Teachers, construction workers, maritime workers and university staff among from across many unions have passed motions against the AUKUS pact. While our public services struggle to receive the funding they deserve, this government remains committed to pouring billions of tax payer dollars  to fund war.

We are inspired by each union taking a stance against the drive to war and militarism. The more support we get from work places across the country the stronger our movement becomes!

If you need help drafting a motion for your workplace feel free to contact us we would love to help support

At its 1983 Annual Conference the ATF endorsed the main recommendations of the 1982 Hiroshima

Symposium which stated that: 'Teacher unions should both take an active part in the general peace

movement of the country, as well as work to have peace and disarmament education introduced in a

systematic way into schools and colleges by the actions of teachers themselves.'

Federation expresses its opposition with what appears to be an increasing militarisation of education

across the schools and tertiary sectors. The weapons industry is emboldened by the AUKUS decision

and their attempts to push their way into public schools, TAFE and universities must be rejected.

Encouragingly, opposition to the deal is growing. Annual Conference congratulates the Illawarra

Teachers Association for their role in this year’s May Day March in Port Kembla in opposition to AUKUS,

the nuclear submarine deal and Port Kembla as a possible site. Further, Annual Conference

congratulates the South Coast Labour Council and the Wollongong May Day Committee for their

leadership on this issue. Federation stands in solidarity with all workers who are fighting off this nuclear

threat against their communities.

Further, Federation applauds members of the Australian Labor Party, led by the newly established

Labor Against War former MPs and former Ministers who are calling on the Albanese government to

withdraw from the AUKUS alliance and cease any program in pursuit of the acquisition of nuclear

submarines.

Executive Recommendation to 2023 Annual Conference

Federation reaffirms our commitment to campaigning for Australia to become a signatory to the United

Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and will continue to support the work of

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Australia (ICAN).

Federation will continue to work with the anti-war, peace and broader union movements to expose and

oppose the threat inherent in this rise in militarism. Our participation will include, but will not be limited

to, the following:

• Encouraging all interested members to join the Peace Environment and International Issues

Special Interest Group,

• Each association encouraged to elect a Peace Contact to assist the union to organise future

teacher solidarity and supported by developing a comprehensive role statement for Association

Peace Contacts as a matter of priority in conjunction with members of the Special Interest

Group,

• Members and associations actively encourage students to send entries into the Sam Lewis

Peace Awards each year,

• Continuing to promote and support activities, rallies, events and publications that inform and

encourage the participation of members and the wider community around peace and the risks

posed by AUKUS , including with financial support, where appropriate and as determined by the

Senior Officers and Executive, and

• Development of a Trade Union Training campaign course which may include focus on the

teaching of peace in the curriculum and the history of peace in the Federation and broader trade

union movement.

That this decision of Annual Conference be provided to the Australian Education Union, Education

International, Unions NSW and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (the ACTU) as a matter of

urgency in order to further strengthening the broader union movement’s opposition to war, growing

militarisation and nuclear proliferation.

Updates on the progress of these matters will be the subject of reports and recommendations to

Executive and Council as appropriate.

ICTA opposes the proposal, by the Federal government, to spend $368 billion over the next 30 years to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in Australia.

ICTA rejects the federal government's justification that this decision is on the basis of "national security" and a job creation scheme.

On 'national security', this deal will further align Australia with the military interests of the USA, who has increased its aggressive stance against China in the Asia-Pacific. If the Australian government continues down this path, it makes war more likely, and with it the direct and potentially catastrophic threat to people in Australia and across

the Asia- Pacific region.

On 'job creation', according to the government's own figures (www.om.gov.au/media/aukus-nuclear-powered-submarine-pathway) AUKUS will result in the creation of around 20,000 jobs over the next 3 decades..

Assuming that all of these jobs will run for 30 years, that comes out a sa cost of

$613,333 per job, per year.

For the same amount, around 65,000 teachers or nurses could be hired for a 30 year period (being paid at a higher rate than teachers and nurses currently are in NSW). Action

• The ICTA executive decide on a date (when the Federal parliament is not sitting) to send a delegation to meet with PM Anthony Albanese to discuss with him our opposition to this AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.

• If PM Anthony Albanese either refuses to meet with us OR does not take our points seriously, the ICTA executive will organise and advertise a rally to be

• held outside of PM Anthony Albanese's office.

• That this date be advertised to the ICTA memberships, encouraging them to

• attend.

• That the communications officer of ICTA informs the media of this rally.

It is a deep commitment to peace that guides the NSW Teachers Federation’s opposition to

militarism and belief that war should never be used to resolve international conflict. There have been too many times in history when warmongering and armaments build-up have led to international conflict, death and destruction.

Federation opposes AUKUS and joins the growing chorus of concern that the AUKUS security pact Australia signed with the USA and the UK compromises the pursuit of an independent foreign policy and has the potential to drag Australia once again into foreign conflict and war. Recent alarmist, war mongering commentary, deployed in an attempt to bolster unsubstantiated predictions of an inevitable war with China, is of deep concern.

Within weeks it was announced that the Australian Government is to spend $368 billion on nuclear-powered submarines, which will increase the hosting of US military forces on Australian territory. Continuing reports that Port Kembla is being considered as the site for a nuclear submarine base is of deep concern for our public education communities.

While governments appear ever ready to commit huge amounts of public revenue on military

expenditure there remains a serious underfunding of public pre-schools, public schools, TAFE and higher education, and other areas of the public sector. A massive transference of public wealth to private armament manufacturers will constrain public expenditure in all government portfolios for decades to come.

We are reminded of the words of former Federation President Sam Lewis when addressing the union’s 1951 Annual Conference: “The greatest single factor on the world scale causing inflation and leading to the undermining of the living and cultural standards of the people is enormous expenditure on production of armaments. Teachers are concerned very deeply with conservation: conservation of natural resources, conservation of human resources. They are the agents in the battle against material and moral erosion, against the scorching of human flesh and the searing of the human spirit.”

It was also Sam Lewis who ensured the belief that “all wars are fought against children” underpins our work as teachers.

Federation will continue to work with the anti-war, peace and broader union movement to expose and oppose the threat inherent in this rise in militarism.

Australia's announced acquisition of nuclear submarines will escalate the arms race in our region, increase the likelihood of war between the US and China, with Australia's involvement, and cost an estimated $368 billion.

The submarines are a dangerous waste of money, in the face of a cost-of-living and climate crisis, and funding shortages for school, hospitals, housing and social services.

Every facility built to support these submarines turns the host city into a military target. The submarines and the weapons-grade uranium they contain pose an environmental and nuclear proliferation risk. The government is disregarding Indigenous voices by planning to eventually dispose of the reactor cores on Indigenous land.  We further note that sovereignty was never ceded by Aboriginal people of any part of Australia.

AEU Maribyrnong Region therefore resolves to:

1. Reaffirm the AEU’s opposition to the AUKUS pact

2. Request that AEU Victoria Branch organise a contingent of members to future rallies opposing AUKUS.

3. Correspond with our nearest senior Federal Labor member to voice against nuclear subs and for a more socially useful use of the $368 billion such as immediately fully funding the Student Resource Package for government schools, funding schools to reduce class sizes and provide more planning time, and reversing government cuts to students with special needs.

4.  Request that AEU Victoria Include an article in the next newsletter outlining the case against AUKUS to the membership.

That the NTEU ANU Branch Committee endorse the following motion put forward by the ANU Education Activism Network, which passed at the meeting of the ANU Student Representative Council on Wednesday 23rd February 2022. If the motion is successful the NTEU ANU Branch Committee will publicise the result in the next edition of the fortnightly newsletter.

Motion to endorse anti-AUKUS petition and reject ANU participation in Nuclear Science academic program which passed at the meeting of ANU Student Representative Council, 23/02/22

For anti-AUKUS petition see: https://www.change.org/p/vice-chancellor-brian-schmidt-no-aukus-at-anu

Preamble:

Early last year, the Department of Defence announced it will sponsor defence employees and other public servants for a Master of Science in Nuclear Science at the ANU as part of its Nuclear Science Academic Program.

The program, which will see more than 300 scholarships awarded nationally, is an attempt by the Morrison government to train a workforce capable of building and maintaining the nuclear submarines secured under the AUKUS alliance.

The AUKUS alliance is part of an aggressive military build-up by the US and its allies - including Australia - for a confrontation with China. It is not a defensive alliance, but about ensuring continued US domination of the Indo-Pacific region, and that Australia is better militarily equipped in the event of war against China.

More than 300 scholarships will be offered around the country as part of the program, worth approximately $20,000 per student per year. This means that over $12 million will be spent on training as part of this military expansion in the next couple of years alone.

The submarines themselves are already Australia’s most expensive military expenditure of all time. It could cost up to $171 billion to build them, according to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and nearly as much again to maintain them over their lifetimes. Military expenditure as a proportion of GDP is set to continue to increase over the coming years in order to facilitate this.

This comes after federal funding for higher education was slashed by nearly 10% over the next three years in the 2021 budget. Federal funding cuts and university restructures have seen 1 in 5 university staff lose their jobs across the country in the 12 months to May 2021. 465 jobs alone have been cut at ANU along with hundreds of courses, multiple schools, degrees, and other qualifications.

This announcement shows where the priorities of the Morrison government lie - there’s plenty of money available for higher education when it comes to funding war. It is equally appalling that the ALP has signalled its complete agreement with the Morrison government in this matter, pledging to support AUKUS and the building of the submarines.

Higher education should not be geared towards expanding a destructive industry. Both the dangerous military aggression of AUKUS and deeper ties between the military and the higher education sector must be opposed.

Action:

-ANUSA demands that ANU reverses its decision to participate in the Nuclear Science Academic Program and rejects any future involvement with the Department of Defence

-ANUSA calls on the federal government to scrap the program altogether, with the money put instead towards increasing Commonwealth funding for universities.

-ANUSA will share the Education Activism Network’s petition No AUKUS at ANU through its Facebook page and newsletter and encourage students to sign on.

"CFMMEU National Conference is opposed to the ongoing and reckless AUKUS military alliance to develop nuclear submarine capability.

The secretive plan could cost as much as $170 billion and continues to escalate conflict with China and throughout our region.

This money should be spent on health care, education, social housing, natural disaster response and development of publicly owned renewable energy capacity.

We support workers across the world opposing war and excessive military spending and pledge ongoing opposition to further expansion of the nuclear industry."

Today, on World Peace Day, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) declares its total opposition to the reckless announcement by Scott Morrison that Australia would be developing nuclear-powered submarines as part of a military alliance with the US and UK.

At a time when Morrison should have been pursuing vaccination supplies and providing maximum support to our health system and millions of people in lockdown, he has been pursuing secret military deals. The deal will continue to escalate unnecessary conflict with China.  Workers have already been impacted with seafarers stranded on coal ships and some trades shut down.

Extraordinary sums of money have been wasted with the previous submarine contract scrapped only five years after it was signed. That contract was worth $90 billion – nuclear submarines will cost much more.

Only six countries in the world have nuclear submarines, and they all have nuclear power stations. Advocates for nuclear power and nuclear weapons have been emboldened. The submarines will use highly enriched uranium ideal for nuclear weapons.

The Australian government has repeatedly tried to set up nuclear waste dumps on First Nations land. This will intensify that pressure.

The billions wasted on submarines should be spent on:

• Building an Australian strategic shipping fleet in Adelaide that could operate in cabotage and international trades;

• Building renewable energy and offshore wind turbines to ensure we prevent global heating from exceeding 1.5°C;

• Raising Jobseeker payments to well above poverty levels;

• Pay increases for health workers and investments in our health systems;

• Pay increases for teachers and investments in public schools to make them covid-safe;

• Investing in firefighting capacity and ensuring we are ready for the next bushfire season.

Workers have no interest in war with China or any other country. Every effort should be made to pursue peaceful relations.

The MUA stands in solidarity with workers in all countries in opposing war and wasteful environmentally harmful military spending. We pledge our opposition to oppose the development of nuclear submarines in Australia, and the development of any other nuclear industry.

AUKUS SUBMARINE DEAL WILL DESTROY JOBS AND CREATE A NUCLEAR-SIZED PROBLEM.

The newly announced AUKUS deal will reduce Australian jobs and sovereign capability and could be a dangerous step towards lifting Australia’s prohibition on nuclear.

Shipbuilding workers in South Australia and French company Naval Group were blindsided when Scott Morrison announced that the $90B contract for Collins Attack Class submarines (of which at least $2.5B has already been spent) would be torn up in favour of a deal with the United States for nuclear powered submarines.

The agreement between the three countries, Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS), will go beyond submarines and cover sharing knowledge about advanced military technology.

Work, which was already delayed, was due to begin on the diesel electric-powered submarines in 2024. Now, the nuclear submarines (SSNs) don’t even have a start date and will undergo at least 18 months of scoping before any work commences. The date for cutting steel is ten or more years away and they won’t be operational until the 2040s.

The new deal means that Australia will likely need to lease foreign SSNs and nuclear specialist crew in the interim to avoid a capability gap. It means we will have a further dependence on the US and will lose a significant amount of our sovereign capability because we won’t hold the skills or knowledge of how to fix and operate the SSNs. All of the highest-tech work will be done overseas, instead of boosting our skills and capabilities in Australia. 

The SSNs will also include 20% less Australian materials compared to the previous French contract, and will result in more (if not all) of the work being done overseas.

“This is likely to cost Australia much needed engineering, manufacturing, and construction jobs,” said ETU National Assistant Secretary Michael Wright.

At its peak, employment on the French contract of around 900 tradespeople was scheduled to be reached by 2030. At least 5000 jobs in the supply chain were also likely to be created.

The ETU suspects that the proposed Department of Defence 12-18 month review is likely to recommend construction of any SSN class units be done offshore due to the security risk of bringing reactors to AU from US east coast and UK west coast for installation on AU constructed boats.

“In our view, and regardless of the method of propulsion, it’s likely that any decision of the Department’s review will favour building any new subs in the US or UK and two generations of Australian workers will lose access to highly-skilled, well-paying, secure jobs. That will be the disastrous result of the rushed decision,” said ETU National Industry Coordinator Matt Murphy.

Our union will demand a role in the review so we can advocate for a thriving, non-nuclear, shipbuilding industry to be kept in Australia.

Nuclear-sized problems

The submarines will be powered by nuclear technology, which betrays Australia’s non-nuclear policy and opens doors to a dangerous and unnecessary domestic nuclear power industry, weapons proliferation and regional arms race. Already our regional neighbours, including Indonesia and Malaysia, have issued statements condemning the surprise announcement.

The ETU is strongly against the deployment of nuclear power in Australia because of the risks associated with the mining and extraction of uranium, the huge build costs, the terrible and deadly consequences to environmental and human health when incidents occur and its potential to take us down the path of devastating weaponry.

We don’t need a nuclear industry, and we don’t need to be subsidising the USA or UK in theirs. We have cheaper, more reliable and environmentally friendly renewable energy options that create many more jobs.

Already there is strong support within Coalition ranks for a homegrown nuclear power industry, and the Minerals Council of Australia were quick to point out the ‘opportunity’ the submarine announcement created for expanding nuclear technology in Australia, so the threat is real. In reality though, the USA will never share this level of technology and the work will be done overseas, regardless of our nuclear capabilities in Australia. We won’t get anywhere near the jobs, skills or expertise that we were going to get out of the French deal, and the delays will be far greater. The Nuclear lobby will simply use this announcement as a stalking horse to try and introduce nuclear power into Australia.

The NTEU is alarmed by the announcement by the Australian Government of its agreement with the United States of America and the United Kingdom to build nuclear powered submarines, with no apparent regard as to the costs to be incurred or regional political impact of the arrangement.

The Government has told universities and other public higher education providers that they can’t afford to assist Australia’s 4th largest export industry, yet this Government is prepared to agree to what it already acknowledges will be a multi-billion dollar agreement, sight unseen.

Furthermore, after billions of dollars and years wasted on the now cancelled $90 Billion French submarine agreement, the Government’s ‘blank cheque’ approach to this announcement is stunningly irresponsible and belies the lip service they pay to higher education.

The Union strongly supports the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) and condemns the expansion of both the number of countries with nuclear weapons and the global numbers of nuclear weapons since the treaty was concluded.  While the Federal Government has indicated that these submarines will be fitted with conventional weapons, there are decades to come between this announcement and the actual delivery, and history has shown that in all instances, the possession of nuclear-powered submarines is linked to the development of nuclear weapons capacity in the countries concerned.

NTEU joins ICAN (The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) in calling on the Federal Government to immediately ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in line with our regional neighbours.

The NTEU also recognises that the decision by the Australian Government to adopt nuclear technology within our military capacity will potentially negatively affect Australia’s strategic foreign policy standing. In particular, the Union is deeply concerned that the Government’s decision carries real risks of increased regional instability with Australia becoming a central player in a “cold war” strategy.

The NTEU supports the peaceful use of nuclear technology where it exists to support humanity and protect our environment, primarily in the use of nuclear medicine. However, adapting nuclear technology for military purposes, without ratifying the Treaty is needlessly reckless.

Victorian Trades Hall and its affiliates declares its total opposition to the reckless announcement by Scott Morrison that Australia would be developing nuclear-powered submarines as part of a military alliance with the US and UK.

At a time when Morrison should have been pursuing vaccination supplies and providing maximum support to our health system and millions of people in lockdown, he has been pursuing secret military deals. The deal will continue to escalate unnecessary conflict with China.  Workers have already been impacted with seafarers stranded on coal ships and some trades shut down.

Extraordinary sums of money have been wasted with the previous submarine contract scrapped only five years after it was signed. That contract was worth $90 billion – nuclear submarines will cost much more.

Only six countries in the world have nuclear submarines, and they all have nuclear power stations.

Advocates for nuclear power and nuclear weapons have been emboldened. The submarines will use highly enriched uranium ideal for nuclear weapons.

The Australian government has repeatedly tried to set up nuclear waste dumps on First Nations land. This will intensify that pressure.

 The billions wasted on submarines should be spent on:

·         Building an Australian strategic shipping fleet in Adelaide that could operate in cabotage and

international trades;

·         Building renewable energy and offshore wind turbines to ensure we prevent global heating from exceeding 1.5°C;

·         Raising Jobseeker payments to well above poverty levels;

·         Pay increases for health workers and investments in our health systems;

·         Pay increases for teachers and investments in public schools to make them covid-safe;

·         Investing in firefighting capacity and ensuring we are ready for the next bushfire season.

Workers have no interest in war with China or any other country. Every effort should be made to pursue peaceful relations.

Victorian Trades Hall and its affiliates stands in solidarity with workers in all countries in opposing war and wasteful environmentally harmful military spending.

We pledge our opposition to oppose the development of nuclear submarines in Australia, and the development of any other nuclear industry.

Unions NSW declares its total opposition to the reckless announcement by Scott Morrison that Australia would be developing nuclear-powered submarines as part of a military alliance with the US and UK.

 At a time when Morrison should have been pursuing vaccination supplies and providing maximum support to our health system and millions of people in lockdown, he has been pursuing secret military deals. The deal will continue to escalate unnecessary conflict with China.  Workers have already been impacted with seafarers stranded on coal ships and some trades shut down.

 Extraordinary sums of money have been wasted with the previous submarine contract scrapped only five years after it was signed. That contract was worth $90 billion – nuclear submarines will cost much more.

 Only six countries in the world have nuclear submarines, and they all have nuclear power stations. Advocates for nuclear power and nuclear weapons have been emboldened. The submarines will use highly enriched uranium ideal for nuclear weapons.

  The Australian government has repeatedly tried to set up nuclear waste dumps on First Nations land. This will intensify that pressure.

  The billions wasted on submarines should be spent on:

·         Building an Australian strategic shipping fleet in Adelaide that could operate in cabotage and international trades;

·         Building renewable energy and offshore wind turbines to ensure we prevent global heating from exceeding 1.5°C;

·         Raising Jobseeker payments to well above poverty levels;

·         Pay increases for health workers and investments in our health systems;

·         Pay increases for teachers and investments in public schools to make them covid-safe;

·         Investing in firefighting capacity and ensuring we are ready for the next bushfire season.

 Workers have no interest in war with China or any other country. Every effort should be made to pursue peaceful relations.

 Unions NSW stands in solidarity with workers in all countries in opposing war and wasteful environmentally harmful military spending.

We pledge our opposition to oppose the development of nuclear submarines in Australia, and the development of any other nuclear industry.