Anti-nuke cycle to raise awareness
BY DAVE MURPHY
DARWIN — The second "Cycle Against the Nuclear Cycle" left the Jabiluka uranium mine in Kakadu National Park on June 5 to ride the 6300 kilometres to Perth. The first cycle, from Melbourne, arrived at Jabiluka during anti-mine protests in 1998.
Cyclist Sunny Drake told Green Left Weekly that the cycle aims to raise awareness about Australia's nuclear industry; promote solar, wind, micro-hydro-electrical and micro-tidal energy sources as alternatives to environmentally destructive forms of energy; and promote cycling as a viable and rewarding form of transport for long distance and around cities.
Cyclists also hope to gather the opinions and stories of people they meet along the way.
A major concern for the cyclists is the 25 to 30 proposed uranium mines around Australia. Drake says that, since the Coalition's election to federal government in 1996, there has been an "open slather on uranium mining. Economic merits are the overbearing consideration and environment and indigenous concerns are marginalised."
Drake expressed interest in talking to workers in the nuclear industry to find out if they see the alternatives to polluting industries as viable and whether they would work in alternative industries. "If people were given more choices they would choose work that is better for their health and for the earth", she said.