Peace Movement Aotearoa

Peace Movement Aotearoa (New Zealand) is essentially a service organisation
which arose from a need to coordinate and support the multitude of peace
groups throughout New Zealand/Aotearoa.

Aims and Objectives
To work in Aotearoa/New Zealand, in the Pacific region and globally towards
world peace, cooperation, justice and disarmament by:
* improving communication among groups and individuals
* informing and educating people on peace issues and the peace movement
* encouraging analysis and research for the peace movement

PMA promotes peace by:
* Researching and publicising peace issues such as the spy satellite stations
and military bases in our country (e.g. Waihopai, Black Birch, Tangimoana and
Harewood), defence spending, chemical dumping and nuclear testing in the South
Pacific (e.g. Johnston Atoll, Mururoa).
* Supporting Peacelink, the national magazine which carries articles on many
different peace, justice and environmental issues, as well as keeps people in
touch with what people are doing in Aotearoa and overseas.
* Supporting peace education through the Mobile Peace Van (and we are in the
process of setting up a Peace Education Resource Centre in Wellington).
* Communicating with peace groups in Aotearoa/New Zealand and overseas through
the Wellington office (currently we have about 300 peace groups on our mailing
list).
* Supplying information to news media. governmental, and political
organisations.

The national office is located in Wellington and provides a focus for PMA
activities.  Research and administration are carried out from here by
volunteers, part-time and full-time workers.  Extensive files and resources
are maintained for the use of groups both here and abroad.

General Notes:
PMA was deliberately set up without any other peace groups being formally
members or affiliated.  The peace groups that we serve have no formal link to
PMA (except that any peace people can come to the AGM each year) and are not
responsible for supporting it financially.  This avoids a lot of potential
conflict.  Groups can choose entirely for themselves whether they want any
kind of relationship with PMA.  Some groups have daily or weekly contact, some
never make contact at all.

It is important to this relationship that PMA has no policy and never makes
public statements.  This avoids it becoming like a super-coalition, it avoids
the bad feelings of groups feeling they're being spoken for, and it saves us
the hassle of groups turning up with resolutions trying to get PMA backing for
their particular views (AGM's have no resolutions to argue over and there is
no policy to disagree with).  Now of course, in practice, there are large
areas where we can work - researching, helping coordinate campaigns - which
are never going to be controversial anyway.  Exact priorities of where to put
our (the full-time staff) effort are usually worked out in the office, are
formally decided by a 'National Working Group' which is selected each year at
the AGM, which is held as part of the National Peace Workshops.  The Working
Group oversees finances and staff appointments and general directions of work.
Members of it do not represent the groups they come from, but are selected to
give geographical and social spread.

The National Peace Workshops are a good idea, based on the same
non-hierarchical structure.  This is like a national conference, but it is
organised so that anyone can take a ninety minute workshop on anything they
like. A timetable is worked out with several different workshops per time and
people can choose what they're interested in.  Since everyone is together we
can set aside a time for the AGM's of PMA, Peacelink, etc.

One of the most worthwhile jobs of PMA staff is regularly travelling around
the country visiting peace groups: hearing what they're doing, telling them
what other groups are doing and probably giving an evening talk on what is
happening in the peace movement.  This is part of how we cope with the
unstructured system.  News still flows informally between people, and if there
is something important we send out a one page 'action alert' to all groups or
phone around if its urgent enough.  Anyone can propose a subject for an action
alert.

Besides PMA, united action on campaigns is possible by a series of short term,
issue based coalitions.  Any groups keen on an issue can join into these (with
PMA help sometimes, i.e. campaign coordination role) and others will be
working on something else.  This allows groups that want to, to still work
together on an issue without all the wrangles of people trying to win the main
umbrella group to their particular cause.  Generally if someone starts a good
campaign, lots of other groups will want to join in.  PMA's role in this is
the research, information, networking, travel and so on.

This means the campaigning happens outside of the structures of PMA.  If
someone like me is active in a particular campaign, as I often am in a
spokesperson role, it is separate from my PMA job and only on behalf of the
other coalition of group.
Nicky Hager