The Socialist Alliance released the statement below on June 19.
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Message of solidarity to anti-war and progressive movements opposing the Philippine-Australia Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement
The Socialist Alliance in Australia stands in complete solidarity with you in opposing the ratification of the Philippine-Australia Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement, a military pact that seeks to allow the deployment of Australian military forces on your country’s territory for military exercises and “combined training, exercises, or other activities mutually approved by the parties”.
If endorsed by the Philippines Senate, this military pact will assist the drive for greater US and other imperialist militarisation of the Asian region.
This agreement is part of a series of military pacts between various imperialist governments and collaborating Asian governments that allow the undermining of the freedom, security and sovereignty of the peoples of this region.
These agreements subvert the Philippine constitution, which provides in Article XVIII, Sec. 25: “After the expiration in 1991 of the agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America concerning military bases, foreign military bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate and, when the Congress so requires, ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the people in a national referendum held for that purpose, and recognised as a treaty by the other contracting state.”
We have seen how similar military agreements have been used by the US governments to get around the popular closure of the giant US military bases that operated in the Philippines until the Filipino people overthrew the hated Marcos dictatorship. The objective of the Philippines-Australia Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement will further this process.
Australian governments have been the most loyal military partners of US imperialism for many decades. They have endorsed and participated in numerous imperialist wars of aggression, invasion and occupation led by US imperialism — from Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq.
More recently, the Australian government has expanded its military ties with the US and entered agreements to base thousands of US marines in Darwin as well as open all its military airfields and naval ports to US military forces. The Australian and US military are discussing plans to develop the Indian ocean atoll Cocos Island into a US base for spy drone aircraft to conduct military operations in the Asian region.
There are already many US military spy stations and military communications facilities elsewhere on Australia territory. The existing US intelligence base at Pine Gap in central Australia has become more important as the US war machine becomes more technologically sophisticated. Pine Gap has long been essential to US covert communications and its capacity to wage nuclear war.
This close military alliance between Australia and the US is based on the common interests of two imperialist states that are determined to use their military might to protect the right of the global corporations to continue to exploit and rob the oppressed nations and peoples of the world.
The militaries of both countries are geared against foreign intervention (officially termed “forward military projection”) towards neighbouring countries. These are not “defence forces” but forces of imperialist aggression.
Australian corporations have their own significant interests in the Philippines and the rest of Asia, which their militaries are used to protect. These include several notorious mining operations that are ravaging the tribal lands of indigenous communities in the Philippines.
The Socialist Alliance condemns the increased US military presence in Australia as a setback for peace and the increased militarisation of the Asian region, of which the Philippine-Australia Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement is but one component.
The Socialist Alliance campaigns for an end to all aggressive military alliances and for the removal of all imperialist and military facilities from the region.
In this spirit, we offer our complete solidarity to all the peace-promoting, anti-war and progressive forces in the Philippines now demanding that the Philippine-Australia Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement not be ratified by the Philippines Senate.
Susan Price and Peter Boyle,
Socialist Alliance national co-convenors
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