The No AUKUS Coalition Victoria held a public meeting at the Victorian Trades Hall on September 19. The meeting was organised as part of a national day of action against AUKUS and helped to mark the United Nations International Peace Day.
The meeting was Chaired by Joseph Camilleri from Conversations at the Crossroads. Speakers included: Tim Read (the Greens); Richard Tanter (Nautilus Institute); Margie Beavis (Medical Association for Prevention of War); Emma Shortis (The Australia Institute); and Hamish McPherson (Labor Against War).
Many of the speakers commented on the AUKUS military alliance as tying Australia to the US-war drive against China, and pointed out the “deputy sheriff” role Australia plays in the Asia-Pacific region exemplified by its recent Bilateral Security Agreement treaty with Papua New Guinea.
Beavis told the meeting that AUKUS will make Australia less safe, as the project is tied to the “militarisation of [Australian] society”. More than $368 billion would be diverted away from funding domestic violence and femicide responses, housing solutions and real climate action.
Shortis said that the AUKUS deal reveals how deeply undemocratic the ALP is since “decisions are made with no democratic accountability”. Shortis referenced polling conducted by the Australia Institute that shows “the Australian community is largely against AUKUS”.
The meeting passed two resolutions.
The first called for the AUKUS agreement to be scrapped. It pointed out that “the AUKUS military pact locks Australia into a warmongering alliance with US imperialists”.
“We oppose Australia being turned into a US military base and launching pad for a US-led war on China, making us a military target. We call for dismantling Pine Gap and all US bases on Australian soil,” it read.
The second resolution, on Palestine, called on the Albanese government to immediately sanction and cut ties with Israel, to expel the Israeli ambassador and to ban the manufacture of weapons parts used by Israel. It also condemned the use of the Pine Gap military spy base in supplying military intelligence to Israel.