Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy turns a blind eye to “unethical conduct” between Thales and the Defence Department despite national audit office warning of “capture” by weapons giants. Part 3 of 3 (read part 1 and part 2) The number of corruption investigations into the Thales Group continues to mount internationally with another announced two weeks ago. The UK’s Serious Continue reading »
Defence and Security
The battle is on to see which side of politics can boast of siphoning the most profits to the weapons industry – at the expense of health, education, climate and environmental action, and everything else we need – and of bowing more obsequiously before the US and its war machine. Serious examination of AUKUS and Continue reading »
Australia is a part of a hostile military alliance directed at China. “Interoperability” or “interchangeability” means we’re now a US pawn, tied to its coattails. So that’s the job of every Australian: push for more information, keep talking about why AUKUS is an utter disaster and why it commits us to a costly and dangerous Continue reading »
A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. As things now stand, the world is trembling on the brink of the abyss. Instead of going over the edge, we need to step back, lower the temperature and the tension, and move to a position in which it is possible to negotiate a Continue reading »
Australia is continuing to expand its relationships with Israel’s defence sector, defying the UN’s International Court of Justice. Republished from DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA, November 05, 2024 Australia is yet to give effect to urgings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to suspend all military trade with Israel until a review is completed of the exports. Continue reading »
It’s a time of major events: Donald Trump has again been elected President of the USA and its biggest foreign spy base Pine Gap features in the movie Twilight Time to be screened in Alice Springs on Saturday. For decades “the base” has been described as a prime nuclear target. Does that worry the town? Continue reading »
Public distrust in the reliability of the U.S. nuclear umbrella has sharply increased, with a majority of South Koreans now supporting the development of their own nuclear weapons, a recent survey shows. The survey results released last month reflect a growing belief that the U.S. extended deterrence to the region, often referred to as a Continue reading »
Australia is no longer a middle, nor moral, power although its political leaders think Australia is both. When did Australia lose its morality, and along with that loss, its status as a respected middle power? Continue reading »
The significance of US strategic bomber deployments:Defence Minister Richard Marles played down revelations in late 2022 that up to six US B-52 strategic bombers are to be forward-deployed to Tindal Air Force Base, telling reporters at the time that ‘everyone needs to take a deep breath here.’ Marles implied that there was nothing new about Continue reading »
A monumental transformation: There has been a great deal of public criticism of Australia’s decision to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) via the AUKUS security partnership. The criticism has been both broad and deep, spanning political and industrial challenges, budgetary consequences, safety and environmental concerns, strategic risks, and the erosion of national sovereignty. Continue reading »