This article is the ultimate instalment in our in-depth sequence,WARFARE TO WEALTH.A compilation of thought-about studies from former diplomats, politicians and lecturers, this sequenceoffers an in depth critique of the Federal Government’s defence and overseas coverage trajectory together withevaluation of the $368 billion AUKUS dedication and the broader militarisation of our economic system.
With the ALP nationwide convention resulting from begin later this week (23-25 July), it’s hoped that the arguments contained right here might assist inform the Government’s coverage platform and strategic route away from its present give attention to militarisation.
This article is a component eight, the ultimate of the sequence, From Warfare to Wealth: Redirecting Australia’s Future. You can learn the different chapters on this sequenceHERE.
Part 8: A story of three conferences
Three Adelaide conferences expose the competing visions for Australia’s future, from militarisation and AUKUS to peace and sovereignty, writesDavid Higginbottom.
IN LATE JULY 2026, town of Adelaide will host a unprecedented confluence of occasions.
Over the identical few days, three distinct conferences will convene within the South Australian capital. Together, they signify the competing forces battling for the soul of Australias overseas coverage and the way forward for our nationwide wealth.
The first is theAustralian Labor Partys National Conference. Here, the governing occasion will debate itsNational Platform, dealing with mounting strain from its personal rank-and-file to reclaim Australias sovereignty, reform conflict powers and query the large fiscal drain of theAUKUSpact. And then both rubber-stamp the militarisation of the economic system or rethink the coverage platform.
The second is the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) nationwide convention. Gathering peace activists, unionists, environmentalists and First Nations leaders, this occasion is constructing a motion to cancel AUKUS and demand an impartial overseas coverage. It options the U.S. filmmakerAbby Martins documentary,Earths Greatest Enemy, which exposes the U.S. army because the worlds largest institutional polluter.
But it’s the third convention that reveals the true nature of the problem we face. Just down the street on theAdelaide Oval, the military-industrial complicated is holding its personal gathering: theGlobal Information Summit Australia 2026. Hosted by the newly shaped Information Power Institute of Australia (IPIA), the summit brings collectively defence contractors, state authorities businesses and intelligence operatives from throughout theFive Eyesnations.
If you need to perceive why Australia is committing $368 billion to nuclear submarines whereas the world burns, it’s essential to look intently at who’s within the room on the Adelaide Oval though you’ll need a high-level safety clearance to take action.
The enterprise of conflict
The Global Information Summit isn’t an impartial tutorial train. It is an Australian franchise of a U.S. military-origin info operations convention sequence, co-hosted with U.S. skilled associations deeply embedded within the Pentagons cognitive warfare equipment.
The summits sponsorship listing reads like a listing of the fashionable affect trade. Platinum sponsors includeM&C Saatchi World Servicesa personal strategic communications contractor with a observe document of government-funded affect operations and the South Australian Government.
More revealing is the summits Gold Sponsor:Elysium EPL. Founded by army veterans, this Canberra-based consulting agency has gained roughly $74 million in Commonwealth contracts, together with a latest $9.7 million contract for Submarine Support Services from the Department of Defence. Notably, one in all Elysium EPLs administrators concurrently serves as a director of the IPIA, the very institute internet hosting the convention.
This is the military-industrial complicated in motion. It is a closed ecosystem the place authorities businesses fund defence contractors, who in flip sponsor opaque institutes that host conferences to foyer those self same authorities businesses for extra funding.
It is all taxpayer cash, laundered by the equipment of strategic consulting and data warfare.
Humanitys ultimate examination
The distinction between these three Adelaide conferences couldn’t be starker. While the IPAN convention discusses how one can promote peace and forestall local weather collapse, and the ALP debates its democratic soul, the Global Information Summit will dedicate a full day to a classifiedhands-on conflict gaming scenariofacilitated by the United StatesIrregular Warfare Centre.
As I argued beforehand inIndependent Australia, we’re at present sitting humanitys ultimate examination. The Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsDoomsday Clockremains poised at 85 seconds to midnight. World army expenditure has surged to arecord US$2.9 trillion(AU$4.1 trillion), marking the eleventh consecutive annual rise. The financial value of violence drains nearly10.5 per cent of worldwide GDP.
We are pouring our nationwide wealth into the equipment of conflict on the actual second we want each out there dollar to transition our power grid, construct local weather resilience and fund real human safety, includingClosing the Gapfor First Nations folks.
The AUKUS pact is the final word expression of this misallocation. We are instructed that nuclear-powered submarines are important to guard us from China. Yet China is our largest buying and selling accomplice, taking one-third of our exports and driving $200 billion in two-way commerce. The menace narrative intentionally obscures the fact that China is already surrounded by a large array of U.S. army bases, from Japan to the Philippines to Australia.
We have chosen to deal with our issues as army threats, addressing the signs of a planet in misery slightly than the illness and we’ve got allowed the structure of our overseas coverage to be captured by the very contractors and lobbyists who revenue from perpetual rigidity.
Reclaiming our future
The convergence in Adelaide isn’t just a coincidence of scheduling; it’s a manifestation of the selection dealing with Australia.
Will we take heed to the voices on the Adelaide Oval, who view the Indo-Pacific as a theatre for irregular warfare and data dominance? Or will we take heed to the voices on the IPAN convention, who perceive that true safety comes from diplomacy, demilitarisation and regional cooperation?
The burden of that alternative falls squarely on the delegates on the ALP National Conference. They have the ability to demand that the Government redirects our nationwide wealth from warfare to safety. They have the ability to insist on parliamentary management over the choice to go to conflict. They have the ability to say that Australias sovereignty isn’t on the market to the highest-bidding defence contractor.
The three conferences in Adelaide supply a transparent view of our attainable futures:
- one path results in an infinite, escalating arms race, managed by consultants and underwritten by the Australian taxpayer; and
- the opposite path results in a real peace dividend, the place our extraordinary assets are lastly used to construct a sustainable, impartial and safe nation.
It is time to decide on.
David Higginbottomis a member of the coordinating committee of theIndependent and Peaceful Australia Network(IPAN) and coordinator of the Make Peace A Priority marketing campaign (mpap.au).
This article is the eighth and ultimate in a multi-part sequence, FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH, analyzing the true prices of our present defence trajectory and exploring the options proposed by the Make Peace a Priority (MPAP) marketing campaign.
Read the otherchaptersin this sequence:
FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The $368 billion query: What AUKUS is de facto costing us
Australia’s promised AUKUS jobs increase comes at a unprecedented value, with billions flowing abroad whereas more practical investments are left behind.
FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH Australia’s battle for strategic independence
Australia’s safety lies not in deeper army dependence, however in investing in real sovereignty, regional cooperation and nationwide resilience.
FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The fantasy of American idealism
Noam Chomsky and Nathan J Robinson problem the mythology of American exceptionalism and its penalties for Australia.
FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The AUKUS phantasm and the demise of statecraft
The AUKUS pact has prioritised army spending over diplomacy and statecraft.
FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH Why parliament should determine earlier than Australia goes to conflict
Sending Australians to conflict ought to require a vote of parliament, not the stroke of a minister’s pen, writes former Federal ALP SenatorDoug Cameron.
FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The path to peace requires funding in battle prevention
Australia can not construct lasting safety by militarisation alone. Real peace calls for sustained funding in diplomacy, improvement and battle prevention.
FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The 1984 warning: Why the AUKUS debate can’t be silenced
Looking again at Labor’s 1984 U.S. alliance battles, it is extra vital than ever the occasion doesn’t silence grassroots dissent on AUKUS as Australia confronts a much more unsure strategic future.
Related Articles
- FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The 1984 warning: Why the AUKUS debate can’t be silenced
- FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The path to peace requires funding in battle prevention
- FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH Why parliament should determine earlier than Australia goes to conflict
- FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The AUKUS phantasm and the demise of statecraft
- FROM WARFARE TO WEALTH The fantasy of American idealism