Break free from the US and fossil fuels
Extinction Rebellion Australia, 24 July 2026
SOCIAL SPENDING, NOT WAR SPENDING! XR activists were prominent amongst groups outside the Australian Labor Party’s 50th National Conference in Adelaide, protesting the crimes of the US Military complex
The XRSA clean-up squad greeted ALP National conference delegates with slow clapping, the ominous sounds of loud air-raid sirens and a ticking clock. XRSA passed on thanks to the Port Adelaide community for the beautiful green submarine that featured in the colourful actions.
On the opening day of the conference, rebels held a banner drop over Morphett Street bridge. When police stepped in to ruin the fun, rebels improvised and took the message straight to the Convention Centre Plaza.
The message of these actions are that the US Military complex is an invasive pest – it’s time to fumigate!
ABC News reported that Defence minister Marles has approved an injection of $4.6 billion for Adelaide’s Osborne shipyards as it prepares to build new AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines.
The announcement came at the start of Labor’s national conference in Adelaide, but the ABC believes Labor will avoid debate over AUKUS.
Australian communities are not safe while we are closely allied with a rogue toxic global force that steals and destroys great swathes of ocean and land, supplies arms to genocidal maniacs, coerces, bullies and kills at will and acts only in the interests of the rich and powerful 1%.
According to Professor Richard Tanter, a leading expert with the Nautilus Institute, signals intelligence gathered via Pine Gap-controlled satellites has historically been made available to Israel. See article by Robyn Wuth in City News
Professor Tanter said “Unless the Australian direct and indirect military relationship to Israeli activities in the Gaza Strip are closely reviewed … it is not possible for the Australian government to assure the parliament and Australian public that Australia is not complicit in acts of genocide,” he said.
In the days before Labor’s 2026 conference, hundreds of protesters converged on Mparntwe/Alice Springs to demand closure of Pine Gap intelligence facility and a rethink of Australia’s deepening American military ties.
Traditional Owners say the US spy base is helping fuel war in Gaza while they fight for something as basic as running water. The Close Pine Gap – Sacred Land Back convergence of activists also oppose Australia’s involvement in the multibillion-dollar AUKUS submarine pact.
Solidarity reported that a convoy of more than 100 vehicles took protesters from Alice Springs, before a march up to the gate of the facility. The march was led by the Hayes family, the Traditional Owners of Kuyunba, the sacred land on which Pine Gap was built without their consent. See the Solidarity article Hundreds descend on Pine Gap to expose base’s role in genocide.
New South Wales Greens Senator David Shoebridge, was part of the delegation to the gate with the Hayes family. David Shoebridge told the ABC he was concerned Pine Gap was a “foreign military base set up for the interests of a foreign military” which he believed was “lurching towards right wing politics, not respecting international law”.
In an article in City News, Robyn Wuth noted that the three-day gathering marks the 60th anniversary of the agreement between Canberra and Washington that paved the way for Pine Gap’s construction on Arrernte Country.
While Pine Gap enjoys long-term tenure, local traditional owners rely on water being trucked in and power from a small set of solar panels. There is no sewerage.