Maynie Thompson has spent many years as an active campaigner in the anti-nuclear movement and as a front line peace activist.
Waiheke was a hotbed of peace activism in the eighties. Maynie and other local women found plenty of support as they took their message of peace to the world. In 1983 Maynie participated in a march to Wellington calling for the New Zealand government to take a stand on the nuclear issue. Enthused by that experience, a year later Maynie visited Britain to join the women's camp at Greenham Common protesting the deployment of American nuclear missiles on British soil. She wasn't merely a passive participant in this protest, she was involved in cutting the fence and raiding the Greenham Common military complex.
Two years later Maynie again ventured overseas to participate in the Great Peace March across the United States walking much of the way from Los Angeles to Washington DC again calling for peace and an end to the nuclear threat.
Maynie's activism continued into the 1990's with her participation in the 1995 Peace Flight to Tahiti. This action was to protest French Nuclear testing on the Pacific atoll Mururoa and to lend support to the indigenous people of Tahiti and other Pacific nations who were in the region were the French chose to carry out their nuclear dirty work.
On the 8th of June, 2007 it was the 20th anniversary of the passing of legislation to make New Zealand nuclear free. To get a local slant on this historic occasion Beach Radio invited Maynie Thompson onto the Island Life magazine show to discuss her involvement in the anti-nuclear movement in the 1980s. She has dedicated many years to the campaign for peace and she wanted to emphasise the overwhelming support she had received from the Waiheke community over this time. She justifiably looks back on her involvement in the peace movement with pride.
Listen to the interview below
<flashmp3>http://www.archive.org/download/MaynieThompsonWaihekePeaceActivist/MaynieThompson.mp3</flashmp3>
copy and audio courtesy of Beach Radio
Read the full post about Maynie and see pictures on the Beach Radio Blog