Campaign Against Nuclear Energy
Encyclopedia
The Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (CANE) was established in Perth
, Western Australia
on 14 February 1976 by Friends of the Earth
(FOE); this included: Peter Brotherton, FOE coordinator WA and John Carlin, Mike Thomas and Barrie Machin after a meeting at University of WA. CANE was a non-profit grass roots
organisation whose aim was to stop the establishment of a nuclear power
plant in Western Australia (WA) and to halt uranium mining and it operated out of the Environment Centre in Wellington Street, Perth. The Whitlam Federal government in 1974 had dedicated about A$7,000 per state to set up Regional Environment Centres. Perth's Environment Centre housed other groups including the Australian Conservation Foundation
, the Conservation Council of WA, Friends of the Earth, and the Campaign to Save Native Forests.
tests.
CANE decided to hold major demonstrations in 1977. It set no goals about numbers since this obviously could not be predicted. Newspapers varied in their estimates of the crowds. At the first rally in April, supporters marched from the Esplanade to Parliament House and the attendance was estimated at 600. At the second rally, on Hiroshima
Day, attracted 3000 people and in November 10,000 people marched, larger than the anti-Vietnam rallies in Perth a few years earlier.
Barrie Machin, as coordinator, first drew attention to the dangers of Nuclear Power stations as target for terrorists, and the dangers of a link with the foreign policies of the US in a pamphlet titled: Accomplices to Armageddon. In 1977 Barrie Machin represented CANE on the WA steering committee for the Australian Democrats
, which was stimulated by Don Chipp
largely in response to the issue of Uranium mining. Also on the committee was Jack Evans
who later became a Senator for the Democrats.
In 1978 with considerable help from Gloria Brennan Barrie Machin and other CANE members successfully lobbied the Labour Party's National conference.
Their success was helped when Bob Hawke's son was manhandled by the police in Melbourne protesting against yellowcake. This was reported in all National newspapers at the time. See also Brian MartinDisruption vs organisation Published in Social Alternatives, Vol. 2, No. 4, June 1982, pp. 42–43
The Premier Sir Charles Court proposed on 15 June 1979 that Breton Bay, 90 km north of Perth, and Wilbinga, 70 km north of Perth as possible sites for a nuclear power station. On 4 July 1979 a Public Meeting was conducted jointly by CANE and FOE at the Perth Town Hall in response to the announcement. Three speakers (Peter Brotherton of FOE; Peter G. Cook of CANE and Peter F. Cook
of the WA Trade and Labour Council) addressed the audience.
The Government responded by attacking CANE. The West Australian newspaper on 25 August 1979 reported: "The Premier, Sir Charles Court, last night warned of a subtle new propaganda offensive against democracy. He said that the susceptibility of democratic governments to electoral pressure was being exploited as never before… Locally, mysteriously financed pressure groups were trying to force governments into irrational decisions through high powered arousal of emotions based on false evidence. Sir Charles said: “When you consider that governments make thousands of decisions a year on the basis of close-contact experience of what they are doing backed by outside top-level advice on critical matters, it is clearly against the public interest to exchange this process for one of street-march campaigns and loaded opinion polls.”
Senator Ruth Coleman
(Australian Labor Party
) established another anti-nuclear group Women Against Uranium Mining and started collecting anti-nuclear information about nuclear accidents from every media source. She then presented this list of accidents for public distribution, with the relevant sources, so that West Australians could see the whole story of nuclear safety.
‘Desperate Measures’ was a group of street theatre activist actors based in Fremantle
who wrote their own material. They provided social comment at numerous anti-nuclear events that brought home the messages better than a speech. They presented a show for the finale of CANE's Wilbinga bike ride again the proposed nuclear power station and it including burying a papier mache nuclear reactor on the site.
Fundraising events included the CANE 'Concert-in-the-Sun' on 19 December 1981. The Concert was organised by Peter Kaldor and featured local rock acts Dave Warner, Matt Taylor-Phil Manning Band (see Matt Taylor
, Phil Taylor
), the Essentials and the Eurogliders. The audience of around 3,500 people raised $8,000, enough to fund a substantial number of CANE activities throughout the following year.
CANE was a member of the Coalition for a Nuclear Free Australia, (CNFA)- a coalition from across Australia of 79 organisations, unions, anti-nuclear groups, environment centres and Friends of the Earth.
John Carlin, Barrie Machin, Michael Thomas and Peter Brotherton were present. Ken Strahan was an important part of the group and member of FOE. Barrie Machin was the first enrolled member of CANE and still has the founding membership card. Mike Thomas was the first Chairman. R. M. Hart's signature is on this card as a witness. Barrie Machin was Chairman of the movement from 1977-1978. This can be verified by checking the West Australian Newspapers for the period. There are many letters to the editor from the Chairman. Other Perth media archives, like the ABC, Channel Seven and Nine and Radio Stations carry records of interviews and appearances. Important eyewitnesses of the early days of CANE would include Bill Hare, Andrew Masterson, the novelist and John Hallam (who joined CANE from the Australia Party, John is still very active on nuclear issues with FOE , Kim Doohan, Peter Garrett, Professor Ian Clark , Robyn Juniper, ex-Minister of Aboriginal Affairs- Judyth Watson, Kingley Palmer ex-head of Institute of Aboriginal Studies in Canberra. Under Dr. Machin's guidance the first Hiroshima Day was held this coincided with his Hiroshima Exhibition at the University of WA.
Bill Hare, who later became active in ACF and Greenpeace, was also part of the team headed by Barrie Machin. John Hallam was also a key member in this period, Andrew Masterson was a very valuable and young contributor. Peter Brotherton of FOE played a key role in all activities and advice. Barrie Machin and Kim Doohan with one other person broadcast Alternative News on FM 6NR for six months at Western Australian Institute of Technology now Curtin University.
It is unfortunate that some of these facts of history have been ignored in a recent account of CANE called 'Stepping Out' the authors of which have admitted they did not check the archives and based their book on limited interviewing, which excluded many key personnel, activists and witnesses. They argue that theirs is a postmodernist interpretation. They did not interview Barrie Machin, who was relegated to the status of a volunteer, nor does it seem to be the case that they interviewed other key founders and later chairperson-Peter Kaldor. Paul Keating was at the Labour Party conference and could have been interviewed as well. Many of the facts of CANE in this book and in the previous Wikipedia content for CANE were unverifiable.
There are now some verifiable sources in this entry.
Later CANE Chairpersons included Zoe Sofoulis and Peter Kaldor followed by Annabelle Newbury, David Worth and Louise Duxbury. An early but minor member at the time included Jo Vallentine
who was later elected to parliament in 1984 as a Nuclear Disarmament Party
candidate.
State Government abandoned plans for a nuclear power station. The Cabinet decided to stop all State Energy Commission inquires that could lead to a nuclear power
station. The Premier, Mr Brian Burke
, said that the Cabinet had reaffirmed that in no circumstances would a nuclear power station be built in WA.
After this announcement, many of the CANE activists joined People for Nuclear Disarmament (WA) to campaign against the efforts of the USA and USSR to place short range nuclear
missiles into Europe, and CANE ceased to exist in the late 1980s.
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
on 14 February 1976 by Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
(FOE); this included: Peter Brotherton, FOE coordinator WA and John Carlin, Mike Thomas and Barrie Machin after a meeting at University of WA. CANE was a non-profit grass roots
Grass Roots
Grass Roots is an Australian television series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation between 2000 and 2003.The series is set around the fictional Arcadia Waters Council near Sydney, and was primarily a satirical look at the machinations of local government...
organisation whose aim was to stop the establishment of a nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
plant in Western Australia (WA) and to halt uranium mining and it operated out of the Environment Centre in Wellington Street, Perth. The Whitlam Federal government in 1974 had dedicated about A$7,000 per state to set up Regional Environment Centres. Perth's Environment Centre housed other groups including the Australian Conservation Foundation
Australian Conservation Foundation
The Australian Conservation Foundation is an Australian non-profit, community-based environmental organisation focused on advocacy, policy research and community outreach.-History:...
, the Conservation Council of WA, Friends of the Earth, and the Campaign to Save Native Forests.
Aims of the organisation
CANE's statement of objectives said it was:It opposed the development of Nuclear Power Stations.
It supported the Nuclear! Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT) and opposed the proliferation and acquisition of Weapons of Mass destruction and linked WMD with nuclear power stations.
It opposed foreign policies based on nuclear deterrence. It supported attempts to establish regional nuclear free zones.
It was opposed to the use of Australian ports by nuclear powered or nuclear armed vessels.
CANE was opposed to the mining and export of Australian uranium for other than biomedical purposes. It asked for the cessation of all uranium mining and development operations.
It urged the adoption of long range alternative energy policies designed to meet the legitimate needs of future generations.
It emphasised that it was coalition of groups and individuals working for the ideal of a more ethical and equitable energy future.
Campaign activities
1976 was CANE's initial year of protest. There were demonstrations at Perth Airport, and Rockingham, against US nuclear armed carriers headed by Barrie Machin: http://peacesource.net/, a lecturer at the University of Western Australia (UWA). CANE, under Barrie Machin's leadership, was very active in its criticism of the Fox Report 1977. It was also the first anti-nuclear organisation to draw attention to Aboriginal Land Rights and Uranium mining. Gloria Brennan, who was the first Aboriginal student at the Department of Social Anthropology at UWA ,was invited to join CANE and lobby and inform Aboriginal communities in WA. She did this very successfully. Gloria later died of cancer, probably brought about from the fall-out from the MaralingaBritish nuclear tests at Maralinga
British nuclear tests at Maralinga occurred between 1955 and 1963 at the Maralinga site, part of the Woomera Prohibited Area, in South Australia. A total of seven major nuclear tests were performed, with approximate yields ranging from 1 to 27 kilotons of TNT equivalent...
tests.
CANE decided to hold major demonstrations in 1977. It set no goals about numbers since this obviously could not be predicted. Newspapers varied in their estimates of the crowds. At the first rally in April, supporters marched from the Esplanade to Parliament House and the attendance was estimated at 600. At the second rally, on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
Day, attracted 3000 people and in November 10,000 people marched, larger than the anti-Vietnam rallies in Perth a few years earlier.
Barrie Machin, as coordinator, first drew attention to the dangers of Nuclear Power stations as target for terrorists, and the dangers of a link with the foreign policies of the US in a pamphlet titled: Accomplices to Armageddon. In 1977 Barrie Machin represented CANE on the WA steering committee for the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
, which was stimulated by Don Chipp
Don Chipp
Donald Leslie Chipp, AO was an Australian politician, and the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats.-Early life:...
largely in response to the issue of Uranium mining. Also on the committee was Jack Evans
Jack Evans
Jack Edward Miller is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jack Evans. He currently performs for the Mexican-based promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, where he is the current World Cruiserweight Champion and a former World Tag Team Champion. He is the cousin...
who later became a Senator for the Democrats.
I have been grossly disappointed with the attitude of the government on uranium mining. ... The last straw on this issue was the action of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr.Anthony) in launching a pro-uranium book simultaneously with a statement by the Ambassador of Japan advocating the mining of Australian uranium. The breach of our promise to continue the Australian Assistance Plan; wage indexation; the value of the currency; the Social Welfare Commission; increased research on solar energy are matters which have disturbed me greatly.
In 1978 with considerable help from Gloria Brennan Barrie Machin and other CANE members successfully lobbied the Labour Party's National conference.
Their success was helped when Bob Hawke's son was manhandled by the police in Melbourne protesting against yellowcake. This was reported in all National newspapers at the time. See also Brian MartinDisruption vs organisation Published in Social Alternatives, Vol. 2, No. 4, June 1982, pp. 42–43
The Premier Sir Charles Court proposed on 15 June 1979 that Breton Bay, 90 km north of Perth, and Wilbinga, 70 km north of Perth as possible sites for a nuclear power station. On 4 July 1979 a Public Meeting was conducted jointly by CANE and FOE at the Perth Town Hall in response to the announcement. Three speakers (Peter Brotherton of FOE; Peter G. Cook of CANE and Peter F. Cook
Peter Cook (Australian politician)
Peter Francis Salmon Cook was an Australian politician. He served as a Labor member of the Senate from 1983 to 2005, representing the state of Western Australia....
of the WA Trade and Labour Council) addressed the audience.
The Government responded by attacking CANE. The West Australian newspaper on 25 August 1979 reported: "The Premier, Sir Charles Court, last night warned of a subtle new propaganda offensive against democracy. He said that the susceptibility of democratic governments to electoral pressure was being exploited as never before… Locally, mysteriously financed pressure groups were trying to force governments into irrational decisions through high powered arousal of emotions based on false evidence. Sir Charles said: “When you consider that governments make thousands of decisions a year on the basis of close-contact experience of what they are doing backed by outside top-level advice on critical matters, it is clearly against the public interest to exchange this process for one of street-march campaigns and loaded opinion polls.”
Senator Ruth Coleman
Ruth Coleman
Ruth Nancy Coleman was an Australian Senator who represented the Australian Labor Party for the state of Western Australia. She served as a Senator for 14 years, from 18 April 1974 to 5 June 1987.-References:...
(Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
) established another anti-nuclear group Women Against Uranium Mining and started collecting anti-nuclear information about nuclear accidents from every media source. She then presented this list of accidents for public distribution, with the relevant sources, so that West Australians could see the whole story of nuclear safety.
‘Desperate Measures’ was a group of street theatre activist actors based in Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
who wrote their own material. They provided social comment at numerous anti-nuclear events that brought home the messages better than a speech. They presented a show for the finale of CANE's Wilbinga bike ride again the proposed nuclear power station and it including burying a papier mache nuclear reactor on the site.
Fundraising events included the CANE 'Concert-in-the-Sun' on 19 December 1981. The Concert was organised by Peter Kaldor and featured local rock acts Dave Warner, Matt Taylor-Phil Manning Band (see Matt Taylor
Matt Taylor (musician)
Matt Taylor is an Australian blues musician. He is best known for his work with long-lasting blues band Chain and for the hit song "I Remember When I Was Young".-Biography:...
, Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor (musician)
Phil Taylor, better known as "Philthy Animal" Taylor or "Philthy" Phil Taylor is a professional drummer from Chesterfield, England. He is a former drummer in the British heavy metal band Motörhead from 1975–1984 and 1987-1992...
), the Essentials and the Eurogliders. The audience of around 3,500 people raised $8,000, enough to fund a substantial number of CANE activities throughout the following year.
CANE was a member of the Coalition for a Nuclear Free Australia, (CNFA)- a coalition from across Australia of 79 organisations, unions, anti-nuclear groups, environment centres and Friends of the Earth.
People
CANE was set up under the aegis of FOE after a meeting at University of Western Australia in late 1975.John Carlin, Barrie Machin, Michael Thomas and Peter Brotherton were present. Ken Strahan was an important part of the group and member of FOE. Barrie Machin was the first enrolled member of CANE and still has the founding membership card. Mike Thomas was the first Chairman. R. M. Hart's signature is on this card as a witness. Barrie Machin was Chairman of the movement from 1977-1978. This can be verified by checking the West Australian Newspapers for the period. There are many letters to the editor from the Chairman. Other Perth media archives, like the ABC, Channel Seven and Nine and Radio Stations carry records of interviews and appearances. Important eyewitnesses of the early days of CANE would include Bill Hare, Andrew Masterson, the novelist and John Hallam (who joined CANE from the Australia Party, John is still very active on nuclear issues with FOE , Kim Doohan, Peter Garrett, Professor Ian Clark , Robyn Juniper, ex-Minister of Aboriginal Affairs- Judyth Watson, Kingley Palmer ex-head of Institute of Aboriginal Studies in Canberra. Under Dr. Machin's guidance the first Hiroshima Day was held this coincided with his Hiroshima Exhibition at the University of WA.
Bill Hare, who later became active in ACF and Greenpeace, was also part of the team headed by Barrie Machin. John Hallam was also a key member in this period, Andrew Masterson was a very valuable and young contributor. Peter Brotherton of FOE played a key role in all activities and advice. Barrie Machin and Kim Doohan with one other person broadcast Alternative News on FM 6NR for six months at Western Australian Institute of Technology now Curtin University.
It is unfortunate that some of these facts of history have been ignored in a recent account of CANE called 'Stepping Out' the authors of which have admitted they did not check the archives and based their book on limited interviewing, which excluded many key personnel, activists and witnesses. They argue that theirs is a postmodernist interpretation. They did not interview Barrie Machin, who was relegated to the status of a volunteer, nor does it seem to be the case that they interviewed other key founders and later chairperson-Peter Kaldor. Paul Keating was at the Labour Party conference and could have been interviewed as well. Many of the facts of CANE in this book and in the previous Wikipedia content for CANE were unverifiable.
There are now some verifiable sources in this entry.
Later CANE Chairpersons included Zoe Sofoulis and Peter Kaldor followed by Annabelle Newbury, David Worth and Louise Duxbury. An early but minor member at the time included Jo Vallentine
Jo Vallentine
Josephine Vallentine is a peace activist and a former Australian Senator for Western Australia. Vallentine entered the Senate on 1 July 1985 after she had been elected as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party but she sat as an independent and then as a member of the Greens Western Australia...
who was later elected to parliament in 1984 as a Nuclear Disarmament Party
Nuclear Disarmament Party
The Nuclear Disarmament Party was a political party in Australia. The party was formed in 1984 and enjoyed considerable initial success.-Foundation, the 1984 election, and the split:...
candidate.
End of campaigning
The West Australian reported on 7 April 1983 that the new Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
State Government abandoned plans for a nuclear power station. The Cabinet decided to stop all State Energy Commission inquires that could lead to a nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
station. The Premier, Mr Brian Burke
Brian Burke
Brian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...
, said that the Cabinet had reaffirmed that in no circumstances would a nuclear power station be built in WA.
After this announcement, many of the CANE activists joined People for Nuclear Disarmament (WA) to campaign against the efforts of the USA and USSR to place short range nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
missiles into Europe, and CANE ceased to exist in the late 1980s.