Legislative Council
ADTEC98 EXPO
(edited transcript)
The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: During Question Time on 27 August I raised in this Chamber the matter of the Australian Defence Technology Expo and Convention, or ADTEC98 for short. At that time I asked the Premier whether he was aware of ADTEC98 and whether he personally endorses Adelaide as a site for the promotion of sales of arms in our region. The Premier responded in writing to my question, stating that he `welcomes the opportunity it presents to profile the State as a leader in high technology defence electronics, IT and surveillance systems'. He went on to suggest that it could result in further growth of the defence industry in this State. So, his support and acceptance of ADTEC is on the record. I am also aware that on his recent overseas trip the Premier was promoting South Australia as the ideal place for defence industries to locate. The Demo-crats hold the view that this is not the sort of job creation this State needs, and we are not supportive of ADTEC.
Soon after I asked my question about ADTEC, I was phoned by one of the organisers, who expressed to me a view that my asking such a question placed him and his family in jeopardy. I could not see how it did, particularly as I had not mentioned any person by name and certainly at that stage I did not know any names of the organisers, but nevertheless I apologised to him if that had been an effect. We had what I thought was a reasonably pleasant conversation, during which time he expressed a view to me that Australia's defence capabilities were not up to scratch. I felt we had possibly reached some common ground at this point, and I expressed to him my view that our defence capabilities should be nothing more than defensive. I even suggested to him that he might like to invite me to ADTEC98 so as to reassure me.
In recent days I have been contacted by the Stop ADTEC Campaign because of an e-mail it has received
That e-mail makes a similar allegation as was made to me: that the contents of the
Australian Anti-militarism web
site have placed the sender of the e-mail and his family in danger, but it goes
further than the conversation I had, in that he says he has been libelled by the contents
of the web site. The e-mail, dated 23 October this year, states that they intend to sue
the author - a very gentle man named Philip White - for personal damages of not less than
$10 million, with an additional $20 000 for every day past 23 October that the web site
continued to publish in that form. At this point, no notice has been served on Mr White.
Mr White, whom I know to be a peace-loving person, has e-mailed back and offered an
apology to the writer and his family if they feel harmed. I checked out part of the web site and, unless it
has changed as a result of the threat of legal action, there is nothing there that would
lead to the organisers of ADTEC98 being harmed. It invites people to join them in actions
on 8 November - and I will be doing that - and invites organisations to e-mail the Stop
ADTEC Campaign to discuss what they can do. The web site states:
ADTEC98 is a key part of the push by the Australian Government and military industry to increase our sales of military products, primarily to South-East Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
Camtec Event Marketing claims that this is untrue and that they do not promote the sale of weapons to countries outside Australia. As I read the web site, it does not claim that the promoters of ADTEC are pushing to increase the sales, but rather that the Australian Government is doing so. When one considers that Indonesian troops in East Timor have been using weaponry of Australian origin, I see no problem with that claim. Again, the representative of Camtec Event Marketing states that `ADTEC is in no way part of any Government's push to sell arms to any overseas country' and that ADTEC `is only about the needs of Australia's uni-formed defence community and about insuring the continued security of Australia.' The anti-militarism web site states:
The ethics of hosting an exhibition of equipment designed to maim and kill, particularly at a time when most of the world's conflicts are being waged against civilian communities struggling for self determination, are surely not those you would care to be associated with.
I concur with those views.
The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. T. Crothers): Order! The honourable member's time has expired.