by Binoy Kampmark The AUKUS alliance is increasingly adopting a nuclear tone. First came the promise to furnish Australia with nuclear powered submarines, absent nuclear weapons, a point that did not dissuade critics such as Indonesia. Then came the announcement to deploy six B-52 bombers to the Northern Territory’s Tindal airbase, south of Darwin, an exercise underwritten by the Pentagon. …

By Richard Stone The continued stalling of Australia’s submarine program and contradictory statements issued by US government officials have revealed deep-rooted Cold War positions with security concerns and reliable allies. The statements, furthermore, have raised serious implications for Australia’s own defence and security, which is supposed to be primarily focussed upon national considerations and sovereignty. To the contrary, Australia’s foreign …

by Bevan Ramsden This People’s Inquiry ran for over one year under the title of “Exploring the case for an Independent and Peaceful Australia. What are the costs and consequences of Australia’s involvement in US-led wars and the US-Alliance? What are the alternatives?” IPAN members discussed and consulted directly with thousands of everyday Australians from all walks of life. The …

by Bevan Ramsden * This is not a conspiracy theory. The United States interference in Australia’s domestic politics was confirmed by no lesser person than the President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, in an apology to Gough Whitlam via the President’s envoy at a breakfast meeting in the Qantas lounge in 1977. Whitlam conveyed the substance of the meeting …

by Richard Stone A major diplomatic statement at a regional defence summit has revealed US-led military planning for a sensitive area of the South China Seas, an area of the Indo-Pacific region regarded by the Pentagon as a ‘theatre of war’. The significance of the South China Seas has been raised by the US in recent years following China emerging …