Sam Wainwright
Sam Wainwright
Weekend of action against AUKUS
A national weekend of action against AUKUS was organised over December 10-12 2024 with protests in Canberra, Perth, Sydney, Wollongong, Hobart, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Around 40 people attended an action by the newly-founded campaign group Stop AUKUS – WA action in Boorloo/Perth on December 10 as part of a national weekend of action. The group’s three objectives are: No nuclear subs; No US bases; and No war with China. In his speech Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John emphasised the need to end the presence of US bases on Australian soil
Other speakers included: Christopher Crouch from the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network; anti-nuclear campaigner Jo Vallentine; Socialist Alliance WA convenor Sam Wainwright; Elizabeth Hulm from the Communist Party of Australia; Peter Shannon from the Medical Association for Prevention of War and Nick Everett from Socialist Alternative.[1]
Coalition of Supporters of Bernard Collaery
About fifty people braved stormy conditions on 9th November 2020 in Ellenbrook, Western Australia, to protest outside the offices of Attorney-General Christian Porter regarding the criticism from human rights groups around the secretive prosecution of Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery.
Witness K revealed the role of Australia, and its security organisation ASIO, in the bugging of Timor-Leste’s government offices for the express intention of receiving a stronger end of the bargaining stick in oil and gas drilling negotiations.
The event was organised by the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) and the Coalition of Supporters of Bernard Collaery and Witness K (COSOCK) and gained traction after a successfully placed ad in the West Australian newspaper on Saturday. It was part of a national day of action across Australia, with similar protests in other capital cities.
Bolstering the event were speakers Seamus Carey (IPAN), Jo Vallentine (former Greens senator for WA) and Sam Wainwright (councillor for the City of Fremantle) who all withstood the wind and rain to speak to the eager crowd.
Issues spoken about included Australia’s involvement in imperialist policies in the Pacific, including of course Timor-Leste and the training of Indonesian soldiers in Australia to subjugate Austronesian and Melanesian peoples; and the matter of the day, ASIO wire-tapping the offices of the youngest and poorest nation in Southeast Asia; and the subsequent cover-up enforced by the Australian government and Porter.
As principled Marxist-Leninists we must stand against imperialism and fight for those who have the bravery to speak out against it. The actions of Porter, and this Australian government, to stand by the side of corporations like Woodside, Rio Tinto, and Santos and to let them plunder our poorest neighbours is reprehensible. As is their use of thuggish tactics to silence anyone that dares reveal the underhanded and secretive tactics of this government.
IPAN reached out to Seven West Media and other news organisations to cover the event but none were brave enough to face the rain.
The Communist Party of Australia demands the charges be dropped.