By Peace Witness, January 18, 2021
John Pilger Interview Liz Remmerswaal on Peace Witness, Radio Kidnappers, Hawke’s Bay, Aotearoa New Zealand.
John Pilger is a journalist, film-maker, and author who lives in Lambeth, south London. He is only one of two to win British journalism’s highest award twice. For his documentary films, he has won an Emmy and a British Academy Award. His epic 1979 Cambodia Year Zero is ranked by the British Film Institute as one of the ten most important documentaries of the 20th century. His Death of a Nation, filmed secretly in East Timor, had a worldwide impact in 1994. His books include Heroes, Distant Voices, Hidden Agendas, The New Rulers of the World and Freedom Next Time. He is a recipient of Australia’s international human rights award, the Sydney Peace Prize, “for “enabling the voices of the powerless to be heard” and “for fearless challenges to censorship in any form”.
Liz Remmerswaal is board member and national coordinator of global peace organization, World Beyond War and after working in politics, broadcasting, community work and raising a family is now a committed voluntary peace activist, who lives at Haumoana. Liz has also been a vice president of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and in 2017 received the Sonia Davies Peace Award and studied and travelled overseas. She is the co-convenor of Pacific Peace Network.
‘Peace Witness’ features those who stand up to be counted as advocating for non violent ways of resolving conflict.
Part 1 covers the following questions:
- First of all, how are things with you in London? These are, as they say, unprecedented times, and your concerns re the British National Health Service must be worrying for you.
- How do you explain your extraordinary career, your incredible thirst for exposing injustice and truth-right into your 80’s?
Is it anything to do with your childhood? Who inspires you? - I’ve heard you say that you are not a futurist, but your 2016 film, The coming war with China, seems to be very forward-looking, and in fact, we have been witnessing increasing tensions between the West and China in recent times, particularly in relation to Australia and punishing tariffs imposed upon it by China. Are you therefore not surprised by what is happening, and is it happening quicker or slower than you would have anticipated in 2016?
- When do you think that Australian PM Scott Morrison and his colleagues will wake up and realize that pursuing health trading markets with China is more important than currying favor with the USA?
- NZ – how important do you think that Aotearoa NZ’s role in the Pacific and in the Five Eyes surveillance network, with Australia, UK, USA and Canada is?
Would we (NZ) be better to be independent? Can we get out of 5 Eyes as we got out of ANZUS after our nuclear-free legislation in 1987? - Afghanistan? Do you hold out hope that The war in Afghanistan will stop soon, and that the various war crimes committed by NZ and Australia and others will be addressed and civilian families who have lost loved ones be compensated soon?
(Please note- there is a suspicious and mild interference halfway through the interview for several minutes, apologies for this.)
Part 2 covers the following questions:
- Will Joe Biden be an improvement on Trump?
- Is China’s new $200 million fisheries complex Torres Strait- Papua? New Guinea-is it a front for a naval operation?
- Is there a lack of objectivity in relation to reporting on China?
- Where do you go for world news?
- Why are people so unaware of the danger of nuclear winter?
- Is there a chance of progress on eradicating nuclear weapons via the UN Nuclear ban treaty?
- Journalism v opinion….?
- With calls for peace from the United Nations and Pope Francis, what are the best things to do to make the world a more peaceful place?
