My Syria Demo Speech Sept 13 2015

Rally against the bombing of Syria by Australian Forces.

Sunday September 13, 2015

Australian military forces have meddled in Syria 3 times in the last 100 years.  Each time they interfered they had a negative effect.  They meddled and destroyed their way thru Damascus in WW1.  .  They were there in WW2 to fight the Facist French allies of Nazi Germany.  They are there now!  They have never gone to Syria because Australia is in anyway threatened but because they wish to obey the dictates of an Empire.  Originally we slavishly followed the British Empire and now we are the same with the US Empire.  It is about time our political leaders stood up for our interests and the interests of our common humanity with all peoples.

More recent history would tell us that every time we have assisted the US in intervening in the Middle East it has been an exercise in brutality that has fractured and disabled countries and left them in increasing spirals of violence.  Each time we have seen a miserable failure.  I speak of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

The US lied to us about Vietnam.  We know they lied to us about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  The former Liberal Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser called the British and now the US dangerous allies that lead us into dreadful blunders like the Iraq war.  A reasonably competent Government and equally aware Opposition would be cautious about springing to the aid of the US in this instance but no we have the same old groveling acceptance of whatever the US says is OK.  We say it is not OK but is opening the door to more brutality, more terrorism, and more refugees seeking some future outside of Syria. 

Australia is always ready to undertake these stupid and cruel adventures because we spend so much on the military so we can be prepared and tooled up to jump to attention when Uncle Sam calls.  We are not under any threat yet our expenditure on the military goes up each year and the Abbott Government has promised to get it up from $32 billion to close to $40 billion.  We in the peace movement campaign constantly to decrease military spending. 

We campaign to have Australia as an independent non aligned country out of a US – Australia military alliance, it is the influence of the US which makes us spend so much on the military and makes us host nearly 50 US bases here so the US can harass other countries and now we even host US marines in Darwin.  It is time for the Yankees to go home not for the bombing of Syria by Australian forces!  We fight for our country to be free of the US military and our involvement with the US in its brutal wars.

The IS or Daesh threat has been simplified to the usual simple slogans of a thuggish Prime Minister ‘the fight is coming to us’ what nonsense!  Australians have more chance of being eaten by Sharks than dying at the hands of Daesh!  The situation in Syria is extremely complicated with Russia, US, and NATO involved as well as the competing interests of Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kurdistan, Iran and Iraq, the Emirates.  As well as ethnic and religious tensions that is playing a part in the continuation of the conflict.  Some of these countries have been tacitly or overtly supporting and supplying the Daesh with weapons yet they have not been called to account or forced to back down.  This is where the struggle against Daesh should start with starving them of weapons and military equipment.

We are 14,000 kms away from Syria we could do more for a political settlement of the conflict than aiding the bombing of the Syrian people.  Refugee workers are reporting that people are fleeing Coalition bombing as well as the bombing by others.  Even the US Secretary of State has made the statement that Russian military involvement “could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows’.  What a laughable statement as if US bombing and Australian bombing would not do the same thing? 

The Australian Government has taken the brutal option in relation to the Syrian Civil War and we as Australian citizens are obliged to engage in a massive resistance campaign against this vulgar and bigoted Government.

Attendance at these rallies is a great way to start this campaign and congratulations for getting out today to be here and say loudly NO!

Extend that by using these cards or other means of communicating with Government.  Let them feel a storm of pressure as they boast about how the RAAF flew into Syria yesterday.

Sign petitions – online ones and others

Boycott any WW1 celebrations and remind people this was the first time Australia meddled and harmed Syria!

Fight to get the US bases out of Australia as these bases facilitate attacks on other countries by the US.

Join with your local peace group, political group or any group to condemn this action by the Government.  Do not keep you’re disgust to your close circle of acquaintances but let your Government feel the heat of your anger and resistance!

Anti-Bases after nearly 30 years

Talk by  DD for Pol in pub

April 30 2015

American Bases in Australia:  too close for comfort – more of them, more important, more binding us more tightly – still a target.

  There are occasions when the English language fails us and by way of introduction I wish to do an apparent diversion but it has relevance – trust me.  If I was a substantial person in this society instead of dwelling on the outskirts and I proclaimed that children over 8 should be allowed back into the mines, factories and other workplaces, this would be proclaimed RADICAL.  If I was to say that pensioners should be on a living wage I would be howled down as so 20^th Century or last century.  You see backward failed policies of 150 years ago are radical and progressive ideas that work are dismissed.  This is the climate we live in today.  The progressive is backward and the backward is radical!

Imagine if you are into peace!  Another word that does not convey dynamism but status quo and uncontroversial views of pretty valleys or seascapes, that is why a lot of people add peace with justice to give the topic a bit of oomph.  It gets even worse if you add ‘peace activist’ to a phrase, you now have two dirty words ‘peace’ and ‘activist’ both words have in the minds of the general population been devalued and representing a bygone era.  Peace activism means dynamic hard work and attention to detail and longevity.  One wise man once said to me if I wanted quick results go and grow cabbages.  A young person at a recent meeting said to me he was surprised that a person my age gave a damn (he actually used shit). 

My aim tonight is that you should and we all should give a shit especially as we see our country going under the weight of an aggressive super power who does not have the best wishes for the people of this country but acts for the rapacious corporations of its own country and perhaps an insignificant sector of this society the so called 1% or even 0.01%.

How has the Anti-Bases gone on informing, activating and alarming the general population, the strata represented here tonight?  At first blush it is to use the anal  xx analogy pretty shithouse.  We can trace our history to 1987 nearly 30 years ago.

Our first t-shirts said ‘Close Pine Gap, Nurrungar, and North West Cape and the 27 other US Bases.  If we were to renew that T-Shirt today we would have to say:  ‘Close Pine Gap, North West Cape,   and the other 50 Bases.  At the same time kick out the training bases, the US Marines from Darwin, forbid the use of our land for drones, and any use of airports and harbours for US Navy and US Air Force.  By this time the t-shirt would be even more unmarketable than the present t-shirt. 

By any measure this is a gross failure on the part of the Anti-Bases.  We started with 27 Bases now we have 50, and on top of that we the Marines, Drones, US Navy, US Airforce and on top of that they are using those bases to spy on us.  (Read from p.122 Greenwald book- about the Snowden revelations).  Draw attention to the handout on the Snowden revelations.

In its heyday Anti-Bases could put 2,000 protesters into the desert around Pine Gap or Nurrungar.  We wiped the footy finals off the front pages of the Sunday papers.  (see pic)

Anti-Bases activists in Australia can whinge about all the obstacles to achieving our goals – little or no money versus unlimited billions of the pro US group, no publicity, both major parties are so pro the US President Obama could say of them what he said of Australian soldiers in Darwin when he announced the pivot to Asia and the US Marines to be stationed in Darwin. 

“Afghanistan. I know many of you served there, including proud members of the 1st Brigade. Like generations before you, you've lived and served alongside your American colleagues - day in and day out. You work together so well, it's often said you can't tell where our guys end and you guys begin.”

Obama thinks we are so united he can’t tell us apart.  Is that how we want to think of ourselves?  Surely we could have a more rounded independent country than that.

Looking at the short comings of the Anti-Bases campaign the view it would seem on this assessment as pretty bleak. 

In academia there are people who study social movements even the Anti-Bases campaign – one such academic Adrian Ricketts of Southern Cross Uni Lismore says activists who come to me crying burn out, and non progress I say to them look at what your enemies are saying about you and your campaign.  We are not expecting them to name Anti-Bases but to refer in general to the issue.

One such enemy was Malcolm Fraser recently deceased his book Dangerous Allies was an eye opener or at least it should have been.  Nevertheless this book is so significant that we should have two new initial clusters in our language BF, and AF.  When the recent deployment to Iraq came up politicians could have used Malcolm’s experience and said we have heard all this before, it didn’t work then and it won’t work now.  His lesson about how dangerous the headlong unquestioning obedience to a major power was a lesson that has to be drummed into our major parties and the population.  On Pine Gap there has been no whistle blowers yet we have this book allowed by a US operative David Rosenberg at the base for 17 years.  (hold up) He said  ‘by writing this book I hope to provide more understanding of what Pine Gap does and the necessity of maintaining ever-vigilant eyes and ears that protect the lives of everyday Australians and Americans including the soldiers that protect us, wherever they may serve’…..p. 173  When he launched the book at Gleebooks down the road I asked him how did he feel that the intelligence he had gathered was used to bomb the bunker in Gulf War 1 with over 150 civilians in it?  He replied without a moments hesitation ‘oh I just gave the military the info how they use it is up to them.’  We know from Snowden all of the above is a bald face lie.  Why do they lie and falsify?  because of the actions of groups like anti-bases and many other citizens.

Still looking at the enemy in 1983 the fence at the entrance of Pine Gap was a cattle fence.  The women of 1983 soon made short work of that, in 1987 it was a fence that was 2 metres high which stretched for a short distance either side of the entrance and then it reverted to a cattle fence waist high.  Each year the fence has gotten taller and the security has gotten stronger.  This was not security against IS but Australian citizens like you and me.  You cannot go within a km of the fence.  We do have an impact, but is it enough?  Obviously not but it is a start and we must keep up the fight.

Abbott keeps talking about the fight coming to us well here is the other fight that is coming to you the Talisman Sabre 2015 exercise.  In this exercise which is every two years $100 million + will be spent by 30,000 US and Australian troops in an exercise that ranges over large sections of Australia.  The aim of the exercise as Obama says is to blur the difference between US troops and Australian or to use the jargon word interoperability.  They train to invade other countries thru tropical jungles, savannah woodlands and other climate zones so as to be ready to go where the US leads.  The main focus is always around Rockhampton where the Shoalwater Bay Training Area is but there are many more sites as you can see.  Richmond RAAF Base is a site from where some training will arise. 

The media strategy about our protests in Rockhampton are that the protests are a Central Queensland issue and not of interest to the other capital cities even Brisbane will not get much Talisman Sabre 15 protest coverage.  The media and to some extent the Government like it that way so discussion is limited to a small conservative section of the Queensland coast.  The peace movement is trying to counter this, this year with major protests in Brisbane and Sydney on or near the time of Talisman Sabre. 

The take home message from tonight is to keep an eye out for the details of the actions around TS in Sydney.  Brisbane is having a major conference on xxx at yyy to which you are all invited.  The peace movement under the present guise of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network IPAN is conducting a major attempt to have 100 pilgrims violate the sacred bombing range of the US and Australian military and hold up proceedings.  There is further information on these actions to come.  By all means get involved and show you care.  You may not be in a condition to go lolloping around a bombing range and sleeping rough for a day or two while 30,000 soldiers wait for you to be found.  There are so many levels on which you can contribute from liking us on facebook, following us on twitter and of course a financial contribution would be appreciated.  Even buy and wear the T-Shirt! 

Hannah's speech at 96th Anniversary of the Founding of the Palestinians Peoples Party (PPP)

Speech delivered at Lakemba 9th Feb 2015

Dear Comrades

I am delighted to bring greetings and congratulations from the Communist Party of Australia to this celebration of the anniversary of the re-establishment in 1982 of the Palestinian Communist Party, later renamed the Palestinian Peoples Party

I do not wish to speak of the history of the PPP or the struggle for the liberation of Palestine tonight. Other speakers are doing that.

I want to ask an important question: Why are we all here? Why should we bother to celebrate this anniversary?

I answer because communist parties are essential, because communists have the historically unprecedented “great mission” of changing the world.

In the constant struggle for peace and social justice in our world, many organisations and many social forces are involved. They all have something to contribute and their unity creates a force which in the end is irresistible.

But there is a greater vision: not just a better society but a society transformed, a socialist world in which working people take power and build a truly civilised and sustainable society.

English poet Alice Maynall wrote this about our vision of socialism:

Socialism, comrade

Is like the red, red rose

Day by day it opens

And day by day it grows

Its roots are ever spreading

And its sweetness never goes,

And soon I think its petals

Will the whole wide world enclose.

It is only through the leadership of an active, organized, cohesive and disciplined party that we are going to be able to implement the magnificent aim of a world free of exploitation, injustice, oppression and war.

To win peace, justice, democracy, bread and land there must be a party of the working class, a Marxist-Leninist party, a communist party.

British poet CD Lewis wrote this about the influence of communists:

Why do we all, seeing a Marxist, feel small?

That small catspaw ruffles our calm.

That touch of storm brewing, shivers

The torches even in this vault.

And the shame unsettles a high esteem.

It is the future walking to meet us all.

Mark him. He is only what we are, mortal.

Yet from the night of history, where

We lie dreaming still, he is wide awake.

Weak, liable to ill-luck — yet rock

Where we are slight eddies.

Mark him, workers and all who wish

The world aright — he is what

Your sons will be, the road these

Times must take.

Communist parties have proved in a number of countries that they are capable of conducting the struggle to win political power from the capitalist ruling class and end the rule of the exploiters.

But this victory is only possible if communists are closely connected with the people and always concern themselves with the daily as well as the long-term needs of the workers and other exploited social groups in society.

Communist parties seek to establish their political leadership by winning support for their policies and by earning respect for their members by their commitment, organisation and activities in the struggles of the working people.

This in turn depends on our ability to work democratically side by side with others, arguing our position while respecting the views of others and, at each stage, helping to unify the politically progressive and socialist forces.

Vic Williams, an Australian worker, communist and poet, wrote:

Hold to your course, my Party, weapon of workers,

Give us your sight and your arms as we go to battle.

Their towers upon towers are falling, we build from
                   the rubble.

Can those who killed our millions be ever repentant?

Take guns from the hands of the killers, the spoils
                   from the robbers,

For the sacked, the evicted, the prisoned to make
                   world of the future.

Hold to your course, my Party, our world will prevail!

Communist parties are parties of struggle and activism and they are the driving force for change, in alliance with other social forces.

The great Bulgarian communist Georgi Dimitrov said:

“We Communists are people of action. Ours is the problem of practical struggle against the offensive of capital, against fascism and the threat of imperialist war, the struggle for the overthrow of capitalism. It is precisely this practical task that obliges Communist cadres to equip themselves with revolutionary theory, for theory gives those engaged in practical work the power of orientation, clarity of vision, assurance in work, belief in the triumph of our cause.”

For all these reasons and more it is right and important that we are here tonight to celebrate the existence and the achievements of the Palestinian Peoples Party — for without a communist party it will not be possible to liberate the Palestinian people.

And the Palestinian people will be liberated.

The world Communist movement continues to grow and gain in influence. Today 40% of the world’s people live in countries where a Communist Party is in power or participates in the government

We salute the courageous past and express our confidence in the future work of the Palestinian Peoples Party.

Let me finish with the poem by the great Pablo Neruda about his party, about my Communist Party of Australia, about the Palestinian Peoples Party:

You have joined the strength of all the living.

You have given me the country again as in a birth

You have given me the freedom that the loner cannot
                    have.

You taught me to kindle kindness, like fire.

You have given me the rectitude that the tree
                    requires.

You taught me to see the unity and the difference
                    among mankind.

You showed me how one being's pain has perished in
                     the  victory of all.

You taught me to sleep in beds hard as my brothers.

You made me build on reality as on a rock.

You made me adversary of the evil doer and wall of
                    the frantic.

You have made me see the world's clarity and the
                    possibility of happiness.

You have made me indestructible because with you
                    I do not end in myself

Poem about Joe Hockey from 2006 during the workchoices debate

Joe Hockey shrugs his shoulders mostly

We went to Joe Hockey

Representing the down-trodden teachers

He was looking smug and well fed

And why not?  I am a father to be!

He giggled, laughed and shrugged his shoulders

Schools can’t run the way you mob plan it?

For heavens sake why not?

Competition’s the name of game

You teachers should compete more

Then you’d be better paid!

He giggled, laughed and shrugged his shoulders

I know where you’re coming from

And we aren’t from there

We’re from the land of individual competition.

We’re from the great liberal party.

We compete

He giggled laughed and shrugged

In fact I should be paid more than my colleagues

I work harder than they do.

Why can’t I get paid like they do in the private sector?

You mean like cleaners?

No the directors on millions!

He giggled laughed and shrugged

The church is not happy

I know

The Parish Priest has had a ‘go’ at me.

He giggled laughed and shrugged

I’ve seen fear in the eyes of the teachers

They know when I say ‘let go’

I mean sacked!

I’d like to do something about it

Take heart individual competition

And let the kids go to hell.

He giggled laughed and shrugged

You can sack us at the end of our term

We are really going through with this IR stuff

The population and the nation will thank us in the long run

We were voted in after Tampa because the world loved us and loves us still

He giggled, laughed and shrugged

I’m off to paternity leave for some time

That was won by unions!

Oh that is so 20^th Century!

It is a new century now

And I’m off to enjoy it

So I bid you a cheery farewell

He said with a giggle laugh and shrug.

By Denis Doherty

August 29, 2005

Den's speech to the Iwakuni Anti-Bases Forum and Action Nov 29 -30 2014

Anti-US Base Rally and Forum

Iwakuni, Japan   November 29-30, 2014

Australia approves the roadmap to hell
with Japanese and US assistance

Contribution by Denis Doherty
National Co-ordinator
Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition

Introduction

I thank the Asia-Wide Campaign against US-Japanese Domination and Aggression of Asia for the invitation to join this anti-US bases forum and protest action.

I bring you greetings from the Australian peace movement to your events over this weekend and a firm wish for their success.

We do know that we have good sense, economic responsibility and human and environmental survival on our side and that the continued rush to arm and weaponise our region is not in your country’s or my country’s interests.

We need a region where the big two -- China and the US -- work out ways to cooperate.  Instead the governments of Australia, Japan and the US are rushing to develop and implement the road map to hell.

The structure and machinery for the road to hell

The Asia Pacific region is crisscrossed with agreements for military and economic cooperation which are frequently updated.

As far as Australia is concerned the annual AUSMIN talks which are held one year in the US and next in Australia are the key decision making times for the two governments.

AUSMIN, which stand for Australia and US Ministerial talks, was held in Sydney this year. My peace group, the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign, called the communiqué issued at the end of the talks ‘the road map to hell’. One quotation from this document will give you a sense of what was going on:

Australia and the United States welcomed Japan’s efforts to make a greater contribution to international peace and stability, including through its decision to allow for the exercise of its UN Charter right to collective self-defence. They undertook to maintain strong bilateral security relationships with Japan and committed to enhance trilateral security and defence cooperation, including through the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue and further developing existing trilateral exercises.

Trilateral agreements between Japan, the US and Australia are a few years old now but in recent times there has been a deliberate strengthening of the ties.

Of course the announcement by Obama in November 2011 of what was first called the ‘pivot’ and now the much milder word ‘rebalancing’ is a process that will be well known to everyone here. 

In 2011 Obama said

With most of the world’s nuclear power and some half of humanity, Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or cooperation…As President, I have, therefore, made a deliberate and strategic decision — as a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future…I have directed my national security team to make our presence and mission in the Asia Pacific a top priority…As we plan and budget for the future, we will allocate the resources necessary to maintain our strong military presence in this region. We will preserve our unique ability to project power and deter threats to peace…Our enduring interests in the region demand our enduring presence in the region.

The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay.

At the G20 talks just concluded in Brisbane, Obama gave a speech to the local University and said

“And so as President, I decided that – given the importance of this region to American security, to American prosperity – the United States would rebalance our foreign policy and play a larger and lasting role in this region. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”

The pivot is well and truly in place and there is no sign of any rethinking except for using a different word ‘rebalancing’.

APEC and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other economic forums play their part in the US domination of our region.

The teaming up of the US, Japan and Australia in a tight tri-power arrangement is a move to tighten containment of China.  Japan has been congratulated for ‘re-interpreting’ its pacifist constitution so its forces can become more integrated with the US military.

The architecture for the complete containment of China is well under way but it is doomed to fail as China is just too big to be contained.

Australia’s involvement with the US

After WW11 many in Australia considered that the US had ‘saved’ Australia from the Japanese militarists and that they were owed some gratitude in the form of favourable treatment economically and militarily.

Gradually from 1967 until today, the number of US military facilities in Australia has grown to around 50.

The first formal treaty was called ANZUS and was signed in 1951. ANZUS only requires the signatories to come to the assistance of other nations after consultation. However, it has been used as the excuse for Australian involvement in the many wars of the US in our region – Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan and now against IS.

In 1967 the US and Australia opened what has become the biggest US base in Australia –Pine Gap, situated 20 kms from Alice Springs in Central Australia.  There are over 1,000 people working there from all US intelligence agencies – the CIA, NSA, NRO and intelligence sections of the US army, navy and airforce.  There are private contractors and Australian military personnel as well.

The US bases in Australia have been largely technical facilities involved with spying from space on areas of interest to the US, covering the area from the Middle East oil fields to China.

Today the bases still have those functions but have added many others.  They cover the collection of signals, the surveillance of both enemies and friends, communications with battlefield commanders, finding targets in conflicts, and more.  The US bases are called 3CI and later 4CI facilities, namely Control, Command, Communication and later the 4^th C was added Computer and Intelligence.

Today the bases are more involved in the day to day operations of the US military such as Australia’s participation through Pine Gap and other bases to provide the necessary information to control and provide targets for drones.  Pakistani human rights lawyers and Australian lawyers allege that Australia can be prosecuted for human rights violations because of the assistance from Pine Gap in the over 3000 extra judicial killings carried out by drones in Pakistan.

A more intensive form of involvement has been the use of training bases by US forces along with regional partners. Australia introduced this form of subservience in the 1990’s making large tracts of Queensland and the Northern Territory available for war games. 

In 2011 the then Labor (social democratic) Government agreed to the stationing of US Marines in Darwin on Australia’s northern coast.

The centrepiece of Obama’s visit was the announcement that at least 2,500 elite US Marines will be stationed in Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. In addition, in a series of significant parallel agreements, discussions with Washington were underway to fly long-range American surveillance drones from the remote Cocos Islands — an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. Also the US will gain greater use of Australian Air Force bases for American aircraft and increased ship and submarine visits to the Indian Ocean through a naval base outside Perth, on the country’s west coast.

Who would pay the millions, possibly billions of dollars over time for the 2,500 Marines rotating through Darwin was not clarified for some time, despite intense pressure from the peace movement and other forces in Australia. Finally, some time after the AUSMIN meeting, another document was released called the US and Australia Force Posture Review. This made it clear that Australia has to pay!

However, with AUSMIN it became clear that there will be increased US Navy and US Air Force visits.  B52’s – infamous for their bombing of Vietnam – will be allowed into Australia for the first time since they were banned from our skies because they carried nuclear weapons. 

The Australian Anti-Bases Coalition has campaigned for information on the rules governing the stationing of Marines in Darwin.  But AUSMIN provided no answers to important questions such as “can the US marines undertake military action from Australian bases without Australian government agreement”. Vague general references are made to interoperability, strategic collaboration and the bi-annual huge military exercise Talisman Sabre

Journalist Hamish McDonald (Saturday Paper 16/8/14) pointed out:

Another question left unspoken is about the freedom of Washington to deploy its forces directly out of Australia, and the level of consultation required with Canberra. The distinction between training and basing is blurring.

The US and Australia Force Posture Review made it clear that the US is free to operate anyway it sees fit from its base in Darwin.

Missile warfare is given prominence in the AUSMIN statement. This reveals that the ground stations at Pine Gap, the Geraldton base in Western Australia, and the three Jindalee radar stations across Australia will be the eyes of the US-Australian-Japanese anti-ballistic missile network.

The possibility of anti-missile firings from Australian and Japanese air warfare destroyers being controlled by the US central command is lauded by AUSMIN.  This proposal would mean Australia would lose control of Australian weapons and it leaves open the prospect that Australian missiles could slam into Chinese or Russian missiles without any input from Australia – an appalling, dangerous and depressing possibility.

Australian involvement with the US is getting deeper and more complex and threatening. Both major political parties (Labor and Liberals) compete with each other to more ‘pro US’ than the other and almost all the media and much of academia totally supports the US-Australian alliance.

However, things are changing with some prominent people from Australia’s political establishment expressing doubts about the usefulness of the US alliance and the need for greater Australian independence. Some leading members of the Australian business community are growing increasingly concerned about upsetting China which is a major economic partner. These are voices from within the elite and cannot be completely ignored or silenced. So the picture is not completely bleak. 

Australia’s involvement with Japan.

With the advent of the Abe administration in September 2006, Japan’s official policy became much more pro-active about direct strategic collaboration with Australia. Now with the right-wing Abbott Government this rush to engage more with Japan on every level is proceeding at a great pace.  Japanese Prime Minister Abe was in Australia in April to an almost hero’s welcome. Abbott declared that Japan is “Australia’s best friend in Asia”.  This clearly upset the Chinese and the Indonesians who thought they were pretty friendly too.

Around 2006 the first trilateral agreement was made with Japan and the relationship has grown since.  There is a strong move on for Australia and Japan to become more involved economically and militarily with each other to strengthen the US alliance.  The meeting of 4th Australia-Japan Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations 2012 called for:

43. Strengthening trilateral defence cooperation with the United States.

44. Strengthening interoperability amongst the defence organisations of all three countries.

45. Focusing on robust, regular and practical cooperation among Australia, Japan and the United States through the Trilateral Defence Ministers' Meeting, the Trilateral Security and Defence Cooperation Forum (SDCF) and trilateral service-specific talks.

48. Conducting observer exchanges to respective exercises with the United States.

In 2014 apart from the special visit of Prime Minister Abe to Australia to sign a trade deal, Obama took both the Prime Ministers of Japan and Australia apart at the G20 meeting for talks. 

For the first time since 2007, the leaders of the United States, Australia, and Japan met on the sidelines of the G20 conference in Brisbane, Australia and agreed to deepen their military cooperation. Specifically, U.S. President Barack Obama, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to deepen their cooperation on maritime security. The meeting took place despite its potential to antagonize Beijing, which complains of U.S.-allied states in the Asia-Pacific aspiring to “contain” its rise. The meeting between the three allies came a week after the U.S. and China concluded a landmark agreement on climate change, and after Japan and China held high-level diplomatic meetings for the first time in nearly two years. (Diplomat Nov 19 2014)

Indicative of this rush for more involvement with Japan has been the contentious issue of a new submarines purchase for the Australian Navy.  The peace movement has been fighting this acquisition as it will cost over $24 billion Australian dollars.  We have argued that we do not need submarines as they are platforms for attack rather than defence. We also ask why we need 12 when we could not manage to keep 6 of the former submarines in the water at one time.

However, the major debate in Australia is now whether to buy Japanese submarines of the shelf or to use Australia’s submarine company (ASC) to build them.  The Abbott government clearly favours the Japanese option as it will put us closer to Japan militarily and economically.  Just days ago (November 25 2014) the Australian Defence Minister claimed he would not trust ASC to build a canoe!  A statement that has caused uproar.  

Of course there are some rough patches in the relationship. The conflict over Japanese whaling is one example. Another is Japan’s refusal of Japan to recognise Australia’s economic zone in the Antarctic which impacts on the difficult issue of fishing rights. 

In general, however, the Australian Government wants closer involvement with Japan and strongly supports Japan’s attitude towards the disputed South China Sea islands and the reinterpretation of Article 9 of Japan’s constitution.

This year the AUSMIN talks indicated that the right-wing Abbott Government would ignore advice from prominent Australians that we are too ‘close to the US’. Instead the Government engaged in more abject groveling.

Former Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser and Paul Keating and former Foreign Minister Bob Carr have all said that Australia’s interests are not served by servility to the US super power but require greater independence. 

Paul Keating was reported as saying in the Keith Murdoch Oration 2012 that “Australia was over deferential to the US”

The combined weight of the Abbott Government and US officials has squashed any tendency towards a more independent Australia. Instead the path of ‘all the way with the USA’ was reinforced by AUSMIN 2014. 

Australia’s interests are best served by good relations and co-operation with all countries, especially Indonesia and China.  Tension between the US and China is not beneficial for Australia and the region.  The most advantageous policy for Australia is to steer an independent course in our region.  AUSMIN charts a path that will lead inevitably towards heightened tensions and even the possibility of war between the US and China and hence is a road map to hell.

The need for regional-wide resistance

Just as our opponents, the militarists, arms profiteers and warmongers of Australia Japan and the US, meet with regularity and form partnerships across many countries in Asia so too must we in a more modest manner meet for joint actions and cooperation.

As citizens of this region we are not in a position to leave the growing tension between our countries and China to the elite. We must act to bring about cooperation between China and the US. We must act to have our countries act more independently and to stop being so keen to jump to the US dictats.

In Australia’s case there has been some move to warn our citizens about the dangers of tension between China and the US by prominent people. The discussion does get some airing but it is quickly suppressed by our highly monopolised and right wing media which will not support any modification of the present arrangements.  Despite assurances from Obama, Abbott and Abe about not wanting to contain China, it is irrefutable that this is their main aim.

As a starting point, just as you have invited me here today to participate in the rally against the US Marine Base at Iwakuna, we are having a rally against the giant US-Australian military exercise ‘Talisman Sabre’. TS15 will be held in July 2015 and the peace movement will rally to oppose and frustrate it. We are fairly certain that the Japanese military will be present as observers. It would be most welcome if there could be some push from here to stop any involvement of the JSDF.  In addition, if AWC considers it possible, there might be space and finance for a representative from Japan to attend our peace convergence against the Talisman Sabre war games.

We would like to make some suggestions for your consideration:

1. A cross regional Anti-Base Day/week/action.
2. Linked participation in the Global Day of action against military spending which is held on or around April 14 each year.
3. Linked participation in the Keep Space for Peace week in the first week of October.

Conclusion

The peace movement in Australia has been at a low ebb for some time. However, there are signs that this is changing and we continue to work and act to encourage people to think about the issues we are talking about today.

The introduction of Marines to Darwin sparked new energy and activism across Australia to resist US domination of Australia’s political life, economy and military.

The Anti-Bases Campaign sponsored and assisted to found a new peace group  called IPAN – Independent and Peaceful Australia Network.  This group has taken up much of the resistance to the US Marines in Australia. The older established Anti-Bases network is working to rid Australia of its US bases and has also organised protest rallies, leaflets, pamphlets and submissions about the pivot, war games on our territory, drones and other issues.

As I left Australia the country was upset because the government had cut $250 million from our national broadcaster, the ABC.  However, there are few people asking why funding for the Australian military is never cut.

We are told to tighten our belts and accept poorer services for health, education, welfare and housing. But when the US demanded Australian support for its intervention in Iraq and Syria to push back IS, the Australian Government was able to find half a billion dollars for troops to Iraq and $600 million to spend on security services to behave as the NSA in the USA.

The “guns or butter” argument continues and will only get more bitter as governments ignore the needs of the people and serve only the needs of upper 0.01% of our populations and the military-industrial complex which defends them.

We still need to fight and the prospect of the demonstration against this US Marine Base is a positive sign of resistance – congratulations to all the organisers and the people who support you.

Thank you.