David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Minister for Defence to a question without notice I asked today relating to weapons exports.

Few people know that Australia has one of the most secretive and unaccountable weapons export systems in the world. Our government doesn't tell us who we're exporting weapons to, it doesn't tell us what the weapons are, and it doesn't tell us who profits here in Australia from the sale of weapons. Indeed, what we do know is that Australia has a sorry history of selling weapons to regimes that are engaged in some of the ugliest conflicts on the planet: selling weapons to both sides of the conflict in South Sudan, to both South Sudan and Sudan; selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, which is currently involved in the appalling conflict, riven with human rights abuses, in Yemen; and, of course, selling weapons after weapons after weapons to Israel.

Rather remarkably, Australia's secrecy on weapons sales contrasts poorly even with the United States. The US, amidst massive public pressure for their fuelling of war crimes, have sought to hide and were seeking to hide the weapons they were sending to Israel. That was considered, in the US context, a serious breach of basic transparency measures and rejected by the US Congress. But, in Australia, we would call that secrecy the norm. Indeed, let that sink in. We are more secretive and less accountable in the way that we export weapons than the US military-industrial complex. There are more secrets about Australia's exports than there about those of the US. If you really want to find out about Australia's weapons purchases, most often you'd find it out from disclosures in the US Congress. Australia should not be fuelling war crimes, and Australia should be transparent about the weapons it's sending to fuel conflict around the globe.

I want to read a quote from the Executive Director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, Rawan Arraf. He said:

Australia's role in exporting arms material to Israel must be exposed. If Australian-made weapons are being used against Palestinian civilians, our clients and the public deserve to know.

We know that hundreds of permits have been issued in recent years, but the Australian government keeps the basic details secret. What items are being exported? Who is making them? What are they used for? These are very valid questions that Rawan asks, and they're questions the government should answer. More than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military offensive nearly a month ago—hospitals, universities, schools, homes and ambulances all attacked. The Australian public has a right to know if any of that appalling conflict was fuelled by Australian weapons.

Question agreed to.