Strategic, bold, direct and discursive action to disrupt militarism in Australia and our region.
Australia is developing its very own military industry complex, and weapons companies stand to make billions.
These are our stories against the war machine. From peace campaigners in Australia and beyond.
Join us for Get Your Armies Off Our Bodies, the first season of PeacePod.
Discover more at https://wagepeaceau.org
An aural adventure into anti-militarist activism in Australia and beyond
Wage Peace is beyond proud to present our latest creation: a podcast featuring the stories, passions and insights of some of our most treasured collaborators. Tune in, subscribe and immerse yourself in the journeys of artists, activists and academics campaigning for peace on the stolen lands of this continent and further afield.
Support this podcast by a) submitting a review b) donating to continue our work (button at bottom of this site) and most of all c) engage with what you hear. You will find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email or you can use the comments section on this page.
#demilitarise #decolonise #regenerate your brain with Peace Pod.
Professor David Hood has written a letter to the University of Queensland regarding the imposition of the weapons trade on university culture. He has specifically referenced the weapons corporation Boeing. We have invited engineers – retired, re-professionned, current, or students – to indicate support for Adj Professor Hood’s letter by adding their voices to this initiative. Engineers are encouraged to write to the Chancellor of University of Queensland Mr Peter Varghese, or resend David’s letter with an endorsement. Weapons corporations tend toward promoting war and violence and actively work against peace: they simply have no place influencing universities.
____________________________________________
Mr Peter Varghese AO
Chancellor of the University of Queensland
The University of Queensland
BRISBANE QLD 4072
Dear Peter,
I’m writing to express my concern about the influence that the Boeing
Company may be exercising on the culture of the university as a whole
and in particular on engineering teaching and research. My concern
stems from the fact that Boeing is primarily a weapons company and the
third-largest military contractor in the world, with annual revenue of
around USD$20bn from weapons related contracts.
The University of Queensland’s (UQ) partnership with Boeing is not only
ethically questionable but also at odds with research in and the teaching
of sustainability principles. At a time when the world faces a climate and
biodiversity emergency it is hard to accept that UQ would prioritise
partnerships with weapons companies over ensuring sustainability
outcomes from your research and the ethical attributes of your
graduates. This is particularly disturbing where engineers are
concerned.
The size and influence of the Boeing Institute at UQ is out of proportion
to the other work being done within the School of Engineering, and it is
concerning that a weapons company has positioned itself in the heart of
a highly respected academic institution. We must ask ourselves how we
can be sure that Boeing has not embedded itself at UQ as part of a
larger strategy to ensure its leadership in weapons development and
increase its profitably by normalising war.
The engineering profession is at a crossroad as we emerge from a
period of domination by fossil fuel companies and their extractive
projects in Australia. Right now, we must address the existential threats
to all life on Earth posed by climate change and the increasing loss of
ecosystem services through the destruction of nature and fauna habitats due to rampant human activity. We must grapple with the ethical implications of the choices we make as a profession.
As a graduate of, and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of
Engineering, Architecture, and IT at UQ, I ask that you review the
Boeing Institute at UQ and question its impact on faculty outputs. We
cannot allow the military-industrial complex to influence the
independence and strategic direction of our academic institutions.
Yours sincerely,
Adj Professor David A Hood AM
Inaugural BZE Fellow, Beyond Zero Emissions
Board Director, Australian Conservation Foundation
(Adjunct Professor, University of Queensland Energy
Initiative)
Address etc provided.
CC: Professor Deborah TERRY, Vice Chancellor
Professor Aleksandar RAKIC, Dean of Engineering, Architecture, and IT
Text from Leaflet – Boeing is a Weapons Company.
Commentary by Anthony Kelly, Melbourne, Naarm.
Wage Peace finds the Red Alert media story in the Channel 9 media (Age SMH and 7media) on Wednesday 8th March deplorable. We see Richard Marles’ – together with Stephen Smith the author of the strategic paper – disgusting alliance with the US in action as do what they are told they prepare Australian’s for giving huge amounts to WEAPONS corporations.
People see through it. But they are not sure how to act. Call out the weapons corporations. It really is a critical time. Below is a reflection by friend of Wage Peace, Anthony Kelly.
Some cursory observations about the Red Alert media war-mongering series in the Age/Sydney morning Herald this week.
It draws in five ‘experts’ – all aligned within a narrow security defence preparedness mindset. No peace researchers, China experts or diplomats.
The framing is extremely narrow, in fact far more narrow than the so called Defence White Papers and other industry generated ASPI papers- basically limited to ‘could we cope militarily if China invaded us?’ That’s entirely the wrong question.
There is zero critique of Australia’s military alliance with or subservience to the US war-fighting strategies and how that remains our single largest strategic risk as a nation.
Blind support for the US is assumed by the editors – rather than challenged or questioned – like real journalism.
It refers to US bases being targets in a potential war – yet offers no critique that removing them might make us safer. Red Alert even states that 200,000 US troops would be targets if stationed here. Again – it’s the US alliance that makes us potentially unsafe but that obvious conclusion is not drawn by these ‘experts’.
The fact that China has the US navy routinely exercising off its coast, and is almost entirely surrounded by bases and US allies, and has been dealing with continual economic and political containment by the US for decades….is not even mentioned.
There is zero analysis or even mention of the current global security architecture, such as global weapons regulations, bans and sanctions (as frail as it is), that Australia is also a part of and can also decide to invest in as part of its ‘defence strategy’ if it chooses. Nuclear Weapons ban anyone?
Red Alert articles have a clear narrative – emphasizing or headlining factors that might lead to war often with great hyperbole – whilst minimizing or scooting around those that make it look less likely.
Former Diplomat David Livingstone has said that “China has neither the capability nor intention to undertake a maritime invasion of Australia, and it is clear that the ADF will not impact China’s thinking on Taiwan” This little observation from back in February is ignored.
Peace and security pundits have been warning of the rapid miltarisation of the entire Asia-Pacific region for years – India, Japan, Korea are all modernising and expanding militaries along with China. Rather than critique or even explore the risks of the Asia Pacific’s decade long arm’s race spiral – where countries repeatedly reinforce their own militaries in response to the growth of their neighbors’ forces, Red Alert just feeds into it.
“Buy more weapons” is the ultimate and only solution this ‘innovatiove, in-depth, investigative’ piece of drival offers. It’s like a full-colour, wrap-around, sponsored ad for AUKUS.
Let’s not mention climate change hey.
At the beginning of June, Land Forces, the largest weapons expo in the Southern Hemisphere was held in Brisbane/Meanjin.
The weapons industry is full of well-documented corruption. People often refer to the revolving door of personnel between the military, government and arms industry. One example of this in Australia is the ex-defence minister, Christopher Pyne, walking straight out of his government position and into a lucrative position in the arms industry. These people profit directly from war. They make profits on and the violence perpetrated in West Papua, Yemen, Kurdistan and Palestine. These weapons are also a major contributor to environmental degradation and cause of climate change.
Based on this knowledge, the Catholic Worker community joined other local and interstate groups in protesting the Expo. In the 6 months leading up to it there were protests held at various weapons manufacturers in Brisbane. In the days leading up to the expo 5 people were arrested for stopping deliveries of tanks and AV equipment. During the 3 days of the actual Expo a continuous protest was held and various actions took place to #DisruptLandForces. This zine tells some of those stories, as well as others.
Contact us for a copy of the zine 🙂
