No Australian “Aid” for Ukraine!

Above: Australian made Bushmaster armoured vehicles, which have been supplied to Ukraine for NATO’s proxy war on Russia.

07-11-2022: Stoking the fires of World War III once more, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) Federal Government has announced that 70 Australian armed forces personnel will travel to the United Kingdom (UK) to train Ukrainian troops for NATO’s virtually open war against the Russian Federation. Joining the “Interflex” training mission, the Australian troops will join instructors from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand.[1] ALP “Defence” Minister Richard Marles stated that the Ukrainians had specifically requested 30 more Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles (PMV) in addition to the 60 that the Australian government had already provided.[2] The Bushmaster is a mine resistant armoured four wheel drive vehicle which can carry up to 10 soldiers. It was designed to be more mine resistant than the US made Humvee. Formerly produced by the government owned Australian Defence Industries (ADI), it is now built by Thales Australia in Bendigo after their acquisition of ADI.[3] Despite its production being effectively privatised, it is perhaps the most recognisable Australian military piece of equipment, which is being handed over to Ukraine free of cost.

Dollars for death

This new military package takes the total amount of Australian government “aid” to Ukraine to approximately $655 million, of which $475 million is military “assistance”.[4] While the Australian government brags about being “the largest non-NATO contributor to the war effort”, the extreme dangers of doing so never reaches talking points in the mainstream media. ALP Prime Minister Albanese baldly stated that Australia has been unequivocal in its support for Ukraine and its condemnation of President Putin. Absurdly, he went on to say that “we will continue to stand up for freedom and democracy” (!).[5] It beggars belief how the arming and training of Ukrainian troops fighting NATO’s proxy war against Russia has anything to do with the oft quoted justification for every imperialist war for the last century and a half. In reality, the Australian ruling class is well aware that taxpayer’s money is going to arm, fund and train Nazis on a suicide mission for Washington.

Ukraine is the only state in the world which has incorporated Nazi units. The Azov Battalion, which is only the most well-known Nazi outfit, was formed during the NATO backed coup in Ukraine in 2014. It is known for its propensity to use extreme violence against “Jews, Russians and Communists” – or anyone who attempts to defy them. Even the US Congress in 2015 banned the Pentagon from training and equipping the Azov Battalion, with members of Congress describing it as a “disgusting Nazi formation”.[6] Now, it is a different story, as Western corporate media tries to refashion various Nazis as “freedom fighters”. In May this year, in a backhanded acknowledgement that being open Nazis might be too distasteful, the Azov Battalion dropped the use of the Wolfsangel,[7] the symbol used by the original Nazis in the 1930s and 40s. Ukrainian General Valery Zaluzhny perhaps didn’t receive this memo, as he recently posted a photo of himself on Twitter, wearing a wristband emblazoned with a Nazi swastika.[8] While Ukrainian apologists scuttled in an effort to explain away the Nazi symbol, it was yet again another confirmation that the West, even as it claims its mission as upholding the “liberal world order” – are not fighting Nazis but sustaining them, and using them for their own ends.

The enemy is at home

Some 20 years ago, Australians were almost universally opposed to the US-led invasion of Iraq, and the Australian governments’ backing of a criminal war. Today, such overwhelming revulsion at the spending of taxpayer’s funds to arm and train Nazis in a war which could very well lead to a nuclear conflagration, should be repeated. In fact, this fact alone should drive home the final conclusion that the politicians in Canberra and the various state legislatures, and its’ bureaucracy, its’ courts etc. – are NOT “our government”. It is something monstrous, something wicked, something so nefarious that it must represent the complete opposite of rationality. The beginning of political understanding comes with the realisation that this is a cabal representing nought but the capitalist class enemy – the direct nemesis of millions of working people. It is a committee which – in Marx’s words – manages the common affairs of the bourgeois class. This class has reached such a stage of necrosis that in a dire attempt to maintain its declining power, it has no compunctions about enabling open fascism.

Russia – which is taking aim at Nazis – is clearly not the enemy. It is involved in a pitch battle of self-defence against the governments of NATO and the European Union (EU), who are driving the war – and also self-sabotaging themselves through backfiring sanctions. Working people in the West pay the price for these endless provocations. Workers in Europe are currently facing the worst of it but working people in Australia will soon be faced with something similar. Power prices in Australia are set to surge by 56% heading into next year, and inflation will reach its highest level in 32 years. Moreover, ALP Treasurer Jim Chalmers calmly stated that wages in Australia will not increase until 2024 (!!).[9] A few short decades ago, Australia’s Trade Unions would have taken to the streets in anger at the very mention of an effective two-year wage freeze. Now, the officials’ silence marks their collaboration.

NATO’s war on Russia – backed by Canberra – is but the next phase of the Covid war. This continuous process aims at the subjugation of workers for the preservation of capitalist imperialism. This cannot be accepted. Thankfully, the “Aussie Cossack” called a National Day of Action for “Australian Neutrality” on October 22, which is perhaps the start of a much needed anti-war movement. While the Workers League helped build the October 22 rallies, the demand for “Australia” to be neutral in a war is not one we raise. Even though we ardently desire an end to NATO’s war on Russia, the Australian ruling class (represented by an ALP government) should never be pleaded with. Instead, we seek to rally working people against the old state and for the establishment of a workers’ republic. Key to this perspective is the forging of a Marxist vanguard party which can lead the oppressed masses in a struggle to overturn the decaying order. NO Money or Weapons for Ukraine! Lift the sanctions on Russia! Abolish the Australia-US Alliance! Abolish AUKUS! Abolish NATO!

WORKERS LEAGUE

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@protonmail.com

[1] www.babel.ua/en/news/86222-australia-will-send-up-to-70-instructors-for-the-ukrainian-armed-forces-to-great-britain (02-11-2022)

[2] www.breitbart.com/asia/2022/10/26/australia-sends-military-trainers-and-armored-vehicles-to-help-ukraine/ (02-11-2022)

[3] www.drive.com.au/caradvice/what-is-a-bushmaster-we-drive-the-australian-built-armoured-vehicle/ (02-11-2022)

[4] www.theepochtimes.com/australia-to-deploy-military-personnel-to-europe-to-aid-in-ukrainian-conflict_4823629.html (02-11-2022)

[5] www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/australia-will-send-troops-to-train-ukraine-forces-uk-russia-war/101581492 (02-11-2022)

[6] www.thealtworld.com/thealtworld/the-azov-battalion-laboratory-of-nazism (02-11-2022)

[7] www.massnews.com/ukraines-azov-battalion-swaps-neo-nazi-insignia-media/ (02-11-2022)

[8] www.rt.com/russia/564358-ukraine-commander-swastika-bracelet/ (02-11-2022)

[9] www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11351829/Budget-2022-Australias-inflation-BOMB-skyrocketing-electricity-petrol-fruit-prices.html (02-11-2022)