Australia press release

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Introduction

World Naked Bike Ride Australia
Peacefully expose the vulnerability of cyclists, humanity and nature in the face of oil, cars, war, consumerism and non-renewable energy.

Australian towns and cities will participate in the next southern hemisphere leg of the World Naked Bike Ride in March. The official southern hemisphere ride date is the second Saturday of March every year.

The tentative locations are:

• Adelaide, SA
• Alice Springs, NT
• Brisbane, QLD
• Broome, WA
• Byron Bay, NSW
• Cairns, QLD
• Canberra, ACT
• Daylesford, VIC
• Hobart, TAS
• Melbourne, VIC
• Melrose, SA
• Newcastle, NSW
• Nimbin, NSW
• Perth, WA
• Sydney, NSW
• Tweed Heads, NSW

Check website for details: http://wiki.worldnakedbikeride.org/index.php?title=Australia or follow the links to the towns cities webpage on this wiki website.

Other cities across the world will also host rides as part of the southern hemisphere leg of WNBR's global movement, including Lima (Peru), Golden Bay and Middlemarch(New Zealand), Cape Town (South Africa], San Francisco (United States of America), Sao Paulo and Brasília (Brazil).

The World Naked Bike Ride is an annual clothing optional protest ride for Peace, Sustainability and the rights of cyclists to use the road safely.

The ride is not a race and goes at an easy recreational pace. An element of competition between cyclists is present only in respect of how bizarrely they can decorate their bodies with paint, slogans and bits of costume. Many riders paint their bodies with peace signs, hearts and flowers.

The dress code for the ride is “Go as bare as you dare”! Nudity is not compulsory. It is not a ride promoting overtly sexual behaviour in public.

It is a very hippie and green event.

Many problems beset the world:

There is a need for people to hold a body positive image. A lot of people have hang ups about the human body and can not distinguish between non-sexual nudity and pornography. People are living creatures and part of nature, not superior or detached from it. Shame or disgust of human bodies, it all their colours, shapes and sizes is a form of prejudice.

Burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and mineral oil) causes environmental damage including climate change, air pollution, acid rain and water pollution. The destruction of our natural environment threatens all living things with extinction. We face the carbon-induced nemesis of nature.

Without using nuclear fuels (uranium, plutonium) nuclear accidents, nuclear weapons, depleted uranium tipped weapons and nuclear contamination would not exist. Exposure to nuclear radiation causes cancer, genetic mutations and death. Nuclear material remains radioactive virtually forever.

Health Problems including asthma and respiratory illnesses occur partly because of the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. Obesity, diabetes and lack of exercise come from our sedentary car-addicted lifestyles.

We see violence everyday because of the fraudulent wars fought over oil, road rage and deaths and injuries to pedestrians and cyclists from motorised vehicles. Worldwide it was estimated that 1.2 million people were killed and 50 million more were injured in motor vehicle collisions in 2004. We need a peaceful and gentler world which includes our roads.

For a future to exist for tomorrow's generations, we must stop exploiting mineral energy, stop polluting the Earth, stop fighting and killing in the name of consumerist wealth accumulation and learn to love and respect all life, and to continue to spread this message.

The World Naked Bike Ride Mission Statements

Snappy version:

A clothed or clothes free protest: riding with a message of peace & sustainability for planet earth.

Short version:

Peacefully expose the vulnerability of cyclists, humanity and nature in the face of oil, cars, war, consumerism and non-renewable energy..

Long version:

We face automobile traffic with our naked bodies as the best way of defending our dignity and exposing the unique dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians plus all the negative effects of oil, cars, war, consumerism and non-renewable energy.

World Naked Bike Ride History

Manifestación Ciclonudista Mundial began in Spain in 2001 and the WNBR grew from that protest which takes the form of a naked bike ride. Since then, the WNBR has spread to over 100 cites in about 30 countries with the participation of thousands of riders. Because of differing climates, the WNBR is conducted in two legs. The Southern hemisphere WNBR occurs on the second Saturday of March and has included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and cities in Florida (USA) where the weather is comfortable at that time of year. Eugene in Oregan, USA and Brighton in the UK have braved the winter weather to ride on the Southern hemisphere date. The Northern hemisphere WNBR is much larger, both in terms of number of rides and participants with some rides like Portland, Oregan alone getting more than 5000 riders in 2010. WNBR is most popular in Europe and North America.

WNBR Australian History

There is a story that Australia participated in the first WNBR on 12 June 2004. Six naked bike riders (4 men and two women), led by Luke and Kathy, are supposed to have rode from Tweed Heads to Bilambil through the countryside. There are no known photographs of the ride and Luke and Kathy have lost contact with the rest of the WNBR. Did it really happen?

In 2005 Marte Kinder organised the first WNBR in Australia that not only went through a city, but was photographed and witnessed. Marte founded the movement in Australia and has since built the organisation in terms of riders and rides around Australia by recruiting participants and Organisers in various cities and towns.

Some rides like Canberra and Melbourne regularly attract over 100 riders.

Media Enquiries:

Media enquiry contacts:

• Brisbane please contact Tom the WNBR Brisbane Organiser by email: tomrossignuolo(at)hotmail(dot)com
• Daylesford: please contact Mechandy, the WNBR Daylesford Organiser by email: mechandy61(at)gmail(dot)com
• Canberra: please contact WNBR Canberra Organiser.
• Melbourne: please contact WNBR Melbourne Organisers.
• Melrose: please contact Over The Edge Sports the WNBR Melrose Organisers.
• Nimbin: please contact Jacmul the WNBR Nimbin Organiser.
• Media enquiries for the rest of Australia and Newcastle: please contact Marte Kinder the WNBR Newcastle Organiser, WNBR Australia Coordinator and Media Liaison.

• Please also use the WNBR websites (Wiki and Main Site) for more information.

Photographs of previous WNBRs in Australia:

Byron Bay

• 2008 photos on this website

Melbourne

• Melbourne Summer 2017 Flickr Album

Upcoming WNBR Events

See the Australia section of the List of rides

Why not join in?

Everyone is very welcome to participate or help organise! I have not seen any photos of past events where riders are not grinning and laughing their heads off. WNBR is terrific fun! Why not have a go?

To find out more, go to http://wiki.worldnakedbikeride.org/index.php?title=Australia If you do not have a computer or internet connection you could use an internet café or public libraries’ computers.

If people in Australia are interested in attending a WNBR event in Australia, please have a look at the website first. Also, if you live anywhere where there is no WNBR planned, you are welcome to organise one yourself. It is pretty easy to do and a very rewarding experience. The WNBR Worldwide site http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/ has reference pages with tips for people to use when organising. It will happen if you help make it happen!

What does it cost?

Nothing. There are no fees involved at all. There are no forms to fill in. There is no registration and we do not want to collect people’s personal details.

WNBR is loads of fun and a consciousness expanding, giggle festival. You could help save the world or at least die laughing while trying.

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Supplementary material for editors to use at their discretion if re-drafting the above article:

Famous Quotes on Nakedness, Beliefs and Protest Famous Quotes from: http://www.bodyfreedom.org/guide/quotes_slogans.html

Includes: Historical Figures: Jesus Christ, John Lennon, Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, Michelangelo, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Virginia Wolf, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Contemporary Figures: Elle MacPherson, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, P.J. Harvey, Madonna.

"Nudity is undignified and an error of taste." - Adolf Hitler

“The main hangup in the world today is hypocrisy and insecurity. If people can’t face up to the fact of other people being naked or smoking pot, or whatever they want to do, then we’re never going to get anywhere. People have got to become aware that it’s none of their business and that being nude is not obscene. Being ourselves is what’s important. If everyone practiced being themselves instead of pretending to be what they aren’t, there would be peace.” - John Lennon

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running and robbing the country. That's our problem." -Howard Zinn, "Failure To Quit"

"His disciples asked, 'When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see you?' Jesus answered, 'When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then will you see the son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid.'" - From the Gospel of Thomas

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