Chain Reaction #95, summer 2005/6

Introduction to Chain Reaction #95

Activism in Australia 1995 – 2005

Anyone who spent time at one of the picket lines during the MUA dispute can't help but be inspired by that example of engaged trade unionism at it's best. So many people have stories of finding common cause with groups and individuals they would never normally mix with, let alone work with. The 'community assemblies' that formed to defend the MUA are perhaps indicative of the type of practical solidarity that socially aware environmentalists are going to have to engage in during the next few years as various skirmishes over issues like industrial relations policy escalate around the country. As we all know, the agenda of the Howard government is not just about 'work place reform' or offering 'choice' in terms of student unionism, it is fundamentally about the type of country we want to live in, about the very soul of who we are as a people, and whether we will lose many elements of social support and conviviality that have been built up over generations.

This edition of CR seeks to look at activism in Australia over the past decade. It seems that the last few years of the 20^th and the start of the 21^st century - 1995-2005 - was a profoundly different era to the 'forests and icons' time of the green movement, which probably started with the blockades at Terania Creek in 1978 and ended somewhere in the mid 1990s, with forest campaigns flaring (and succeeding) from northern QLD to south west WA. The 'engagement' era, starting with the ESD – ecologically sustainable development – process of the early '90s and morphing into widespread corporate engagement a half decade later, has also peaked and lost some of the sense of being at the cutting edge of what many environmental groups do. The last decade has seen the rise of the global justice movement and strong movements in support of asylum seekers, continued success by community groups opposing inappropriate developments such as toxic dumps, a resurgence of grassroots green-Indigenous alliances and high profile, mainstream and integrated campaigns such as at Jabiluka and a growing influence by the Australian Greens party at both the state and federal level. These all make for a complex picture of the social and environmental movements in the decade to 2005. Of course, we cannot do justice to the depth of this movement or most of the specific campaigns and victories of the past 10 years, just acknowledge the changes and similarities, sketch out some of the diversity of the struggle in this time, from the resounding victory of the people of Werribee in stopping a toxic facility to the Australian support for the East Timorese people in their quest for independence. We hope to highlight and celebrate some of the diversity of community activism in Australia over the last 10 years, as well as painting a picture of some of the evolution and development it has undergone in this time.

As Damian Grenfell notes in his essay, “the tendency for activists to claim an extraordinary novelty for their historical moment needs to be remembered”. But it does seem that the next few years really will represent a watershed in the way this country sees itself and what values guide our politics, culture and economy; be it conservative self interest and fear, or forward thinking, socially aware and inclusive. This is not a time to be quiet or cautious. We hope some of these stories help inspire continued effective community activism in Australia.

Cam Walker