As the third anniversary of Israel’s assault on Gaza nears a coalition of anti-war activists is preparing to protest against the Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition, from October 6-8.
The expo, at the Perth Convention Centre, is being advertised as “Australia’s largest land defence industry event”. It will include Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems, BAE Systems, Honeywell, Boeing and Thales. Elbit is Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, supplying drones and surveillance technology used by the Israeli Defense Forces to target Palestinians. Lockheed Martin supplies the F-35 jets which have been used to bomb and destroy Gaza.
The expo underscores the WA Labor’s recently unveiled plan to turn the state into a hub for weapons manufacturing guided, in part, by the controversial AUKUS war pact.
Premier Roger Cook told the Indian Ocean Defence and Security Conference in May about plans to establish a weapons manufacturing hub, where missiles for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) could be produced.
This is in addition to WA’s intended AUKUS role — to host up to four United States and a British nuclear-powered submarine on-rotation at HMAS Stirling (located on Garden Island, south of Boorloo) from next year.
Sam Wainwright, from Stop AUKUS WA and the WA Anti-War Collective, told Green Left that WA Labor’s attempts to stop the protest at Land Forces set a dangerous precedent.
“The protections lavished by the state government on this conference, which is a private event, has been staggering,” Wainwright said. “It shows how determined the Cook government is to push the expansion of the arms industry and shield it and the expo’s participants from public scrutiny.
“Labor has not only allocated $10.4 million for security, it has passed extraordinary laws to restrict civil liberties and enhance police powers around the venue. This sets a terrible precedent and may not even be constitutional.”
Wainwright said the expo showed how state and federal governments want to tie the country to military industries worldwide, setting up serious implications for Australia’s international human rights obligations.
“The expo comes in the context of a long-standing plan by Labor and the Coalition to make Australia one of the world’s top 10 weapons exporters. This has been reinforced by the Force Posture Agreement, which expands US access to Australian bases and other facilities, and the AUKUS pact which further enmeshes Australia in the US’ war plans.
“Australia is therefore deepening bi-lateral military ties with highly repressive states committing gross human rights abuses and war crimes, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.”
Wainwright pointed out that the exhibiting arms dealers include Rafael, which manufactured the spike missile that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.
He said the push towards militarism as an economic “answer” is not only coming from Australia. “This strategic turn to weapons production has been further encouraged by the Donald Trump regime, which wants to increase US military spending next year by a massive 50%, bringing it to US$1.5 trillion.
“A section of Australia’s corporate elite is very keen to get some of the contracts, as are the state governments and the neoliberal managers of most public universities, which have joined the stampede.
“The WA government is proposing weapons’ manufacturing as a replacement industry Collie’s coal mining and thermal coal power industries.
The sobering reality shows that the Australian government is preparing to face the threat of runaway global warming and the poly crisis of capitalism through repression and war.”
[Join the protest against Land Forces on October 6 at 5pm, at Yagan Square in the CBD.]