Pip Hinman, Sydney
A "Statement for Peace" which calls for Australian troops to leave Iraq and the occupation to end, has already gained some well-known signatories and financial support, especially among union ranks. The statement was produced by the Stop the War Coalition.
The call has been signed by the University of NSW branch of the National Tertiary Education Union; Martin Kingham and Andrew Ferguson, the Victorian and NSW secretaries of the construction division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union; and Chris Cain, WA secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia.
According to Kingham, "It's working-class people who get conscripted, who bear the brunt of war. It's important to take up the issue and hold governments to account. Because at the end of the day, we're the ones that get killed."
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, another signatory, said: "The best 'job' Australian troops can perform now is to leave. We should not be fooled by government spin that to pull out and leave the future of Iraq to the Iraqis is to drop the ball. In fact the best thing we can do is to let the Iraqis determine their own future."
Joan Shears, from Rally for Peace in Queensland, has also signed on. "We cannot assume that we have the right to tell the Iraqi people what to do. The problem is not the factions but the occupation." The Queensland Network for Peace, of which Rally for Peace is an affiliate, has also decided to adopt the statement, and other state-based and local peace coalitions are considering doing the same.
Raul Bassi, a co-convenor of Socialist Alliance and its federal candidate for Blaxland, who is also active in the Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group, says it's critical to involve more unions in the movement, something the peace statement aims to do.
"The ALP is saying it wants the troops home by Christmas. That's good — but not good enough! They have to come out now if Iraqis are to have a chance of getting on with their lives. The movement has to show its strength on the streets again, and that means the unions and churches and others have to come back in as active participants. The "coalition of the willing" is cracking, and that means there's even more scope to force the government's hand now."
Melbourne comedian Rod Quantok and Marrickville Council have added their support.
For more information, to get copies of the statement and/or to affiliate to the Stop the War Coalition visit <http://www.stopwarcoalition.org>.
From Green Left Weekly, May 26, 2004.
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