“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
HANKAKU (反核)
Crane Campaign
What is this campaign?
What can you do?
About us
Ashamed by our country's refusal to support or participate in negotiations for the landmark UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, we decided to renew our campaign to urge Australian politicians to protect our future from these.
The treaty was negotiated by 135 countries and adopted by 122 of them on July 7th, 2017. On September 20, when the treaty is open for signatures, Australia must join these nations and commit to the abolition of the possession, testing and military use of nuclear weapons which have and continue to cause indiscriminate suffering and destruction.
We decided to take action by making paper cranes to give to parliamentary members alongside our frustration and indignation - a symbol of peace. We need to send a message to our politicians that they can't ignore - a physical reminder, a reminder that the youth and future voters of Australia are pushing for disarmament; a reminder of their responsibility to make the right choice as our elected representatives and sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Our ultimate goal is to see other schools Australia-wide join our campaign. At its best, a school is a place for students to learn and grow. While scores are important, a truly successful education should instil in students the desire and confidence to make a positive impact on the world they live in.
We want you to join us in working to show our politicians that the right path is disarmament.
You can help us by making cranes with us, as well as sending letters and launching petitions inviting your local MPs and senators and invite them to sign ICAN's parliamentary pledge. We can support you in doing all of this through helpful resources on this page.
With such a seemingly implacable issue it's easy to be stumped on what to do, so here are some easy steps:
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To start things off, you can register right here.
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Make 1000 cranes! this can be a daunting task individually, but a group will make light work of it (We have a video on how to do this in the useful resources page).
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Get as many petitions as you can to show people's support (We have a template for that in the useful resources page,too).
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Take the cranes and petitions to your local MPs (Make sure they pledge to take it to their superiors).
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Let us know about your progress! We'll keep updates on all the good work everyone is doing.
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Spread the word! (You can do this anytime during the process, actually). The more people know about our campaign, the more pressure our elected representatives will feel.
Most of us that started this campaign are students at Gisborne Secondary College in Victoria. It's our future that we're fighting for.
Many of us have been to the peace memorial park in Hiroshima in Japan; we've been at ground zero of one of the most destructive shows of violence in human history and we've seen firsthand the devastation nuclear weapons can bring. The fact is, however, we didn't even come close to understanding the suffering these weapons subject their victims to. We were guests, visiting after generations of rebuilding, and yet the echoes of the past were enough to move us to tears.
Each demonstration of the consuming capability of nuclear weapons leaves an irreparable mark on the world - an injustice immemorial.
No more marks need to be made.
As a part of paper crane project GSC made 1000 paper cranes for Julia Gillard. February 2013.