Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance
PO Box 5829 West End Q 4101
Mobile 0411 118 737
WHAT: NUCLEAR FREE QUEENSLAND WORKSHOP & STRATEGY WEEKEND
WHEN: Saturday November 1st and Sunday November 2nd from 9.00am to 4.45pm each day.
WHERE: at the CEPU Building, 41 Peel Street, South Brisbane
Dear Friends,
We would like to take this opportunity to invite you and/or your family/community members to join us at the 2008 NUCLEAR FREE QUEENSLAND WORKSHOP & STRATEGY WEEKEND.
The Nuclear Free Queensland Workshop and Strategy Weekend will take place on November 1-2, 2008 in South Brisbane. People from around Australia will gather to attend and take part in this exciting and educational event. The Weekend will focus on Nuclear, Peace and Sustainability matters and be this first national opportunity for face to face organising around TS09 – next year’s Peace Convergence.
WHAT: NUCLEAR FREE QUEENSLAND WORKSHOP & STRATEGY WEEKEND
WHEN: Saturday November 1st and Sunday November 2nd from 9.00am to 4.45pm each day.
WHERE: at the CEPU Building, 41 Peel Street, South Brisbane
PRICE: by donation – billets and food will be provided.
The first day will be discussions, debate and a setting of priorities for action on the peace, military and nuclear issues facing Queensland and Australia including preparation for opposing the 2009 military exercises at Shoalwater Bay and ongoing work to keep Queensland uranium-mine free. The second day will be set aside for strategising together on the issues.
The Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance is a coalition of concerned groups and organisations that came together in 2005 to campaign for sustainable and peaceful futures.
Because of the social and environmental impacts of uranium mining and military bases on indigenous rights, the environment, and our political standing in the region, we are inviting a broad section of the community including religious groups, political parties and members of unions to be part of the discussion.
You can be involved in organising Weekend by helping with:
* accommodation (billets) for out of town people
* supply and/or cook food for week-end
* suggestions for guest speakers and workshops
* facilitation and notetaking
* donating or raising money to cover costs for transport for guests
Please let us know what your needs are – and also what you can contribute! We would value your unique perspective and contribution for this weekend. We also value your support for a Nuclear-Free planet and hope you or someone you recommend will be able to join us in strategising to make this vision a reality!
Peace,
Robin Taubenfeld
Friends of the Earth Brisbane – for Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance
mbl 0411 118 737
office (07) 3846 5793
3 important peace and anti-nuclear events…
1) International Week of Action Against Weapons in Space
For your information … this special meeting is on NEXT MONDAY, 6 OCTOBER at noon at the Uniiversity of Qld, St Lucia campus.
2) Protest the Land Warfare Conference
3) Nuclear Free Queensland Workshop and Planning Weekend
Keep Space for Peace
Australia’s contribution to the international “Keep Space for Peace” week is a protest at the Centre for Hypersonics, Queensland University. Over 60 places throughout the world have agreed to stage demonstrations to highlight what is called ‘Keep Space for Peace’ week. Cities in Europe, North America and Asia are all participating in actions to highlight a growing opposition to the use of space as a new platform from which to wage war.
Australia is a world leader in scramjet research. Scramjets are supersonic ramjets which are theoretically capable of propelling aerospace craft up to 20 times the speed of sound. Australia’s DSTO (Defence Science Technology Organisation) signed a $74 million Hypersonics International Flight Research Experimentation (HiFire) Agreement with the United States Air Force in 2006 for 10 test flights at the Woomera Testing Facility.
“We believe Australia’s contribution to space research should be for peaceful purposes not for the US’s Air Force to project its power militarily into space so it can attack terrestrial targets.” Said Gareth Smith spokesperson for Keep Space for Peace Australia said today.
Queensland University Centre for Hypersonics, in concert with other Universities in Australia, is spearheading scramjet research. This research will assist the development of the USAF’s new space hypersonic bombers (Falcon/Blackswift) capable of delivering a 12,000lb weapons payload anywhere in the world in less than 2 hours and launching anti-satellite missiles.
“It is shocking to know that our universities are collaborating with the U.S. military in research that could revolutionize warfare and lead to future illegal attacks on cities such as the attack on Baghdad. We call on the Australian government to sever military funding of hypersonics research, push in the U.N. for all nations to adhere to the Space Treaty of 1967 which calls for the banning of weapons in space.
WHERE: University of Queensland, Dept of Mechanical Engineering, Mansergh Shaw Building, Staff Road, St Lucia campus
WHEN: Monday, October 6 at 12 noon
For more information: contact Gareth Smith Tel: (61) 02 6694 3324 MOB: 0422298165
Or Denis Doherty 0418 290 663