Our government must come clean about the money it gives Elbit. It must also come clean about Australian companies supplying weapons to Israel.
Albanese government ministers and MPs use the words “weapons” and “to Israel” to obfuscate the fact that Australia continues to export essential parts and components of weapons systems to the US that are bound for Israel.
According to a recent Defence Department media release, more than 70 Australian companies supply parts and components into the global supply chain of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet. Several of the companies are the sole source of the parts they produce. Without them, new F-35 jets cannot be built and parts in existing jets cannot be replaced.
On April 4, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution that included a demand for an arms embargo on Israel. Rather than respond to this directive, our government continues to play political games with the Greens and continues its misleading mantra that Australia is not exporting “weapons”.
First published in Crikey Letters on 12 June 2024