The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has been awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
In an announcement on October 6, 2017, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that ICAN had won the award “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition on such weapons.”1 Continue reading ICAN wins 2017 Nobel Peace Prize
On 29 September numerous media outlets, including The Guardian and ABC News, reported that the head of the United Nation’s Special Political and Decolonisation Committee, Rafael Ramírez, had denied receiving a petiton which called for a free vote on self-determination in West Papua.
This seemingly contradicted Benny Wenda, the exiled West Papuan independence leader, who had told the media that 1.8 million West Papuans had signed the petition that Indonesian authorities had tried to ban and that it had been presented to the UN’s decolonisation committee on 26 September. Continue reading The truth about the West Papuan independence petition
On 26 September it was reported that the West Papuan People’s Petition, together with the Global Petition for West Papua, had been handed over to the United Nations by Benny Wenda, spokesperson for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).
Organisations and news services that covered the story included the ULMWP, The Office of Benny Wenda, Free West Papua Campaign, The Guardian (Australian edition) and the ABC. Continue reading Petition for West Papuan self-determination delivered to UN
Each year the United Nations’ International Day of Peace (IDP) officially takes place on September 21. To mark the occasion locally, members of MPG participated in a ceremony held in the Marrickville Peace Park (Richardson’s Lookout) on Saturday, September 16. Continue reading International Day of Peace – September 21
Representatives of groups affiliated with the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) met in Melbourne over the weekend of September 8-10, 2017. (MPG is an affiliate of IPAN and was represented at the conference by Nick Deane.) Continue reading 4th Annual Conference of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network
A historic global agreement was reached at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday, July 7, 2017 when 122 nations adopted a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Known officially as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, it will acquire legal force once 50 nations have signed and ratified it. Continue reading UN adopts historic Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2016 that agreed to “negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” and encouraged all member states to participate. The vote was 113 in favour, 35 against including Australia, with 13 abstentions. Continue reading First session of UN’s Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty negotiations a success
Over 1,000 people demonstrated against the visit to Australia by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Sydney’s Town Hall Square on Thursday February 23, 2017. Following the rally, the protestors’ planned march to Netanyahu’s hotel overlooking the harbour was blocked by police. Continue reading Sydney protest against Israeli Prime Minister’s visit to Australia
A total of 60 prominent Australians have signed a statement opposing the visit this week by Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, due to the harsh and illegal policies that his government continues to inflict upon the Palestinian people. PM Netanyahu will be in Australia between February 22-25. Continue reading Australia should not welcome the Prime Minister of Israel
On December 12, 2016, Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party and a former finance minister, was the guest speaker at the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel.
In attendance at this event was the Australian author and freelance reporter Antony Loewenstein, now based in Jerusalem. Continue reading Will Israel expel Antony Loewenstein?
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the agreement between the Australian and American governments relating to the establishment of a Joint Defence Space Research Facility (Pine Gap, Northern Territory).
According to Prof Richard Tanter (Nautilus Institute) Pine Gap is perhaps the most important United States intelligence facility outside that country. Continue reading Pine Gap is Putting Australia in Danger
Two public forums on Pine Gap and the US-Australia Alliance were held in Lidcombe on 11 and 25 September. Both were organised by the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) and the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition (AABCC).
The first of these forums featured three speakers: James O’Neill who discussed the US-China conflict in the South China Sea, Dr Emily Howie who reviewed the US global assassination campaign using drones and Dr Vincent Scappatura who addressed the perils of the US-Australia Alliance. A copy of James O’Neill’s paper can be read here. Continue reading Two Forums on Pine Gap and the US-Australia Alliance
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has written to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to express its dismay over her decision to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Australia.
In an open letter to the Foreign Minister, APAN President George Browning noted the particularly unfortunate timing of the visit: Continue reading Benjamin Netanyahu planned visit in 2017 condemned
The final report of the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) on crimes against humanity, committed by the Indonesian armed forces and civilian militias mainly between October 1965 and the early months of 1966, was released in The Hague on July 20, 2016. The report has called on the Indonesian government to investigate and prosecute all those involved in the deaths of more than 500,000 of its own citizens.1
Continue reading International People’s Tribunal on the Indonesian massacre 1965-66
A glaring deficiency in the 2016 Defense White Paper is the lack of any serious engagement with scholarship that questions the ‘US-Australia Alliance = National Security’ equation and its evident risks. This is quite extraordinary given the devastating impact of US involvement in the Indochina Wars (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos)1 and more recently the US invasion of Iraq and the de-stabilisation of Middle Eastern countries that has fueled sectarianism and the rise and spread of extreme jihadi groups like ISIS. Continue reading Correspondence with the Minister