300 attend anti-war meeting

BY TIM STEWART

BRISBANE — Three hundred people attended a September 14 forum organised
by Australians for a Just Peace around the slogan “our grief is not a cry
for war”.

The forum was chaired by ABC radio presenter Sandy McCutcheon, who commented
on the overwhelming opposition from talkback callers to a war on Iraq.
“There's an awful lot of unease in the community and there are many, many
questions which remain unanswered”, he said.

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown recounted the ALP response to the
Greens proposal for a Senate inquiry into Iraq policy. Brown was told:
“It's too early for an inquiry, we've got to give John Howard more time.”

“This is coming”, Brown pointed out, “from an 'Opposition' party which
doesn't represent true opinion in this country at all.” Brown finished
to rapturous applause with: “It's better for us to be protesting this war
before, rather than after, the bugle has sounded.”

In question time, Brown clarified that he was not opposed to war in
every circumstance. He believed in a defensive war such as that fought
against Hitler's facism in Germany.

QUT lecturer, and founding member of Psychologists Without Borders,
Madonna Bella, spoke of the racism inherent in the US “war on terror”,
where the lives of US people are more valuable than Afghans. Bella remarked,
“it's terrorism when a gun is held to America's head, but called counter-terrorism
when the US points a gun at the rest of the world”.

Noel Preston from the Centre for Ethics & Justice pointed out that
Australia's share of global responsibility had dropped remarkably in the
past 30 years. Overseas aid was previously at 0.7% of GNP, and was now
0.27%. He also pointed out that the arms budget in the US is far greater
than any other country's.

The Brisbane No War Coalition is organising a rally to oppose war on
Iraq on September 3, meeting at 1pm at the Roma Street Forum. For more
information, phone (07)3831 2644.

From Green Left Weekly, September 18, 2002.

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From GLW issue 509