There are better solutions than conflict

A Peace and Justice conference in Sydney (13-15 February) will bring together leaders of Australia’s foremost peace organisations, as well as academics, activists, advocates, peace practitioners and unionists.

‘People around the world are deeply concerned at the slaughter of civilians, including children, during armed conflicts,’ said conference organiser Associate Professor Marty Branagan, from the University of New England’s Peace Studies discipline. ‘Wars also impact globally on economies and the environment. People everywhere are seeking better ways to resolve conflicts and achieve justice and peace.’

The conference will include a rally outside a Parramatta branch of the Commonwealth Bank. In 2023 Commbank invested US$213 million in the nuclear weapons industry, according to ‘Don’t Bank on the Bomb’ , a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). ICAN, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its ‘ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of [nuclear] weapons’, is one of the many organisations represented at the conference.

Others range from the People for Nuclear Disarmament, active in Australia since 1960, to the newly formed think tank The Australian Peace and Security Forum, whose founding members include Major General Michael G Smith AO (Retd) and Professor Penny Sackett, former Australian Chief Scientist. International speakers include Professor Kazuyo Yamane from the Kyoto Museum for World Peace. Other speakers will represent the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network; the Maritime Union of Australia; the International Network of Museums for Peace; Just Peace Queensland; Nuclear Truth Project; Medical Association for Prevention of War; Rising Tide; United Nations Association; and Australians for War Powers Reform.

Key topics include concerns about the cost of AUKUS; the nuclear industry; women, youth and Indigenous perspectives; cultural peacebuilding; environmental peace; and nonviolent action.

‘We hear a lot about war in the media’, said Dr Branagan. ‘This conference is an opportunity to hear about a quieter but constant current in the opposite direction – people and organisations who have dedicated their lives to building peace at all levels.’

Two books will be launched at the conference: Building Peace and Community: The Alternatives to Violence Project Around the World by Graeme Stuart and others, and The Cultural Dimensions of Peacebuilding by Marty Branagan.

The final morning, at a Buddhist centre, will involve a peace poster exhibition and interactive discussions on the spiritual dimensions of active cultures of peace.

‘Peace and Justice’, the sixth biennial conference by UNE Peace Studies, runs from 13-15 February at UNE’s Sydney Campus, Level 4, 100 George Street, Parramatta.

For further information, contact Marty Branagan: mbranag2@une.edu.au or 61267733951 or Dr Johanna Garnett (UNE Peace Studies Convenor): 0402427365.