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The right to survival
The right to live in peace
The peoples' right to control their own natural resources and Determine their political and economic systems.
(Statement for the Brisbane Disarmament Seminar, WILPF, Queensland, 25 February 1978, Vertical File)

Queensland women have always been active in the peace movement. In response to the onset of World War I in 1914, the Women's Peace Army (WPA) was established in Melbourne in July 1915 with autonomous branches set up in Sydney and Brisbane. The WPA was involved in peace demonstrations and anti-conscription campaigns during 1916 and 1917, its motto, 'We war against war'. Prominent Queensland pioneer Emma Miller, along with other members, offered support for peace candidates during elections and practical assistance to those disadvantaged by the Great War.

With the dangers of fascism becoming apparent in some parts of Europe during the 1930s, Queensland women banded together again to form the Queensland Women's Peace Movement (QWPM) in 1936. One of the main campaigns in the late 1930s was an embargo on Japanese goods. When Japan invaded China in 1937, some women took to the streets, rallying outside retailers with the slogan 'Boycott Japanese Goods' emblazoned on their aprons, while others placed boycott stickers on shopfront windows and on Japanese products.

The inaugural meeting of the Queensland Branch of the UAW was held in late October 1950. Members who had been involved with the QWPM joined this new collective, many with their daughters in tow. In 1963 the Queensland branch of the WILPF was formed. Together, these two groups were at the forefront of the peace movement in Queensland during the latter half of the twentieth century. Along with other groups such as the QPC and Women in Solidarity for Peace, these women were involved in petitions, protests and demonstrations. They campaigned on a range of issues from anti-nuclear testing and anti-uranium mining to the abolition of foreign military bases and an end to conscription during the Vietnam War.




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1. Flyer advertising a special meeting of the Brisbane Women's Peace Army c. 1916 with special guest speaker Adela Pankhurst, a leading anti-war campaigner during World War I. Meetings were often controversial as the Women's Peace Army projected a militant and radical image along with a socialist ideology. (UQFL118, Box 288)
 
2. Photograph of the QWPM float in the Labour Day Procession during the late 1930s. (UQFL193, Box 19, Folder: Peace)
 
3. Photograph of the committee of QWPM at the Queensland Women's Peace Conference during the late 1930s with some of their banners. Irene Longman, Queensland's first female Member of Parliament (fourth from the left), presided over the conference and was Vice-President of the QWPM. (UQFL193, Box 19, Folder: Peace)
 
4. Photograph of QWPM members protesting against Japanese goods in 1938. (UQFL193, Box 19, Folder: Peace)
 
5. Leaflet advertising the inaugural meeting of the Queensland branch of the UAW held in 1950. (UQFL193, Box 12, Leaflets)
 
6 and 7. Photograph of the Enoggera Branch of the UAW convening a meeting in 1953 along with a badge from the collection. (UQFL193, Box 19 and Box 24)
 
8. Letter written by Irene Longman congratulating Mrs Kay on the formation of the Queensland Branch of the WILPF, December 1963. Longman wrote of the need for women to put aside political differences in order to work together more effectively. (UQFL251, Box 1, Folder 1)
 
9. Leaflet advertising the concerns of WILPF and the publications produced by the organisation. (WILPF, Vertical File)
 
10. Badge. (UQFL 193, Box 24)