By Shirley Winton 11th November marks the 50th anniversary of the bloodless semi-coup of the popularly elected Whitlam government in 1975. As the tide for an anti-imperialist independent Australia is building up, what lessons can we learn from the Whitlam dismissal 50 years on. This was a bloodless coup unlike the fascist coups in Indonesia (1965) and Chile (1973) where …
by Binoy Kampmark The world of defence policy is truly another planet. There, budgets are given to astronomical burgeoning and bizarre readings. Threats can be invented or exaggerated. Insecurity can be inflated. Decisions for the next project supposedly more lethal and more effective than ever can be made with cavalier disregard to realities. And the next cockeyed, buffoonish idea can be given a run …
By Brian Boyd Embarrassment For Australia to be contributing $3 billion dollars, to bump up submarine production in the US, on a promise that we may receive up to 3 to 5 second-hand Virginia class submarines within a decade, is an insult to the Australian public. It is repeatedly speculated that this promise under so-called pillar 1 of A U …
By Eileen Darley The speech below was given by Eileen Darley, convener of the Port Adelaide Community Opposes AUKUS. The “Raukous Against AUKUS” protest was held on 14 September, the 4th anniversary signing of the AUKUS pact. It was held at old Osborne House, close to the Osborne Naval Shipyard where the SSN AUKUS nuclear submarines will be built. Neighbours …
By Bevan Ramsden, Andrew Fullarton Donald Trump is not an aberration, but rather a symptom of the disease, not its cause. His election for a second term, an authoritarian racist and convicted felon, highlights the decay of the US empire domestically and internationally. It is surely high time for the Australian Government to abandon the dangerous illusion that being tied …
By Bevan Ramsden There has been a dramatic change in our strategic circumstances. United States reliability has been found wanting. This provides both a challenge and an opportunity. We now need an alternative self-defence policy which will safeguard our territory and enable the pursuit of peace in our region as an independent and responsible country. The US administration under Trump …
By Spirit of Eureka – National Ever since it’s signing in 1951, the ANZUS Treaty has been portrayed as a security guarantee that commits the US to come to the aid of Australia should it be attacked militarily. The reality is in fact that there is no concrete provision for this in the treaty. Nonetheless the treaty has been used …
By David Noonan Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has released an EPBC Act ‘Impact Assessment Report’ (IAR) to address the environmental impacts of constructing nuclear submarines at Osborne, Port Adelaide. A deluge of documents — the 200-page IAR with 750 pages of appendices — have been released for “public consultation” running till 17 March. However, the IAR fails to provide answers …
By Bevan Ramsden Never has there been a greater need for Australia to turn away from its military alliance with the United States and forge an independent and peaceful foreign policy. This would necessarily mean an alternative self-reliant defence policy and the forging of friendly and mutually beneficial relations with the fraternity of non-aligned/neutral nations. Even before the election of …
By Michelle Fahy Published with permission of the author https://undueinfluence.substack.com Australia’s independence has been dangerously compromised by Labor and Coalition governments, which have signed up to deep-rooted military agreements with the United States of America. These agreements have also underpinned the increasing militarisation of Australia: witness the 2022 speech by Labor’s Richard Marles, the newly appointed deputy prime minister, in …
