After consistently avoiding answering whether or not Australia has been supplying F-35 fighter jet parts or other military hardware for Israel, in early November the Albanese government quietly imposed a ban on the export of some defence goods to Israel. According to The Nightly “a small number” of Australian companies have been told they can no longer export goods to Israel.
The government refused to say what goods were involved—but it’s a clear admission that Australian companies are supplying the Israeli military and that Australia is complicit in the genocide.
Parts for the F-35 fighter jets and other material are still being exported. At Bisalloy’s AGM in November the company, which produces military grade steel, also confirmed their “20-plus-year business relationship with several leading Israeli companies”, while complaining about protests at the Wollongong factory disrupting production.
Meanwhile in the 44 days following the “ceasefire” in Gaza, Israel has violated the supposed truce almost 500 times bombing houses and tents, killing hundreds. Israel has also again broken the “ceasefire” in Lebanon, murdering the second in command of Hezbollah in Beirut.
The US has given Israel the green light for the continued butchery. US Vice-President JD Vance dismissed the continual Israeli violations as “little skirmishes” and claimed “the ceasefire is holding”.
Now the UN Security Council has rubber-stamped Trump’s proposal to hand control of Gaza to a colonial administration run by the US and Israel. This will guarantee Israel’s domination and ensure that the genocide will continue.
Disgracefully, Albanese is in lockstep with Trump. Following his October visit to Trump in the White House, Albanese sat next to Trump at a special dinner at the ASEAN summit. Trump sang Albanese’s praises saying he had “done a fantastic job” and “we’re working on a lot of things together”.
Albanese has cemented Australia as an integral part of the US war machine, expanding US bases across the country and ploughing $368 billion into nuclear-powered subs to further preparations for a war on China.
Liberals’ crisis
The Coalition has been in crisis since its crushing federal election defeat in May. Leader Sussan Ley has failed to move away from the Trump-like policies of Peter Dutton that led to the rout.
The Nationals and the Liberals’ right-wing have now forced the Liberal Party to dump its support for net zero emissions by 2050.
The Coalition is left exposed as a right-wing rump with no immediate chance of winning back government.
But rather than seize the opportunity to deliver some desperately needed change, Albanese is chasing them to the right, defending the interests of big business and the climate polluters.
Speaking as the COP30 global climate negotiations took place in Brazil, Albanese ruled out any limit on coal exports and declared again his support for more gas projects. In a completely empty gesture, Australia then put its name to the summit’s meaningless call for a “phase out” of fossil fuels.
Based on current government policies worldwide, we are headed for a hellish 3.3 degrees of warming by the end of the century.
Albanese’s failure to act on the cost of living and housing has also opened the door for the far right.
His government has fed the racist opposition to immigration, moving to cut international student visas and boasting recently that it’s cut immigration by 40 per cent.
One Nation is reaping the benefits, hitting 18 per cent in one poll.
But it’s rich housing investors that have made house prices and rents unaffordable, not migrants.
The large racist March for Australia rallies have given confidence to far right and fascist groups.
When the National Socialist Network staged a rally outside NSW Parliament with 60 members in November, it triggered a wave of shock.
But the actions of NSW Premier Chris Minns and the police won’t push back the Nazis.
Their rallies need to be met with counter-protests to demoralise them and push them off the streets. March for Australia plans to rally again on Invasion Day. Their intent to celebrate a White Australia on the day marking the start of the genocide of Indigenous people is particularly disgusting and must be challenged.
The Invasion Day marches must be as big as possible.
We also need to keep fighting for Palestine. National rallies are taking place on 7 December.
In Italy unions have called a nationwide strike on 28 November to protest a government “war budget” that cuts spending on public services while boosting military spending, and to block supply of weapons and goods to Israel.
With Albanese totally committed to running capitalism, there is an urgent need to fan the flames of resistance. We need to keep demanding sanctions and to cut all ties with Israel, to close the US bases and scrap the nuclear submarines.
We need socialists organised in every workplace, university and movement to link every struggle with a fight against the system that breeds racism and war.
