Australia - New Zealand |
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Australia - New Zealand |
In may 1966 a number of anarchists from Melbourne (T.R.E.A.S.O.N.), Brisbane (Q.U.A.F.) and New Zealand who were visiting Sydney for various different reasons found themselves all staying at Jack Grancharoff's. (Jack being then as now editor of Red and Black.) This opportunity for an anarchist meeting was too good to pass up so the comrades dropped their other business in Sydney and held long discussions on anarchism. In order to get some publicity mileage out of the meetings they constituted themselves as a conference and put out the following press release which, however, is a faithful reflection of the discussions. After the conference the Melbourne and Queensland groups remained in regular contact and tried to implement a common programme. (See the discussion of Student Action For Education.)
Between the 23rd and the 27th of May a series of meetings were held in Sydney between anarchists from New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland and Victoria who declared themselves to be the Australian New Zealand Anarchist Conference (ANZAC). Discussion centred on the formation of anarchist attitudes and programmes relevant to the modern, industrially developed, "warfare" state.
It was decided that anarchists should participate in existing anti-war and anti-government groups to present the anarchist viewpoint, to suggest more effective modes of action and organisation and to heighten awareness of the interconnected nature of various social evils.
In a more constructive vein it was thought that anarchists should undertake both large and small-scale anarchistic cooperative ventures and participate in the formation of libertarian-inclined social action groups.
Finally it was felt that the public was ignorant of anarchism and hence that there should be a greater volume of literature produced and more talks given both criticising various groups and institutions from a libertarian standpoint and propagandising for anarchism as such.
In all things it was thought that the humanist, liberal and empirical habits of thought proper to anarchism should be spread and the instability of the present social structure exposed.
