The cowardly, unprincipled, Zionist-subverted and US lackey Australian Labor Government, not content with betraying the poor and Palestinians, has betrayed Humanity and the Biosphere by refusing to support the latest UNGA vote on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Nuclear weapons existentially threaten Australia, Humanity and the Biosphere, but Australia is deeply complicit in US, UK and Apartheid Israeli nuclear terrorism
Australia-backed and genocidally racist Apartheid Israel has 100 nuclear weapons, Germany-supplied submarine delivery systems, and other delivery systems. However the newly-elected Australian Labor Government has blatantly broken its election promise to follow Labor Party Policy and support the TPNW nuclear weapons ban. In stark contrast, the Australian Labor Government resolutely and repeatedly declares that it won’t break its election promises to implement A$250 billion in tax cuts for the rich and A$200 billion for US or UK nuclear-powered submarines when 3.8 million Australians are living in poverty and 100,000 Australians are dying preventably each year from “life-style choice” and “political choice” reasons.
Before the 21 May 2022 Australian Federal election, the Labor Party Leader Anthony “Albo” Albanese was very public as a supporter of the TPNW. Thus Anthony Albanese (2018): “Nuclear weapons are the most destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. Today we have an opportunity to take a step towards their elimination… Gareth Evans, one of Labor’s great Foreign Ministers, spoke just a couple of weeks ago at the Tom Uren Lecture that I host in my electorate. He said that the difficulty of achieving disarmament was no excuse for inaction. He said and I quote: “Nuclear disarmament is core business for any Labor government worth the name.” And that is why I am pleased that this motion before us today says that Labor in government will sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons”… I believe that unless we do move down towards the path of disarmament, then we know the concern that the global community, including us right here, felt when North Korea was so close to being in a position whereby someone erratic would have their finger on a button. That’s why we need to be a part of the global community. This resolution is Labor at our best. It enables us to participate in the debate in a constructive way and move it forward. I commend the resolution to the conference” [1].
The pro-TPNW motion was passed by the Australian Labor Party in 2018 and subsequently re-affirmed in 2021. Thus the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN; founded in Melbourne and winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize )(2022): “The Australian Labor Party, which formed government in May 2022, adopted a resolution in December 2018 committing it to sign and ratify the TPNW in government. This was moved by Anthony Albanese, who now serves as prime minister and has been a vocal supporter of the TPNW. He said at the time: “Our commitment to sign and ratify the nuclear weapon ban treaty in government is Labor at its best.” Labor reaffirmed this position at its national conference in 2021” [2].
The Right-Extreme Right Liberal Party-National Party Coalition that ruled Australia from 2013-2022 was totally opposed to the TPNW, fully supported US nuclear terrorism, and supported the retention and potential use of US nuclear weapons on behalf of Australia [2]. However, while Labor support for the TPNW might have won it many votes from decent Australians, it was apparent to informed observers that a cravenly US lackey Australia could not support the TPNW and become a States Party to the TPNW because this would violate its intimate and craven connection with US militarism and nuclear terrorism [3]. Thus the United Nations Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons crucially lists activities prohibited for States Parties: “Article 1 Prohibitions
(1). Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to:
(a). Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
(b). Transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices directly or indirectly;
(c). Receive the transfer of or control over nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices directly or indirectly;
(d). Use or threaten to use nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
(e). Assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;
(f). Seek or receive any assistance, in any way, from anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;
(g). Allow any stationing, installation or deployment of any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in its territory or at any place under its jurisdiction or control” [4].
The TPNW came into force from the 22 January 2021 meaning that the 9 nuclear terrorist states and the 32 non-nuclear but nuclear terrorism-endorsing states (including Australia) would be grossly violating the TPNW if they joined up and became States Parties to the TPNW. My own country, US lackey Australia, is second only to Trump America as a supporter of nuclear terrorist Apartheid Israel, and in promising to join up would be deliberately intending to violate the TPNW, specifically in relation to items (e), (f) and (g) of the Article 1 Prohibitions [3].
In stark contrast to Labor blatantly breaking its pre-election promise to support the TPNW nuclear weapons ban, a mercilessly neoliberal and pro-Big Business Labor refuses “on principle” to break its pre-election promise of A$250 billion in tax cuts for the rich. The previous Coalition Government ran up a record gross debt of A$1 trillion, 3.8 million out of 26 million Australians are living in poverty [5, 6], inflation is running at 8% per annum, 100,000 Australians die preventably each year from “life-style choice” and “political choice” reasons [6], and half the population are struggling to pay for food, rent, power, fuel and health costs [7, 8]. Despite the political reality that about 50% of Australians want the scrapping of the A$250 billion in tax cuts for the rich [9], the neoliberal, pro-rich, pro-corporate Labor Government refuses to break its sacred pre-election promise of massive largesse for the rich.
Australian Labor government has broken its promise of supporting the TPNW nuclear weapons ban but won’t break its pre-election promises of commitment to A$200 billion for nuclear proliferation-enhancing nuclear submarines, and to A$250 billion in tax cuts for the rich – A$450 billion that could be otherwise used to alleviate desperate economic circumstances for millions of Australians or to address Australia’s huge gross national debt of A$1,000 billion.
The Labor government is resolute in keeping its promise to support a circa A$200 billion Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) nuclear submarines deal that locks Australia in with the US, threatens an Indo-Pacific arms race, and threatens the world with nuclear proliferation. This horrendously expensive deal for US or UK submarines powered with highly enriched uranium was made at the expense of an already agreed and operational deal with France for non-nuclear-powered submarines [10].
The US lackey Australian Labor government has shown its true colours as a supporter of US and UK nuclear terrorism by (a) breaking its already underway submarine contract (promise) with France in favour of nuclear proliferation-promoting US or UK nuclear submarines, (b) breaking its promise to sign up to the TPNW nuclear weapon ban, (c) supporting increased US military presence in Australia (thousands more marines, US warships and 6 B52 bombers), (d) likely US long-range missiles based in Australia, and (e) “we cannot confirm or deny” presence of nuclear weapons on US warships and warplanes in Australia.
Australian signing and ratifying the TPNW would have been incompatible with the Australian-UK-US (AUKUS) agreement supporting nuclear-armed US hegemony in the Indo-Pacific [10]. As UK and thence US allies Australians have invaded 85 countries since the British invasion of Australia in 1788, as compared to the British 193 countries, France 82, the US 72 (52 after WW2), Germany 39, Japan 30, Russia 25, Canada 25, Apartheid Israel 13 and China 2 [11-16]. Australia has been tightly allied with the US for the last 80 years since the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942 demonstrated the inability of imperial Britain to defend Australia [12]. Astonishingly, in these 80 years Australians have violated all circa 80 Indo-Pacific countries variously through military occupation as a UK or US ally, assisting the US in covert regime change (Indonesia 1960-1965, Laos 1960, Cambodia 1970, Chile 1973, Fiji 1987 and 2000, and Australia, 1975 and 2010), and disproportionate contribution to global warming by climate criminal Australia (Australia is among world leaders in 16 areas of climate criminality, and with only 0.3% of the world’s population contributes 5.4% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution through its huge Domestic plus Exported GHG pollution) [17, 18].
As a fervently loyal ally of the US, Australia is second only to the US as a supporter of Apartheid Israel. Through military cooperation and military co-research (notably at Australian universities)[19-23], Australia is linked to Apartheid Israeli militarism and thence to Israeli nuclear terrorism. Apartheid Israel, the UK, France, and the US have nuclear weapons totalling 100, 120, 300 and 5,400, respectively) [24-26]. Australia is one of 35 member nations of the anti-Jewish anti-Semitic, anti-Arab anti-Semitic, holocaust-ignoring, all European and violently racist International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). With the exception of Argentina and Apartheid Israel, the IHRA member nations have refused to support the 2021 UNGA Anti-Nazi Resolution for “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” [26].
Actor Clint Eastwood’s famous character “Dirty Harry” Callahan (a San Francisco Police Department police inspector) is backed in the war on crime by his iconic .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 29 handgun. “Albo” (Australian PM Anthony Albanese’s nickname) implies “white” (from the Latin albus) but in the dangerous, US-confected, and Australia-backed armed hostility to peaceful China (Australia’s biggest trading partner) a “Dirty Albo” is backed by US-beholden and substantially US-owned Mainstream media, thousands of US marines, US warships, key nuclear terrorism electronic spying bases, six B52 bombers, and likely nuclear weapons with missile delivery systems in Australian territory. US lackey Australia was complicit in all post-1950 US Asian wars, atrocities associated with 40 million Asian deaths from violence and war-imposed deprivation [12]. Decent Australians utterly abhor mass murder of children, women and men in endless US wars, and fervently do not consent to Australia being made a prime nuclear target by serial war criminal America (in any escalating nuclear exchange Australian cities would be destroyed before any US cities are atomic bombed).
Despite these Australia links with US, UK and Apartheid Israeli militarism and nuclear terrorism, Australia gets very benign treatment by the West Mainstream media for its abstention, as exampled by the few mild reactions to Australia’s cowardly and unprincipled refusal by abstention to join the TPNW (Labor’s abstention evidently being seen as an improvement on the prior outright opposition to the TPNW by the Coalition):
ICAN: “In October 2022, Australia for the first time abstained from voting on an annual UN General Assembly resolution that welcomes the adoption of the TPNW and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”. This move formally brought an end to five years of Australian opposition to the treaty. (From 2018 to 2021, Australia had voted against the resolution)… According to various policy statements issued by previous Australian governments, including the defence white paper of 2016 and foreign policy white paper of 2017, Australia supports the retention and potential use of US nuclear weapons on its behalf”[2].
The Guardian: “Australia has dropped its opposition to a landmark treaty banning nuclear weapons” [27].
Australian SBS News: “Australia was among 14 nations to abstain from voting. There were 43 nations who voted against the UN resolution co-sponsored by New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Ireland. A total of 124 nations voted in favour of the motion” [28].
In contrast is the unequivocal Australian Red Cross response: “The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement), which includes Australian Red Cross, has been calling for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons since 1945… All States, including Australia, [must] sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to take steps to de-escalate tensions and work towards nuclear disarmament” [28].
Final comments.
The refusal of the US lackey Australian Labor Government to follow Australian Labor Party Policy and sign up to the United Nations Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was cowardly and unprincipled but predictable. Thus ratification of the TPNW would have been incompatible with Australia’s complicity in US, UK, French and Apartheid Israeli militarism and nuclear terrorism. However in taking this decision the Australian Labor Government broke an important, pro-Humanity pre-election promise by ignoring official Australian Labor Party Policy on the TPNW.
In stark contrast, US lackey Australia refuses to break its pre-election promises (a) to support a A$200 billion deal for nuclear-powered submarines involving highly-enriched uranium (threatening nuclear proliferation and a regional arms race), and (b) to support A$250 billion in tax cuts for the rich (notwithstanding a gross national debt of A$1,000 billion, massive poverty in rich Australia, and 100,000 annual preventable deaths in Australia from “life-style choice” and “political choice” reasons).
The new Australian Labor Government did find the courage to reverse the decision of the previous Coalition Government to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Apartheid Israel, but faced vitriol from the Zionist Lobby, the pro-Zionist Coalition Opposition, and Zionist-subverted and US-dominated Mainstream media. Recognition of the State of Palestine is official Australian Labor Party Policy but it is predicted that the cowardly, Zionist-beholden and US lackey Australian Labor Government will break another pre-election promise and renege on this official Australian Labor Party Policy [29].
It gets much worse. The world is existentially threatened by nuclear weapons (a post-nuclear holocaust nuclear winter will decimate Humanity and the Biosphere) [25], poverty (presently 7.4 million people die avoidably from deprivation each year)[12], and climate change (in the absence of requisite urgent action 10 billion people will perish this century in a worsening Climate Genocide en route to a predicted sustainable human population in 2100 of only 1 billion people) [30, 31]. However the cowardly, dishonest and neoliberal new Australian Labor Government has already failed dismally to properly address these key existential threats [5].
The singular merit of the Australian Labor Government is that it is “less bad” than the previous utterly appalling, mendacious, bottom-of-the-barrel and Right-extreme Right Coalition Government. What can decent people do? Decent people committed to Kindness and Truth, and to science-informed rational risk management will (a) inform everyone they can, and (b) urge and apply Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against all those people, politicians, parties, corporations and countries disproportionately involved in the key existential threats to Humanity and the Biosphere. Australia has an excellent compulsory and preferential voting system, and decent Australians will reject both Labor and the Coalition, vote 1 Green and put the Coalition last.
References.
[1]. “National Conference of the Australian Labor Party moving support for the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, Adelaide Convention Centre, SA”, 18 December 2018: https://anthonyalbanese.com.au/speech-moving-support-for-the-nuclear-weapon-ban-treaty-tuesday-18-december-2018 :
[2]. International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), “Australia”, October 2022: https://www.icanw.org/australia .
[3]. Gideon Polya, “Nuclear Terrorism: US & Israeli Lackey Australia To Violate Treaty On Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons”, Countercurrents, 30 October 2020: https://countercurrents.org/2020/10/nuclear-terrorism-us-israeli-lackey-australia-to-violate-treaty-on-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons/ .
[4]. United Nations Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, 7 July 2020: http://undocs.org/A/CONF.229/2017/8 .
[5]. Gideon Polya, “Cowardly New Australian Labor Government Fails On Nuclear Weapons, Poverty & Climate Change”, Countercurrents, 6 July 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/07/cowardly-new-australian-labor-government-fails-on-nuclear-weapons-poverty-climate-change/ .
[6]. Gideon Polya, “Rich Australia Ignores 100,000 Preventable Deaths Annually: The Cost Of Neoliberalism & Lying”, Countercurrents, 29 September 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/09/rich-australia-ignores-100000-preventable-deaths-annually-the-cost-of-neoliberalism-lying/ .
[7]. Poverty & Inequality, Australia Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), “Poverty in Australia”, 2022: https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/poverty/ .
[8]. Mike Head, “Australian Labor Government defends brutal budget”, WSWS, 2 November 2022: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/03/nvmq-n03.html .
[9]. Katherine Murphy, “Guardian Essential poll: voters split on whether Labor should ditch the stage-three tax cuts”, Guardian, 18 October 2022: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/18/guardian-essential-poll-voters-split-on-whether-labor-should-ditch-the-stage-three-tax-cuts .
[10]. Gideon Polya, “Nuclear Terrorist Australia, UK & US AUKUS Alliance Threatens Humanity”, Countercurrents, 4 October 2021: https://countercurrents.org/2021/10/nuclear-terrorist-australia-uk-us-aukus-alliance-threatens-humanity/ .
[11]. “Stop state terrorism”: https://sites.google.com/site/stopstateterrorism/ .
[12]. Gideon Polya, “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950”, Korsgaard Publishing, Germany 2021.
[13]. Gideon Polya, “As UK Lackeys Or US Lackeys Australians Have Invaded 85 Countries (British 193, French 80, US 70)”, Countercurrents, 9 February, 2015: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya090215.htm .
[14]. Gideon Polya, “British Have Invaded 193 Countries: Make 26 January ( Australia Day, Invasion Day) British Invasion Day”, Countercurrents, 23 January, 2015: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya230115.htm .
[15]. Gideon Polya, “The US Has Invaded 70 Nations Since 1776 – Make 4 July Independence From America Day”, Countercurrents, 5 July, 2013: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya050713.htm .
[16]. Gideon Polya, “President Hollande And French Invasion Of Privacy Versus French Invasion Of 80 Countries Since 800 AD”, Countercurrents, 15 January, 2014: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya150114.htm .
[17]. Gideon Polya, “AUKUS & Quad In Context: Australia Violates All Indo-Pacific countries”, Countercurrents, 9 December 2021: https://countercurrents.org/2021/12/aukus-quad-in-context-australia-violates-all-indo-pacific-countries/ .
[18]. Gideon Polya, “Australia violates all Indo-Pacific countries”, Stop state terrorism, 9 December 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/stopstateterrorism/2021-12-09-australia-violates-all-indo-pacific-countries .
[19]. “Israel’s Elbit Systems gets $150 mln Australian defence contract”, Reuters, 25 January 2018: https://www.reuters.com/article/elbit-systems-australia-contract-idUSL8N1PK1E3 .
[20]. Israel Weapons Industries: https://iwi.net/about-us/ .
[21]. Andrew Greene, “Defence accused by Israeli company of lack of transparency over Reaper drone deal with US”, ABC News, 2 September 2017: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-02/reaper-drone-defence-accused-lack-transparency-israeli-company/8866036 .
[22]. Gideon Polya, “Australian Universities Complicit With Pro-Zionist Censorship And Genocidal Israeli Militarism”, Countercurrents, 24 May, 2012: https://www.countercurrents.org/polya240512.htm .
[23]. Vacy Vlazna, “Israeli Hawkademia in Australian Universities”, Palestinian Chronicle, 5 February 2012: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19268 .
[24]. Union of Concerned Scientists, “Nuclear weapons worldwide”: https://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/worldwide .
[25]. “Nuclear weapons ban, end poverty & reverse climate change”: https://sites.google.com/site/300orgsite/nuclear-weapons-ban .
[26]. Gideon Polya, “Zionist IHRA & US Alliance rejected UNGA Anti-Nazi Resolution”, Countercurrents, 28 October 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/10/zionist-ihra-us-alliance-rejected-unga-anti-nazi-resolution/?swcfpc=1 .
[27]. Daniel Hurst, “Australia drops opposition to treaty banning nuclear weapons at UN vote”, Guardian, 29 October 2022: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/29/australia-drops-opposition-to-treaty-banning-nuclear-weapons-at-un-vote .
[28]. Australian Red Cross, “Elimination of Nuclear Weapons position statement”, 31 October 2022: https://www.redcross.org.au/ihl/make-nuclear-weapons-the-target/elimination-of-nuclear-weapons-position-statement/ .
[29]. Khaled Ghannam, “Palestine: what to expect from Labor”, Green Left, 2 November 2022: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/palestine-what-expect-labor .
[30]. “Climate Genocide”: https://sites.google.com/site/climategenocide/ .
[31]. Gideon Polya, “Climate Crisis, Climate Genocide & Solutions”, Korsgaard Publishing, Germany, 2020.
Dr Gideon Polya taught science students at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia over 4 decades. He published some 130 works in a 5 decade scientific career, notably a huge pharmacological reference text “Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds”. He has also published “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950” (2007, 2022) and “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History” (1998, 2008). He has recently published “US-imposed Post-9-11 Muslim Holocaust & Muslim Genocide” (2020), and “Climate Crisis, Climate Genocide & Solutions” (2020). For images of Gideon Polya’s huge paintings for the Planet, Peace, Mother and Child see: http://sites.google.com/site/artforpeaceplanetmotherchild/ .
