The excessive police violence against anti-war protesters opposing the multi-million-dollar weapons鈥 expo Land Forces shows just how far the ruling class is prepared to go to normalise war and militarism.
, renowned for its violence, backed up by NSW Police, used rubber bullets, flash bangs, pepper spray and tear gas on peaceful protesters, who were trying to defend themselves.
An activist photographer even lost part of his ear from being
The Age reporter Cameron Houston witnessed 鈥減olice firing up to a dozen rubber bullets over a period of about 20 minutes鈥. He said Daily Mail reporter Wayne Flower was also shot with a rubber bullet.
Victoria Police denied targeting journalists, blaming protesters for having to use weapons.
The Labor government surely knew that, as the Gaza war stretches to almost a year, a weapons expo, including with Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems, was going to become a focus of the anti-war, pro-Palestine movement.
Labor could have pulled out of its sponsorship and cancelled the event. Instead, it decided arms dealers鈥 future profits were more important.
It spent a on the police operation, which was largely a training exercise given that there were more police than anti-war activists on the biggest protest day.
In general, the corporate media ran with the police line, blaming 鈥渃ohorts鈥 of protesters, except when reporters also became targets.
Normalising police violence goes hand in hand with federal Labor鈥檚 push for Australia to become one of the world鈥檚 .
The value of Australia鈥檚 arms exports, over 2023鈥24, is estimated to be more than State governments are touting their military investment credentials, with
Despite the cost-of-living and housing crisis, Labor is spending upwards of $368 billion on nuclear-powered submarines, as part of AUKUS military alliance. The second pillar of this alliance directs billions of dollars of our money to the research and development of lethal weapons.
The Disrupt Land Forces protests, which peaked at just more than 1500 people, included young and older anti-war activists, who object to resources being diverted to militarism and war.
They were also there to oppose Labor鈥檚 support for Israel, given that several Israeli weapons companies were displaying their military wares.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen said anti-war protesters a lie echoed by former Liberal defence minister Christopher Pyne on the .
Pyne, always a war enthusiast, now a weapons industry consultant, claimed that people have a 鈥渞ight to protest鈥, but not to be violent, which is why the police had to step in.
The irony wasn鈥檛 lost on many. The images of all the weapons of war on display inside Land Forces, and the highly militarised police attacking unarmed demonstrators outside, undid their attempts to paint anti-war protesters as the violent ones.
Pyne argued that weapons are really just 鈥渄eterrents鈥, a ridiculous proposition as the war in Gaza shows. Elbit Systems champions its weapons as being 鈥渂attle-tested鈥. He also argued that weapons 鈥減rotect democracy鈥 and 鈥渟hared interests鈥, stopping short of saying whose.
The interest that Land Forces served was the profit margins of the already cashed-up arms manufacturers.
Spending on 鈥渄efence鈥 is . Militaries act for the ruling class. Capitalism relies on war to open new markets for their ruling class to continue to make profits. Shareholders of arms manufacturers also make big returns on their investments.
The United States justifies its record-breaking US$916 billion military budget as 鈥渄efence鈥. However, it is really about trying to , even at the risk of starting a new war.
As Israel risks driving the , and state and federal Labor continue to back it and the US, over Palestine, we have an opportunity to build a bigger and more dynamic anti-war movement that challenges capital鈥檚 need for war.
[Jacob Andrewartha took part in the Disrupt Land Forces protest. He is a national co-convenor of the .]