The July 7 announcement that Australia will host three "training centres" for joint US-Australia military exercises has sparked widespread opposition. 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly's Kathy Newnam spoke to a range of organisations and activists from the Northern Territory and central Queensland about their responses.
Socialist Alliance spokesperson and NT Senate candidate Ray Hayes said: "We don't need the kind of consequences that US training facilities and bases have brought to people all around the world. There are instances everywhere around the world where US bases have been well and truly demonstrated to lead to an increase in assaults on women and children."
NT defence minister Paul Henderson told the media on July 10 that he didn't believe there would "be a significant increase in anti-social behaviour" associated with the "joint training centres", stating that "if there is any of that type of activity then the police will bring the full weight of the law down".
But such a declaration is unlikely to alleviate community concerns. The Darwin Centre Against Rape (Ruby Gaea) co-ordinator, Naomi Brennan, discussed incidents of sexual assault that have occurred during the docking of US Navy vessels in Darwin. US military personnel have been free to leave the country, even after being charged with sexual assault. "We just don't hear about it again", said Brennan.
"Perpetrators go home free of all responsibility, with support from their associations. They are given their liberty — meanwhile the victims are totally denied their human rights, knowing that the perpetrator has maintained control of the whole situation."
There are also widespread concerns about the environmental consequences of the planned "training centres". The co-ordinator of the Envirolink Centre in Yeppoon, Kris Palmer, said that there is widespread community concern regarding the Shoalwater Bay centre, including from landholders who believe the massive increase in road traffic will damage the roads and surrounds.
A petition circulating in Yeppoon against the centre raises the potential impact of sonar and military equipment on the marine environment of Shoalwater Bay, which is adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
Other residents have raised concerns about the possible use of depleted uranium munitions during training exercises. There are also environmental concerns about the base at Bradshaw station, which contains a coastline of delicate mangrove.
Drug users have expressed concern that a US base is being established in the NT without a massive expansion of drug detoxification, treatment and rehabilitation services, which are already unable to meet demand. Darwin drug law reform group Network Against Prohibition is urging the NT government to double the funding for drug treatment and education programs before contemplating the presence of large numbers of US troops in the NT.
NAP spokesperson Gary Meyerhoff believes that it is crucial that opposition to the "training centres" goes beyond the widely recognised social impacts they will have. "The impact of US imperialism is worldwide", he said, arguing that "our main opposition is ultimately because of US foreign policy and US imperialism".
Hayes concurs with this sentiment: "These training centres are about continuing our relationship with war criminals and I think that the Australian people have more sense than that. We don't want a relationship with war criminals and murderers."
The Greens' lead Senate candidate in the NT, Ilana Eldridge, noted that Australia is "being drawn closer and closer into becoming just another cog in the wheel of America's military arsenal". Eldridge believes that "Australia should be pursuing a strong and independent defence policy, coupled with an engaging and inclusive foreign policy".
The Greens have also criticised the government for the lack of community consultation regarding the centres. "Such profound and far reaching foreign policy developments require more than the supposed mandate of a government which was elected, through an undemocratic electoral system, by little more than 30% of the Australian vote", declared Eldridge.
Many activists have pointed out that the plans for the new centres have undoubtedly been on the drawing board for many years. "The reality is that they knew ten years ago they were going to do this", said Meyerhoff, noting that the transport of military equipment was a major motivation for the recent completion of the train line to Darwin.
Many also believe that the centres will be a foot in the door to the establishment of permanent US bases in Australia. According to Hayes, "Training centres, bases — it's all the same thing. It's a liar's way to allow them to preposition troops in our region." Eldridge concurs, arguing that the centres "are a back-door approach to establishing a permanent US military presence".
There are already a number of right-wing commentators advocating such a move. Col Newman wrote in the July 14 NT News: "If the US personnel are here on a regular basis why not rent them their own block of dirt and let them do their own thing?"
Newman also took aim at the anti-bases protestors, labelling those who demonstrated outside federal Country Liberal Party MP David Tollner's office on June 7 a "bunch of leftie drug-smoking protesters". Tollner himself commented on the protest, stating that those involved in it were "wasting their time".
This sentiment is strongly rebuked by anti-bases activists. Hayes commented that "it has been shown before that these protest movements are not a waste of time. In the Philippines, two of the biggest US bases in the world were closed down a number of years ago, and just last year in Puerto Rico the people forced the closure of the US base. We are not wasting our time."
[There will be a protest at 11am on August 1, starting on the main street of Yeppoon. Phone Peter on (07) 4939 5143 for more information. In Darwin, there will be an information and planning evening on July 28, 6pm at Spillet House (65 Smith St, City). For more information e-mail <no_war_nt@yahoo.com.au> or phone (08) 8981 4714.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, July 28, 2004.
Visit the