In a spectacular start to the Disrupt Land Forces, a week-long festival of resistance, anti-militarism activists blocked two military vehicles from entering the Brisbane Convention Centre on May 27.
Four people climbed on top of a Rheinmetall’s armed drone and Ripleys armed truck as they entered the Brisbane Convention Centre for the arms industry sales conference. More than 300 arms manufacturers will be showcasing their products from June 1-3.
Disrupt Land Forces spokesperson Margaret Pestorius said that the Land Forces represents “a convergence of so many issues of militarism in our society”.
“The 300 companies gathered at the convention centre profit from the terrorising of innocent people in warzones like Yemen, the colonisation of West Papua and Latin America, the militarised destruction of our planet. the corruption and water of the military-industrial complex and the cycles of violence that flow from the boardrooms of power to the margins of our society.”
Pestorius said Rheinmetall has sold weapons to the Indonesian military which are being used to kill West Papuan civilians.
“That is just a fraction of the destruction the companies at Land Forces cause. Their business model is to sell violence, terror, and the maintenance of power. This is why we need to disrupt the Land Forces convention.”
[To join the protests visit Disrupt Land Forces.]