National Women's Peace Action and Festival Australian Defence Industries Munitions Factory, Benalla, NE Victoria. Easter, 14-16 April, 1995. Making Connections The action at Benalla will be an opportunity for women to voice our opposition to Australian militarism and its role in regional and global conflicts. Women are often the people who suffer the most in a conflict. We need to challenge the culture of violence which allows the continuation of war and violence in all its forms. This culture manifests itself in many ways including sexual and domestic violence against women, racism and homophobia, to name only a few. The Australian government spends a huge amount of money on maintaining the Australian Defence Forces. At the same time the need for services such as women's refuges, rape crisis centres, community education programs and so on, is not being met. Women's Peace Camp and Festival We're planning to make this action a fun and safe one, accessible to all women and children. There will be a range of actions and events including: workshops, skillsharing, information stalls, street theatre, singing and dancing, bands, mass actions and heaps of other things! There will be a safe space set up away from the camp for those times when it all gets a bit too much. We also hope to be able to provide childcare. If you're interested in further information or being put on our contact list, please get in touch with one of the groups or individuals listed in this message. Why are we doing this? Australian Defence Industries (ADI) is a government owned, profit oriented, commercial company. They make a range of weapons including assault rifles, machine guns, rockets, torpedo discharging equipment and a huge range of ammunition. ADI has a long term agreement with the Department of Defence. This contract is worth $1.4 billion of taxpayers' money and lasts for twenty years. However despite this financial commitment from the government, last year ADI also "signed up something like $70 million worth of overseas business." ADI is part of the Australian government's drive to increase its arms exports to over $2 billion annually since relaxing its controls on who we export to and for what purpose. The Australian Government, the Australian Defence Forces and therefore ADI, are in the process of expanding their commercial and military links with the Asia Pacific regions. The recent ASEAN conference's refusal to link trade, diplomacy and military exchanges with human and labour rights or with environmental issues shows clearly that Australia will continue to feel justified in selling equipment and parts to countries with appalling records in these areas. Equipment and parts made by ADI are directly involved in the killing and suppression of peoples throughout S.E. Asia. Examples include selling ammunition to Indonesia and rifles to Papua New Guinea. In August the sale of $130 million of Steyr rifles to Thailand was announced, despite the fact that Thailand has been strongly involved in supporting the Khmer Rouge, as well as massive forced resettlement of villagers to make way for logging in Thailand itself. (Figures are taken from uncorrected proof, Joint Standing Committee on the Implications of Australian Defence Exports Hearing, 10th March, 1994.) So why Benalla? The ADI plant being built at Benalla is a modern munitions factory which will take the place of other plants currently operating at Footscray and Maribyrnong in Melbourne, and at St. Mary's in Sydney. As a result of this restructuring, "the number of employees is being reduced from 3500 to 350." ADI says the objective of the restructuring is to "consolidate all ammunition manufacturing... at a single efficient greenfields site". The plant is scheduled to begin manufacturing in March '95 Who to contact * Seymour/Benalla: Elena RMB 1773, Samaria, Victoria 3673; Margaret C/- Australian Nonviolence Network PO Box 474 Seymour Vic 3661, ph (057) 93 8400 or * Melbourne: Clare Cole 12 Hillside Pde Glen Iris Vic 3146, ph h (03) 889 5848, w (03) 903 2698 or ; Nicole Oke 15 Falconer St Nth Fitzroy Vic 3068; ph (03) 481 2867 * Sydney: C/- AABCC Secretariat PO Box A899 Sydney South 2000, ph (02) 267 2772 * Adelaide: C/- Mary Heath PO Box 458, Eastwood 5063, ph w (08) 201 3889, h (08) 271 1240 or * Perth: PO Box 186 Northbridge WA 6865, ph Felicity Ruby/Kirsten Hawke (09) 470 2688 * Alice Springs: ASPG PO Box 1637 Alice Springs NT 0871, ph (089) 52 2018 * Darwin: Emma King C/- Darwin Women's Embassy, PO Box 1105 Darwin 0801, ph w (089) 46 6214 * Portland: Julie Jennings, ph (055) 292 496; Louise Boyadjian 3 Whaler's Court Portland Vic 3305, ph (055) 23 3410