School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 2 of 2
-
ItemSustaining the resistance: the role of Australian activist organisations in resisting the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, 1975 - 1991( 2014)This thesis focuses on the activities of Melbourne based activist groups ACFOA and AETA as representative aid and solidarity organisations as defined in transnational activist literature. It explores their early activities, and how they responded to changing circumstances through the 1970s and 1980s inside the territory, within Australia, and internationally. It will show how activist efforts evolved from solidarity to advocacy, from expressions of outrage to considered framing of issues, and how a nexus between the two organisations developed that facilitated them playing complementary and effective roles in sustaining the idea of continued resistance within Australian politics, media, and international civil society. It does not attempt to chart the entire history of the organisations, or that of the independence struggle. Instead, through ACFOA and AETA it seeks to provide the first account of specific Australian activism in the under-explored period of 1975 - 1991. (From introduction)
-
ItemThe AIDEX '91 protest: a case study of obstructive direct action( 2011)In November 1991 the biennial Australian International Defence Exhibition (AIDEX ‘91) was held in Canberra at the National Exhibition Centre (NATEX). Organised in the context of the drive by the Australian Labor Party to double domestic military exports between 1987 and 1992, the event attracted overseas and domestic arms manufacturers and buyers, as well as up to 2000 protesters from across Australia. There had been a similar demonstration at the previous AIDEX exhibition, held in 1989, and this one occurred in the wake of recent disruptive protest activity around issues such as rainforest imports and old-growth logging as well as events such as the first Gulf War. During the eleven-day protest a number of events occurred across Canberra including religious ceremonies, concerts and a series of rallies at Parliament House and in the city centre. The majority of protesters camped across the road from NATEX and picketed its main gates. Tactics as varied as lying passively on the road and setting barricades on fire were employed, causing much debate during and after the event. Media coverage was widespread and often sensational, leading many protesters to complain of misrepresentation. The protest was also marked by allegations of extensive police violence and over 200 arrests were made. In the months leading up to AIDEX ‘91 the government of the Australian Capital Territory had announced that it would not allow another arms fair to be held in the region. The poor publicity generated in the build-up to the 1991 event also saw the number of exhibitors fall from 234 to 138. During the protest, displays, military vehicles and other items were either delayed or prevented from entering the site. Afterwards, attempts by the event organiser, Desiko Pty Ltd, to organise similar events on federally owned property in the ACT and in the adjoining town of Queanbeyan, New South Wales were blocked by local and state authorities wary of the disruption caused during AIDEX ‘91. Although air shows and smaller events have continued to be held in Australia, there has not been an arms exhibition on the scale of AIDEX since 1991. This thesis will provide a history of the AIDEX ‘91 protest. In doing so it will seek to understand why the issue of arms fairs arose at this time as well as how and why a particular repertoire of contention, which I have labelled ‘Obstructive Direct Action’, was employed by activists as part of a strategy of ‘coercion’. The organisation, promotion and unfolding of the protest will be examined and evaluated along with the outcomes it produced. The ways in which protests such as these reflect the tactical, organisational and strategic choices that activists make, consciously or otherwise, will also be considered along with how such choices are shaped by the context in which they occur.