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SCMP’s Asia desk

A grass-roots group associated with Australia’s ruling Labor Party has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government to break from “the American war machine” and pursue an independent defence policy for the future.
Traditional security allies Canberra and Washington have deepened their military ties in recent years, including through troop deployments and the trilateral Aukus pact, which also involves the United Kingdom.
⁠Some American defence personnel are also stationed at a naval base in Western Australia, where four ‌US-commanded Virginia-class submarines are scheduled to be stationed starting next year.
Last week, the two sides “agreed to accelerate force posture initiatives at Australian bases, bolster cooperation in combined logistics and build greater interoperability through joint exercises”, following a meeting between Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and his US counterpart Pete Hegseth in Washington.
“We need to be ensuring that we build deterrence, that we build balance, so that we can provide for the peace and stability of the region in which we live,” Marles said.
“Collaboration through the alliance with the United States is fundamentally important to that.”
That renewed cooperation – along with a report detailing how US military and arms manufacturers control or access 110 facilities on Australian territory – has rattled the Labor Against War group, which said Washington had “led Australia into wars of aggression” for 50 years.

“The latticework of US bases and facilities across our continent should alarm anyone that values Australia’s independence from the American war machine,” said Marcus Strom, the organisation’s national convenor, according to a report by The Guardian.
“Labor Against War calls on the Albanese government to chart a new course for Australia’s foreign and defence policy that is suited to the future, not clinging to the fading guarantees of the past,” Strom said.
He also demanded that the government cancel the Aukus agreement aimed at countering China’s growing military footprint in the Pacific.
Beijing has warned the deal could trigger a regional arms race.
Despite the disquiet in the ruling party over the military ties with the US, Foreign Minister Penny Wong defended the alliance in parliament on Monday, saying it “contributes to Australian sovereignty”.
Wong was responding to Greens senator David Shoebridge, who asked her why “Labor signed Australia up to the next US war”.
The minister added that “everything the government is doing is working to deter and avert conflict”.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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The group linked to the ruling Labor Party argues that the US has ‘led Australia into wars of aggression’ for 50 years


The group linked to the ruling Labor Party argues that the US has ‘led Australia into wars of aggression’ for 50 years.


Australian group calls for ties with US ‘war machine’ to be severed

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The group linked to the ruling Labor Party argues that the US has ‘led Australia into wars of aggression’ for 50 years

The group linked to the ruling Labor Party argues that the US has ‘led Australia into wars of aggression’ for 50 years