Last week, the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) wrote to Foreign Minister Wong expressing shock and outrage that Australia had not openly protested US President Trump’s 4 February statement of intent to erase Gaza. (more…)
Sue Wareham
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Israel’s total destruction of a whole healthcare system threatens us all
In December 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, warned in relation to the situation in Gaza that “the practice of medicine is under attack” and “we are in the darkest time for the right to health in our lifetimes”. More than a year later, and with the killing by Israel of more than 1000 Palestinian health professionals and near total destruction of a whole healthcare system, that catastrophic reality now casts an even greater shadow over humanity. (more…)
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Fear-mongering claims masquerading as facts protect AUKUS from parliament’s scrutiny
The battle is on to see which side of politics can boast of siphoning the most profits to the weapons industry – at the expense of health, education, climate and environmental action, and everything else we need – and of bowing more obsequiously before the US and its war machine. (more…)
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Time to talk peace
Tens of thousands of school students visit the Australian War Memorial every year – more than 95,000 in 2022-23 alone. For students in Years 4-12, a visit to the Memorial is mandatory for the school to receive federal funding for a visit to Canberra. (more…)
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Israeli physicians have reminded us that the care and protection of Gaza’s children is a human obligation — will we heed their call?
The organisation Physicians for Human Rights Israel issued an urgent global appeal on 17 June on behalf of the children of Gaza, demanding “immediate and decisive action from the international community to prevent further loss of life and to address the dire and immediate needs of Gaza’s most vulnerable population”. (more…)
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Health leaders call for University of Melbourne to drop disciplinary action against students
In an open letter, health leaders have urged the University of Melbourne to drop disciplinary action against 21 students involved in activism for Gaza. (more…)
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Counting the environmental toll of war – and why peace is a climate solution
One’s immediate thought on looking at any of the multitude of photos of the devastation of Gaza is a profound sense of sorrow and grief at the capacity of humans to wreak such destruction and suffering.
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Podcast: Healthcare, Australia and the War on Gaza
Dr Sue Wareham OAM, President of the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) talks with Helen McCue AM, recently awarded the Jerusalem peace prize for forty-one years of passionate advocacy and support for Palestine, through her work as founder of Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA. They discuss the destruction of medical facilities in Israel’s war on Gaza, the shredding of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the urgent need for Australian government and civil society to do everything in their power to stop the slaughter in Gaza and protect healthcare workers.
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Health professions urged to speak up on AUKUS and its threats to health and safety
At first sight there might not seem to be much connection between health and the AUKUS military alliance. But the threats posed by AUKUS to health are multiple and strong, at local, national, regional and global levels. A serious examination of those threats should form an important part of preventive healthcare. (more…)
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Israel: a nation killing and starving children
There is nothing in recent memory that matches the scale of the atrocities being inflicted on the civilians of Gaza, who appear to be being punished for their very existence. Every report and image coming out of this tiny but densely populated piece of land brings despair, horror and incredulity, with the question “How can this be happening?” being uppermost. (more…)
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AUKUS: risks, risks and more risks
Instead of actually engaging in measures to promote peace, the AUKUS governments are feeding us a racist notion that three Anglo nations targeting China from thousands of kilometres away are needed to ensure it. (more…)
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We’re being sold a false choice on war
Australia has just taken another step, as part of the AUKUS agreement with the US and the UK, that is leading us towards an event that should be unthinkable – involvement in a major war against China. (more…)
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Gaza: Australia’s obligations under the ATT and Genocide Convention
Australian governments talk a lot about our commitment to the rule of law and human rights. However Australia’s response – at glacial speed with grossly inadequate measures – to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza following Hamas’s brutal October 7 attacks, are putting that commitment to the test. As a nation that has provided political and military support to Israel, we are not doing well. (more…)
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People in Gaza are experiencing a “living hell”
As the death toll in Gaza from Israel’s bombardment and siege reaches well over 17,000 people, the Australian Government is slowly and belatedly taking steps towards ending the nightmare for the people there. (more…)
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The moral abyss: Israeli doctors call for the bombing of hospitals
Even as the moral abyss that is the war in Gaza had seemed as if it could not deepen, it now appears to be a bottomless pit. It is reported that about 100 medical doctors belonging to a group called Doctors for the Rights of Israeli Soldiers signed a letter last weekend stating that it is an “obligation” for the army to target hospitals in Gaza allegedly used to shelter Hamas, and specifically calling for the bombing of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. (more…)
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Acting Prime Minister Marles does not believe Palestinian hospitals should be allowed fuel
The Australian government must withhold all political support from the Israeli government while the killing of Palestinian civilians and destruction of their infrastructure continue. And yet, what hope? On 25 October when acting Prime Minister Richard Marles was asked on radio whether fuel should be allowed into Gaza to allow hospitals to function; he could not bring himself even to utter a simple “yes”. (more…)
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Nuclear subs challenge trains 10 year old children for war
It’s time for education ministers across the country to show leadership and protect our children from vested interests and pro-war propaganda. (more…)
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The AWM, children, and war crimes
What do we make of our own national war memorial inviting children to have a go at planning attacks on civilian infrastructure which amount to war crimes? (more…)
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To tackle climate change, we need peace – and also an accountable Defence department
Preventing wars, demilitarisation and promoting peace are vital strategies for tackling climate change, writes Dr Sue Wareham OAM, President of the Medical Association for Prevention of War. She also urges the Defence Department to lift its game on climate action, and to commit to improved measurement, reporting and scrutiny of military emissions. (more…)
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Mainstream media need to focus on peace
The fact that Australia is sleepwalking towards a catastrophic war against China has received very welcome and responsible coverage in Pearls and Irritations and other non-mainstream media. The head-in-the-sand stance adopted by much of the mainstream media stands in stark contrast. The most recent example of the latter was a 15-page supplement in The Canberra Times (CT) on 17 May – ‘Our Next Steps’, on the Defence Strategic Review. It was a most shameful collection of war-mongering articles and images. (more…)
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Twenty years on, ‘coalition of the willing’ rebranded
20 years ago, on 20 March 2003, the US, the UK, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq in an illegal act of aggression. As with all wars, we were told this one would be quick. The pretext for the invasion was – despite authoritative doubts raised at the time – claims about the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction. There were no such weapons in Iraq, although plenty of them in two of the invading nations. After on-again off-again ADF deployments, the last Australian troops finally left the country in June 2020. (more…)
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Ending the Ukraine and other wars: putting victims at the centre
A common response from Western nations to the Ukraine war is one of “support for Ukraine” or “standing with Ukraine” as it suffers ongoing attack from Russia. (more…)
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Time to reclaim remembrance
As the nation pauses to honour our war dead on Anzac Day, it is appropriate to reflect on the tainting of genuine commemoration at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) by vested interests. Added to deep concerns about the bitterly controversial $1/2 billion redevelopment, the Memorial is dividing rather than uniting Australians. (more…)
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“No Australian who has ever fallen in our uniform has ever died in vain, ever” The PM and the AWM
Prime Minister Morrison’s recent statement to the ABC that “No Australian who has ever fallen in our uniform has ever died in vain, ever” is glib, facile, devoid of any content and oblivious to the catastrophe in Afghanistan and to Australia’s role. It is little more than an arbitrary assertion – that Australia’s wars, by definition, bring good outcomes – that would absolve our leaders of any responsibility and accountability for disastrous outcomes from these wars.
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AWM needs lessons in democracy
While fine and solemn words about our democratic values and freedoms will be uttered from the Australian War Memorial (AWM) on Anzac Day, behind the scenes the institution is engaging in processes that treat with contempt our right to help shape the important decisions that affect us all.
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Manufacturing consent: Australian War Memorial has become a cheerleader for war
The Australian War Memorial is being transformed, against the wishes of the Australian people, from a place of war commemoration to a place that honours war itself, a militaristic and rousing endorsement of every decision to send Australians to war. (more…)
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Let’s face it, Australia goes to war far too easily (Canberra Times Nov 15, 2020)
The soon-to-be-released Brereton Report will shine a light on alleged war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan. It is expected that a culture of impunity within the special forces will be highlighted as a significant factor in perpetuating crimes against Afghan civilians
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Government must stop militarising our biggest challenges
Proposed legislation to enable the PM to declare a national emergency and call in the troops appears to be yet another example of the government’s dangerous tendency to militarise our biggest challenges, including climate change.
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SUE WAREHAM. Roadmaps on the two biggest threats ready to go
Our security lies in our capacity to work together for the common good, rather than in weapons that terrify other humans. Roadmaps to address our two biggest threats, nuclear weapons and climate change, are ready to go. We’re not waiting for a vaccine, but simply for governments, including our own, to learn that increasingly alarming warnings require urgent action. (more…)
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SUE WAREHAM. Prioritising Health
Global military spending continues to rise. Critical health goals could be achieved for a fraction of what we spend on wars. Focussing funding on health rather than military spending, globally and in Australia, would create more jobs, healthier communities, and budgetary savings. (more…)