Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has unveiled a new “defense export strategy” setting out the policy and strategy to make Australia one of the world’s top 10 weapons exporters within the next decade.
Hailing it a job-creating plan for local manufacturers, the coalition says Australia only sells about A$1.5 billion to A$2.5 billion (US$1.2 million to US$2 million) in “defense exports” a year and it wants the value of those exports to increase significantly.
It has identified a number of “priority markets”: the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific region, Europe, the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
Photo: AP / Daniel Munoz / AAP
It will set up a new Defence Export Office to work hand in hand with Austrade and the Centre for Defence Industry Capability to coordinate the commonwealth’s whole-of-government export efforts and provide a focal point for more arms exports.
An A$3.8 billion Defence Export Facility, to be administered by the Export Finance and Insurance Corp, is to provide the finance local companies need to help them sell their defense equipment overseas.
A new Australian Defence Export Advocate position, set up to support the Australian Defence Export Office, would provide industry with the constant high-level advocacy needed to promote Australian-made weapons overseas.
“It is an ambitious, positive plan to boost Australian industry, increase investment, and create more jobs for Australian businesses,” Turnbull said.
“A strong, exporting defence industry in Australia will provide greater certainty of investment, support high-end manufacturing jobs and support the capability of the Australian defense force,” he said.
The controversial plan has been anticipated since the middle of last year when Australian Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said that he wanted to start selling far more Australian-made weapons overseas.
At the time, Tim Costello, the World Vision Australia chief advocate, attacked the plan, saying the government had cut humanitarian aid which saved lives while simultaneously discussing the merits of becoming a major weapons manufacturer and exporter.
“The government says this is an export and investment opportunity, but we would be exporting death and profiting from bloodshed,” Costello said last year. “There is only one purpose in making a weapon and that is to kill someone with it. Do we really want that to be what people think of when they see the brand ‘made in Australia’?”
Costello said at the time that the contemporary Syrian war could not have lasted for more than a year without armaments profiteering.
He reiterated those concerns yesterday, saying the decision to become a major weapons manufacturer sent a shocking message about Australian values.
“When the Australian government looks for a new manufacturing and export opportunity, the best they can do is weapons?” Costello said. “Millions of people across the world are running from violence and our answer to that is to produce more weapons. Whatever money we make from this dirty business will be blood money.”
Between 2012 and 2016, the 10 largest arms exporters were, in order: the US, Russia, China, France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Ukraine and Israel.
Australia was the 20th largest arms exporter during that period, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Amnesty International, Oxfam Australia and Save the Children have all criticized the plan.
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