- The Guardian
- Issue #2067
Part of the anti-AUKUS demo in Brisbane.
The above slogan resounded on the streets of South Brisbane as the ALP conference came to town. The plans of Antony Albanese and Richard Marles who had hoped to silence any opposition to the militarist policies pursued by the federal government were defeated by the fact that this ridiculous waste of money and drive to war could not be allowed to go by in silence.
A multiplicity of peace groups and environmentalists joined with unionists and members of the Labor Party plus a broad alliance of political parties to oppose the highly unpopular expenditure on nuclear submarines. The current nearly 400 billion dollars price tag on the subs is alarming, but this commitment to preparing for a war and funding aggressive attack-class submarines along with increasing militarisation of the Australian economy will come at the expense of Education Health Transport and Housing. The excessive inflation that goes with the militarisation of the economy will only get worse. Climate change and housing have been underfunded while this government and the previous one have promoted war-time budgets in peacetime.
Expenditure for war preparations has never led to peace, and armed and aggressive military blocs are designed to start and carry out wars. This has not changed from the war games that brought forward WW1 to the invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The militarism and rhetoric have ramped up against China, and from a system of peaceful trade we now have an aggressive policy based on after lie.
Spotted on the street was renowned militarist journalist Peter Hartcher. This irresponsible militarism and rhetoric could lead humanity towards a global catastrophe. The global arms industry is talking up fear and putting us on the brink of this human catastrophe. Nuclear disarmament should be the order of the day.
The demonstration was a great success and is the beginning of a very important campaign against the militarists.
