Page - July 18, 2007
From the Executive Director
Bunny McDiarmid
The 20th anniversary this month of our nuclear free legislation has reminded me of the incredible 'people power' that brought about the law in the first place.
Huge protest marches; hundreds of vessels, from surfboards to
sailboats to tugboats, on the water blocking the entrance of the
nuclear powered Pintado; the Waterside Workers Union refusing to
handle the lines; communities all around the country declaring
themselves nuclear free; stickers on letterboxes - the kiwi disease
was a happening thing!
What I feel most when I look at old images of the nuclear free
struggle is, inspired. It was an extraordinarily empowering time,
when what you did as an individual counted and added to the growing
chorus of New Zealanders who wholeheartedly believed in a nuclear
free future for our country. We also believed in our power to
change things and that belief motivated people to make it a
reality. It was something we just weren't prepared to lose.
Well, we need some of that people power again; this time for the
sake of our climate, for the sake of our futures and for the sake
of our children's futures.
Politicians are currently falling over each other to talk
climate - make no mistake it is the defining issue our time, of our
grandchildren's time and our next elections! But this issue is far
too important to be left to politicians. Everyone needs to be
involved. We need as many people as possible who're able to smell a
rat in politicians' promises and who're willing to stand up and say
so. Unless we have a plan that actually addresses the problem -
rather than one that's economically acceptable - we're going to be
in serious trouble.
I'm reminded of what Ryunosuke Satoro said, "Individually we are
a drop; together we are an ocean". Simple really. We need to draw
on our history, and on our capacity as a country to use our people
power for the collective good. We - you and me - need to save our
climate.