The past year has seen a worrying escalation in Australian militarist
sentiment, with talk of conscription or national service, the imposition of
the so-called Timor Tax to fund an expansion of both the Army and RAAF's
overseas capacities, and clear bipartisan intent to raise the military
budget--all this against the backdrop of Australian military involvement in
both East Timor and Bougainville.
This is taking place alongside a regional and global trend of using armed
force to settle political and economic questions--from the Balkans to
Chechnya, from Aceh to the Taiwan straits.
That is why a conference has been called to examine the challenges and
tasks facing those in Australia opposed to such developments.
The conference, AUSTRALIAN MILITARISM IN AN INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS WORLD,
will be held in central Sydney on Saturday, May 13, 2000. It has been
endorsed by the Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament and
Socialist Worker.
Keynote speakers so far include:
* Graeme Cheeseman (a lecturer at the Australian Defence Force Academy
whose publications include The New Australian Militarism, Pluto, 1990).
* Ji Ungpakorn (a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok).
* Tom O'Lincoln (co-editor of Class and Class Conflict in Australia,
Longman, 1996).
The agenda will include a number of plenaries and workshop sessions.
Organisations endorsing the event or individuals are welcome to apply to
run or participate in workshops.
For more information, or to endorse the conference, email
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or write to Anti-militarism conference, GPO Box
1473N, Melbourne 3001, or ring David Glanz on 0418 316 310. A fuller agenda
will be available in the new year.
Please circulate this to appropriate addresses/lists.
LL.NE
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