Thank you David Lowe, for drawing attention to $50 billion more defence spending.
I add these points:
At least six to seven per cent of the world’s climate emissions are generated by the militaries of the world. ‘At least’ because reporting countries’ military emissions to the IPCC is optional. Emissions from waging war, and associated environmental destruction are not counted.
Australia doesn’t report its military emissions accurately, and doesn’t include commercial defence manufacturing in what it does report.
Our government is ramping up the sale of military equipment under an ambitious plan to make Australia a global weapons-making powerhouse. We even have a Defence Industry Minister, Pat Conroy.
There are now 250 private military manufacturing and exporting companies in Australia according to the 2023 Defence Sales Catalogue which reads like a giant K-Mart catalogue of military capability.
Australia supplies weapons to Israel, killing Palestinians, to Saudi Arabia killing children in Yemen, and to dictators arming child soldiers in the midst of famines in Africa.
As David Lowe said, we have our own military-industrial complex in which many former politicians now hold senior roles in defence, gas, mining, consulting, lobbying companies such as Santos, Dow Chemicals, Worley Parsons, Fortescue Metals, Strike Energy, Dragoman, BHP, United Petroleum and Raytheon.
Yes, David Lowe, we do need to ask: ‘who or what is the enemy?’
‘Climate change is a more real and present danger to the security of Australians than an over-hyped threat of war with China’. This is the assessment of Admiral Chris Barrie, retired chief of the Australian Defence Force who heads the Australian Security Leaders’ Climate Group.
The Albanese government’s Strategic Defence Review, released in April 2023 devoted an entire chapter to warning that the acceleration of climate change risked ‘“overwhelming” defence, as nations increasingly grew reliant on defence forces for humanitarian assistance and disaster response.’
So don’t hold your breath for the Australian Army to come and help after the next flood.
If our governments will not question increased defence spending and its associated emissions, then we must.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
