The Brisbane Declaration

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We, representatives of the 40 groups that make up the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN), together in Brisbane for our second annual meeting, make the following declaration:-

  1. We reaffirm our belief that Australia urgently needs an independent foreign policy. This policy should de-escalate rather than inflame the regional tensions that have been provoked by the US military build up in our region; by war rehearsals, and by the integration of Australia’s military forces, defence facilities and defence industries into the US global war machine.
  2. We call on the Australian Government to re-assess Australia’s alliance with the USA, sharing the late Malcolm Fraser’s view that it is having a negative impact on Australian independence.
  3. We are convinced that the US military “Pivot” into Asia-Pacific, that is moving a high percentage of US military forces, arms and bases into our region, increases the likelihood of war in our region.
  4. We condemn our governments’ unfettered military spending on warfare in general, and US-initiated wars in particular.
  5. We abhor our government’s unequivocal pandering to US military policies and adventurism, which expose our nation to threats and treat our neighbours with disdain.
  6. We condemn the stationing of US marines in Darwin and call for their removal at the earliest possible opportunity.
  7. We are concerned that the US-Australia military alliance and the successive Australian Governments’ subservience to US global war policies and strategies will drag us into another major war.
  8. We are resolved to draw attention to the communications facility at Pine Gap, emphasising the crucial role it plays in the alliance, during its fiftieth year of operation in 2016.
  9. We are committed to building links, friendship and solidarity with peace organisations and movements throughout Australia and our region.

This declaration made on the traditional lands of the Turrbal people, in Brisbane, on July 9, 2015 – as 34,000 service personnel from Australia, the US, New Zealand and Japan were beginning rehearsals for war in the ‘Talisman Sabre 2015’, military exercises.

Brisbane Declaration [pdf 83KB]