Local petition against war
The Progressive Labour Party (PLP) has collected 180 signatures in Umina in one day for a petition against a war in Iraq.
The signatures were collected from 8.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday, January 18, by the PLP, an independent party which is part of the "No War Coalition" based in Sydney.
Another collection on Saturday, February 1, yielded nearly 200 signatures within four hours as well.
The party opposed the war and Australia's involvement in the preparations for it, said the party's media officer Mr Klaas Woldring of Pearl Beach.
The petitions had been sent to the Prime Minister with copies to the Member for Robertson, Mr Jim Lloyd.
Mr Woldring said: "It was surprising that so many people still had not heard of the PLP which has been registered for six years federally".
The PLP was considering starting a branch on the Central Coast if there was sufficient support for that, he said.
The text of the Petition read: "We, the undersigned, oppose any military intervention against Iraq and especially any Australian involvement.
"We note the hypocrisy of the USA in regard to its huge stockpile of 'Weapons of mass destruction' and its stated aim of using them in a first-strike capacity.
"We believe that the USA should begin to make the world a safer place by:
*
Ceasing its war plans to seize Iraq's oil, and
* Supporting the entry of UN weapons inspectors into all countries suspected of harbouring such weapons, including its own."
Klaas Woldring, February 3