- The Guardian
- Issue #2046
Cancel AUKUS demonstration in Melbourne. Photo: CPA
The Labor government’s decision to sign up to AUKUS is potentially the most costly and dangerous decision of any government since federation. It is not just costly in dollar terms. It is not just costly in the harm it will do the Australian people through austerity measures to foot the bill. It fuels an arms race that could result in nuclear war. To top it off, the $368 billion plus bill offers up what remains of Australia’s independence and sovereignty.
AUKUS must be cancelled.
We are told there is not enough money to fund Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That we cannot afford the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Public education is starved of funding. As for public housing, it has all but been dismantled. JobSeeker for the unemployed, the age pension and other social payments are below the poverty line. We are told we cannot afford to increase them.
The planet is close to tipping point as climate change policies and action fall far short of what is required. But where is the funding for a transition to renewables? You need a magnifying glass to see it when compared with the $368 billion plus being allocated towards escalating Australia’s war-fighting capability.
The real threat to Australia’s security is from the US war machine which is targeting the People’s Republic of China. Neither Australia nor the US can win a war against China. The only winner is the military industrial complex.
The losers will be humankind and the planet.
The expanded US bases with additional US military; the purchase of hypersonic missiles; the offensive (not defensive) nuclear-powered submarines; the enhancement of cyberwarfare capability; and other aspects of the AUKUS agreement are aimed at China and Russia.
Australian forces, already largely integrated into the US’s war machine, will be under the command of the US. Parliament will not be informed in advance, let alone have a say in whether we go to war. So much for the claims of democratic values. Behind the talk of international order and rule of law lies the mailed fist of the US, NATO, and AUKUS.
“It is time for us to join together and call on governments around the world to cut military spending, and to instead invest in the true needs of the people and the planet to build a just and sustainable peace:” Hannah Middleton (Guardian #2045, 13/03/2023)
The protests against AUKUS are rising here and overseas.
We must unite and mobilise to force the Australian government off this path to war.
Join the anti-AUKUS protests in your state.
Write to PM Albanese, War Minister Marles, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong to tell them that you reject Australia becoming a proxy to US wars and bearing the terrible consequences.
Write letters to newspapers, take up your opposition to AUKUS on radio talkback, and post anti-AUKUS messages and memes on your social media. Spread the word, counter the pro-AUKUS propaganda and build the anti-war movement.
Make Tuesdays your No AUKUS day – email them every Tuesday.
