By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — Early next month, antiwar protesters are planning to converge on the Shoalwater Bay military training area near Rockhampton in Queensland to protest "Operation Tandem Thrust", a joint US-Australian war game involving 17,000 US and 5000 Australian troops.
During the exercise, a force of 5000 US marines will storm ashore in an amphibious invasion, while other Australian soldiers land nearby. The exercise is not aimed at practising "defence" of Australia against invasion, but at combining the two countries' military forces in attacking an unnamed foreign nation. It has been described in an Australian government media release as an "exercise scheduled every two years to provide training in crisis action planning and execution for contingency response operations in the Pacific area."
Tandem Thrust will involve 17 US Navy vessels, including a nuclear submarine, as well as elements from the US airforce, marines and army. Threats to the environment include oil spills, toxic chemicals from live ammunition and a possible nuclear accident. Environmentalists are particularly concerned about dangers to the dugong and green turtles, and the Great Barrier Reef. Already a US ship has "lost" 50 smoke bombs overboard near Townsville and earlier this month the Howard government moved to allow naval ships to dump untreated sewage and other wastes in the Great Barrier Reef area, exempting them from the bans applying to other vessels.
Tandem Thrust will cost around $64 million, close to the amount the federal government is cutting from the ABC. Just 10% of current military spending in Australia ($26 million per day) could wipe out the $8 billion federal budget "black hole" within a decade and maintain education, health, welfare and other social program funding.
Australian Anti-Bases Campaign coordinator Denis Doherty on February 13 condemned the outburst by Rockhampton mayor Lea Taylor against peace protesters, saying it would encourage conservative vigilantes to attack the demonstrators. Rockhampton peace and environment activists, in conjunction with Sydney and Brisbane groups, are organising teach-ins, speak-outs and rallies in the area from March 14-16. A chartered bus will arrive from Sydney and cars from Brisbane. "If there is a serious accident or incident at Shoalwater Bay involving a warship or the nuclear submarine, the long-term financial benefits to the community of Shoalwater Bay could be lost forever", commented Pat O'Brien of the Yeppoon Environment Centre on February 13. "We have substantial local community support from people who are not happy with this war game."
For further information on the Tandem Thrust protests, contact Pat O'Brien on (079) 395 534, Brendan Greenhill on (07) 3252 1555, or Denis Doherty on (02) 9267 2772.