Page 976 - Week 03 - Thursday, 7 April 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Mr Milligan: I withdraw, Mr Acting Speaker.
MR ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Milligan.
Paper
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.28): Before we go to adjournment, can I just say that I understand that there may have been a document missing from the presentation earlier on in the papers bundle. I do apologise for this. For the assistance of all members, I table the paper that should have been included in the bundle:
Review of Procurement ACT—October 2021, conducted by Renée Leon.
Adjournment
Motion (by Mr Gentleman) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Australian War Memorial—sponsors
MS CLAY (Ginninderra) (5.28): I would like to speak today about a national institution here in the ACT. The issue was brought to my attention by many concerned Canberrans. I want to talk about the War Memorial. I do not want to speak just about the memorial; I would like to speak about one of its darker elements.
This important national institution is meant to recognise the tragic toll of war and military service, and the impact it has on our entire country and those who have served, but it is sponsored by the very industry, the weapons industry, whose products cause so much of this harm. We would not accept a respiratory hospital being funded by cigarette manufacturers. Why should our War Memorial be sponsored by weapons manufacturers?
One sponsor in particular that I would like to focus on is Lockheed Martin. Today is the day that their contract with the Australian War Memorial ends. We do not yet know when or if this contract will be renewed, but it is my hope that it will not be. It is inappropriate that the profiteers of war fund a national institution which is there to commemorate and acknowledge the toll of war, but not to glorify it. It is particularly egregious in this case because it is Lockheed.
I would like to put on record some information compiled by the Medical Association for Prevention of War. They said that Lockheed Martin, including its wholly owned Australian subsidiary, makes more revenue from warfare than any other weapons company anywhere. Weaponry represents 89 per cent of its total sales. The company needs wars. While ADF personnel and tens of thousands of civilians died in the war in Afghanistan, Lockheed Martin’s share price skyrocketed.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video