Peace & Climate Justice Groups are organising protests against the second “Aerospace Summit” in Ōtautahi/Christchurch on 11 & 12 September. There will be actions at the Summit and an educational webinar on Thursday, 31 August to learn more.

“The NZ government has committed to developing an “aerospace industry” based largely off the back of Peter Beck’s company Rocket Lab launching US military satellites from the Mahia Peninsula. The government believes that such an industry is a big benefit to the country despite the aerospace industry being synonymous with the global weapons trade, and that the aerospace industry has an enormous climate impact that cannot be decarbonised,” said Eliana Darroch, Auckland Peace Action spokesperson.

“The industry is also beset by the vanity projects of billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson who are busily waging class war against ordinary people here on planet earth while launching space garbage into the night sky. Instead of supporting the study of astronomy or astrophysics, this industry is all about weaponising space as a new military “domain” for warfare and place for private profit.”

“The NZ government is not concerned about the actual study of space – if it was, it would not have cut funding to the AUT radio astronomy operation and sold it all off to a private company. Instead it is interested in underwriting an industry based on cashing in on lucrative US military contracts.”

“The top six aerospace companies are all the big weapons giants: top aerospace company Boeing is the third largest global arms dealer, while Summit sponsor Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest arms dealer and nuclear weapons producer.”

Lunchtime Webinar Thursday, 31 August 12pm-1pm

REGISTER HERE

Join a lunchtime call to action webinar in the lead-up to Stop the Space Waste protest against the Aerospace Conference, in Ōtautahi Christchurch on September 11-12.

Speakers

Puti Moa, of Rongomaiwahine, and local to Māhia Peninsular, which is Māori land that Rocket Lab is using as a launch site

Distinguished Professor Robert McLauchlan is a mathematician at Massey University. He writes on climate change, sustainability and environmental issues at planetaryecology.org and recently with Paul Callister, has been studying the prospects for the New Zealand aviation industry to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Edwina Hughes, Coordinator, Peace Movement Aotearoa

Take Action: PROTEST ACTION in Ōtautahi/Christchurch

Join us on 11 and 12 September in Ōtautahi/Christchurch to shut down the 2023 Aerospace Summit – AKA the let’s burn heaps of fossil fuels and put weapons in space summit. See the Facebook event and Instagram for more details. Contact us if you have questions!

SOLIDARITY PICKET in Pōneke/Wellington
12 noon, Monday 11 September, outside MBIE, Stout St, Wellington.
Stand with us in solidarity with Rocket Lab Monitor and their long organising against the private aerospace company Rocket Lab in Māhia. Facebook event

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