On Saturday, July 25, ordinary Australians gathered outside the ALP National Conference in Adelaide to call for Australia’s wealth to be invested in people – not an escalating arms race.
We rallied because we believe Australia is heading down the wrong path.
The greatest threats in our lives aren’t invading armies—and having American bases here could arguably make us more of a target—not less.
The greatest immediate threats are in fact unaffordable housing, insecure work, rising prices, climate change and an overstretched healthcare system.
We’re told there’s no money to lift people out of poverty. No money to build enough public housing. No money to properly fund healthcare, disability services or tackle the cost-of-living crisis. No money to give nurses, teachers and child care workers pay rises.
Yet somehow there’s always money for more weapons, more military spending and a $368 billion AUKUS deal. That’s $33 million a day for the next 30 years.
That should make every Australian stop and ask: what are our real priorities and what could we use that money for instead?
More than three million people live below the poverty line. Thousands of Australians are homeless. Public housing waiting lists stretch for years. Renters are being priced out of their communities. Families are skipping meals to pay the bills.
These aren’t isolated problems. They are the greatest threats to Australia’s security. Security is knowing you’ll have a roof over your head and food on the table
I recently watched the documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy. The film argues that preparing for war comes with enormous financial, environmental and human costs—costs that are rarely part of the public conversation. It also reminds us that ordinary people are often the ones who pay the highest price when governments prioritise military power over human wellbeing.
Whether you agree with every conclusion it reaches or not, it asks an important question: have we confused military strength with real security?
Australia has every right to defend itself.
But Australia also has the right to make its own decisions.
We are a sovereign nation, not simply a junior partner expected to follow wherever a more powerful ally leads.
The United States has been one of Australia’s closest allies for generations, and that relationship matters. But being a good ally doesn’t mean abandoning independent judgement.
Our foreign policy, defence policy and spending priorities should be based on Australia’s own interests.
Those decisions should be made in Canberra—not driven by the strategic priorities of Washington, London or any other capital.
An independent Australia should have the confidence to ask difficult questions.
Will spending hundreds of billions of dollars on submarines make Australians safer than investing in housing, healthcare and education?
Will another weapons system do more for our future than tackling poverty or climate change?
Will military expansion solve the problems that Australians face every day?
For most people, the answer is obvious.
Imagine if we approached those challenges with the same urgency we bring to defence spending.
Imagine if every Australian had a safe home, enough to eat, quality healthcare and the opportunity to live with dignity.
That is what real security looks like.
As Labor gathered in Adelaide this weekend, we hope delegates remembered the values their movement was built on: fairness, solidarity and improving the lives of ordinary people.
Australia is wealthy enough to defend itself. It is also wealthy enough to ensure no one is left behind.
Samantha Skinner is Campaigns Co-Coordinator of Anti-Poverty Network SA and helped organise the ‘Social Spending, Not War Spending’ Rally outside the ALP National Conference.
RALLY ORGANISERS
