National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST
The dangerous world of AUKUS and US military occupation
Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
A new Federal Police unit has been created which will impact on protesting against AUKUS.
The AUKUS AFP Command has been established under the Australian Federal Police (AFP), in conjunction with the Department of Defence. The AUKUS AFP Command’s powers cover the security of AUKUS operations, extending to wider US military activity elsewhere. Its activities are of considerable concern since among its roles is “Public Order Management” listing of “munitions” which include tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and real firearms.
Is this the Australia we want for ourselves, our children and the world?
Since 2003 and 9/11 a raft of laws have been passed by successive Australian governments attacking our civil and democratic rights, including freedom of speech and political protest. Some of these laws have been used against the environment movement.
More laws have been passed recently aimed at suppressing the huge upsurge of outrage against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including draconian anti-protest laws in several states, and “hate laws” by the Federal Government.
More widely, protests are arising from concern with the huge diversion of public money for the AUKUS war pact and its nuclear submarines away from urgent social needs including the climate crisis. Communities and environmentalists are concerned with nuclear exposures. There is growing opposition to AUKUS embedding Australia in another US-led war, possibly a nuclear war.
These public concerns extend to the increasing US military footprint across Australia, enabled by the 2014 Force Posture Agreement.
Australian people have a proud history spanning 170 years of collectively on mass opposing and defying oppressive anti-democratic laws. From the 1854 Eureka rebellion, the countless strikes by workers and their unions, against conscription and unjust wars, against the Vietnam and Iraq wars, and defending the environment.
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Kelli Tranter is a lawyer and human rights activist. She has delivered addresses, chaired workshops and participated in public debates on issues like climate change, human rights and gender equality at local, national and international conferences, including speeches opposing unjustified wars and economic exploitation. She has held office with BPW International and her activism has been acknowledged by the Women’s Electoral Lobby.
Rex Patrick is a New Zealand-born Australian former submariner, transparency advocate, and politician who represented South Australia in the Senate from 2017 to 2022. Initially elected as a member of the Nick Xenophon Team, he later sat as an independent after leaving the Centre Alliance, focusing on defence policy, anti-corruption measures, and government accountability. Known as the “Transparency Warrior. On defense and national security, Patrick leveraged his naval background to critique major procurements, authoring dissenting reports on naval shipbuilding that highlighted timeline failures in the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact, warning it would not enhance capabilities within feasible delivery periods. He has also drawn attention to the AUKUS Command within the Federal Police and its public order management functions.
Nick Hanna LAWYER AND INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST
Nick Hanna is a lawyer who has acted in various high profile civil liberties cases in NSW, including, the constitutional challenge of the Minns Government’s anti-protest laws. He hosts The What & The Why, an investigative journalism project exposing the role of the Israel lobby in undermining democratic rights in Australia
Arthur Rorris is the Secretary of the South Coast Labour Council, the peak union body representing 25 affiliated unions from the Illawarra to the Victorian border in the south including the industrial heartland of Port Kembla and Wollongong. Arthur was elected as Secretary in March 2000, and previously worked with the CPSU, the Department of Employment, Education and Training and in casual teaching and research positions at the University of Wollongong, in Politics and Industrial Relations. In his role as Secretary of the South Coast Labour Council he has been a leading campaigner for green jobs, climate action and a nuclear free future and the movement against AUKUS.
Jorgen Doyle is a freelance journalist and horticulturalist living in Mparntwe/ AliceSprings, Central Arrernte Country. He writes on the expansion of US and Australian military presence in Northern Australia and is involved in local environmental justice and Palestine solidarity campaigns.
Senator David Shoebridge is a prominent figure in the Australian political landscape. He serves as a member of the Australian Greens and was elected to the Senate as the party’s lead candidate in NSW at the 2022 federal election. His political philosophy centres around social justice, public accountability, environmental protection, drug law reform and the right to protest. He has been outspoken against the AUKUS Security Pact and the acquisition by Australia of nuclear submarines
This outstanding line up of speakers will be supported by short contributions from anti-AUKUS activists on- the – ground where AUKUS submarine activities are taking place or proposed/expected to take place.