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Peace Movement Aotearoa Tel (04) 382 8129, fax (04) 382 8173, email pma@apc.org.nz Link to earlier PMA newsletters. |
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Peace Movement Aotearoa
PO Box 9314, Wellington.Tel (04) 382 8129, Fax (04) 382 8173, Email pma@apc.org.nz
News from the office
Kia ora, this is the first mini-newletter to be done on the new computer, so please excuse any formatting errors as this getting to grips with new systems and software may take a little while. It is, however, a pleasure to use a computer which actually does what you ask it to !Next mini-newsletter - watch out for the 'How PMA can help you' leaflet ! Kia kaha til then.
Congratulations
to this year's recipients of the Sean Macbride 1997 Peace Prize, the four British women who last year disarmed a warplane bound for Indonesia - and who prepared their defence so well that they were acquiited in court of the charges brought against them.National Peace Workshops
6 - 8 June 1997
at the University of Auckland campus, in conjunction with the Foundation for Peace Studies seminar for the 10th anniversary of our nuclear-free legislation.For more details, and registration form, please see enclosed leaflet.
If you would like to run a workshop at the NPWs, please contact the organisers as soon as possible. Contact : NPW, PO Box 47189, Ponsonby, Auckland or tel (09) 302 2496 x 844, ask for Joan or Whaitiri, or leave a message.
New email address
Please amend your record of our email address to <pma@xtra.co.nz> All our other contact details remain the same.
Things to do ...
Nuclear Weapons Testing
We have received confirmation that the US sub-critical nuclear testing programme will begin on 6 June with a test codenamed Rebound. The next, Holog, will take place later in the year; with four more scheduled for next year.Each of these tests will cost $US 15-20 million; and they represent a significant set-back in progress towards global nuclear disarmament.
Please contact the US ambassador (US Embassy, 29 Fitzherbert Tce, Thorndon, Wellington, tel 04-472 2068, fax 04-471 2380) asking him to relay your opposition to these tests to the US government; also Jim Bolger and Don McKinnon asking them to protest to the US government.
For more details, contact Edwina in the PMA office.
Non-proliferation Treaty
at the first prep-com held in preparation for the review of the NPT in 2000, the western nuclear weapons states made it clear they have no intention, in the foreseeable future, of negotiating nuclear disarmament.A possible way forward on this is to have a UN member country introduce the model Nuclear Weapons Convention as an official document of any UN body - what chances are there of getting the New Zealand government to do this ?
We have several reports on the prep-com, please contact PMA if you would like a copy of them.
Chemical Weapons Convention
better news on this one, the CWC entered into force on 29 April, ratified by 87 countries - congratulations to all who worked so hard to bring this about, something to take off the things to do list now !Genetically Engineered Food
see March mini-newsletter for details. New date for submissions is 15 May 1997. Your comments on the proposal about the regulation of food stuffs altered by gene technology should be sent to : Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), PO Box 10559 Wellington, tel (04) 473 9942, fax (04) 473 985510th anniversary of our nuclear-free legislation, 8 June 1997
are you, or your group, planning a celebration for this? If you are, please let us know as soon as possible so we can include your event in the next mailing which will go out at the end of May. Plans we know of so far are :* Tamaki Makaurau / Auckland
- Foundation for Peace Studies, all day seminar on 7 June - see National Peace Workshops leaflet enclosed with this mailing for more details and to book;* Wellington
- proposals circulating include protests outside the embassies of the nuclear weapons states (possibly arranged by CND), an inter-faith celebratory service, and murmurings of other things. For more details at the moment, please contact Colin Willis, Peace Council, tel (04) 389 4985.NZ navy frigate purchase
are you, or your group, working on this issue? Please let us know so we can pass your news on to others.
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has proposed a remit to go to the National Council of Women Annual General Meeting calling on the government to defer the decision on the purchase of the third and fourth frigates until there has been full public consultation and discussion as part of the current Defence Forces Review. If this is accepted by the NCW, it will be very interesting to see the government's response. Will they surprise us all and announce public consultation on this ?
STOP PRESS ! - protest in Wellington on Thursday 8 May, 8-30am outside Defence Dept (Stout Street) - preempting the launch of the second frigate on 10 May.
Contact Mark Roach, tel (04) 383 5091.
Stranger than fiction .....
"if a firm offered money, it really did not occur to us to enquire where it came from" - the Rev Canon John Halliburton (St. Paul's Cathedral, London) when it became known that the cathedral had accepted 15,000 (pounds sterling) from Lockheed Martin - makers of stealth bombers, Trident nuclear submarines and armour-piercing missiles. His final word on the matter ..." they are not involved in selling arms to revolutionary governments like the one in Rwanda" !! (The Dominion, 15-04-97)... due to the new ban on chlorofluorocarbon use, the US Air Force is refitting all its missiles with eco-friendly systems that don't use CFCs .....
and this news comes just days after the British Ministry of Defence announced it would spend an estimated 100 million (pounds sterling) on refitting their missiles' guidance systems which may otherwise not work at the change of millennium ..... while they are all sorting out these various bits & pieces, you would think they could use the opportunity to dismantle them !
Wellington Peace People !
There are still big gaps in the roster for Peace Forum, the Wellington Access Radio programme produced by peace persons and groups.Programme makers are urgently required for the fortnightly blocks from 14 June to 19 July. Please contact PMA as soon as possible to book your dates within this time period.
what's on
Otautahi / Christchurch
23 - 24 May
- 'Telecom Exposed ! A critical forum' organised by Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA), GATT Watchdog and Corso, $10 (late reg $15) includes lunch. Enquiries and bookings to CAFCA, Box 2258, Christchurch, tel / fax (03) 366 3988, email <cafca@chch.planet.org.nz>Wellington
6 May
- Campaign Against Landmines public meeting - reports from Brian Hayes on the Maputo international NGO anti-landmines conference; and from Ian Kidman on his recent trip to Cambodia and the needs of the people there. 5-30pm at the Shell Theatrette, 100 The Terrace.8 May
- Association of NGOs of Aotearoa AGM, 1-00pm to 5-00pm. Contact ANGOA, PO Box 12 470, Wellington, tel (04) 499 4983, fax 472 6374, email <angoa@nzcid.wgtn.planet.org.nz>
25 - 26 May
- Youth Parliament, for persons over 16 years of age who will vote for the first time in the 1999 general election. Contact Phillida Bunkle, MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington (no stamp required), tel (04) 470 6664 or 471 9011, fax (04) 472 6003.17 June
- signature collecting for Mordechai Vanunu petition, 11-00am to 1-30pm in the Civic Square. Details: Arthur Quinn, tel (04) 567 0533.19 - 22 June - Sam Day visit : 19 June -
public meeting, 7-30pm at Methodist Church, Laings Road, Lower Hutt;20 June -
public meeting, 12-15pm to 1-15pm at St Andrews on The Terrace;22 June
- church service focussed on the plight of Mordechai Vanunu, 10am, St Andrews on The Terrace. Details : Arthur Quinn, tel (04) 567 0533.Tamaki Makaurau / Auckland
6 - 8 June
- National Peace Workshops and seminar to celebrate 10th anniversary of our nuclear-free legislation. For details - see leaflet enclosed with this mini-newsletter.Sydney, Australia
14 - 17 July -
International Campaign to Ban Landmines colloquium, to be held at International House, Sydney University. Contact: CALM, c/o 6 John Sims Drive, Broadmeadows, Wellington. Tel (04) 478 1828, fax (04) 384 2112, email <john.head@xtra.co.nz>resources
Campaign Against Landmines (CALM)
- their latest newsletter has just arrived, and we have been asked to draw your attention to the article by Brian Hayes reporting back on the Maputo conference. Copies of the newsletter and Brian's 32 page report on the conference are available from CALM, c/o 6 John Sims Drive, Broadmeadows, Wellington. Tel (04) 478 1828, fax (04) 384 2112, email <john.head@xtra.co.nz>Get 'The Big Picture' !
published by GATT Watchdog, all the facts and figures on world trade / market economics, and alternatives - a bargain at only $15 / $10 for four issues a year. Contact GATT Watchdog, PO Box 1905, Otautahi / Christchurch, Tel (03) 366 2803.Get the big picture even faster
by inviting someone from Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa to come and speak with your group about the globalisation of the world economy / 'free' trade and how they affect us. For the cost of transport to your area, you and your group will become fully informed about these complex issues. Contact : CAFCA, Box 2258, Christchurch, tel/fax (03) 366 3988, email <cafca@chch.planet.org.nz>If this newsletter is undelivered or unwanted, please return to PMA, PO Box 9314, Wellington.
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