Press Release
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Christian Activists found on Shoalwater Training Area
Margaret Pestorius, Jarrod McKenna, Jessica Morrison and Rev. Simon Moyle have been found this afternoon on the Shoalwater Bay military training area after entering the base yesterday. The four are expected to be handed over to the Queensland Police and taken to Rockhampton Police Station.
For more information contact Treena Lenthall 0447 851 858
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Press Release
Monday 13 July 2009
Christian Activists enter restricted military area during live-fire exercises
Four nonviolent Christian activists have entered the Shoalwater Bay Training Area this morning to stop the Talisman Saber exercises. Calling themselves the “Bonhoeffer 4” after Kevin Rudd’s favourite theologian, Margaret Pestorius (44, Social Worker, Cairns), Jarrod McKenna (28, School Peace Educator, Perth) Jessica Morrison (33, University lecturer, Melbourne) and Rev. Simon Moyle (32, Baptist Minister, Melbourne) are currently moving towards a live-fire area. They call on the Australian and US forces to cease their involvement in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the undeclared war in Pakistan.
The group has released the following statement:
In his article in the Monthly, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called Bonhoeffer “without a doubt, the man I admire most in the history of the twentieth century.” We have taken the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, because he embodied a serious, costly commitment to peacemaking and ending injustice, “a costly grace”. Yet Rudd’s $100 billion long-term military spending plan reveals the Prime Minister has forgotten his hero and is in need of some sisters and brothers to jog his memory.
That is why we will put our own bodies on the line in order to stop the U.S./ Australian Talisman Saber Military Exercises and jam a spoke in the wheel of war. These exercises are implicated in killing and injuring our sisters and brothers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including untold numbers of civilians. This “war without end”, as George Bush put it, has no exit strategy and no end in sight. We will not overcome the violent terrorism of the poor with the violent terrorism of the rich.
Rev. Moyle has been in contact with the Defence Department about our plans for more than 7 months (http://nonviolencestories.wordpress.com ) in order to build a relationship of trust and openness. Air Commander Meier has stated in Parliament, “If we know there is an unauthorised person into the Commonwealth land at Shoalwater Bay…the exercise is stopped.” The Defence Department has been notified of our presence on the base. We call on Air Commander Meier to keep his word to the Australian people.
We plan to be inside the area for as long as possible, and are well prepared for a long stay.
As Rudd’s hero Bonhoeffer put it, “The church has three possible ways it can act against the State. First, it can ask the State if its actions are legitimate. Second, it can aid the victims of the State action… The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself.” With our actions and our lives we plan to do all three.
For footage and stills (full res) of the activists entering the area contact media spokesperson Treena Lenthall (0447 851 858).
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Media Alert
14 July 2009
Footage of the Bonhoeffer Four on the Shoalwater Base to be delivered to the ADF
Air Commander Meier stated in Parliament, “If we know there is an unauthorised person into the Commonwealth land at Shoalwater Bay…the exercise is stopped.” **
Captain Christopher Hawkins of the ADF has indicated they remain unconvinced that the Bonhoeffer 4 are on the Shoalwater Bay Training Area despite photographic and video evidence (aired on television last night) clearly showing them on the base.
“We are concerned about the lack of action taken by the military regarding the four people on the base. We have grave fears for their safety as live firing has commenced at Shoalwater Bay. We call on the ADF to follow the decision by Air Commander Meier and cease the bombing while people’s lives are at risk,” said spokesperson Treena Lenthall.
Ms Julie Moyle, the wife of Rev Simon Moyle who is one of the four, also said, “ADF have had proof for more than 24 hours that my husband and three others are in Shoalwater Bay. The ADF needs to stop denying and put Commander Meier’s words into action and stop the exercises today.”
Ms Moyle and their three children will join other supporters in delivering further video footage and photographs which show that the four are on the base to the ADF. They will meet with Captain Hawkins at the Rockhampton Military Barracks at 2.30pm.
** The full transcript of Air Commander Meier’s comments in Parliament can be found here: http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/transcript/defence-white-pa...
Contact Treena Lenthall 0448 851 858 for:
- interviews by mobile or video calls with Bonhoeffer 4 on the base.
- video footage or stills (online footage will be available later in the day).