By Zanny Begg
BRISBANE — On April 29, around 45 people squeezed into the miscellaneous workers' union hall and decided to form a new group, the Coalition Against the Mining and Export of Uranium (CAMEU).
The meeting was attended by a range of groups and individuals, including Rally for Peace, the Greens, Resistance, Anti-Nuclear Alliance, Uniting Church, Whitlam Institute, Dean Wells from Parliamentarians for a Nuclear Weapons Free Future, Brian O'Halloran from the Catholic Peace and Justice Centre, former ALP senator George Georges, Democratic Socialist Party, International Socialist Organisation, Socialist Party of Australia, Democrats, Claire Moore, secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), the Wilderness Society, Aboriginal activists and high school and university students.
CAMEU aims to force the government to ban the mining, transport, refining and export of uranium. It will support the May 24 national day of action by organising a rally in King George Square at 5pm. The meeting also decided to advertise the anti-uranium action at May Day.
Eight people arrested at an anti-uranium rally on April 26 will appear in court on May 7. A support picket has been called outside the court. The arrests sparked an interesting discussion within CAMEU about the campaign's tactics; it was resolved to support the arrestees but to try to avoid arrests in the future.
Many of those involved in CAMEU have decades of peace and anti-nuclear campaigning experience. Given the police's heavy-handed attitude on April 26, fighting for the democratic right to march may well be on the cards again.
Labor opposition frontbencher Matt Foley has raised the right to march laws in state parliament, and the question of a change in the administration of current public assembly laws is being pursued.
Jim McIlroy, CAMEU member and secretary of the Democratic Socialist Party, told Green Left Weekly, "The key thing for CAMEU is to keep the campaign focused on uranium mining. If the police try to prevent us doing this, then we may have to use civil disobedience. But this will need to be discussed by CAMEU and assessed in the light of how or if this tactic draws more people into the struggle against uranium mining."
For more information about CAMEU or the campaign to support the eight protesters, contact (07) 3254 0565.