China uneasy about USA’s increasing militarism in Australia
Home-brewed cold war bad for business, WA Today, Patrick Porter,June 18, 2012 PICK
a godfather. That was the barbed warning of a former senior officer of China’s People’s Liberation Army to Australia. Choose between China (its greatest trading partner) and the US (its greatest ally and security guarantor).
In a recent visit to Beijing, Australia’s defence minister was quizzed by Chinese generals why our country is hosting 2500 marines in rotations through the Northern Territory and strengthening its defence ties with Washington.
They know about Australia’s blueprint for a future war alongside the US against China in the secret chapter of the
2009 Defence white paper, even if it was merely a contingency plan. The hostility of Chinese officials underscores Australia’s strategic dilemma: how to cope within an escalating rivalry between Beijing and Washington, and the threat that our trading interests and military-security interests could come into conflict.
http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/politics/homebrewed-cold-war-bad-for-business-20120617-20hzt.html#ixzz1yB4na2No
Australia’s love-in with USA and NATO
(I don’t know about the rest of Australians, but I found this article a bit sick-making – Christina Macpherson)
every time NATO deploys Australia is there as a great, great friend of the United States.
The increased formalisation of ties between NATO and partnership countries will be discussed at a meeting on Monday to be addressed by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.
US turns the screws on NATO, lauds its ally Australia SMH, May 19, 2012 “… the report was enthusiastic of the expanding role of non-NATO partnership countries, such as Australia, which was, it noted, among a small group of countries that contributed ”real combat or niche capabilities to the mission” in Afghanistan. Continue reading
Australia’s Defence to get 12 new submarines – they will not be nuclear
Gillard announces submarine design cash Brisbane Times, May 3, 2012 – AAP The federal government has allocated $214 million to the design phase for 12 new submarines. Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the budget commitment on Thursday.
“In our strategic environment we need strong maritime capabilities and that’s why we need a potent submarine force,” she told reporters in Canberra The 2009 Defence White Paper proposed 12 new advanced submarines to provide Australia with formidable defensive and offensive capabilities. They would replace the six existing Collins class vessels which are set to reach retirement around 2025.
The government previously has said that any new vessels would be built in South Australia and that they would not be nuclear powered…… http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/gillard-announces-submarine-design-cash-20120503-1y07f.html
Australia’s Defence minister ‘welcomes’ USA submarines, cagey about upgrades for nuclear submarine visits
Defence Minister evades nuclear sub questions In My Community, 27/Apr/2012 By Laura Tomlinson, Weekend Courier FEDERAL Defence Minister Stephen Smith used a visit to HMAS Stirling today to reiterate the Australian Government’s commitment to its relationship with the United States.
However, the minister would not be drawn on whether Garden Island’s infrastructure was in line for an upgrade to help host American appliances, including controversial nuclear submarines. Mr Smith and Brand MHR Gary Gray toured one of the US’s biggest submarines, the USS Michigan, which is currently docked at Garden Island, before Mr Smith conducted a media conference on the wharf. ….. Mr Smith told reporters of the Federal Government’s previously-announced commitment to building 12 new submarines.
Nuclear subs have been ruled out – because there is no local capability to construct or maintain them, but that doesn’t mean America’s nuclear fleet is unwelcome. Mr Smith said it was important that Australian defence assets were appropriately geographically distributed “for the challenges of the future”, and that American vessels could use Australian ports……http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/news-and-views/local-news/Defence-Minister-evades-nuclear-sub-questions/7620613/
Danger in Australia hosting USA military bases
If too closely aligned with the US, Australia will be associated with any mistakes. US actions, mounted from Australia, will implicate Australia. In the Cold War US joint intelligence facilities were a target for Soviet nuclear weapons……
Australia needs to be careful that it does not make inevitable the future that it should fear the most. Current decisions are being made without public debate or discussion. Once made they will be difficult to reverse.
We must not get too close to the US, BY: PETER LEAHY The Australian April 12, 2012 “……. there can be too much of a good thing, especially if it involves putting unnecessary pressure on China. By substantially increasing its
close relationship with the US, Australia may unduly complicate its relationship with China. Care needs to be taken to ensure that Australia is not caught between the US, as security guarantor, and China as economic underwriter.
As a sovereign nation Australia should maintain the ability to say no to the US and separate itself from its actions. This will require careful thought and deft diplomacy……By agreeing to the US Marine Corps and potentially more extensive air and naval access requests, Australia has confirmed that it is firmly in the US security camp……. Continue reading
Australia investing in nuclear weapons, while piously preaching against them
The difficulty for the Australian government is that Julia Gillard was just in South Korea at a global Nuclear weapons conference claiming Australia is a leader in global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons. …
for the Australian government’s own Future Fund to be simultaneously investing in nuclear weapons manufacturers surely undermines Australia’s chances of advancing such goals.
Your taxes hard at work making mushroom clouds, The Punch, James Norman, 7 April 12, “…..Following a freedom-of-information (FOI) request from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) the Australian Future Fund disclosed to the Senate last year that it invests Australian taxpayers’ (often pension funds) money in 14 companies involved in the production and maintenance of nuclear weapons.
The total value of these holdings in nuclear weapons-related companies is approximately $133 million, while the overall value of the Future Fund’s investments is $73 billion. The 14 nuclear weapons companies in its portfolio are involved in the design, production and maintenance of nuclear weapons for the US, British, French and Indian governments.
The companies in question that are involved in the manufacture or deployment of nuclear weapons include Babcock International ($127,480), Boeing (over $6 million), Honeywell International ($97 Million), Rockweel Collins (over $15 million) and Rolls Royce (over $1.7 million). Continue reading
2500 U.S. marines in Darwin could be immune from Australian criminal laws
Lawyer Diana Rickard from Basewatch said she had concerns over the Status of Forces Agreement between Australia and the United States, which sets out the legal terms under which the US forces operate while in Australia.
She said the agreement could allow Americans to escape punishment for crimes committed in the course of their duties….
Critics cautious as US marines head to NT, 9 News, 3 April 12, Critics of the US troop build-up in Darwin remain cautious about the move, despite a recent meeting with a senior military official. As many as 250 US Marines are due to arrive in Darwin late on Tuesday, the first of a build-up that will see 2500 American troops in the city by 2017. The troop influx comes after a defence agreement announced by Barack Obama when he visited Darwin in November last year. Continue reading
Australia likely to agree to U.S. drones stationed on Cocos Islands
In 2014 there will be a new Defence White Paper…. The announcement of the intention to station drones on the Cocos Islands (without even consultation with local inhabitants) indicates that the depths of the forced generosity of the Australian people to US war planners are likely to be plumbed further.
US drones for Cocos Islands, Further steps to war, CPA, Bob Briton, 4 April 12, It was left to the US media to tell Australians about the war preparations being made above their heads by the Gillard Government. The Washington Post broke the story last week that US and Australian officials have been discussing the rapid expansion of the US militarypresence in South-East Asia and the Indian Ocean including the stationing of pilotless drones on the Cocos Islands. Continue reading
USA militarisation in Australia; drones might upset our Asian neighbours
There is increasing concern among strategic analysts and defence experts about what the growing US military presence on Australian territory might mean… the strengthening US presence in Australia appears to be drawing us into a potentially dangerous game of Chinese containment.
why [do] we want a big fleet of subs to contain and deter our largest trading partner ?
These Drones Will Irritate The Neighbours. New Matilda, By Ben Eltham, 29 March 12, What’s our priority – trade with China or strategic links to the US? Reports of US surveillance drones in the Cocos Islands are raising some awkward questions about our ties in the region, writes Ben Eltham
First it was US Marines in Darwin. Then it was proposals for more US Navy ships to operate out of the HMAS Stirling naval base in Fremantle — including aircraft carriers and nuclear attack submarines. Now it’s USsurveillance drones in the Cocos Islands. America’s interest in Australia as a base for its south Asian and Indian Ocean operations appears to be growing…….
The object of that strategy, although few are prepared to talk too openly about it, is of course China. Continue reading
Asian countries not so happy, as Australia to be base for US spy drones
US could fly spy drones from Australian territory, Google News, (AFP) 28 March 12, SYDNEY — Australia on Wednesday said it may allow Washington to use its territory to operate long-range spy drones, as part of an increased US presence in the Asia-Pacific that has rankled China.
The United States and Canberra are planning a major expansion of military ties, with the first of a 2,500-strong Marine deployment to northern Australia unveiled last November by President Barack Obama due to arrive next month.
The plan has irked China and worried some Asian countries who see it as a statement by Washington that it intends to stand up for its interests in the region amid concerns of increasing assertiveness by Beijing.
Australian media carried reports Wednesday citing a Washington Post story that the United States was considering using the Cocos Islands, an atoll in the Indian Ocean off northwest Australia, to launch unmanned surveillance aircraft.
They said the Cocos would replace the present US Indian Ocean base of Diego Garcia, which America leases from Britain and is due to be mothballed in 2016.
Aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered attack submarines could also be based in Perth as part of efforts to refocus American defence resources in the region, the reports added. Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the use of the Cocos Islands was a longer-term option for closer Australia-US engagement and its airstrip would need to be upgraded before it could be used….. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gLfEBJS3cyp9DztcZ-7U6oTHIzJQ?docId=CNG.78ebb96f24b87291c30fc84ff624c48a.381
Western Australia’s Premier complacent about increasing number of nuclear submarines to Perth
Barnett relaxed over nuclear subs 9 News Mar 28 2012 West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says he has no objection to more American nuclear submarine visits to Perth’s Garden Island naval base if US-Australian defence co-operation is boosted.
The two nations are planning an expansion of military ties including the rotation of US Marines through the Northern Territory and more access to HMAS Stirling at Garden Island in Perth’s south. Mr Barnett told ABC radio on Wednesday he would accept a boosted American presence….. Mr Barnett said the ANZUS defence treaty was the centre of Australia’s
defence policy and Garden Island was a strategic base on the Indian
Ocean which was becoming more central to world affairs. … http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8442686
North Korea’s missile aim will include Australia
North Korea directs missiles towards Australia, SMH, Peter Hartcher March 24, 2012 NORTH KOREA’S forthcoming missile launch will be aimed towards South-East Asia and Australia for the first time, the US has warned.
The warning was delivered in person yesterday to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, by a senior official in the Obama Administration, Kurt Campbell, during a visit to Sydney. Continue reading
Australia’s rhetoric on nuclear weapons – hollow when we sell uranium to India
“India is not a party to the NPT and there is clear legal advice that selling uranium to India would be in conflict with our obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed today’s bipartisan motion on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and called for real action to match the rhetoric. “The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have taken an important step in acknowledging the grave threat posed by nuclear weapons and the importance of nuclear disarmament and abolition,” said ACF nuclear free campaigner Dave Sweeney. Continue reading
USA Nuclear submarines a dangerous presence for Garden Island, Western Australia
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said the Australian Defence Force posture review – an inquiry into Australian defence bases – was off-target with the suggestion that US nuclear submarines should be serviced at Garden Island. “The risks of routinely floating nuclear reactors in and out of Cockburn Sound shouldn’t be underestimated,” he said. “WA police and emergency services personnel are completely under-resourced to cope with even a minor reactor leak.”
Senator Ludlum said offering infrastructure to nuclear submarines from other countries would damage Australia’s standing due to worldwide efforts towards nuclear disarmament…..
Mr Gray said “The recommendations refer to providing facilities for US nuclear-powered submarines and other vessels.
“Preliminary recommendations of the Australian Defence Force posture review are for Defence to develop options to provide improved facilities for US Navy nuclear-powered submarines.
The review’s final report will be submitted to the Government at the end of this month. The Defence white paper is due to be released in the first quarter of 2014. http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/news-and-views/local-news/Conflict-over-idea-for/7616382/
Labor and Liberal in unison – but this time, to reject nuclear submarines for Australia
The Senate recommitted the vote on the nuclear submarines motion. The government requested this as they voted incorrectly, by mistake. The Liberals, in turn, changed their vote.
Greens welcome Labor and Coalition’s about-turn on nuclear subs motion Labor and the Coalition’s about-turn on their support for nuclear submarines is a welcome acknowledgment that they made a mistake yesterday in a Senate vote, Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said today.
Labor and the Coalition yesterday voted against Senator Brown’s motion: That the Senate reject the proposal, backed by the former Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Reith, for Australia to purchase nuclear submarines serviced in the United States of America (US) or at a US base established in Australia.
But today the government asked for the vote to be recommitted and both parties accepted the motion. “What a difference a day makes,” Senator Brown said.
“Australia’s stance should remain strongly against nuclear power and nuclear military hardware, and that includes housing nuclear vessels from other countries in our ports.”
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 