Five years on since AUKUS was announced, people across Australia are taking to the streets in National Days of Action (12-21 September). They are calling on the Government to cancel AUKUS and the Force Posture Agreement (FPA) and to end the US alliance.
Under the banner No Peace Without Justice, actions in every state and territory build towards the UN International Day of Peace on 21 September. The Days of Action are organised by the Australian Anti-AUKUS Coalition (AAAC), the Anti-Militarism Action Network (AMAN) and the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN), together with local and state groups around the country.
‘AUKUS is not a done deal,’ said Shirley Winton, co-convenor of the Australian Anti-AUKUS Coalition. Before any Virginia-class submarine can be delivered to Australia, the US President has to certify that the sale won’t weaken the US Navy. Both AUKUS and the Force Posture Agreement also contain 12-month exit clauses. Five years on, it is not too late to walk away.
The mobilisation follows a recent Guardian Australia investigation based on a Nautilus Institute database compiled by Professor Richard Tanter, that outlines the “saturation” of the US military and its interests within the continent. The investigation found that the US military or US weapons corporations control or can access 110 of the 168 defence facilities surveyed across Australia. Of these, 17 are US-controlled, 75 are Australian-run installations the US military can access, and a further 18 are accessible to US defence corporations.
Much of that access flows from the FPA. The agreement was signed by the Abbott government in 2014 and built on the Force Posture Initiatives announced by Julia Gillard and Barack Obama in 2011. The announcement stated 60% of the US global military stationed outside the US mainland will be relocated to Asia-Pacific, including permanent rotational stationing 2,500 US marines in Darwin. The agreement gives US forces and contractors unimpeded access to agreed Australian facilities for prepositioning equipment and materiel, deploying forces, refuelling aircraft and bunkering vessels.
Meanwhile, the nuclear-powered submarine program is estimated to cost Australians up to $368 billion. Organisers say that money should go to social needs, climate action and peaceful regional cooperation. Regional tensions are escalating, and this military program increases the chances of Australia becoming a target, potentially a nuclear one, in any US war in our region. We’re also straining our relationship with China, Australia’s largest trading partner.
‘Australians are being asked to accept deeper military integration, enormous public cost and the risk of being dragged into US wars not of our choosing,’ said Ms Winton. ‘The tide of opposition to AUKUS and the successive Australian governments’ subservience to the US is growing across the country. This national mobilisation calls for a different path: independence, diplomacy, justice and peace.’ Australia’s foreign policy should serve the well- being, safety and security of people in our region, and rejects the great power competition in the Asia-Pacific.
‘AUKUS is not a done deal and the delivery of several stop gap US Virginia Class submarines in the 2030’s still requires the US President of the day to be assured it will not impact on the US’ own naval capacity. Both AUKUS and the FPA can be cancelled invoking the 12 month cancellation clauses,’ said Ms Winton.
Participants are calling on the Australian Government to:
- Cancel AUKUS and the Force Posture Agreement
- End the US alliance and close Pine Gap
- Redirect military spending to social needs, climate action and Earth care
- Oppose US weapons stockpiles, nuclear waste on First Peoples’ Country, and nuclear-powered submarines
- Support peace with justice, including an end to the genocide in Palestine
- Pursue independence from the US and all big powers through an independent, non-offensive defence policy.
FIND AN ACTION
Details of actions in each state and territory: linktr.ee/InternationalDayofPeace
National event listings: antiaukuscoalition.org
MEDIA CONTACTS
Shirley Winton, Australian Anti-AUKUS Coalition | 0417 456 001
Janine, Anti-Militarism Action Network | aman.naarm@proton.me
Jonathan Pilbrow, IPAN Media Liaison | 0403 611 815
National event information | info@antiaukuscoalition.org
BACKGROUND
