Throughout last year, devastating conflicts raged in Iraq and Syria. The Afghan War entered its 16th year with a of civilians deaths, while in Yemen, a Western-backed, Saudi-led coalition continued to bomb civilian targets using -made weapons.
More people are being displaced by war and persecution than ever before, . This is creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
War is bad news for human beings. But it is good news for the arms trade.
A Defence Trade Report published last June by IHS Janes said the value of the global arms trade in 2015 and was predicted to rise to $69 billion during 2016.
In our region, heightened tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea have created big opportunities for arms exporters. Arms imports by Southeast Asian countries rose by 71% between 2009 and last year, the report said.
The Australian government wants to help arms companies cash in on the boom.
Australian arms industry
The Australian arms industry consists of the Australia subsidiaries of several global 鈥渄efence primes鈥 (large companies such as BAE Systems, Thales and Lockheed Martin), along with Australian shipbuilding prime, Austal, and about 3000 鈥渟mall to medium sized enterprises鈥 (SMEs).
The federal government鈥檚 said the global primes account for about 50% of employment in the industry and the SMEs operate 鈥渕ostly as subcontractors to prime companies鈥.
Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said the government wants to help Australia to become a 鈥溾 in the arms trade and a of arms, meaning that we would export arms than we import. This would be a dramatic shift.
Australia sits at number five on the list of arms importing states and number 20 on the list of exporting states based on figures from 2011-2015, according to the (SIPRI). A comparison of imports to, and exports from, Australia during this period using suggests that Australian arms imports are 11-12 times greater than its arms exports.
SIPRI data also shows that to compete with the top five arms-producing states, the US, Russia, China, France and Germany, Australia would have to increase its exports at least fifteen-fold.
More arms exports would mean more Australian involvement in a trade that undermines peace, exacerbates conflicts, facilitates human rights abuses, diverts resources from social spending, and reportedly in global transactions.
British research and advocacy organisation, Campaign Against Arms Trade, : 鈥淲hile the benefits of the arms trade accrue to international companies, the costs are to the people on the receiving end of the weaponry, the citizens and taxpayers of both buying and selling countries, non-military industry, and national and international security鈥.
Government support
Government support for arms and arms-related exports has grown since the Australian arms industry was corporatised and privatised in the 1980s and 1990s.
Austrade provides export advice to arms companies and the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation helps them to access finance. Several other initiatives have been introduced in the past 10 years to promote sales.
In 2007, the Howard government established a unit within the Department of Defence specifically to promote 鈥渄efence鈥 exports. The Defence Export Unit, later renamed Team Defence Australia (TDA), organises trade missions and arranges for delegations to attend international arms fairs.
The Department of Defence since 2007, 鈥淭DA has assisted 288 defence industry companies to secure export contracts for defence capabilities and technologies to the value of approximately $785 million鈥.
Under the Global Supply Chain program, launched by the Rudd government in 2009, the government pays the Australian subsidiaries of global 鈥渄efence primes鈥, Boeing, Raytheon, Thales, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and Rheinmetall, to help smaller Australian companies win work with them.
In 2012, the Australian Military Sales Office (AMSO) was established to 鈥渇acilitate the overseas sales of Australian-made capital equipment through government-to-government channels and to provide assistance in commercial-to-government export鈥, the said.
Last year, the Turnbull government announced several measures it says will expand the local arms industry and boost exports. It includes an in Australia鈥檚 military spending over the next decade and the creation of a new $230 million 鈥淐entre for Defence Industry Capability鈥.
The changes prompted one industry magazine 鈥渄efence industry is the new black鈥.
Turnbull he sees government spending in the Australian arms industry as 鈥渁 key part of our economic plan鈥, which will 鈥渨ill drive the jobs and the growth in advanced manufacturing, in technology, right across the country鈥.
However, as the Medical Association for Prevention of War has out: 鈥淭he 2016 Defence White Paper and federal budget treated major weapons acquisitions programs as job-creation schemes, completely ignoring the much wider regional ramifications of contributing to, rather than attempting to rein in, the arming of our region.鈥
Arms exports inquiry
The government鈥檚 embrace of the arms trade appears to have been influenced by the arms industry itself. Arms companies were given the chance to advocate for more government assistance during a into federal government support for Australian arms industry exports by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence聽and Trade.
The inquiry was initiated at the request of then-defence minister David Johnson and conducted over 2014-15.
were made by the Australian subsidiaries of global 鈥渄efence primes鈥, including Thales, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin, as well as Australian prime Austal, and SMEs such as CEA Technologies and Ferra Engineering. Arms company representatives were given further opportunity to put their views at .
鈥楧efence industrial base鈥 argument
Government support for arms exports is often justified on the ground that it is necessary to maintain a country鈥檚 鈥渄efence industrial base鈥, an argument that featured strongly in the submissions. According to this line of reasoning, governments must ensure that domestic industry is maintained at a level that could sustain the nation鈥檚 military forces during a conflict, when recourse to external suppliers may be limited.
In the post-privatisation world, this means maintaining a profitable arms industry. Exports play a crucial role by enabling arms companies to achieve 鈥渆conomies of scale鈥, so the argument goes, and should therefore be promoted by government.
The inquiry鈥檚 terms of reference included 鈥渁ssessment of the export support given to Defence industry by governments of comparable nations鈥. Many submissions complained that arms exports are not supported enough in Australia compared to major exporting states, such as Britain and France.
Australian shipbuilding company, Austal, said that 鈥渟trong Government support for Australian defence industry exports is a national security issue that warrants considerable co-ordinated effort across government鈥.
Similarly, Northrop Grumman Australia said: 鈥淕overnment policy in supporting defence exports should be viewed, as it is in many other developed countries, as an integral element in strengthening Australia鈥檚 own national defence capabilities.鈥
MBDA Australia, the subsidiary of British missile company MBDA UK Ltd, said the Department of Defence should move away from a strictly competitive approach towards procurement in areas where it is 鈥渆ssential to maintain a level of in-country capability鈥. It should instead pursue partnerships with industry.
The defence industrial base argument is a convenient, but false, justification for public expenditure that increases arms company profits, but does nothing to make Australians safer.
As Thales Australia admitted in its submission to the inquiry, Australia is 鈥渘ot directly threatened by another power鈥. The also acknowledged that 鈥渢here is no more than a remote prospect of a military attack by another country on Australian territory in the foreseeable future鈥.
The Australian military is more likely to be engaged fighting US wars overseas than defending Australia from attack. High levels of military spending are driven not by genuine defence needs but by our politicians鈥 desire to prove to the US that Australia is not a 鈥溾.
Expanding the local arms industry will do nothing to tackle the real threats to security, here or around the world 鈥 namely climate change, resource depletion and inequality. Moreover, arms exports promote military responses to international disputes, increasing the likelihood of future armed conflicts.
Jobs?
Another justification for government support of the arms trade, often invoked by politicians, is that it supports thousands of Australian jobs. However, the Australian government could choose to support workers in less harmful industries.
Research by British group Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), the skills that currently benefit British arms companies could be transferred into the renewable energy sector. A by US academics found that government spending of US$1 billion on healthcare, education or transport would create more jobs than the same amount spent on the military.
The jobs argument also ignores the fact that for corporations, the pursuit of profit overrides allegiance to their workforces, which they will abandon if the profit motive dictates.
In its submission to the inquiry, Austal complained that Australian labour costs are often 鈥渕ore than ten times those of developing countries such as China and Vietnam鈥. The company had opened a shipbuilding facility in the Philippines in 2012, the submissions said, 鈥渄ue to the significantly lower labour costs鈥 there.
Lockheed Martin Australia listed 鈥渉igh labour rates鈥 as an impediment to increased arms exports, as they 鈥渕ake Australian Industry inherently expensive鈥. Ferra Engineering also mentioned the 鈥渞elative high cost of Australian labour鈥 in its submission.
[This is the first of a three-part series, The next article will cover government promotion of arms sales, human rights and the role of the Defence Export Control office.]
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