Next week, Land Forces 2024 will take place in Naarm. “Land Forces 2024 International Land Defence Exposition” to give its full, rather innocuous title, is the largest land-based weapons expo held in the Southern Hemisphere and — as its website proudly announces — “the premier gateway to the land defence markets of Australia and the region, and a platform for interaction with major prime contractors from the United States and Europe.”
Attendance is strictly by invitation only: “The event is not open to the general public.” No list of attendees is available, but one can be sure there will be representatives of government, defence, industry and higher education institutions, learning about the latest developments in land-based killing machines and systems. Many national and international weapons manufacturers will be there and all states except Western Australia, as well as the Northern Territory, will be represented. The defence industry revolving doors, so eloquently described in the pages of Pearls & Irritations and Michael West Media, will be spinning wildly. The Australian Army’s Chief of Army Symposium will take place. To make the experience even better for attendees, the event is organised by AMDA, a registered charity, so delegates and exhibitors will enjoy tax-deductibility for all their hospitality and hand-shaking.
The hosting of Land Forces contributes to Australia’s plan to enter the top 10 of weapons-exporting nations. The plan was first reportedly promoted by former Defence Minister, now defence industry consultant and lobbyist, Christopher Pyne; and enjoys ongoing support from current defence ministers (and likely future defence industry consultants) Richard Marles and Pat Conroy.
I live in Naarm, but I have seen almost no publicity for such a big event. The Victorian Government — usually only too happy to publicise major events and the “millions of dollars they bring into the state” — has certainly been rather quiet about it.
Apart from attendees, the only groups aware of the event are Victoria Police, and the protesters who are planning a series of Disrupt Land Forces events. It has been reported that Victoria Police is expecting the biggest protest in Naarm “this millennium”. Up to 10% of the entire force will be in attendance. It seems bizarre that a massive police contingent will be deployed to disrupt a massive public protest against a massive arms fair. Particularly in the context of the ongoing carnage in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, protesters are understandably suggesting that the real criminals will be those inside the exhibition centre.
With no sense of irony, Victoria Police and the Victorian Government this week gazetted the entire “Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and Surrounds” as a “designated area” under the Control of Weapons Act 1990. Yes, this grants Victoria Police special powers to ensure that no weapons are carried by protesters outside a weapons expo! The police will have the power to stop and search any person within the designated area, without a warrant. They will even have the power to instruct a person wearing a face covering “to protect them from the effects of a crowd control substance” to remove such covering.
As a citizen of a liberal democracy, I would have hoped that a protest involving tens of thousands of concerned citizens would send the government a message. Clearly, however, the government intends to stop its ears and send its own message: that the military-industrial complex must not be, and will not be, disrupted.
