they have done (so) on this again underlines how
seriously we take it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The full statement reads:
We believe a re-elected Howard Government or an elected Latham government must
give priority to truth in government. This is fundamental to effective
parliamentary democracy. Australians must be able to believe they are being told
the truth by our leaders, especially in situations as grave as committing our
forces to war. We are concerned that Australia was committed to join the
invasion of Iraq on the basis of false assumptions and the deception of the
Australian people.
Saddam Hussein's dictatorial administration has ended, but removing him was not
the reason given to the Australian people for going to war. The Prime Minister
said in March 2003 that our policy was "the disarmament of Iraq, not the
removal of Saddam". He added, a few days before the invasion, that if
Saddam got rid of his weapons of mass destruction he could remain in power.
It is a matter for regret that the action to combat terrorism after September
11, 2001, launched in Afghanistan, and widely supported, was diverted to the
widely opposed invasion of Iraq. The outcome has been destructive, especially
for Iraq. The international system has been subjected to enormous stress that
still continues.
It is of concern to us that the international prestige of the United States and
its presidency has fallen precipitously over the last two years. Because of our
Government's unquestioning support for the Bush Administration's policy,
Australia has also been adversely affected. Terrorist activity, instead of being
contained, has increased. Australia has not become safer by invading and
occupying Iraq and now has a higher profile as a terrorist target.
We do not wish to see Australia's alliance with the US endangered. We understand
that it can never be an alliance of complete equals because of the disparity in
power, but to suggest that an ally is not free to choose if or when it will go
to war is to misread the ANZUS Treaty. Within that context, Australian
governments should seek to ensure that it is a genuine partnership and not just
a rubber stamp for policies decided in Washington. Australian leaders must
produce more carefully balanced policies and present them in more sophisticated
ways. These should apply to our alliance with the US, our engagement with the
neighbouring nations of Asia and the South West Pacific, and our role in
multilateral diplomacy, especially at the United Nations.
Above all, it is wrong and dangerous for our elected representatives to mislead
the Australian people. If we cannot trust the word of our Government, Australia
cannot expect it to be trusted by others . Without that trust, the democratic
structure of our society will be undermined and with it our standing and
influence in the world.
--The Age, August 9, 2004
Now for the politics of last resort -
impeach Tony Blair
The Guardian - London - August 26, 2004 -- Adam Price
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1290973,00.html
Having duped us into war, the prime minister must be held to account.
New Labour, new politics - that was the promise. In Blair's own words in his
first speech as leader to the Labour party conference: "It means being
open. It means telling it like it is. Let's be honest. Straight. Those most in
need of hope deserve the truth." Now, almost a decade later, his words
sound like self-parody. And yet there remains a certain resonance about them.
Truth is the foundation of democracy. Without truth, there can be no trust, and
without trust, politics loses its very legitimacy. And that is the tragedy of
what has befallen us all in the last three years of this premiership - alongside
the personal tragedies of the 64 British service personnel and 13,000 Iraqis who
have paid the highest price for what has become the cruellest of deceptions.
Faced with this charge of having duped us into war, the prime minister responds
with a certain injured innocence: "Are people questioning my integrity? Are
they saying I lied?" Of course, professional communicators such as the
prime minister almost never tell lies. For the most part it's perfectly easy to
mislead the public without resorting to that. As Robin Cook wrote in his diary,
Blair was "far too clever" for that. Rather than allege there was a
real link between Saddam and Bin Laden "he deliberately crafted a
suggestive phrase designed to create the impression that British troops were
going to Iraq to fight a threat from al-Qaida". There is more than one way
not to tell the truth: half-truths, omissions and deliberate ambiguities can be
just as effective as crude lies if the mission is to mislead. All this would
still be in the realm of conjecture, of course, if it had not been for the death
of David Kelly and Bush's decision to have his own inquiry. Without these
unforeseen events we would never have had access to the information revealed
through the Butler and Hutton inquiries. But we do.
We now know what Blair knew, and when he knew it, and the contrast with his
public statements at the time, which are set out in the report, A Case To
Answer, by Dan Plesch and Glen Rangwala, published today. It's on the basis of
that report that I am prepared to state - unprotected by parliamentary
privilege, unfettered by the rules of parliamentary language and without
equivocation - that the prime minister did not tell the truth. Instead he
exaggerated, distorted, suppressed and manipulated the information for political
ends. This was an organised deception to win over a sceptical parliament and
public to the military action he had long ago promised his ally Mr Bush. The
evidence for Blair's duplicity is overwhelming. He claimed in early 2002 that
Iraq had "stockpiles of major amounts of chemical and biological
weapons" while the assessment of the joint intelligence committee at the
time was that Iraq "may have hidden small quantities of agents and
weapons". He told the TUC in September 2002 that Saddam "had enough
chemical and biological weapons remaining to devastate the entire Gulf
region", while the intelligence assessment was that "Saddam has not
succeeded in seriously threatening his neighbours".
Blair displayed the most despicable cynicism of all when he warned that "it
is a matter of time, unless we act and take a stand before terrorism and weapons
of mass destruction come together", even though the government was later
forced to admit to the Butler inquiry that "the JIC assessed that any
collapse of the Iraqi regime would increase the risk of chemical and biological
warfare technology or agents finding their way into the hands of terrorists, and
that the prime minister was aware of this". He knew the nightmare scenario
he painted would be more, not less, likely if we invaded Iraq, yet he gave the
opposite impression to translate anxiety into support for the war. If he was
guilty of mismanagement, miscalculation or mere mistakes then the proper place
to hold him to account would be the ballot box.
Deliberate misrepresentation, however, is what marks this prime minister out.
When Peter Mandelson caused "incorrect information" to be given to the
house, and Beverley Hughes admitted giving a "misleading impression",
they resigned in accordance with the ministerial code, which states:
"Ministers who knowingly mislead parliament will be expected to offer their
resignation to the prime minister". Unfortunately, the code is silent on
what to do with a miscreant prime minister. His refusal to resign in the face of
such evidence is unprecedented. There are strong indications, detailed in the
report, that he made a secret agreement with President Bush which is illegal
under constitutional law. Yet there are to be no further enquiries, no further
comment from the prime minister, and no hope of ever seeing the attorney
general's full advice. A motion of no confidence would simply divide the house
on party lines and fail to focus on the actions of Blair. And, as John Baron MP
recently discovered, accusing another member of misleading the house is deemed
"unparliamentary".
Accountability is the lifeblood of democracy. Why should the public bother
getting involved in politics if ministers can lead us into war on a false
prospectus and not even utter a single word of apology? So what remedy do
parliament and people have in these desperate circumstances? Historically,
impeachment has been used by parliament against individuals to punish "high
crimes and misdemeanours". One MP is all it takes to make the accusation of
high crimes and misdemeanours against a public official for an impeachment
process to begin. Once an MP has presented his or her evidence of misconduct to
the Commons in a debate, and if a majority of elected members agree there is a
case to answer, a committee of MPs is established to draw up articles of
impeachment, which will list each charge individually. The case goes before the
Lords.
Three centuries ago the Commons called impeachment "the chief institution
for the preservation of the government". It has been a key weapon in the
long struggle of parliament against the abuse of executive power. It has been
revived before, after long periods of disuse, when the executive's hold on
power-without-responsibility seemed every bit as total as today.
Today a number of MPs, including myself, are declaring our intention to bring a
Commons' motion of impeachment against the prime minister in relation to the
invasion of Iraq. This is the first time in more than 150 years that such a
motion has been brought against a minister of the crown, and it is clearly not
an undertaking we enter into lightly. We do it with regret, but also with
resolve. For our first duty is to the people we represent, who feel they were
misled, whose trust was betrayed, who have been placed in harm's way by the
irresponsible actions of this prime minister. It is in their name that we
impeach him. It is in their name, and with all the authority vested in us, that
we implore him now to go.
· Adam Price is Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
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