Reclaim Remembrance
We work to kick weapons companies out of the Australian War Memorial.
Reclaim the AWM
The Australian War Memorial takes money from companies that profit from war.
The six biggest weapons companies in the world have all had financial relationships with the Australian War Memorial.
The AWM can’t fulfil its obligations to the public, or properly make sense of our wartime experience, when it takes money from companies with vested interests.
The AWM’s job is to commemorate our war dead – not promote companies that profit from the harms of war.
Most people don’t want the AWM associated with weapons companies: 68% of people agree that the memorial should not accept money from companies that make weapons of mass destruction (Ipsos, March 2022) .
Weapons companies have vested interests in war. They have no place in the national memorial to our war dead.
News: Reclaim Remembrance
AWM took $830 000 from weapons companies
The Guardian has reported on figures released to the Senate, showing the AWM accepted $830,000 from weapons manufacturers in three years.
Read MoreDid AWM make a false representation?
Documents obtained by MAPW’s Reclaim Remembrance campaign under the FOI Act have been tabled in Parliament during Senate Estimates hearings.
Read MoreAWM claims anti-corruption measures ‘not applicable’
An FOI request has revealed that on at least three occasions, in order to receive donations from multinational weapons company Lockheed Martin, the Australian War Memorial falsely represented its institutional status.
Read MoreAWM and weapons companies on The Project
Channel Ten's The Project covers the issue of weapons companies and the AWM.
Read MoreAustralian War Memorial seeks new funding from Lockheed Martin despite veterans’ criticism
The Guardian covers MAPW's latest campaign.
Read MoreAWM urged to stop accepting money from Lockheed Martin.
The Guardian reports on MAPW’s campaign targeting Lockheed Martin’s sponsorship of the Australian War Memorial. Read the full article online.
Read MoreThe AWM has taken money from the world's biggest weapons companies.
Boeing
Boeing is the third-largest arms company in the world. Boeing has sold upwards of US$21 billion of arms to the Saudi Arabia/UAE-led coalition’s campaign in Yemen, and is described has having “one of the most checkered ethical records of any large corporation.”
Boeing is involved in the production of illegal nuclear weapons.
AWM’s previous director, Brendan Nelson, became an executive at Boeing immediately after stepping down from the AWM.
BAE Systems
BAE Systems is alleged to have secretly sold mass surveillance technology to six Middle Eastern governments that have been criticised for repressing their citizens, and is named in a complaint to the International Criminal Court in relation to alleged war crimes in Yemen.
BAE is involved in the production of illegal nuclear weapons.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin provides key services and components for both UK and US nuclear armed missiles, which have been deemed illegal by the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Lockheed Martin has played a significant role in military interrogations in both Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, and has been the subject of more instances of misconduct in the US in recent decades than any other weapons contractor.
In 2021-22 Lockheed Martin spent over US$12 million on lobbying: more than any other weapons contractor. In 2021, Lockheed donated US$6 million to US politicians.
In Australia, Lockheed Martin is amongst the weapons companies found to be making extensive use of backroom lobbying, manipulation of research and policymaking, and supplying information to ‘expert’ commentators who can be relied upon to talk up tensions, arms races and possible war.
Read more about Lockheed Martin in the the Corporate Research Project.
And learn more about the weapons industry and state capture in the Australian Democracy Network’s report.
Thales
Thales is named in a 2019 complaint submitted to the International Criminal Court. The complaint sets out the case for Thales’ criminal responsibility for supplying arms used by members of the Saudi Arabia/UAE-led Coalition in potential war crimes in Yemen.
Thales is involved in the production of illegal nuclear weapons.
Northrup Grumman
Northrup Grumman is involved in the controversial arms trade, military training, and border surveillance systems. The company supplies weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India, Israel, Morocco, and Colombia.
Northrop Grumman is involved in the production of illegal nuclear weapons.
Raytheon
Raytheon is the second biggest weapons company in the world.
Since the outbreak of war in Yemen, Raytheon is estimated to have sold over US$5 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Raytheon missiles have been linked to over a dozen attacks on Yemeni civilians, including the 2016 bombing of a Sana funeral hall, and a 2022 attack described by the United Nations as the worst civilian-casualty incident in recent time.
Raytheon is involved in the production of illegal nuclear weapons.
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