Cockburn Sound Naval Base

While the 1,000 odd expected protesters are storming the North West Cape radio station, Mrs Judy Forsyth will be standing for the Federal House of Representatives as the sole candidate representing the Indian Ocean Peace Zone Party. Mrs Forsyth is campaigning for the immediate closure of the 30 odd foreign military bases located on Australian soil and the establishment in the Indian Ocean.

More specifically, the Indian Ocean Peace Zone Party is concerned over the proposed establishment of a joint US-British naval station on Garden Island in the Cockburn Sound, a mere 20 miles from Perth. In a public letter to the Prime Minister, Mrs Forsyth pointed out that previous Liberal Party Defence Ministers had made it clear that the Cockburn Sound development would be more than a naval support facilitiy for allied fleets. Instead it would be a full scale base for the operation of a nuclear submarines.

Already work is well underway at Cockburn Sound. A ten million dollar causeway has been built linking Garden Island with the mainland and a few naval buildings are under construction.

People protesting against the Cockburn Sound development argue that the military nature of the naval facilities could instead be used beneficially for commercial use. Protestors also argue that access to Garden Island should not be restricted to the gifted few with the necessary causeway passes or boat landing passes. Instead, Garden Island should stay the highly popular holiday resort for low and middle income earners that it has been in the past.

As a final word, may I say that the New Zealand anti-war movement may have successfully removed the Omega hot potato from the shores of the "shakey isles". However, things in Western Australia are far from healthy. North West Cape, Cockburn Sound, Diego Garcia and the Ethiopian navigation base make the Indian Ocean far removed from a potential peace zone. There is a large group of Australians determined to abolish all foreign military bases from their country. New Zealanders can help this cause by either joining the "Long March" in May, or supplying any relevant information on the Mt John, Omega, Harewood-Weedons or other such demonstrations.