Independent and Peaceful Australia Network Inc. (IPAN)
IPAN Patrons: Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe AO and Kellie Tranter, Lawyer & Human Rights Advocate
MEDIA RELEASE 5 July 2026
- Plans to stockpile US weapons in rural Victoria is in preparation for war against China
- This stockpiling will lock Australia into US war plans and will compromise our sovereignty
- The Australian Government must halt the US weapons stockpiles plans immediately
The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) calls on the Australian Government to immediately reject the permanent stationing of US military weapons, bombs, and missiles in Melbourne and at the Bandiana military base in rural Victoria.
‘IPAN condemns this development in the strongest possible terms’, said IPAN spokesperson, Retired Army Major Cameron Leckie.
‘The choice of Melbourne and Bandiana — specifically because they are beyond the range of most Chinese missiles — makes it clear which war they are planning for. Australia is being positioned as a forward logistics base for a US war against China’, Retired Major Leckie said.
Weapons will be stored temporarily in Melbourne while a permanent US warehouse facility is constructed at Bandiana, expected to be operational and at full capacity by 2028. With the Bandiana base located on the outskirts of Wodonga, a major regional centre, and immediately adjacent to the small township of Bandiana itself, it is placing a foreign military weapons stockpile in the heart of a civilian community.
‘The deployment and storage of US bombs, missiles, and munitions on our soil is outrageous. It locks us inescapably into US war plans, compromises our sovereignty, and prevents Australia from pursuing peaceful relations with our neighbours’, Retired Major Leckie said.
‘Since the US does not “confirm or deny” carrying nuclear weapons on its aircraft or ships, and our government accepts this position without question, there is no guarantee these stockpiles will not include nuclear weapons’, said Retired Major Leckie.
IPAN believes that this is part of a deliberate and urgent US strategic shift. At the same time as the US moves to wind down its involvement in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and reduce its military commitment to NATO, it is rapidly expanding its military presence across the Asia-Pacific.
The establishment of a weapons stockpile in Australia is a new development for this country — and a clear signal of where Washington believes the next war will be fought.
The stockpiling is made possible by the US-Australia Force Posture Agreement, which legalises US military installations on Australian soil and grants the United States sole operational control over them.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has welcomed the arrangement as part of a ‘growing US footprint’ in Australia. IPAN rejects this framing entirely.
‘Allowing a foreign power to store weapons on our soil, under its own control, in preparation for a war we have not chosen, is not national security. It is the surrender of it’, Retired Major Leckie said.
‘IPAN condemns the subservience of the government in Canberra for acquiescing to this US military imposition and surrendering our sovereign ability to make independent decisions about going to war’, said Retired Major Leckie.
‘Our future lies in breaking free of this alliance, cancelling AUKUS and the Force Posture Agreement, and saying no to US military stockpiles and bases on our soil. Only then can we chart our own course — keeping out of war and promoting peace in our region’, said Retired Major Leckie.
Australia is not alone in facing this imposition. The US is simultaneously establishing a new Marine Corps weapons stockpile in the Philippines, the first of its kind in that country. Together, the Bandiana and Philippines stockpiles mark a new phase of US forward military positioning in the Asia-Pacific, driven by Washington’s intensifying focus on a potential conflict with China.
The growing public concern about AUKUS and US military arrangements in Australia has prompted a national community-led inquiry. The AUKUS Public Inquiry (www.aukuspublicinquiry.com) is currently taking submissions from Australians who want their voices heard on these critical decisions about our nation’s future.
In addition, the upcoming 2026 IPAN National Conference in Adelaide from 24-26 July will have a key focus on the US military infiltration of Australian territory, and what Australians can do about it. Retired Major Cameron Leckie will be speaking at the Conference on AUKUS and the 2014 US-Australia Force Posture Agreement (FPA) which provides the legal framework for the U.S. military to station troops and store war supplies on Australian soil.
Conference details are available at: https://events.humanitix.com/ipan-national-conference-2026
ENDS
For Media Interviews: Retired Army Major Cameron Leckie 0413 226 546
Media Liaison: Jonathan Pilbrow M: 0403 611 815
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Bio — Retired Army Major Cameron Leckie
Retired Army Major Cameron Leckie served 24 years in the Australian Army, retiring with the rank of Major. As a member of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals he served in a number of regimental and training appointments, concluding his service as the Executive Officer of the 1st Signal Regiment. He deployed to East Timor (Operation WARDEN), the Solomon Islands (Operation ANODE), and Sumatra (Operation SUMATRA ASSIST). Cameron is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Southern Queensland.