| IPAN Patrons: Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe AO & Kellie Tranter Lawyer, Human Rights Activist
MEDIA RELEASE 8 September 2025
Peace group condemns Government for prioritising U.S. military housing over homeless Australians
- AUKUS will make Australia a less prepared, more likely target
- AUKUS distorts government funding priorities – public money for U.S. military housing while Australians sleep rough
- Diplomacy and peacebuilding, not preparations for another unnecessary war, must guide our national policy
The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) today condemned the Australian Government for continuing to fund the AUKUS military pact without proper scrutiny or public consent, warning that the agreement risks entangling Australia in yet another unnecessary U.S.-led war.
The most recent example is the government’s approval of funding for housing 1,000 U.S. military personnel and their contractors working on the AUKUS nuclear submarine project in Western Australia – at a time when over 120,000 Australians are homeless, including 7,500 people sleeping rough.
‘This is an outrageous distortion of national priorities’, said Dr Vince Scappatura, spokesperson for IPAN. ‘It is indefensible that public funds are being used to house foreign military forces while thousands of Australians have no shelter.’
IPAN is calling for AUKUS to be terminated, citing growing concern among defence experts, economists, and civil society organisations.
‘The government continues to justify AUKUS by invoking an unprecedented and grave regional security environment, but without providing a clear, evidence-based explanation of what these threats actually are’, said Dr Scappatura. ‘In reality, there are few direct dangers in our immediate region. Instead of militarising our foreign policy, we need to invest in diplomacy, regional cooperation, and peacebuilding.’
IPAN also questions the viability and sovereignty of the AUKUS submarine program.
‘The U.S. submarine industry is already overstretched and unlikely to deliver the promised nuclear-powered submarines to Australia on schedule’, said Dr Scappatura. ‘It’s time to develop a truly independent Australian defence policy, one that’s not beholden to the strategic interests of another country.’
IPAN warns that hosting a growing U.S. military presence, including air, naval, and intelligence facilities across Northern and Western Australia, puts the nation at greater risk.
‘If conflict were to erupt, U.S. military bases and forces stationed in Australia, notably Pine Gap, Tindal Air Base and HMAS Stirling, could become primary nuclear targets’, said Dr Scappatura. ‘Australia could suffer the consequences of a war we didn’t start, as enemies of the United States strike our territory to send a message, with no threat to U.S. soil.’
IPAN is urging the government to:
- Withdraw from AUKUS and redirect its $365 billion price tag toward urgent social and environmental needs
- Terminate the Force Posture Agreement, which enables the permanent forward deployment of U.S. forces in Australia and erodes our defence autonomy
- Re-centre national defence policy on Australia’s genuine security interests, not on supporting U.S. military dominance in the Asia-Pacific.
‘We must not be dragged into another U.S.-led war, especially one that risks direct conflict with China, our largest trading partner’, said Dr Scappatura.
‘Such a conflict could escalate beyond control, potentially even to nuclear confrontation. We need a peaceful, sovereign foreign policy grounded in diplomacy, not militarism.’
ENDS
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Media Interviews: Dr Vince Scappatura 0422 837 002
Media Liaison: Jonathan Pilbrow 0403 611 815
Bio: Dr Vince Scappatura teaches Politics and International Relations in the School of International Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney. He is the author of ‘The US Lobby and Australian Defence Policy’. Dr Scappatura was a Panel Member on the IPAN People’s Inquiry into the US Alliance and Australia’s involvement in US-led wars (2020-2022). |
