And amongst it, part of this circle of friends, was Peacebus with a flash new banner. The background of this banner is a modified Eureka Southern Cross, which for Australians is the rebel flag, the symbol of liberty and courage in the face of tyranny. This Eureka flag is overprinted with the text: "No racism! No war! Peacebus.com".

Later Peacebus manifested a flourish of rainbow flags, strings of diamond shaped lanterns and a pair of resurrected backpack puppet ghouls too.

The event was opened and blessed by Bundjalung elder, Auntie Agnes Roberts and there were many fine speeches and much beautiful music and poetry through out the day. What most impressed me was the relaxed, cooperative atmosphere, the ease and grace of the day.

The park and the mood of the day was such that the proposed march around the Lismore CBD to chant and otherwise make visible our concerns about global corporate greed, was cancelled. This, it was agreed, would be a day for movement building, for enjoying ourselves amongst ourselves.

A carload of anti-corporate globalists from the Stop CHOGM Alliance had come down from Brisbane. It had been a busy week for them. CHOGM, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which was due to begin 6 October, and for which they had been organising protests, had, after much rumour, been cancelled. They lay about on the grass chatting and snoozing, behaviour so much in contrast to the last time they were in town, when in class room format they had read prepared speeches and lectured us on GATS, WTO and so on. Pressure off, here their spirits were being replenished. No need for spreading the word today!

For this was a company of friends. We humans are always searching for the friend to join with a heart felt search for truth, always seeking the friend to stand side by side with when speaking up and out for justice. Moreover, here we were lion spirits together on this bright day, amongst art, good music, and thanks to Darcy and the 5 Loaves crew great free food. Here and now was peace. The path we had affirmed had given us this many faceted gem of a moment.

Here was juice to fuel a long distant peace movement. As the 14th century Persian poet Rumi put it: "this is what grapes feel like when the turn into wine."

The movement against globalisation is the biggest mobilisation I have seen since I was a student organiser of protests against the Vietnam War and conscription over 30 years ago.

It was such a joy and affirmation for me to work with this next wave of student activists. I cannot overstate how impressed I am with the integrity and skill of these young people, most of them undergraduates from Southern Cross University. I like the respect and generosity they give each other. Such a contrast to the milieu of the Nimbin HEMP crew with whom, for the past fortnight, I have been labouring against fear and back biting to get Peacebus on the road again and prepared for CHOGM.

In particular, young women like Edda from the local Socialist Alliance chapter and Nikki, the Student Representative Council's Women's Officer, are strong and clear. And likewise the young men, such as Ulric from the SRC who has been doing the web work and signing off his emails with 'Happy Days', and Mark Pendleton, the National Union of Students (NUS) Queer officer speaking for the CHOGM Queer Block are strong and quietly spoken, committed warriors and shining. These are now confident veterans of two major anti-globalisation actions, s11, the blockade of the world economic forum in Melbourne last September, and the May Day M1 blockade of the Brisbane Stock Exchange.

They are such good organisers, web savvy, generous with each other, their music so skilful (a spill over from the contemporary music school at Southern Cross Uni), and their global justice raps so clever, so true.

And they were so respectful of old-timer campaigners like Benny Zable, Robin Harrison and myself. Respect of the young warriors is a wonderful tonic for us senior citizens.

Too old to be carrying ghoulish back puppets, I had them out in Heritage Park on offer praying some apprentice puppeteers would come forward, play with them, work them up into a dance macabre and get excited about doing so again at the March for Peace and Justice.

Up popped the elfish Fat Cat, Catherine Dwyer who is not fat at all and can recite the entire text of Dr Seuss' Lorax. She and her friend donned
the 4 metre high cardboard puppets, and teetered off, puppets driving puppeteers.

I made the skeleton puppets to death dance up the epic meeting in Sydney of US Drug Czar and Gulf War criminal, General Barry McCaffrey, and the chairman of the National drug advisory Council, Salvation Army Major, Brian Watters, February 2000. They have been hanging like bats from the rafters of many storage sheds since and now they had been reworked.

The death dance was now PM Howard meeting the US general who was going to tell him how best Australians might pay and die in defence of US interests in the so called War Against Terrorism.

The puppets danced but briefly but their animation delighted us all. Benny Zable donned his gas mask, climbed up on his barrels and, framed by the puppets, did his enviro-death dance too. Only briefly but it was a powerfully arresting image that will translate into hundreds of
thousands of pictures in newspapers and be watched my millions vision for news services.

As the shades of evening slowly turned into night, the lantern light came up and did its enchantment. Firewood was gathered a fire lit and the performers began jamming and improvising on stage and through that beauty and companionship a torrent of inspiration and creativity flowed.

The Carnival had been produced as a warmer for the CHOGM protests by the Global Justice Alliance (Northern Rivers), an event-based coalition o social activist groups and individuals. Many of those attending meetings and helping had collaborated before on the M1 and S11 mobilisation
"Stop CHOGM Alliance" had been their starting point of their dialogue, but the aims and methods had modified and evolved over two months of meetings for there was much concern about the violence and provocation at the Brisbane M1 protest and the shootings at the anti globalisation protests in Stockholm and Genoa.

Now as part of the global turmoil after the destruction of the NY World Trade Centre, the most horrific and graphic anti-corporate globalisation statement yet, the climax of months of preparations to stop CHOGM had been postponed.

Thousands anti-corporate globalisation activists breathing a sigh of relief as attention moved from CHOGM to the planned November 13 rally (see <www.sydneyrally.org. This rally set to be held at Darling Harbour in Sydney where people will be demanding 'no new round' of the World Trade Organisation meeting set down to be held in the middle east, military state of Qatar. That is if they dare go ahead with this meeting of the most wealthy and powerful, while the whole world is watching, hoping that the message that people and the planet must come before profit is heard.

In the mean time, the momentum to create an anti-corporate globalisation movement is undiminished. To the contrary, now the river of creative juices was being directed towards producing a major Australian peace rally, the March for Peace and Justice in Brisbane on 6 October.

Without CHOGM as a focus for the protest, the fear of baton charging police has been reduced and many more people can be expected to come out and be part of it. With the US talking up a "War against Terrorism" and PM Howard leaping to commit Australians to the folly, the need to be visible for peace and justice has in turn leapt by many orders of magnitude.

If the Global Justice Carnivale' was a sign of the peace movement to come, dear friends, then rest assured that peace is in safe hands and Australian folk culture is in for some stimulating transformations in the very near future. Interesting times.

Advice. Turn away from television. Leave the thrall of the US worldview for it will leave you full of fearful illusions and powerless to act. Move towards kindness. Talk your friends and neighbours. Be visible. Get out and organise. Think local, act global.

For justice! For freedom! For peace! For the Earth!

Graeme Dunstan
Peacebus.com

30 September 2001