BY ANTHONY BENBOW
PERTH — With the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln still undergoing maintenance off Fremantle, US warplanes starting bushfires during bombing "practice" 100 kilometres north of Perth and a US FA-18 fighter crashing near the Pearce RAAF base, Western Australians have already been dragged into US war preparations.
In the lead-up to the official start of the seaswap program, under which the US will restock its ships and change crews in WA waters, making WA the site of a de facto US Navy base, anti-seaswap and anti-war campaigners have stepped up activity.
Fremantle federal MP Carmen Lawrence received wide media coverage when, on January 16, she and other protesters sailed out to the Abraham Lincoln and demanded to inspect its weapons. "The public have a right to know what is on board a vessel that WA is helping prepare for war", Lawrence said. WA water police prevented the group from reaching the warship.
A "Stop the Swap" rally was held outside Parliament House on January 19. The rally was organised by the Fremantle Anti-Nuclear Group (FANG) to protest the first official day of the Seaswap program. Activists are also camped in the dunes near Lancelin, as part of an all-night peace vigil to prevent further bombing and destruction of the fragile coastal environment.
These actions follow the hugely successful public meeting, organised by FANG on December 12, at which 400 people packed into the Fremantle Town Hall. WA Labor Premier Geoff Gallop, and ALP MP for Rockingham Mark McGowan, who helped organise the seaswap deal, were invited to address the meeting but did not attend.
A "peace flotilla" of small boats is being organised to greet incoming US warships with a clear "No thanks" message.
Coverage in local media, with a few exceptions, has been slanted in support of war and seaswaps. Asked on January 14 by an ABC radio interviewer why the US Navy had chosen WA for its seaswaps, the commander of the destroyer USS Fletcher spoke mainly of the "friendly nature" of WA people.
However Michael Owens, deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Canberra, revealed the real reason to the January 18 West Australian on January 18: "Without Perth, it would be far more difficult for the US to be engaged in this part of the world."
A poll conducted by the West Australian, published on January 18, found that 75% of WA people oppose Australia being part of a unilateral US military action, although 66% would support a UN-led war on Iraq.
From Green Left Weekly, January 22, 2003.
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