- The Guardian
- Issue #2135
At the gates of HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney, with banners on AUKUS and Pine Gap.
Close US bases – Sydney
Denis Doherty
The US-based peace group World beyond War put out an appeal to all to host a #CloseBases day at a bases near them. Having just witnessed 16 months of unrelenting carnage in Gaza and some similar scenes in the Ukraine -Russian war, it seemed that the time was very appropriate to bring attention to the negative role military bases play in the world. In the Australian context this means both Australian and US military bases, because in this country our militaries are so intertwined that as President Obama once said “You work together so well, it’s often said you can’t tell where our guys end and you guys begin.”
Obama was speaking as he presided over the 2011 agreement to host US marines in Darwin. He meant it as a compliment, but this intertwining of the Australian and US militaries is bad for our country both internally and externally.
At the rally, the World beyond War group gave several pointers about the harm done by military bases. The bases take up land belonging to First Nations people, they attract the attention of potential adversaries, they pollute the surrounding area with ‘forever chemicals,’ they are often places where the military personnel terrorise the surrounding civilian areas. The cost of the bases upkeep is prohibitive.
All these factors are evident at Australian bases with the recent retrograde move by the Australian government to extend Australian and US military bases to Papua New Guinea. PNG, with a serious health crisis over tuberculosis, should be the last country to engage in preparation for war with China.
Reports from the ACTNOW (ACT Network Opposing War) and Sydney actions showed an emphasis on scrapping AUKUS, the deal valued currently at $386 billion which will see Australia owning and operating nuclear submarines as well as hosting similar submarines from the US and the UK, plus many extra armaments and more US bases in Australia, particularly in the Northern Territory. The ACTNOW group put it this way:
“… AUKUS (Pillar I and II) integrates Australia further into US war planning, will cost upwards of $370 billion for nuclear-powered submarines, exacerbates pre-existing tensions in the region, and is likely to involve the storage of extremely dangerous nuclear waste in Australia.”
US bases in Australia received particular attention after the role Pine Gap has played in coordinating attacks on a defenceless Gaza for 16 months. As the Sydney anti-AUKUS coalition said, “by now all Australians know that the Trump presidency has no respect for its ‘allies’ including Australia or any country. Basing US offensive forces in the Northern Territory and Western Australia and the ongoing expansion of the Pine Gap war fighting and spy base makes Australia complicit in Trump’s illegal schemes in Palestine and Ukraine and his plans for an economic and military showdown with China.”
#CloseBases actions were held in five sites around Australia: Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, and Perth. 2025 will be a very busy for the Australian peace movement, as we have the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima, and the ‘Talisman Sabre 25’ military exercise, in which many countries will send their military forces to Australia to practice a coordinated invasion of China in both Australia and PNG.
Both Australia and New Zealand have expressed surprise that Peoples Republic of China naval vessels are exercising off our coast, but see no reason why an exercise designed to provoke China should not go ahead. We live in a time when many military bases should be closed, tensions lessened, and resources diverted to socially useful needs.
Close the US bases – WA
Eileen Whitehead
All over Australia on 23 February, groups gathered to protest the US bases, not only in this country, but all over the world. Our nation-wide protest was called by the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN). In Perth, we met at the entrance gates to the military establishment of HMAS Stirling at Peron Point, where American nuclear-powered submarines regularly dock under great secrecy. Dr Colin Hughes, the IPAN WA representative spoke at length about the negative repercussions of AUKUS for Australia, especially Perth.
Andy Stirling and Phil Johnstone wrote in 2021 that “under the AUKUS agreement, the United States and the United Kingdom plan to transfer nuclear submarine technologies to Australia. One international security scholar ‘characterised’ the deal as ‘a terrible decision for the nonproliferation regime,’ noting grave concerns for peace and security worldwide. Others have expressed concerns about ‘loopholes’ surrounding nuclear submarine fissile materials, increased ‘nuclear risks’ in the Pacific, and a potential acceleration of an ‘arms race’ in the region. Still others ‘doubt’ the purported efficacy of nuclear-propelled submarine designs.”
Since that was written, there has been a growing movement – now over 60 per cent – of Australians making it clear that we will not accept nuclear-powered submarines with their associated economic, social, and environmental costs. Defence Minister Richard Marles has recently given the US $800 million for the honour of housing their submarines in our waters. Scott Morrison committed us to give the US $368 billion for 8 nuclear submarines in 5 years.
So far, there has been no mention of plans for evacuation or safety of people living in the Rockingham area should a radiation problem occur. Nothing has been said about where the submarines’ highly enriched uranium waste fuel is to be stored. There’s no solution to this problem. Meanwhile, we do have problems with underfunding of our public schooling, health provision, and housing availability. Better living standards for all – both town and country – full employment and decent housing for everyone might be a better use of this money.
Protest at the entrance to HMAS Stirling, WA.
