Wage Peace - Disrupt War

Strategic, bold, direct and discursive action to disrupt militarism in Australia and our region.

Peace In Papua

Peace In Papua

Peace In Papua is an international campaign to end foreign support for Indonesian state violence in West Papua. Solidarity and peace activists in Australia, Germany, Korea, the US and more are taking action to end arms sales and joint training programs with Indonesian military and police.

The civil resistance in West Papua is steadfast, creative, diverse and growing. Wage Peace is working closely with organisers in West Papua towards our shared goal of ending Indonesian state violence in the occupied territory. Papuans are calling for the withdrawal of Indonesian troops and the start of peaceful dialogue. We are calling for a ban on military exports to Indonesia and a suspension of joint military and police training exercises between Australia and Indonesia.

We have campaigned for demilitarisation in West Papua for over two years already. We have run multiple actions and interventions at Australian Federal Police and SAS facilities, and at the factories and offices of arms dealers selling to Indonesia. Rheinmetall, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Thales, Elbit and EOS have all had a taste of our disruptive tactics. Wage Peace is now taking this campaign global, with a new logo and a new name: Peace in Papua.

You can support the life-affirming work of grassroots activists for Peace in Papua right here:

Wage Peace actions for Peace In Papua at arms dealers, military bases and Australian Federal Police stations

Nights at Thales in Meanjin

Blood and Light in the Darkness of Thales Weapons in Brisbane

Thales, a multi national weapons corporation is terrorising the people of West Papua. Thales is militarising their forests and lands. Thales is transferring weaponised armoured vehicles with turrets featuring automated optics – for automatic killing.

This year at Wage Peace we hope to hold Thales to account for their weapons sales to Indonesia. They are not a corporation to be honoured. They have no social licence to operate.

A small  crew, younger activists held by their Christian faith, rocked up in the night to Thales Brisbane as a sign of the light and as a sign of commitment to a year of action at Thales. It was Epiphany, the feast represented by the bright star, the light of justice.

Epiphany is a feast in the Christian season of Christmas. It tells the story of the visit of a set of non-Jewish outsiders, “wise men” or “magi” or “kings”.  The Magi recognised the star as a sign of justice, and traveled from the East, presenting gifts to the Holy Family.

They were drawn by a bright light representing right relationship and hope of a more just world; it was a light that would dispel the darkness of a period of violence and terror.

60000 internally displaced people face this darkness in West Papua right now. It only takes a few cruel and despotic acts of terror by military forces for people who have lived in their home territory for thousands of years, to be compelled to move away in a series of dangerous journeys.  First Nations people face this story over and over: acts of terror resulting in movement as they flee to protect their families. Movement away from homelands, is followed by dispossession from sovereignty and land as they seek safety.

Thales with other weapons corporations such as Boeing and Electro Optic Systems and Rheinmetall are profiting from the sale of weapons which are used in West Papua by the military and police of Indonesia. The website www.waronwestpapua.org displays this flow of weapons. Australia is represented through the delivery of the weaponised Bushmasters.

Over 200 weapons export licenses for Indonesia have been issued by Australia in the last two years according to the ABC’s Andrew Greene. It’s hard to know what weapons these licenses are for exactly, but we know that Indonesia is a key target market for Australian weapons exports. Rheinmetall have factories both in Brisbane and in Indonesia presumably to facilitate transfer of shared components. Electro Optic Systems are transferring their weaponised automatic killer turrets. Boeing is sending attack helicopters, if not from Australia – then direct from the US. Australia has provided Lockheed Martin heavy-lift Hercules air transport planes.

All these weapons are used IN WEST PAPUA – not for defence, not for overseas expedition, but to disposses and repress the people of the subjugated colonies of the elites. People in West Papua are calling on Australia to stop the weapons trade. Their people are suffering. They do not want to end up dispossessed from their sovereignty in the same violent way that  happened to First Nations people in Australia.

“It was with this story of West Papua on our hearts and our lips that we as young Christians gathered for Epiphany. We  sang psalms and prayed for the light of justice to rise over West Papua. Our friends are there,” said Eleni Dowling who helped imagine and set up the action.

Two weeks later, people were back at Thales again with our friend Ronny Kareni from the West Papua diaspora. We poured symbolic blood and remembered Ronny’s friends and family members who are facing extraordinary and persistent violence in West Papua. We remembered the 60000 internally placed people living away from their food gardens, schools and villages.

“We do not accept that $30bn a year of Australian public money should be pouring into weapons companies with or without exports”, said Margie Pestorius. “This is a time for Earth care, Earth repair, not warfare.” 

Blood was poured out on the ground at Thales. We remembered the blood spilled in the Frontier Wars on Australian Land. And We remembered those terrorised in West Papua. Again the windows of the entrance were pasted with the names of those killed by militarised violence inflicted by the police and military. We pasted slogans, and photos of those killed. and reminders of their duty to stop the war against West Papua. 

Ronny Kareni spoke and sang about the injustices. “To sing is to resist in West Papua”, he reminded us drawing on the memory of martyrs such as Arnold Ap who gave their lives to the struggle against Indonesian land theft. 

Thales is not the only target. But Thales has delivered weaponised vehicles.
We are keen to find what makes up the 200 weapons export licences that are being approved by the regulators, the Defence Export Controls Office. 

Join us in Naarm, in Sydney and in Brisbane. Also in Lithgow, Bendigo and Benalla. Say no! No weapons exports. This is a time for repair and regeneration.  Earth care NOT Warfare!

Conversations with the Arms Dealers: Thales and the first of December

The Thales building looms large over Sydney Olympic Park station. An imposing wall of slick dark glass, crowned by a six-foot tall sign bearing their logo. From the outside, you wouldn’t know that Thales is an arms dealer.

Thales is not exactly a household name, and they don’t want to be. They move in the shadowy world of the global arms trade and would prefer not to be in the public eye. Their customers are mostly nation-states, so there is no reason to bother wasting resources on building their brand in the minds of ordinary people. Ordinary people don’t get a say when defence contracts are negotiated. Contracts like those Thales holds to supply the Indonesian forces with weapons. Weapons that are then used to violently repress the West Papuan struggle for independence and self-determination.

This complacency, this certainty that they can do whatever they want in pursuit of profit – including arming human rights violators, dictators, despots, and fueling conflict around the world – is probably why we were able to walk right in. They weren’t expecting to be challenged.

A sunny summer morning in so-called Sydney, the first of December. On this day in 1961, West Papua declared it’s independence and raised their now-iconic morning star flag for the very first time. Just months later, their dream of self-determination was steam rolled by Indonesian invasion and an elaborate UN process orchestrated by the US. The New York agreement made West Papua a province of Indonesia in the eyes of the UN. West Papuans have struggled for recognition and self-governance ever since.

Western interests were watching the newly formed nation of Indonesia. Indonesia was looking around for allys in an effort to establish its self as a people and a nation on the world stage. Being the height of the cold war, the US was worried that communism might sound appealing to peoples who had just moments ago thrown off the yoke of Dutch colonialism and set about ensuring that this new state aligned its self with the West. West Papua was little more than a bargaining chip, but their struggle would outlast the cold war context which produced it.

We walked across the ground floor entrance chamber and summoned the lift. A few people passed us and looked at us quizzically, we smiled and waved amiably. Then we got to level 2, spilled out of the lift into the reception level and unfurled a West Papuan flag.

“Staff of Thales” I thundered in my most official sounding voice. “We have a message for you”

“We are not here to hurt you. We have brought no weapons. We will not harm you or your family, we will not poison your water, raze your homes, or imprison your leaders. We just ask you do the same for us and for our friends in West Papua”

Most of the staff hid in their offices, and sent a representative out to ask us to leave. We asked him what he thought about West Papua, and he said he didn’t know anything about it.

“No problem!” I said “I’ll tell you about it again”.

After failing to extract a personal opinion from this person, not as an employee but simply as a human being, he was starting to get a little antsy. We continued to reassure the staff that we understood that they probably didn’t know that their employer was arming the repression of West Papuans less than 500 miles from Darwin – because any reasonable person wouldn’t stand for that. We told them we understood that the people on the level 2 reception desk are not attending board meetings and deciding which dictators will be next year’s clients. But at the same time, we reminded them that their labour is critical to the continued functioning of the business and that no matter who or where we are, we always have a choice to make.

We told them the names of some West Papuans who had been killed by state forces in Indonesia and held a memorial in their honour, right there in the Thales lobby. We asked the staff to be respectful of the lives lost and allow us to hold our memorial, and to be fair they stayed sheepishly silent during our proceedings.

At the conclusion of our memorial we made our way back down in the lift and out onto the footpath, after which time they shut off the automatic doors. We left them some messages on the footpath with chalk including “our friends in West Papua say hi” and “these guys arm genocide”. As we were leaving the cops finally arrived.

“Thank god you’re here!” we said “Those guys are selling weapons!”

“Where?!?” said the main cop – we had him going for a minute there 😉

Peace In Papua – Thales, recall your bombs

Call Thales now!

Tell Thales to #StopArmingKillers in West Papua: end weapons exports to Indonesia now!

Ways to contact Thales in Australia include:

Thales Australia

+61 (0)2 8037 6000

Mobile: +61 (0) 400 668 560

Mr. Christophe Veysseyre : christophe.veysseyre@thalesgroup.com

Thales International Social Media

https://twitter.com/thalesgroup

https://www.instagram.com/thalesgroup/

https://www.facebook.com/thalesgroup

EMAIL THALES AUSTRALIA

On Friday 11 November, at 11am, activists in Narrm / Melbourne observed 1 minute of silence for those murdered in war – INSIDE THE SECURITY FOYER OF AN ARMS DEALER!!! We had managed to take our entire entourage, with banners, placards, a viola, amplifier and 2 replica bombs right into the security screening room of Thales in the ‘World Trade Centre’ on the banks of the Birrarung or Yarra river. The replicas were of FZ68 rockets, manufactured by Thales in Belgium, fired at West Papuan villages in 2021.

Thales has been arming the Indonesian navy for over 40 years. The naval guns that fired on crowds of people on the beaches of Biak in 1998 were almost certainly Thales guns. Profits from the war on West Papua flow to this giant French weapons corporation through the sale of their FZ 68 rockets – rockets fired on mountain villages throughout January – March 2021. Thales Australia further destroys the hope for peace in Papua by selling their Bushmaster weapons – made in Bendigo – to Kopassus, Indonesia’s notorious special forces.

We visited Thales’ Melbourne office on Armistice Day to tell them to recall their bombs from West Papua. They did not recall their bombs, they only called the police. SHAME!

For over an hour we held the space inside Thales’ secure screening facility (Thales is a ‘global leader’ in ‘surveillance and security’), chanting, grieving and asking Thales to recall their bombs, for peace in Papua. We tried to engage with Thales staff members, letting them know “We will not harm you. We will not bomb your villages, burn your farms, kill your families or poison your rivers. We will not profit from your destruction.” We asked if the staff could make the same promise back to us. Their only response was “You are trespassing”.

When the police arrived we took the opportunity to have a little lie down, demonstrating the ‘end use’ of Thales’ products – m u r d e r. Then we moved out of the secure foyer into the insecure foyer, but Thales was still not happy. We had smashed their social license right inside their own building, letting them know that we – and countless others who want peace for West Papua – do not consent to their business.

Pada hari Jumat 11 November, pukul 11 ​​pagi, para aktivis di Narrm / Melbourne mengamati 1 menit mengheningkan cipta bagi mereka yang terbunuh dalam perang - DI DALAM FOYER KEAMANAN PENJUAL SENJATA!!! Kami telah berhasil membawa seluruh rombongan kami, dengan spanduk, plakat, biola, amplifier, dan 2 replika bom langsung ke ruang pemeriksaan keamanan Thales di 'World Trade Center' di tepi sungai Birrarung atau Yarra. Replika itu adalah roket FZ68, diproduksi oleh Thales di Belgia, yang ditembakkan ke desa-desa Papua Barat pada tahun 2021.

Thales telah mempersenjatai angkatan laut Indonesia selama lebih dari 40 tahun. Senjata angkatan laut yang menembaki kerumunan orang di pantai Biak pada tahun 1998 hampir pasti adalah senjata Thales. Keuntungan dari perang di Papua Barat mengalir ke perusahaan senjata raksasa Prancis ini melalui penjualan roket FZ 68 mereka - roket yang ditembakkan ke desa-desa pegunungan sepanjang Januari - Maret 2021. Thales Australia semakin menghancurkan harapan perdamaian di Papua dengan menjual kendaraan perang Bushmaster mereka - dibuat di Bendigo - untuk Kopassus, pasukan khusus Indonesia yang terkenal kejam.

Kami mengunjungi kantor Thales di Melbourne pada Hari Gencatan Senjata untuk meminta mereka menarik kembali bom mereka dari Papua Barat. Mereka tidak menarik kembali bom mereka, melainkan mereka memanggil polisi. JAHAT!

Selama lebih dari satu jam kami menahan ruang di dalam fasilitas penyaringan aman Thales (Thales adalah 'pemimpin global' dalam 'pengawasan dan keamanan'), bernyanyi, berduka dan meminta Thales untuk menarik kembali bom mereka, untuk perdamaian di Papua. Kami mencoba berdiskusi dengan anggota staf Thales, memberi tahu mereka, "Kami tidak akan menyakiti Anda. Kami tidak akan mengebom desa Anda, membakar pertanian Anda, membunuh keluarga Anda, atau meracuni sungai Anda. Kami tidak akan mendapat untung dari kehancuran Anda." Kami bertanya apakah staf dapat membuat janji yang sama kembali kepada kami. Satu-satunya tanggapan mereka adalah "Anda masuk tanpa izin".

Ketika polisi tiba, kami mengambil kesempatan untuk sedikit berbaring, mendemonstrasikan 'penggunaan akhir' produk Thales - pembunuhan. Kemudian kami pindah dari foyer yang aman ke foyer yang tidak aman, tetapi Thales masih tidak senang. Kami telah menghancurkan lisensi sosial mereka tepat di dalam gedung mereka sendiri, memberi tahu mereka bahwa kami - dan banyak orang lain yang menginginkan perdamaian untuk Papua Barat - tidak menyetujui bisnis mereka.