Inauguration of The Australian Commission for Peace and Non Violence and Global Citizens for Peace
hosted by Senator Allison
To reflect our nation's true priorities we need form a Commission for Peace and Non Violence - and appoint a Commissioner for Peace - so that the voice of the peace makers be heard at the professional and institutional level, and so provide equal opportunity with those who speak for the environment, agriculture, education, finance and armed defence.
On Sunday fourth of February a Round Table for Peace, organized by Dr Michael Ellis was held in Melbourne. The meeting was hosted by Senator Lynn Allison, Federal Parliamentary leader of the Australian Democrats.
The objective of this Round Table is to initiate the formation of a Commission for Peace and Non Violence in Australia and also to form the Organization of Global Citizens for Peace in order to support this process. And consult on practical, nonviolent solutions to the problems of domestic and international conflict.
During the 20th Century, over 100 million people lost their lives to war - most of whom were non-combatants. Now, as we are well into the 21st century, the extent and current speed of nuclear proliferation makes the achievement of non-violent alternatives to war the most urgent need of the human race.
From the growing rate of domestic violence to increasing problems of international violence, we have no more serious problem in our midst than the problem of violence itself. From child abuse to genocide, from the murder of one to the slaughter of thousands, it is increasingly senseless to merely wait until violence has erupted before addressing the deeper well from which it springs. The problem of violence is a many layered one, and its solution will be, as well. While no one action - governmental or otherwise - will provide a single solution to such an entrenched and deeply rooted problem, especially now with the situation getting worse in the Middle East, we must treat the problem itself as an all-systems breakdown requiring an all-systems response.
We came together as concerned Global Citizens realizing that with increasing Global population requiring more and more resources with tremendous inequality of distribution.
Our planet is reaching breaking point in terms of economic and ecological crises. This is having profound social and cultural effects.
We require urgent ecological, social, economic and political solutions to problems which affect billions of people if we are to survive sustainably.
We need a new peace consciousness in the world and this is at all levels of society including the Commission for Peace and Non Violence which will hold peace as an organizing principle, coordinating service to every level of Australian society. It will also endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles, to expand human rights and strengthen non-military means of peacemaking.
This campaign represents an important collective effort, as Global citizens, to do everything we possibly can to save the world for our children's children.
Throughout Australia, there are many peace-builders and peace-building projects. Those skilled in ameliorating the effects of violence - from conflict resolution experts to nonviolent communicators - have proven their effectiveness at treating root causes of violence. Peace is more than the absence of war; it is a positive state of being predicated on the presence of a peaceful heart.
The mission of the Organization of Global Citizens for Peace is to move this realization from the margins of our political dialogue to its rightful, central place within our national understanding. The humanitarian impulse to foster brotherhood and justice is not just a utopian ideal; it is an issue critical to world security and wellbeing.
Domestically, the Commission for Peace and Non Violence will develop policies and allocate resources to effectively reduce the levels of domestic and gang violence, child abuse, and various other forms of societal discord. Internationally, the Department will advise Parliament on the most sophisticated ideas and techniques regarding peace-creation among nations.
Our aim is to educate and inspire thousands throughout the country with the knowledge, skill and enthusiasm to become powerful Global Citizen activists on behalf of the Commission for Peace and Non Violence legislation.
Those present at the inaugural meeting were
- Senator Lyn Allison
- Dr Stella Cornelius (Nobel Prize Nominee)
- Dr Michael Ellis
- Prof Chris Hamer
- Dr Jager Holly
- Anna Kumashov
- Lesley Pocock
- Dr Lyndon Storey
- Dr Liliane Metz Krencker
We agreed that we need ongoing discussions on environmental and social issues pertaining to peace.
Global citizens for peace will also engage in ongoing discussion on environmental and social issues pertaining to peace, establish a peace prize, encouraging the establishment of courses in peace in schools and Universities, and contribute to the organization of "peace cadets" trained in peace making, to administer post conflict reconstruction and demobilization in war-torn Societies as well as aid in recovery in those societies traumatized by poverty and environmental disaster.
Ghandi said, "We must be the change that we wish to see."