My story
March 21, 1962
Born on the autumn equinox (day and night are equal length) in Tauranga, Aotearoa/New Zealand.
1970
Learned about the atomic nature of matter and decided to become a physicist.
1973
Performed in my first musical The King and I, as Louis, the son of Anna the King’s teacher.
1974
Learned about the destruction from nuclear weapons tests and dropped my desire to be a physicist.
1977
Decided to become a vegetarian as part of my philosophy of non-violence, and because I could no longer kill animals.
1977
Beat Susan Devoy, who later became 3 times world champion, in a friendly game of squash (I was 2 years older so had an advantage).
1978
Dropped out of High School to work on orchards and try to discover the meaning of life.
1979
Discovered the meaning of life and so enrolled in Waikato University and Teachers College in Hamilton.
1980
Established my first peace group at university.
1980
Participated in my first protest against nuclear-armed warships – the U.S.S. Truxton in Wellington.
1981
Was one of the local organisers of the protests against the Springbok Tour. The New Zealand Rugby Union had invited the South African team to New Zealand despite the international anti-apartheid boycott of South Africa.
1982
Moved Waikato University to become a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ).
1982
My daughter Ra was born, one of the first official water-births in New Zealand.
1983
Established the Hamilton Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Committee which moved the city council to become a NWFZ.
1983
Co-founded Peace Movement New Zealand (later renamed to Peace Movement Aotearoa), a network of peace organisations working to ban nuclear weapons in New Zealand.
1983
Moved the Kindergarten Teachers Union to support the banning of nuclear weapons in New Zealand.
1984
Established the Mobile Peace Van which travelled schools to lead classes in peace and disarmament education.
1984
Wrote a song Aotearoa Nuke Free Zone to celebrate the new government adopting a nuclear-free policy (performed at numerous festivals and events since then including the peace concert in Oslo when President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize).
1985
Established the Just-Us Roadshow, which toured New Zealand performing peace and justice songs and skits.
1985
Appointed to the New Zealand Department of Education Advisory Board on Peace Education, which developed the Peace Studies Guidelines for schools.
1986
Received United Nations International Year of Peace Award.
1987
Co-founded the Peace Walk for a Nuclear Free New Zealand which walked the length of the North Island during the general election campaign to support anti-nuclear political parties.
1988
Established Nuclear-Free Kiwis Abroad and toured the United States to speak about New Zealand’s successful anti-nuclear campaign and to support the U.S. peace movement.
1988
Participated in the one-month Soviet-American Peace Walk in the Ukraine and Russia. Organised an anti-nuclear power event at one of the Chernobyl relocation villages and an anti-nuclear weapons protest in the Red Square, Moscow.
1989
Worked for World Federalist UN office in New York monitoring progress on the proposal for an International Criminal Court.
1990
Co-founded the Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme in New Zealand. The programme trains students in primary and secondary schools to mediate conflicts that arise at school.
1990
Established Our Planet in Every Classroom – NZ which distributed posters of the Earth as seen from space and educational materials to hundreds of classrooms in New Zealand.
1990
Established the UN Office of the Gulf Peace Team to support initiatives at the United Nations to prevent a Gulf War.
1992
Appointed as Executive Director of Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy (USA) and United Nations Campaign Coordinator for the World Court Project, an initiative to seek an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons.
1993
Drafted, and successfully lobbied for, the UN resolution that was adopted in 1994 taking the nuclear weapons issue to the ICJ.
1995
Co-founded Abolition 2000 – the global network to eliminate nuclear weapons. Over 2000 organisations have endorsed the Abolition 2000 proposal for a Nuclear Weapons Convention – a global treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
1995
As a board member of the International Peace Bureau (Nobel Peace Prize 1910) I nominated Joseph Rotblat and his organisation Pugwash for the Nobel Peace Prize. They won.
1996
Coordinated (with Merav Datan) the drafting of a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention, which was circulated by the United Nations Secretary-General in 1997.
1996
Started four-year stint as part-time DJ for the Barefoot Boogie club in New York city.
1996
Nominated Jose Ramos Horta and Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo for the Nobel Peace Prize. They won.
1997
Appointed to the board of Safety Inc: Men and Women Against Violence (New York), which organized the Clothesline Project and other initiatives to prevent sexual violence.
1997
Established the Weapons Systems Caucus of the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court. The caucus focused on weapons systems, the use of which would be a crime under international law and therefore which should be included in the Rome Statute for an ICC.
1997
Ran the New York marathon as a fund-raiser for Abolition 2000.
1998
Helped Senator Douglas Roche establish the Middle Powers Initiative, a coalition of international disarmament organisations promoting the role of middle power countries to advance nuclear disarmament.
1999
Co-founded the Global Campaign for Peace Education, which was established at the Hague Peace Conference. Was the DJ for the Hague Peace Conference final party of 8000 party-goers (was asked to DJ when Mos Def cancelled last-minute)
1999
Appointed to the New Zealand Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control.
2000
Appointed NGO representative on the New Zealand delegation to the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. New Zealand chaired the sub-committee which successful negotiated 13 disarmament steps agreed by all states parties to the NPT.
2001
Established the New Zealand Schools Outreach Program for the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace. Under the program peace educators were trained to traveled to NZ schools to assist teachers implement peace education.
2001
Head of the New Zealand delegation to the 2001 UNESCO International Conference on Education (representing the NZ Minister of Education). Presented to the conference on the need to reduce military spending in order to provide funds for universal education.
2002
Organised the International Lawyers Appeal on the Illegality of the Preventive Use of Force, and the presentation of this appeal to the UN Security Council to encourage them not to endorse a military attack against Iraq. The Security Council supported our position, but the US and UK launched the attack anyway.
2002
Established the Wellington Office of the NZ Foundation for Peace Studies and oversaw the office program for the next 8 years.
2003
Appointed to the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Education, with remit to assist in the implementation of the recommendations from the UN Study on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Education.
2003
The NZ Minister of Education agrees to a proposal I made to him to establish August 6-12 as Schools Peace Week, including the anniversaries of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the International Day for Youth and the International Day for Indigenous Peoples. This week is still commemorated in New Zealand schools.
2003
Established Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), at the invitation of Senator Douglas Roche and the Middle Powers Initiative. Was appointed the PNND Global Coordinator.
2004
Appointed as one of the two representatives of the International Peace Bureau (IPB) to the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. IPB received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910. Since then 13 officers of IPB have received the Nobel Peace Prize.
2004
Appointed as a Vice-President of the International Peace Bureau, a Nobel Peace Laureate organization.
2005
Organised (with Aaron Tovish) an International Mayors and Parliamentarians Appeal for a Nuclear Weapons Free World and the presentation of this appeal to the United Nations General Assembly.
2007
Visited Israel to meet with parliamentarians on nuclear disarmament issues. Also did some filming for The Babel Project, an initiative of the NZ Peace Foundation led by two Palestinian and Israeli friends to build cross-cultural conflict resolution through art.
2007
Organised a revision of the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention, updating the 1997 version to include developments since then. Submitted the revised model to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who circulated it to all UN members.
2008
Organised the PNND Assembly at the Thinkers Lodge in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, the original meeting place of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs established by Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russel. The Canadian government used the occasion of our assembly to announce the placing of the Thinkers Lodge on the National Historical Sites list.
2009
Organised a PNND strategy meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The UNSG agreed to our proposal to contact directly every parliament in the world to encourage them to work with PNND and the Inter Parliamentary Union to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world (see Ban Ki-Moon's nuclear disarmament letter to parliaments).
2009
Organised the opening segment of the World March for Peace and Non-violence, which started in New Zealand on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and went around the world.
2009
Grandson Vai was born by waterbirth in Whakatane.
2009
Received the Right Livelihood Award ('Alternative Nobel Peace Prize'). Attended the Nobel Peace Award ceremony for President Barack Obama and performed at the Nobel Award Peace Concert in Oslo.
2010
Organised an event at the 2010 NPT Review Conference where parliamentarians presented to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports of motions and appeals supporting his Five Point Proposal for a nuclear-weapon-free world, and specifically his call for negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention. The final report of the NPT Review Conference, agreed by all States Parties, made special reference to the UNSG’s Proposal and the nuclear weapons convention.
2010
Established the Nuclear Abolition Forum, a periodical bringing academics and policy makers together to explore the possibilities and processes to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.
2010
Co-chaired a session of the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates with F.W. de Klerk, former President of South Africa.
2011
Ran the New York marathon as part of the Peace and Sports Team to promote peace and sport initiatives in the Middle East. The team included Tegla Loroupe (first African woman to win the New York marathon) and Wilson Kiptiker (world record holder for the 800 metres)
2012
Was invited to move to Basel to establish the Basel Peace Office, a joint initiative of Swiss and international organisations for nuclear abolition.
2012
Arrived in Basel to find expected funding not available, so I ran the Basel marathon to raise funds for the new Basel Peace Office.
2012
Was falsely accused of raping my former girlfriend by a disarmament activist jealous of my professional success, including my being awarded the Right Livelihood Prize. My former girlfriend was adamant that our relationship was mutually supportive and non-abusive and circulated a declaration to this effect. But this did not stop the jealous disarmament activist of continuing to spread slander about me and my organisations (PNND and the Basel Peace Office), supported by her disarmament organisation for political purposes. This has caused splits and considerable damage in the nuclear disarmament movement.
2012
Organised the PNND Assembly in Astana, Kazakhstan, at which was launched The ATOM Project, an initiative led by victims of nuclear tests to highlight the humanitarian imperative for nuclear abolition.
2013
Launched the Open the Door campaign to support the UN Open Ended Working Group to Take Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations.
2013
Organised the PNND Assembly in Washington DC, with a special event in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room, at which PNND Co-President Senator Markey announced the SANE Act to slash the budget for nuclear weapons and apply the funds to jobs, education, renewable energy and health. The PNND Assembly also launched an appeal to Heads of State to elevate nuclear disarmament to the same level as they given to nonproliferation in the Nuclear Security Summits.
2014
Established UNFOLD ZERO, a global platform to promote United Nations initiatives for nuclear disarmament as well as UN processes for achieving security without recourse to nuclear deterrence or to the threat or use of military force.
2014
Grand-daughter Zinnia was born in Tauranga.
2014
After two years of unsuccessfully trying in good faith to stop the spread of the false rape allegations by a disarmament activist jealous of my professional success, I launched a defamation case against her and the disarmament organisation backing her false allegations.
2015
Launched Global Wave 2015, where people all over the world held creative events to ‘wave goodbye to nuclear weapons’ as world leaders met in New York for the NPT Review Conference.
2015
Organised the PNND Assembly in Prague, in conjunction with the Prague Agenda Conference, a high-level event on follow-up to President Obama’s historic nuclear disarmament speech in Prague in 2009.
2015
Was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
2015
My defamation case in a NZ court against the organisation supporting the false allegations against me was dropped on jurisdiction grounds, on the basis that the allegations were not published in New Zealand. However, the case brought considerable support for me from work colleagues, friends, members of peace and disarmament organisations and others upset at the unethical and destructive practices of the defendants.
2016
Was appointed as Deputy-Chair of the World Future Council Commission on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Children.
2016
Moved to Prague to live with my girlfriend Jana and her cat Smokey (a star of the Open the Door campaign), and to establish the main PNND office there.
2016
Launched Chain Reaction 2016, a a series of actions around the world for nuclear abolition.
2016
Organised an international conference in Astana: Building a Nuclear Weapon Free World, which was opened by Kazakh President Nazarbayev, and a side trip to the former Soviet nuclear test site in Kurchatov.
2016
Was appointed Chief Prosecutor for the International People's Tribunal on Nuclear Weapons and the Destruction of Human Civilisation, which was held in Sydney. Successfully 'convicted' the leaders of the nuclear-armed States.