Earth Care not warfare

Last week, In the city convention centre of Brisbane, a truly terrifying weapons exposition took place without public support. Landforces is the biggest land-based weapons expo in the Southern Hemisphere, propagating colonial power, the oppression of indigenous peoples, and the death and destruction of this planet. Whilst it is an abomination that such an exposition can take place under the radar of most Australians, a brave, energetic, and peaceful resistance took place from the activist community of Wage Peace.

If you take just one glance at the Landforces website, you don’t even have to read between the lines to realise that these kinds of expositions have one priority…money. The event description glorifies the purchasing of weapon’s corporations finest new technology, citing that ‘these major programs offer opportunities for Australian industry to not only create and maintain a sovereign capability for manufacture, maintenance, and support for these systems, but also to demonstrate capability to join international supply chains of their manufacturers’… what a load of tragic corporate jargon.

There is no mention of discussions to assist in developing peace, to disarm, to free those who are oppressed, or of sustainability. Even under their section called innovation, the alleviation of corruption or environmental issues receives no curtesy. That is because war makes these companies richer. Developing more effective ways to kill people makes these people richer. Building unnecessary high-tech aircraft, is a selling point, not a means to reaching a peaceful and sustainable equilibrium here on earth. These weapons executives wined and dined in Brisbane’s finest, supported by taxpayers’ money, comfortably protected by an army of security and police, whilst they discussed their dirty dealings of multi-billion dollar ‘defence’ spending.

Let’s look at some of the companies that attended Landforces.

Elbit systems is an Israeli arms company, given subsidies by Australia, the US and Brazil, that manufactures every kind of weapon you could imagine, including chemical weapons. In 2020, it was reported that over 20% of Elbit’s revenue came from supporting the Israeli army. They provide surveillance technology for Israel’s apartheid wall and weaponize their war crimes against Palestinians, at the cost of many children’s lives, some of which died in the process of weapons being ‘field tested’. This company produces approximately 85% of the military drones that are used against innocent civilians in Gaza.

Boeing is a multinational corporation that produces commercial and military aircraft, based in the US. They have been the subject of great ethical scrutiny. A Netflix documentary was made about their thirst for profit at the detriment of people’s lives, called ‘Downfall: The Case Against Boeing’. They produce missiles, unmanned airborne systems, military surveillance drones- under the guise of ‘strategic defence’ and ‘intelligence’. A quote on the wage peace website says ‘Boeing is out of control. Their business does not make the world safer. It makes it pointlessly hi-tech, and explicitly more dangerous’. This company sold to Duterte, the dictator of the Philippines, who used these weapons against his own people. Boeing weapons have also been used against civilians in Yemen.

Rheinmetall are a German-Swiss automotive and weapons manufacturer, to which the Australian government has funnelled billions of taxpayers’ money into. The Transparency International Defence Anti- corruption index has labelled this company as lowest scoring. There are multiple accusations of bribery to secure deals. They have even been blacklisted by India, for their fuelling of corruption. They manufacture tanks and other weaponised vehicles, which have been sold to Indonesia and used against civilians in West Papua, alongside Boeing’s helicopters.

War should not be an industrial opportunity. War should not be an opportunity to capitalise. The motive is so clearly twisted. We tell ourselves we need these machines for safety, but it’s a lie. We need them to retain power and perpetuate a state of inequality and inequity. The military machine is burning our landscapes directly with these weapons and through their thirst for and consumption of fossil fuels, as well as other resources that are considered so valuable in terms of capital, that they apparently warrant the destruction of land… and lives.

Wage Peace Disrupt War are a small anti-war activist movement that attempted to take on the approximately 12,000 arms dealers that attended this exposition. They took action to disrupt the incoming of weapons before the expo began, to march every single day and inform people of what was happening. They projected the voices of indigenous Australians and West Papuans who have been harmed by corrupt militarisation. They held vigils for the deceased innocent people of Palestine, mainly children, and for environmental activists punished in Latin America. Despite the resistance consisting of less than 200 people, their heart and energy did not waver over the entire duration of Landforces, and 11 people were arrested for standing their ground in various actions. This resistance was inherently creative, colourful, and impactful, featuring music, readings, projections onto the convention centre walls, actions at company bases, the disruption of restaurants where these arms dealers were schmoozing, and much more.

The Australian activist movement is waning, with little history of it occurring on a large scale. The time for this to change is right now. Australia must transform for its own survival, and regular people need to rise and demand it. Be kind to those who have strong convictions. They use their energy and often make sacrifices, to project the voices of the oppressed and vulnerable, and dream of a better world where these beings could live happily. Isn’t that what veganism is about?

Article written by Aisling Geraghty- Australia