Australia’s military spending is close to $30 billion per annum and set to rise in coming years to $40 billion.
The Defence Minister claims Australia is the second biggest per capita spender on the military in the world. There is no justification for this level of spending and 70 per cent of the Australian people want less money spent on the military. However the Australian Government continues its high military spending.
The massive armed forces that are being built up are the military arm of capitalist globalisation. Militarism is an essential part of the drive for world domination by the United States. Australia has signed away its political and military independence to US imperialism.
High military spending steals resources from other, more important needs like public education, hospitals, social welfare and environmental protection, and undermines sustainable development. It also contributes to an escalation of the arms race and regional insecurity.
Only the huge armaments corporations benefit from this bloated military spending with their profits doubling over the last 13 years, despite the global economic crisis.
The CPA campaigns for security for Australia and the peoples of our region based on peaceful coexistence, friendship, co-operation, the resolution of differences by political means, respect for national sovereignty and independence, and trade based on mutual benefit.
We stress that security does not and cannot come from armaments. Australia’s military spending is making us poorer not safer. Security comes from the guarantee of basic human rights such as employment, food, housing, clean water, education, health care and democratic rights including trade union rights.
Towards these ends the Communist Party of Australia campaigns for:
- Immediately cut military spending by at least 10 per cent.
- Convert of military-related industries to socially useful and environmentally sustainable production with a consequent creation of additional employment.
- End the Australian military alliance with the US.
- End the hosting of US military bases on Australian soil.
- End military exercises with US forces which are designed to train Australian troops to fight under US orders in US corporate and not Australian interests.
- Withdraw Australian troops from and Afghanistan and no troops for Iraq.
- Ban any involvement in the production, testing or deployment of any components of nuclear, space, biological, chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction, including banning the mining, processing and export of uranium.
- Support the abolition of all nuclear weapons through the Nuclear Weapons Convention.
- Purchase dual use equipment for Australian threats such as helicopters for use in bushfires and floods.