More than 100 activists protested outside the Perth Convention Centre on May 26, where the Indian Ocean Defence & Security (IODS) conference and exhibition was being held. The protest was organised by 14 community and political groups, including Stop AUKUS WA and the WA Anti-War Collective.
They condemned the Roger Cook Labor government’s decision to invite weapons manufacturers to the state and it and the federal governments’ commitment to weapons exports and enmeshment within the United States war machine.
MC Sam Wainwright told the rally that what the world had witnessed in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran over the last few years makes clear that politicians were tying the country to the global war machine.
“The push by the state and federal governments to make Australia a major weapons exporter is making the world a more dangerous place,” Wainwright said.
The IODS boasted more than 240 exhibitors and attracted 4800 visitors.
Wainwright said the Australia-US war alliance ties the country into a “weapons production chain with the Trump regime which has declared its intention to disregard international law” including propping up serial human rights abusers, such as Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
“Security for the Australian people is best secured through a foreign policy based on peace and justice, not allying with dictators and war criminals.”
WA Labor’s decision to host the event provides a glimpse of the future: Boorloo is set to host Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition in October — the largest land warfare show in the Southern Hemisphere — and Rockingham has been designated a defence base, which means it will host 1200 US and British navy personnel and their families from 2027.
Security for this weapons extravaganza is expected to cost a whopping $11.4 billion. The organisers said that this, together with the estimated $368 billion being spent on AUKUS, should instead be detailed to helping those hit hard by the housing and cost-of-living crises.
By embracing AUKUS, the federal government is making all Australians complicit in Donald Trump’s aggression, particularly in the Middle East, the groups said. Australia’s part of the global weapons supply chain has moral implications, particularly as Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues.
The Department of Defence recently announced that global US weapons corporation Lockheed Martin will partner in the production of a next generation SSN-AUKUS submarines, slated to be built at the Osborne shipyards in South Australia. Raytheon, another US weapons corporation, has the contract for the SeaRAM for Australia’s Mogami frigates. Federal Labor has also committed to buying a squadron of US B-21 Raider bombers to the tune of $25-30 billion.
Furthermore, Australia’s Future Fund has dramatically lifted its support for genocide-enabling companies Palantir, Lockheed Martin and Elbit. Many superannuation funds have a strong investment portfolio in weapons companies.
Greens WA MLC Sophie McNeill told the rally that Trump’s actions also show why WA Labor’s embrace US militarism is “outrageous”. She said when other parts of the Western world are wanting to distance themselves from “the increasingly fascist and unstable Trump regime” it is “deeply shameful that WA Labor is cosying up to the US military and signing away our state’s future to be part of their next genocidal campaign”.
