Campaign Against Nuclear Energy

The Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (CANE) was established in Perth, Western Australia on 14 February 1976 by Friends of the Earth (FOE); this included: Peter Brotherton, FOE coordinator WA and John Carlin, Mike Thomas and Barrie Machin after a meeting at University of WA. CANE was a non-profit grass roots organisation whose aim was to stop the establishment of a nuclear power plant in Western Australia (WA) and to halt uranium mining and it operated out of the Environment Centre in Wellington Street, Perth. The Whitlam Federal government in 1974 had dedicated about A$7,000 per state to set up Regional Environment Centres. Perth's Environment Centre housed other groups including the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Conservation Council of WA, Friends of the Earth, and the Campaign to Save Native Forests.

A CANE group was also established in Adelaide, South Australia.

CANE's statement of objectives said it was:

It opposed the development of Nuclear Power Stations.

It supported the Nuclear! Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT) and opposed the proliferation and acquisition of Weapons of Mass destruction and linked WMD with nuclear power stations. It opposed foreign policies based on nuclear deterrence. It supported attempts to establish regional nuclear free zones. It was opposed to the use of Australian ports by nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed vessels.

CANE was opposed to the mining and export of Australian uranium for other than biomedical purposes. It asked for the cessation of all uranium mining and development operations. It urged the adoption of long range alternative energy policies designed to meet the legitimate needs of future generations.

It emphasised that it was coalition of groups and individuals working for the ideal of a more ethical and equitable energy future.

1976 was CANE's initial year of protest. There were demonstrations at Perth Airport, and Rockingham, against US nuclear armed carriers headed by Barrie Machin: http://barriemachin.com, a lecturer at the University of Western Australia (UWA). CANE, under Barrie Machin's leadership, was very active in its criticism of the Fox Report 1977. It was also the first anti-nuclear organisation to draw attention to Aboriginal Land Rights and Uranium mining. Gloria Brennan, who was the first Aboriginal student at the Department of Social Anthropology at UWA, was invited to join CANE and lobby and inform Aboriginal communities in WA. She did this very successfully. Gloria later died of cancer, probably brought about from the fall-out from the Maralinga tests.

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