Greens tell PM: 'don't be bullied by Bush'

The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to ignore any United Nations Security Council endorsement of America's "war for oil" against Iraq that is not backed up by real evidence of a clear and present threat to other countries. "Just because nine nations can be coerced into supporting a US invasion does not make it right," Jeanette told the Green Party's annual summer policy conference in Masterton today [Sunday.]

"War is a violation of the UN Charter, unless a country is a proven aggressor and every other alternative to war has been tried.

"All the US wants from us is the moral authority to continue its programme of bombing the poor of the developing world in order to feed its oil habit. We must not give it that moral authority, and sending a medical team would be counted as support."

Jeanette will be writing this week to German Green leader and Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, urging him to demand real evidence before the Security Council takes a position. Germany assumes presidency of the Security Council in February.

In the absence of evidence of Iraqi wrongdoing, Jeanette called on Helen Clark to publicly condemn George W. Bush's aggression in the Middle East.

Jeanette also told the Conference that she would be returning to Te Ti marae at Waitangi this year to pay her respects and to report back on what the party has done over the past year.

In his speech to the conference, Co-Leader Rod Donald encouraged members to play a greater role in local body politics.

"Council elections are less than two years away," Rod said. "If we Greens are serious about turning our vision of a safe, sustainable, environmentally responsible future into reality, then we can't just leave it to Parliament.

"We need to put our policies into practice and a lot of that happens at the local level. Crucial decisions such as 'rubbish dumps or recycling centres?' and 'cycleways or motorways?' are made by councils.

"A number of Greens are prominent in local government but we need to increase that number many-fold to make a real difference at the local level."

The weekend policy conference, which was attended by more than 150 members, round up today after workshopping a wide range of issues ranging from the party's position on the Middle East to water storage and use.

ENDS

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