The Australian government’s recent decision to adopt an ambitious new defence manufacturing plan has met with controversy. Far beyond most job-creation initiatives, Malcolm Turnbull’s plan has international ramifications.
Australia's arms industry
PM Turnbull’s ‘jobs’ argument for war profiteering is a sham
PM Turnbull’s push to make Australia a major weapons exporter puts paid to any pretence we might have of being a peace-loving nation. And his claim that it’s all about jobs is a sham. War profiteering is one of the least effective ways to create jobs.
Keep a strict line
(Published by The Age – letters page 5 February 2018) Over the years Australia has sold guns to government institutions in Papua New Guinea, which have sold them on to criminals in the civilian population. Armed violence now makes PNG one of the world’s most dangerous countries for its own citizens and for visitors. Australia […]
No cause for celebration in exporting death and destruction
PM Turnbull’s claim that it’s all about “jobs” is a contemptible fig-leaf for forcing people into the business of war profiteering.
Murky business: Australia’s defence industry is growing, but at what cost?
It’s a nearly impossible task to discover exactly what Australia is selling and to whom because the federal government refuses to say, but nuggets of information make it clear that Canberra is aggressively selling weapons and defence equipment to countries involved in conflicts where human rights abuses are being perpetrated.