IPAN Patrons: Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe AO and Kellie Tranter, Lawyer & Human Rights Advocate
MEDIA RELEASE 23 June 2026
- Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Naval Exercises in Hawaii enmesh Australia ever more closely into US preparations for its next war
- US establishment of a major military equipment and munitions storage facility in Australia makes us both a target for its enemies and an accomplice in its next war
- A peaceful future for Australians lies in breaking with the US military and forging fraternal relations with our non-aligned neighbours
The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises in Hawaii are enmeshing Australia ever more closely into United States’ preparations for its next war.
Australia’s HMAS Sydney has made her way to Hawaii to join this operation, led by the Commander of the US 3rd Fleet and involving approximately 40 surface ships, five submarines, 140 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel.
While the stated purpose of this massive naval exercise is the ‘promotion of a free and open Indo-Pacific’, it is clearly a rehearsal for a potential US conflict with China.
‘There is no impediment to navigation in the Asia-Pacific, nor has there been any such impediment since the end of the Second World War’, said IPAN spokesperson, Dr Alison Broinowski, author and former diplomat.
‘We are not facing any threat to regional stability and security from China, our major trading partner. Rather, it is the ongoing US and Australian provocations in the South China Sea that represent the real danger’, said Dr Broinowski.
Beyond the geopolitical risks, the exercises in Hawaiian waters are a destructive affront to the Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, who revere local marine life and are actively protesting the operation.
Further evidence of Australia being positioned as a US launching pad is the planned stockpile of US munitions and military equipment at Bandiana, near Wodonga in Victoria.
Establishing this major storage facility makes Australia both a target for US adversaries and a direct accomplice in any future conflicts. ‘This must be opposed and prevented, as it is clearly preparation for the next US war in our region’, said Dr Broinowski.
‘We must break from our increasing integration with the US military so we are free to act as an independent and peaceful country’, said Dr Broinowski.
‘For a peaceful future, Australia must keep out of these war preparations and have no part in the next disastrous United States war,” said Dr Broinowski.
IPAN believes that a genuinely secure future for Australians relies on breaking with the US military and forging strong, fraternal relations with our non-aligned neighbours.
ENDS
For Media Interviews: Dr Alison Broinowski, AM, FAIIA, FAHA
M: 0422 608 580
Media Liaison: Jonathan Pilbrow M: 0403 611 815
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Bio: Dr Alison Broinowski joined the Australian foreign service in 1963 and with stints in Japan, Burma (Myanmar), the Philippines, South Korea, Jordan, Mexico, and the US (UN New York). Alison is the author or editor of 14 books and many articles on Australia’s interface with the world, particularly Asia. After 1996 Alison taught and researched international relations at the Australian National University, Macquarie University, and the University of Wollongong. Alison has been President of Australians for War Powers Reform and a Board member of World BEYOND War. E: broinowska@gmail.com