Militarising Australia

The military exercise Talisman Sabre and the establishment of three new US 'training bases' (the Bradshaw Training Area and Delamere Air Weapons Range in the Northern Territory and Shoalwater Bay in Queensland) are further steps in the accelerating militarisation of Australia. The US is intent on upgrading and expanding its military capabilities in Australia and this process is being organised and promoted by the Howard Government. Examples include:

• Former Defence Minister Robert Hil announced in Washington in late 2003 that joint exercises and other measures would be taken to ensure seamless interoperability between the US and Australian military. Interoperability is the process of the gradual fusion of the Australian Defence Force into a defacto arm of the US military.
• The Defence Capability Plan - a ten year $50 billion high tech military hardware spending spree.
• Involvement in the US missile defence program (Star Wars) through the US base at Pine Gap, upgrading the Jindalee Over the Horizon Radar (JORN) system, and the $60 billion being spent on three air-warfare destroyers with long-range anti-missile (Aegis) capabilities to be based off the coast of Western Australia.
• A new US tank base in Darwin.
• The US navy's Sea Swap (rotating US navy crews) program in Western Australia.
• Adoption of a pre-emptive strike policy. This is both an excuse for intervention and invasion and a cover for the reoccupation of former colonial countries. During the election, Howard promised to form two 'flying squads' of federal police for use in the Asia-Pacific region 'and beyond'. His government is massively increasing expenditure on weapons systems that are clearly not for the defence of Australia but for operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

War fighting:

US bases and joint war games on Australia's soil contribute to the US' war fighting strategy. The new bases will assist the US to prosecute wars against the poor in our region and beyond and help swell the list of Australia's enemies.

Civil liberties:

An atmosphere of fear and insecurity is being fanned to assist a massive attack on civil liberties. Federal and State legislation, being used first against the Muslim community, is intended to destroy democratic rights and stifle all dissent.

Sovereignty:

Integration into the US war machine brings with it massive secrecy and denial of national sovereignty. The Australian parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties has complained that MPs are kept in the dark about the US base at Pine Gap and are 'entrusted with less information than can be found in a public library.'

Security:

Security comes with jobs, homes, education and health care, food and clean water, democracy and human rights. Australia's current military spending of over $55 million a day steals the resources needed to provide these necessities.

Young soldiers

The lives and health of young Australians in the ADF will be at risk of terrorist attacks and US use of depleted uranium and chemical warfare.

Militarising Australia and delivering unfaltering support for US aggression and threat to use force against other countries cannot ensure security for Australians.