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THE CASE FOR NO MILITARY DEFENCE FORCE

April 10, 2018 April 2018 No Comments

For the first time, the April meeting of the Institute of International Affairs will move from Masterton to the Carterton Courthouse.

“This change, on a trial basis, will make it easier for more people to attend the Institute’s popular talks,” says deputy chair Ian Grant. “We already have a number of South Wairarapa members and we would like to welcome many more.”

April’s talk, ‘The Case for No Military Defence Force’, will be given by Dr John Gleisner, and will look at several countries without armed forces and ask whether this model would suit New Zealand today.

“It’s very questionable whether spending over $3 billion annually on a military defence force is the best way to provide us with security, “says John Gleisner, “when our greatest threats are the effects of climate change and natural disasters like earthquakes.”

Dr Gleisner will make the point that New Zealand has not been actually threatened for over seven decades and that the country is better served by treaties.

“By converting to a civil Emergency Force, New Zealand could offer a regional service for natural disasters,” he says. “This would provide a more useful alternative to military force and it would be a significant contribution to international disarmament.”

John Gleisner, born in Denmark, was educated there as well as in Egypt, Kenya, Malta and finally in the UK. He has worked in the National Health Service in Britain and for the New Zealand Health Service as a psychiatrist. He has been concerned about military matters for the whole of his professional life. He was active in CND and Committee of 100. In 1980 he started the UK chapter of the Nobel Prize winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

The meeting will be held at 8.00pm on Wednesday 18 April at the Carterton Community Courthouse, 60 Holloway Street. All welcome. Visitors: $5.00 door charge. Tea and coffee will be served from 7.30pm. For more information contact secretary Aileen Weston, phone: (06) 372 5741, email: aileen.weston@orcon.net.nz

Photo caption : Dr John Gleisner

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