Leaflet produced by Spirit of Eureka – Victoria

The AUKUS military pact between the US, UK and Australia is dragging Australia into another US led war. The US is expanding its military and intelligence bases across Australia, turning Australia into a major US
military base, a launching pad for its war against China.

China’s rapid economic rise is challenging US global hegemony. Competition between imperialist blocs for resources, economic domination and political influence always carries the threat of imperialist war.

If war breaks out between US and China key targets will be the US Pine Gap intelligence base in Alice Springs and the US military based around Darwin and Northern Territory.

Nuclear submarines, B52 bombers, US and UK warships, more than likely carrying nuclear arms, hypersonic ballistic missiles, will be permanently based in Australian ports and airfields across the country. Thousands of US marines are now permanently stationed in Darwin. More will arrive.

Australia’s military and defence are almost completely interoperable and interchangeable with the US. AUKUS and its nuclear submarines are making Australia a military target in any war between the U.S. and China.

No nuclear submarines
No AUKUS

AUKUS and nuclear submarines are intensifying tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.

It’s a lie that AUKUS and the nuclear submarines will revive our manufacturing industries and create thousands of jobs. The $368 billion on nuclear submarines will be used to prop up the ailing US and UK economies.

The winners from AUKUS and nuclear submarines are the multinational weapons and fossil fuel corporations – Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BAE, Boeing, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, the military-industrial complex.

Nuclear submarines are a major risk to the safety of people and the environment in ports. Storage of nuclear waste is a major environmental problem, especially for the First Nations People on whose land/country nuclear waste will be stored. The multinational lobbying has already started to establish a full-on nuclear power industry.

The $368 billion public funds on nuclear submarines must be spent on urgent needs of the people – public health, education, housing, aged care, income support and urgently addressing climate
crisis.

$ billions on nuclear submarines would be better spent on re-building viable and sustainable manufacturing industries that will create hundreds of thousands of long term and secure jobs; on jobs in health, education, child care, aged care, to mitigate the climate crisis and repairing destruction of the environment.

We can build local sustainable manufacturing industries – electric vehicles, wind farms, solar panels, medical equipment, shipbuilding, value added processing industries, – that guarantee secure, long term jobs. Improve wages and conditions of working people.

Peace is Union Business

Workers don’t create wars. Wars are created by big powers and corporations competing for global resources and markets. But it’s the workers who get marched off to big powers’ imperialist wars … to fight, to get maimed, to be killed or kill workers of other countries with whom we have no beef.

Every day workers are fighting to defend our rights, our wages, our conditions, our livelihoods, to keep our heads above water.

Our struggle, our fight is right here – for decent and secure jobs, for affordable housing for all, for health care and education. These are our important battles. Our wages, working conditions are relentlessly attacked by big business whose profits are rising as our wages are falling.

We stand in solidarity with workers from other countries fighting for peace and opposing imperialist wars.

Australian workers and their unions have a long and proud history of opposing unjust and imperialist war. From opposition to conscription during WW1, the long strike by Port Kembla wharfies in 1937, opposition to Vietnam and Iraq wars, opposing uranium mining and nuclear weapons. For decades workers and unions led campaigns and marches for peace under the banner of Peace is Union Business. This banner for peace and justice is now being taken up again.

Australia’s people need an independent and peaceful foreign policy that respects the sovereignty of all countries and is independent from all big powers.

Independence from U.S.A !

For a just, democratic and independent Australia