HMSS 0163 Canberra Programme For Peace Records

ACT Heritage Library Manuscript Collection

HMSS 0163 Canberra Programme for Peace Records

Scope and content notes

Call Number

HMSS 0163

Collection 

Canberra Programme for Peace Records

Date Range

1980-1994

Quantity

1.87m (4 manuscript boxes and one non-standard oversized container)

Access Conditions

open

Copying Conditions

with attribution

Related Collections

The Canberra Programme for Peace (CPP) was an "umbrella" organisation covering 60 organisations and Peace in the A.C.T. which had in common an awareness of the social and economic consequences of the arms race and of the attitudes and social and political structures which lead to violence, injustice, aggression and oppression, and who, through their common grounds, seek to resolve these problems and raise community awareness about the alternatives.

CPP's constitution stated its aims as:

  1. To promote peace and disarmament internationally and in Australia; raise community awareness of Australia’s' involvement with and the dangers Australians face from, nuclear weapons, the arms race, and nuclear war, and to encourage Australia's opposition to the spread of nuclear arsenals.
  2. To act as a broadly based umbrella group for organisations working for the cause of peace and disarmament. To organise a variety of activities to promote the above aim, both currently and on an ongoing basis.
  3. To raise funds to further pursue these objectives.

It started in February 1982 when about 20 Canberra organisations (called "affiliates") worked together to produce the first Rally for Peace on Palm Sunday 1982. The thousands of people who demonstrated their interest demanded that the organisation continue to work on representing the interests of these people and of the affiliates on peace issues in the region. It organised a Palm Sunday Peace Rally each year.

CPP hosted interstate and international visitors - such as Dr Helen Caldicott, Brigadier Michael Thombopoulos, General Gert Bastion, Dan Smith (CND Brittain), Rear Admiral Gene La Rocque, Roland Simbulan (Philippine Activist), Owen Wilkes (NZ peace researcher) and sent representatives to interstate and international meetings such as the Australian Coalition for Disarmament and; the United Nations Second Special Session on Disarmament in 1982, the Nairobi Women's Conference Beyond ANZUS conference in Wellington, New Zealand in 1984.

CPP was not aligned to any political party but did endorse individual candidates with a history of support for the peace process. All people sharing the basic aims of CPP were welcome to attend CPP meetings which were run on the consensus model.

The Peace Center which is the base of CPP, takes on routine activities, supply of resources, goods for sale and information.

CPP produced a newsletter, “Peace Paper” x-x it was issued irregularly.

Up till 1986 CPP relied solely on the donations received during each year (especially from collections at the Palm Sunday Rallies) which are mostly small donations but many of them; and sales of badges and stickers along with membership fees affiliate fees. In 1985 more regular donations and grant funding became available from the ACT House of Assembly to maintain the Peace Centre as a community resource. 

This is a list of affiliated organisations as at December 1985. In that year there were also about 400 individual members.

ACT Teachers Federation

ACT Workers with Youth Network

Ainslie/Dickson Peace Group

ANU Students Association

Australian Democrats (ACT)

Australian Independence Movement

Australian Labor Party (ACT)

Australian Social Welfare Union

Buddhist Society

Burra Peace Group

Campbell/Braddon/Reid Peace Group

Canberra Peacemakers

Canberra TAFE Peace Group

Canberra Womens Refuge

Campaign Against Repression in the Pacific and Asia

CCAE Students Association

Christians for Peace

Combined Solidarity

Committee in Solidarity with Central America and the Carribean

Community Aid Abroad (Samity)

Conservation Council of S/E Region and Canberra

The Environment Center

Flynn/Spence Peace Group

Friends of the Earth

Froggatt Community

Gay Contact Group

Giralang/Kaleen Peace Group

Hughes/Garran Peace Group

Inner South Peace Group

Interhelp (Canberra)

Jobless Action

Majura People for Peace

The Makers House

Medical Association for the Prevention of War

Movement Against Uranium Mining

Narrabundah College Peace Group

Nuclear Disarmament Party

Nurses for Peace

Palestine Human Rights Campaign

Pan African Congress (ACT)

Parliamentarians for Nuclear Free Australia

Philippine Action Support Group

Quakers (Society of Friends)

Queanbeyan District People for Peace

Raja Yoga

Royal Australian Nursing Federation

Scientists Against Nuclear Arms

Student Disarmament Group

Students Against the Bomb

Trades and Labour Council

Tuggeranong Peace Group

Turner;O'connor/lyneham Peace Group

United Nations Association

Uniting Church of Australia

War Resisters League

Womens Electoral Lobby

Womens International League for Peace and Freedom

Womens Peace Actions

Note on arrangement and description

The collection was deposited in very poor codition. No attempt to appraise, arrange or describe the collection had been made prior to transfer. 

The ACT Heritage Library has rehoused the collection and minimally described it from notes on file, envelope and bundle covers to box.

The bulk of the material deposited were the journals and newsletters of related organisations. ACT publications have been incorporated into the holdings of the ACT Heritage Library and non-ACT publications repatriated to the State and National Libraries of origin. Some material has also been offered to universities with strong peace and military collections.

Box List

Box No.

Item/File No.

Description

QTY

Date Range

1

Folder 1

Canberra Programme for Peace Correspondence - Letters by Gary Medvedkov, Moscow and to the Moscow trust group network

1 file

1986

1

Folder

2

CYP Minutes

1 file

1986-1987

1

Folder 3

Canberra Programme for Peace Committee and Peace Centre Management minutes and meeting papers

1 file

1982-1986

1

Folder 4

Newsletter “Peace Paper” working file

1 file

1983-1985

1

Folder 5

Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific – reports, promotional material, newscuttings, correspondence, notes and conference papers

1 file

1986

1

Folder 6

Nuclear Free Pacific – correspondence and exchange informations

1 file

1980-1986

1

Folder 7

Canberra Programme for Peace Committee hiring and lending record from Peace Centre

1 file

ca 1986-1990

1

Folder 8

Income Book

1 vol

1988-1989

1

Folder 8

Expenditure Book

1 vol

1988-1989

1

Folder 9

Peace Letter Lists – mailing lists for newsletter and member contacts information

1 file

1985-1989

1

Folder 10

Environmental Youth Alliance Minutes

1 file

1992-1993

1

Folder 11

Canberra Programme for Peace Committee Meetings

1 file

1984

1

Folder 12

1989 Peace Rally – organisational materials

1 file

1989

1

Folder 13

Canberra Programme for Peace Correspondence

1 file

1984

2

Folder 1

Canberra Programme for Peace Committee Minutes and Meeting Papers

1 file

1981-1983

2

Folder 2

ACT International Year of Peace Committee Minutes and Meeting Papers

1 file

1986

2

Folder 3

Newscuttings – mostly of an occasional column published in the Canberra Times

1 file

1984-1987

2

Folder 4

Paper by Keith D. Suter to 1985 Canberra Conference on Namibia published by the United Nations Association of Australia

1 file

1986

2

Folder 5

Canberra Programme for Peace Correspondence

1 file

1985-1986

2

Folder 6

1987 Federal Election – questionnaires to Nuclear Disarmament Party Candidates

1 file

1987

2

Folder 7

Peace Centre Desk Diary

1 file

1984-1985

2

Folder 8

Canberra Programme for Peace Minutes

1 file

1985

2

Folder

Canberra Programme for Peace Peace Kit

1 file

nd

2

Folder

ACT Activity List – possibly a list of contacts/local activisits

1 file

1985

2

Folder

Canberra Programme for Peace Youth Peace Worker

1 file

1987

3

Folder 1

Save Jervis Bay campaign – 1 stamp, 3 stickers

1 file

ca 1985

3

Folder 2

Photographs
5 black and white photographs of rallies/protests at Old Parliament House Canberra

1 file

nd

3

Folder 3

Stop AIDEX Campaign.
Australian International Defence Equipment Exhibition (AIDEX) was held in Canberra in 1991.  Collection includes campaign kits; promotional materials; souvenirs and demonstration materials.

1 file

1991

3

Folder 4

National Warships Meetings
reports of attendance at

1 file

1987-1988

3

Folder 5

Canberra Programme for Peace Correspondence

1 file

1982

3

Folder 6

Canberra Programme for Peace Minutes

1 file

1983

3

Folder 7 - 8

Canberra Programme for Peace Correspondence

2 files

1983

3

Folder 9

Canberra Programme for Peace Minutes

1 file

1984-1985

4

Folder 1

Canberra Programme for Peace Minutes and administrative documents

1 file

1988

4

Folder 2

Promotional Materials for protest rallies

1 file

4

Folder 3

Realia – badges, stickers sold through the Peace Centre.

1 file

nd

4

Folder 4

Recording.  7 inch vinyl recording of the Lucky Country Survival Band performing “Instant Nuclear Nation” and “Ground Zero”.  Recorded in Canberra by Airsound Recording

1 file

nd
 5 Posters. Posters relating to local and international protests and peace campaigns