In February 2014, Australian diplomatic cables, ministerial submissions, government talking points and emails released under freedom of information laws, revealed Australia led secret diplomatic efforts to sabotage a New Zealand-led campaign that would lay the foundation for negotiating an international agreement to ban nuclear weapons. Such a ban would put these weapons in the same category as chemical and biological weapons that are already banned under international law.

Read about Australia’s exercise in diplomatic sabotage here.

Not being happy with the response from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s office, MPG has prepared another, very detailed letter to the Minister on drones. Read this letter here and the response received from the Minister’s office here. Additional information about MPG’s campaign against drones can be accessed here.

In the lead-up to the eleventh anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq on Thursday March 20, the Campaign for an Iraq War Inquiry has written to Federal parliamentarians expressing concern that there has not been an inquiry into how the Australian government decided to commit our armed forces in that war.

The campaign is urging the government to create an independent Australian inquiry to investigate the process whereby Australia became involved in the Iraq war. The campaign is also encouraging politicians to consider how that decision-making process should be changed in future.

Read the Campaign for an Iraq War Inquiry’s letter to parliamentarians here.

Since December 2012, the MPG has been corresponding with the Minister for Foreign Affairs (previously Senator Bob Carr, currently Julie Bishop MP) over the legality of the use of drones in the so-called ‘war on terror’. See our Drones page for more information on this correspondence and links to the letters exchanged.

Harry Leslie Smith is a survivor of the Great Depression, a WW2 RAAF veteran and, at 90, an activist for the disadvantaged and for the preservation of social democracy.  In a recent article published in The Guardian he wrote “… the solemnity of remembrance has been twisted into a justification for conflict.”

Read the full article here.

The annual Marrickville Festival was held this year on Sunday 14 September. MPG’s presence was conspicuous with its ‘No More War’ submarine on display.

During the week 3 to 11 October 2013, Sydney hosted the International Fleet Review (IFR). This review was part of the celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the entry of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet in Sydney Harbour, on 4 October 1913.

On the Monday public holiday, 7 October 2013, members of MPG and other groups gathered outside the ‘Sea Power Conference and Exposition’ in Darling Harbour. These groups came together to demonstrate against the sale of sophisticated weaponry in the Exhibition Centre – the serious business side of the International Fleet Review.

Read the article on the IFR and the demonstration published in the Inner City Weekender here.

To mark the International Day of Peace (IDP) on September 21, MPG raised the issue of eliminating nuclear weapons. The group believes that Australia could make better use of its position on the UN Security Council to further this cause. Read the article published in the Inner West Courier here. The group has a supply of booklets on the topic of nuclear weapons, supplied by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Contact Nick Deane if you want to know more.

An open letter addressed to the new PM and signed by nine prominent persons (including ex-PM Malcolm Fraser) was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on September 14, 2013.

The open letter invited the “prime minister-elect Tony Abbott to tell the Australian people whether he believes that a prime minister should continue to have the authority to take Australia into international armed conflict on her/his own, or whether he would support a bill requiring parliamentary debate and approval before the Australian Defence Force is deployed overseas in combat.”

The open letter was signed by Paul Barratt, John Menadue, Malcolm Fraser, Professor Ian Maddocks, Professor Peter Baume, Gary Woodward, Professor Ramesh Thakur, Elizabeth Evatt and Kellie Merritt. 

Read the whole open letter here.

Defence has not emerged as an issue in this year’s federal election but the subject appears to resonate in the federal electorate of Grayndler in Sydney’s inner-west reports Nadyat El Gawley.

Nadyat’s article, published just after the 7 September 2013 federal election, refers to MPG’s campaigns against weaponised drones, an end to the Australia/US alliance and for a war powers bill which transfers decision-making about the deployment of Australian troops overseas from the executive branch of government (the prime minister and cabinet) to parliament.

Nadyat’s article can be found here.

MPG is currently circulating a petition which calls for the enactment of a War Powers Bill which transfers decision-making about the deployment of Australian troops overseas from the executive branch (the Prime Minister and Cabinet) to the parliament.

Continue reading MPG’s War Powers Petition →

On Saturday, July 6, members of MPG were joined by the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition (AABCC) and Greens supporters to demonstrate against the level of military spending (both globally and by Australia). Nick Deane from MPG, Denis Doherty from AABCC and Hall Greenland, Greens candidate for the Federal seat of Grayndler, all spoke.

The demonstration took place in the Alex Trevallion Plaza, next to the Post Café, in Marrickville Road.

Nick Deane’s speech can be read here.

‘War – what is it good for?’ is the title of a public forum scheduled for July 10, featuring a talk by ex-US Marine Vincent Emanuele. Vincent endured two tours of duty in Iraq, but is now a leading figure in the US organisation Iraq Veterans Against War. He was in Sydney last February, promoting a documentary about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), when he was recognised as a lucid and well-informed speaker – a valuable asset to the peace movement. Continue reading Public Forum: ‘War – What Is It Good For?’ – Wed July 10, 2013 →

Some clear thinking from Archbishop Tutu, on the hypocrisy of nuclear-armed nations presuming to dictate to countries aspiring to acquire them.

On 15 April, MPG joined others outside Tanya Plibersek’s office to draw attention to the amount of money spent on military hardware. Passers by were invited to waste $100 notes by pasting them onto a replica of the F35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Senator Scott Ludlam issued a press release to mark the day.