STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
E-mail the Te Papa managment!
Te Papa has been identified as the venue for the 2005 'Defence Industry Association' annual conference to be held October 18-19.
The Defence Industry is a nice euphemism for weapons trade. The Association includes companies involved in producing hand grenades and weapons firing control systems as well as companies involved in the management of nuclear weapons facilities overseas.
Peace Action Wellington is organising protests for the conference. Get involved now! E-mail PAW at peacewellington(at)hotmail.com
Please email the management board at Te Papa and ask them to cancel this booking immediately. For more information about the Defence Industry, check out Peace Movement Aotearoa's website - http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nowarp.htm
E-mail the following email to those people:
seddonb@tepapa.govt.nz, Tetaruw@tepapa.govt.nz, Paulb@tepapa.govt.nz, Carold@tepapa.govt.nz, Carold@tepapa.govt.nz, Brionye@tepapa.govt.nz, arapatah@tepapa.govt.nz, Jonathanm@tepapa.govt.nz, Claudiao@tepapa.govt.nz, matthewr@tepapa.govt.nz, pats@tepapa.govt.nz
Subject: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
Dear Members of the Management Team
Te Papa is set to host the 2005 ‘Defence Industry’ Association Annual
conference on October 18 and 19. I am writing to ask you to cancel this booking.
The Defence Industry Association is comprised of companies involved in the
manufacture of weapons. These include Marine Air Systems, Lower Hutt that
manufacture weapons firing control systems and Flexisolution that manufacture
hand grenades. One member company, Oscmar International is currently under
investigation by NZ Customs for allegedly exporting their products to the
Israeli Defence Force (see ‘Military-style gear wins export tick’ Helen Tunnah,
New Zealand Herald. 15 March 2005).
Te Papa Tongarewa is the storehouse of the nation’s treasurers. Section 8 of
the Museum of New Zealand Act states that your mission is to ‘endeavour to
ensure that the Museum is a source of pride for all New Zealanders’. I cannot
have pride in a national institution that hosts a weapons conference. Te Papa
is not a marketplace for weapons manufacturers.
I respectfully ask you to immediately cancel the contract with the New Zealand
Defence Industry Association for venue hire.
I look forward to your response in due course.
Thank you.
Comments
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
Totally agree and ready to protest
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
Holding such weaponary consensus meetings in a national place of interest places itself a target for terrorist activities.
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
Oscmar International is also believed to have sold weapons simulators to the Indonesian military during its brutal occupation of East Timor. Today the TNI also brutally occupies West Papua and Aceh.
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
i encourage everyone to take the time and send out an email to the Te Papa managment.
also, COME TO WELLINGTON IN OCTOBER!!! The National Peace Workshops are on the following weekend in Auckland (http://gpja.pl.net/?q=node/190). So people coming from Nelson, Christchurch or Dunedin could come a bit early and join the protests on the 18th and 19th October...
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
thankyou indymedia, simple articles like this make it exceptionally easy for everyday people to become active activists
HOORAY FOR INDEPENDENT MEDIA!!
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
didnt this happen last year as well?
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
It's happened the last few years I think.
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
Thanks for this info. I wrote straight away.
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
Is this conference open to the media or possibly the public?
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
nz companies also produce infantry laser tag training systems and armoured CAT bulldozers for the israeli army. as citizens we are in part directly responsible for the crimes of the israeli forces with our equipment by our failure to halt the unjust actions of our government and corporations based on our soil. it is our moral responsibility to halt this injustice. shutting down the weapons conference or at least making our refusal to accept their profiteering from war known is vital. without solidarity within Western nations the palestinians have no hope of ending the massacres and suffering by the israeli armed forces in the occupied territories and achieving justice for their cause of some degree of independence from israel.
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
here is Dr Seddon Bennington's (Chief Executive of Te Papa) reply to Peace Action Wellington:
Dear Peace Action Wellington
Thank you for you email (13 July 2005) regarding New Zealand Defence Industry Association (NZDIA) annual conference at Te Papa in October 2005.
I acknowledge the viewpoint you have expressed, and understand the sensitivities around these issues.
Te Papa is however required to generate part of its operating budget through sponsorship, commercial activities, and other charged for museum-experiences, which contribute to the Museum's sustainability.
Te Papa's functions/conference business is one of the commercial activities that supports the delivery of the Museum's services. In this capacity, Te Papa operates as a venue only, and there is no implied endorsement or otherwise of the business of conference clients. Such functions or conferences are not Te Papa events and are not open to the public.
Whilst I appreciate the concern you have expressed, for the reasons I have outlined above, Te Papa is not considering cancelling this booking.
Yours sincerely
Dr Seddon Bennington
Chief Executive
translation
Dear Peace Action Wellington
I read your thing and straight away remit
some unctuous, meaningless (but soothing sounding) shit.
Te Papa must, however, make a buck.
And where that comes from mate,
we could not give a fuck.
In this capacity, Te Papa operates as a "venue"
- a small time corprate whore who anyone can screw.
Whilst I appreciate concerns that you've expressed,
for the reasons I've outlined we deem it best
to keep our head stuck in the sand and arse up in the air
so any bomb (that pays) can slip in there.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Seddon Bennington
Chief Executive,
The Place that hosts imperialism's gun.
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
I believe Te Papa is a public place and funded by the council and central. If this is so, then of course it's open for free speech. And again I stand on my earlier statement that such a place of national interest and representing the many cultures of NZ cannot be used for such activities as promoting war, and to organise the means to achieve atrocities to humanity.
Who are the real terrorists in our midst?
Re: STOP THE WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOW!
What with belief in fairy tales governing world events and the vast energy spent on newer and "better" ways to kill and maim people the human race is fast going down the gurgler. Will the species be missed?