40^th Anniversary International Peace Conference, 1-5 December 2022, University of New England

Report by Peace Studies Convernor, Dr Marty Branagan

A Nobel Peace Prize winner, Anaiwan Elders, an ambassador, a member of School Strikes for Climate, an Australian Senator and a climate activist recently released from prison were among the speakers at a five-day international peace conference celebrating 40 years of Peace Studies at the University of New England.

More than 60 speakers and 100 participants came from various countries in South Asia and Africa as well as the UK, US and across Australia. Topics of discussion covered themes of social justice, nonviolent action, environmental sustainability and the creative arts. Cultivating sustainable peace sessions focused on youth empowerment, rethinking Australian foreign policy and the abolition of nuclear weapons.

A highlight was Costa Rica’s Ambassador to Australia, Vargas Araya, who described the many benefits Costa Rica has enjoyed since abolishing its military forces 74 years ago.: ‘We live in a green democracy without an army and we see the fruits in education, public health and the environment.’ 

The confest also included a film festival, multiple art exhibitions on campus and in town (including works by Uncle Lloyd Hornsby recently exhibited in Spain and at the Louvre in Paris), live music, Indian dancing, yoga and field trips to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place and Armidale’s Community Garden.

The following resolutions were passed by the conference, calling for urgent action and policies to minimise all types of violence and create more peaceful futures for all Australians as well as globally.

 International resolutions

This conference:

• calls for a diplomatic solution to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• calls for tougher and targeted sanctions to end the military junta in Myanmar
• supports the rights of Iranian women to self-expression and nonviolent protest

National resolutions

This conference:

• demands that Australia implements in full the recommendations of the Uluru Statementfrom the Heart
• demands that the Federal Government immediately signs and ratifies the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, as promised in the ALP’s election campaign
• calls for Australian governments and councils, in collaboration with regional neighbours, to explore all options to avoid dangerous climate change, limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and arrest ecological decline. 
• calls for a reduction of energy use and a just and swift transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy
• calls for a halt to the commitment of $170 billion to nuclear-powered submarines and instead prioritising expenditure on diplomacy, health, education and the environment
• calls upon the Federal Government to review or abandon its commitment to AUKUS
• as a climate and peace action, calls for disarmament, increased diplomacy, cooperation, foreign aid and cultural exchange,.and the development of non-lethal civilian-based defence
• calls for increased investment in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) capabilities
• demands that any decision to send Australian troops to war must have parliamentary approval rather than be made by one person alone
• calls for stronger regulation of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) and a Whole of Government (WoG) review into the ethics of drone strikes
• calls for the Federal Government to oppose nuclear ships orsubmarines traveling through the South Pacific due to the threat a nuclear radiation incident would pose to Pacific Islands health, fisheries and tourism. Our neighbours have consistently demonstrated their desire for the Pacific to be nuclear-free.
• calls for an end to the mining and export of uranium
• asks that the Australian Government stands with our Pacific neighbours in accord with the international Law of the Sea in opposing the Japanese government’s planned release of over 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear accident into the Pacific over the next 30 years 
• supports all human rights and opposes racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism and all forms of discrimination
• demands urgent and extensive support for domestic violence prevention and recovery programmes
• calls for the immediate release and repatriation of Julian Assange
• urges the ABC, other media and think tanks to seek out peace perspectives from peace experts

Local resolutions

This conference:

• calls on UNE and the Armidale Regional Council (ARC) to divest from armaments and fossil fuel companies, their financiers and other supporters, and to invest and bank ethically and sustainably
• Calls on UNE to guarantee the survival and flourishing of the unique discipline of Peace Studies, including through full staffing and vigorous promotion of the longest-running Peace Studies programme in Australia
• calls on UNE and the ARC to develop a treaty with Anaiwan and other Traditional Owners
• calls on UNE and the ARC to use endemic natives or food plants in any new or replacement plantings
• calls on the ARC to support the establishment of a site to acknowledge Anaiwan and other Aboriginal custodianship, history and survival
• urges the ARC to change inappropriate and/or offensive names, such as McDonald Park and Dangar’s Falls
• calls on Armidale Secondary College to reject any collaborations with arms corporations such as Lockheed Martin.