people for a nuclear-free australia

People For a Nuclear-Free Australia

People For a Nuclear-Free Australia is a pretty self-explanatory title.

The site aims to pull together ground level support for thwarting Prime Minister John Howard’s plans for developing a nuclear power industry in Australia.

If anyone needed further reason to vote the Howard Government out come election time later this year, his plans to mine and export uranium, build 25 nuclear power stations and establish our country as a dump for other countries’ nuclear waste should suffice.

It’s pretty clear that the drivers behind this policy are Howard’s relationship with an equally beleaguered US President and the misguided notion that nuclear power will ease some of our climate change concerns.

I feel quite privileged to be allowed to play a small part in a campaign to save our country and our planet from political madness (not that I feel much more confident about ALP policy in this regard).

Internationally acclaimed Australian anti-nuclear activist Dr Helen Caldicott, one of my longer term clients, is the founder and spokesperson for PNFA, but to give you some idea of the range of support it has attracted, noted Canadian scientist, environmentalist and media force Dr David Suzuki has agreed to become Patron of PNFA while dreadlocked indie roots singer/guitarist John Butler has invited Dr Caldicott to speak about PNFA on several legs of his Trio’s current national tour.

The site is focused on providing information to people who are in any doubt about the pros and cons of nuclear power, and aggregating the support of people who have realised that it is just too dangerous with a view to influencing current and future government policy.

The site you see is actually a more conservative version than originally envisaged. Brilliant graphic designer Robert Wirth came up with a suite of fantastic visual materials for me to work with, based around an a logo made up of a very clever integration of the classic peace symbol, a stylised dove and a map of Australia.

These images were deemed to a bit too distant from a specific anti-nuclear message – a decision I personally think underestimates the ability of the target audience to understand the link between pro-peace and anti-nuclear – so Robert came up with a more directly “nuclear” image embedded in a much plainer colour scheme.

I can see the logic – PNFA is keen to position its core message as not being something terribly radical, more just common sense, solid scientific research and commitment to our continued safe existence.

And I think the end result is pretty effective.

I keep focusing on standards compliance, valid and semantic code, user-friendly structure and design, accessibility and – especially – rich, meaningful, actionable content.

It’s becoming more second-nature to me rather than something I have to work hard at, and I think it’s actually helping me to create good-looking sites that work.