War isn't a game: End 'Kangaroo' military ties!

August 9, 1995
Issue 

By Pip Hinman

The final phase of the $64 million Kangaroo '95, "the greatest show in town", as Royal Australian Navy Captain and chief controller of Kangaroo '95 Jim Gault put it, has begun in the north of Australia. The military exercise is 10-15% larger than its predecessor, Kangaroo '92.

Gault was quoted in the March 23 ADF magazine Army boasting that "on a world standard it would be difficult to conceive an exercise area larger than the one where we are now concentrating".

Kangaroo '95, the largest combined military exercise ever held in Australia, involves 15,750 regular and reserve personnel from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and 2540 overseas personnel from the US, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Britain, Malaysia and Indonesia. New Zealand has sent observers.

The strategic planning phase for Kangaroo '95 began on January 15. The second phase, which took place around Easter, involved determining the deployment, distribution, configuration and command-and-control arrangements. Phase three was a week-long reconnaissance and surveillance operation. The final phase is a month-long exercise across the Northern Territory and the northern air-sea gap.

This involves a 400-strong fake invasion by a fictitious regional country, "Orangeland" (represented by an ADF contingent), which is supported by a large, non-regional power, "Cerise". Army reports that some effort has gone into creating this hypothetical: "The unfolding scenario is being closely guarded by the planners to maintain realism and prevent any misconceptions that it represents actual concerns."

A 1987 Defence White Paper noted that the site was chosen because northern Australia "is the most susceptible to threat and Exercise Kangaroo '95 has been designed to counter a short-term low level contingency in this area".

But how real is a threat from the north? Defence minister Robert Ray has asserted, on numerous occasions, that Australia faces no security threat. So why is the Australian government hosting this expensive military pantomime?

According to Democratic Socialist foreign affairs spokesperson Max Lane, "Kangaroo '95 is designed to strengthen Australia's defence relationship with some of the worst human rights offenders in the region — the governments of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia".

This is the first time that Indonesia has been involved in such an exercise. It is cruel irony, Lane said, that on the anniversary of the end of World War II, the Australian government is training Indonesian troops to kill the very people who supported Australian troops against the Japanese forces occupying East Timor during the war.

Despite the Suharto regime's appalling human rights record, the Australian Labor government has steadily been increasing cooperation with the Indonesian armed forces (ABRI). Ray is on record defending the Suharto dictatorship ("Indonesia is improving its human rights record"), and he has also tried to justify the training of Indonesian troops in Australia on the grounds that "they will have a wider appreciation of military law and behaviour towards the civil sector of the community".

However, even the US government, not renowned for its squeamishness in dealing with dictators, has recently pulled back from defence ties with the Suharto regime.

Since 1992, there have been at least eight Australian military exercises with Indonesia and a marked increase in ABRI personnel being trained in Australia, including some of the KOPASSUS forces — Indonesia's front-line forces in the brutal occupation of East Timor. "By including ABRI in Kangaroo '95, the Australian government is helping to rehabilitate the Suharto regime, post the Dili massacre, in the eyes of the world", said Lane.

The trend towards increasing war cooperation with Jakarta is evident from 1994-95 budget estimates which indicate that official spending on bilateral military cooperation with Indonesia has more than doubled — from $2,217,000 to $4,5665,000 — from the previous year. Approximately $3 million was earmarked to train ABRI officers in Australia. As a result of Indonesian technology minister Dr B.J. Habibie's visit in May, the two governments have set up a joint committee to examine opportunities for defence science research, development and industry.

PNG's participation is also cause for concern, Lane said. The Australian government has actively supported PNG's blockade of Bougainville (with patrol boats and arms) and its attempts to smash Bougainvilleans' right to self-determination. "PNG's inclusion in Kangaroo '95 is further evidence of the Keating government's willingness to ignore human rights issues."

Little publicity has been given to the environmental impact of Kangaroo '95. According to the Coalition Against Kangaroo Exercise (CAKE), even the ADF admits that the impact will be significant including: disturbance of native fauna and livestock; damage to grasslands; surface water contamination; sea water pollution; damage to roads, piers, jetties and wharfs, airfields and fences; disturbance of Aboriginal artefacts or sacred sites; spreading of infestations of noxious weeds; and damage to World Heritage/National Estate, National Park and reserve areas.

Kangaroo '95 will impact on the top end communities in other ways as well. According to CAKE, "it is well documented that the incidence of sexual assault increases with the number of defence personnel in a region. The demand for sex workers increases. There is increased alcohol consumption and associated violence. The increasing militarisation of the north of Australia, of which Kangaroo '95 is a part, also impacts on the attitudes and ideas of the local civilian community."

Why is the Australian government spending so much money to collaborate with dictators? The answer, according to Lane, lies in the Keating government's interest in playing a leading role in a regional military pact. "Despite Ray's denials that this is the case, it is clear that the Australian government is happy to work together with the military forces of the region to protect big business's interests in the south-east Asian region."

Protests against Kangaroo '95 have taken place around Australia. In Paris on August 1, activists chained themselves to the Australian embassy to demand the immediate cancellation of all military cooperation between Australia and Indonesia.

"The $64 million is wasted on Kangaroo '95. It would be better spent in a socially useful way such as providing adequate health, education and housing to remote Aboriginal communities", Lane concluded.

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