Close Military Bases, Stop AUKUS - Protest At Garden Island Naval Base, Saturday Feb 22, 2pm

The Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition has called on supporters to protest against the AUKUS nuclear submarine project and US military bases in Australia, tomorrow at 2pm at the entrance to the Garden Island Naval Base on Cowper Wharf Road.

“By now all Australians know that the Trump presidency has no respect for its ‘allies’ including Australia or any country. Basing US offensive forces in the Northern Territory and Western Australia and the ongoing expansion of the Pine Gap war fighting and spy base makes Australia complicit in Trump’s illegal schemes in Palestine and Ukraine and his plans for an economic and military showdown with China,” said SAAC spokesperson Peter Murphy.

“This weekend is a globally coordinated protest against military bases, initiated by the US-based World Beyond War group, and the Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition urges Australians to play their part.

“We demand the closure of US military bases in Australia, an end to the AUKUS agreement, and for Australia to stop supporting Israel with weaponry and intelligence from Pine Gap,” Murphy said, echoing the ActNOW group in Canberra.

The US spends more on weapons than the next nine nations combined, and the US military dominates the world with over 800 military bases on foreign soil. Since Australia and the US signed the Force Posture Agreement in 2014, the US military presence in Australia and the Pacific has increased, with enlarged joint military exercises, and an expansion of US military infrastructure, weaponry and personnel stationed in Australia. There are now nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and over 2,500 US Marines and their combat aircraft and long-range missiles based in the NT.

In addition, AUKUS Pillar I and II integrates Australia further into US planning for war against China, will cost upwards of $370 billion for nuclear-powered submarines, and requires Australia to store extremely dangerous nuclear waste for thousands of years, on First Nations lands.

“Australia has to break away from US corporate dreams of global domination, and instead treat global warming, poverty and inequality as the real security threats, and urgently push for a world-wide cooperative effort to overcome these challenges,” Murphy concluded.

Or further comment: Peter Murphy 0418 312 301

See world-wide actions at daytoclosebases.org.

The following actions will take place at these sites across Australia:
ACT: Canberra: Sun 23rd, 2:00-3:00 pm, outside the US embassy Moonah Pl, Yarralumla
NSW: Sydney: Sat 22nd, 2.00 pm at the gates of Garden Island Naval Base Sydney, Cowper Wharf Rd and Wylde St, Potts Point.
Qld: Brisbane: Sat 22nd,1.00 – 5.30 pm St Barnabas Church Hall (The Barney), 28 St Barnabas Pl, Red Hill
Qld: Cairns: Sat 22nd, 2.00 - 4.00 pm HMAS Cairns, 54 Draper St, Portsmith
WA: Rockingham: Sun 23rd, 5.30 pm HMAS Stirling Naval Base Gates, HMAS Stirling Pass Office

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