Articles/Letters Why should we care about Talisman Sabre? Ros Elliott
Why should we care about Talisman Sabre near Rockhampton on the Great Barrier Reef, starting early July? Talisman Sabre is the month-long war games held biannually. It is US led and Australian supported where forces clash in conventional, irregular and cyber battles around the Shoalwater Bay Training Area and in the Northern Territory. This year 30,000 troops will participate. Director-general Australian Defence Force Simulation and Training Commodore Allison Norris said, ‘Personnel will operate in Hawaii, Korea, Japan, the Northern Territory, Queensland and on the Timor, Coral and Arafura Seas.’ Local filmmaker David Bradbury and activist partner Treena Lenthall with sevenyear-old son Omar are going to Rockhampton at the end of this week to oppose and expose this continuing preparation for war. As independent filmmaker activists they will keep local community informed by putting up video clips and photos on social media. Talisman Sabre (TS17) includes US nuclear warships and submarines in and around the Great Barrier Reef where the migrating humpback whales with their calves are found now. The military is using underwater sonar, which is documented to be detrimental to whales, dolphins and other marine life. flood events be done with and get onto some action. Distresses, damage, high insurance should not have to be tolerated. Jillian Spring Billinudgel
Rear view mirror I first came to Byron Bay in 1966 chasing waves, free camping at Wategos in the corner. It was unreal. As a Novocastrian surfer every holiday was a surf trip from Newcastle to Noosa and back. We stayed in Byron Bay every trip. In 1986 we bought a small property in Fowlers Lane. Living near Bangalow I could still go surfing twice a day, living my Morning of the Earth dream in the land of the long rights. I ran into Steve Foreman from Newcastle (Catherine Hill Bay); he was living in Bangalow. I registered for a
TS17 will incorporate naval, air force, army and special forces preparation activities, amphibious landings, parachuting, land manoeuvres, urban, air and maritime operations and the coordinated firing of live ammunition and explosive ordnance from small arms, artillery, naval vessels and aircraft.
countless hundreds of thousands of lives, people’s homes and hitherto tranquil communities. Just so long as it’s business as usual for the US military industrial complex.’
Bombing
“‘Interoperability” is what it’s all about – having military personnel able to jump straight into the seats and operate US military weaponry, provided at a price, by their arms manufacturers, the crux of the American economy,’ says Bradbury. ‘Perpetual war, regardless of the cost, is perpetrated on
President Trump announced a ten per cent increase (an extra $54 billion) in US defence spending, while cutting health care. At a time when most Australians and Europeans are trying to come to terms with bombs exploding in city streets in London, Paris, Brussels, that’s what it’s like on a daily basis for people living in Yemen, Syria, Iraq. Greenhouse gas emissions of all military are undocumented and unaccounted for
surf coaching course along with Steve Foreman and met Rusty Miller, Graham Wills, Jeff Varcin. Both Steve and Rusty went onto successful surf coaching careers. I taught my grandchildren to surf at The Pass. We met all the local characters, Harry Fowler, George Greenough, Bob McTavish, Bob Margetts, Neil Cormack Gunther Rohn, Phil Myers, Wendy and Nikki Pearson. My wife Joan worked in Byron Bay at Suppertime Blues, Aspidistra and Art House. I was involved with Bay FM from the beginning with Gail and Clyde, Nancy Jo, Maurice, Les, Paul, Fairlie, Lana and Shaun Latham. I became program coordinator and vice-president. I loved that time. Unfortunately the flame has been extinguished, the commercialisation of Byron, the M1 bringing all the Queens-
landers, the traffic gridlock and paid parking has contributed to our moving on. We lived in and loved Byron for 30 years but 18 months ago we sold and moved to Ballina. I recently drove to Byron, a rare event these days, so I need to convey my feelings of this drive. The road conditions in the Byron Shire and CBD are a total disgrace. The Byron Bay CBD is looking tired and dirty. I drove out to Wategos and to my surprise the Clarkes Beach intersection had been fixed with a new roundabout, amazing. I proceeded to Wategos and don’t get me started about the non-walking path beside the road but it is dangerous! I get to Wategos and WTF, where have all the surfers’ carparks gone? What a fiasco, Wategoat would have jumped off the Cape. Shuv’
Arms agenda
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in the Paris Climate Agreement. The reporting each country is required to make on emissions excludes any fuels purchased and used by the military. The US negotiating team succeeded at Kyoto in securing these exemptions and it continues to be the elephant in the room. The military is not just a prolific user of oil; it is one of the central pillars of the global fossil-fuel economy. That’s what the Talisman Sabre War games represent – continual war on our earth. Treena Lenthall, who has been travelling to Talisman Sabre for 15 years, says, ‘I’d like to say I am going there to stop the war games but I don’t think that is going to happen. ‘My action is humble. I want to shine a light on this military presence as I cannot accept that this is the norm, that we think it is okay to go to other countries and kill people, innocent civilians and children. ‘I guess it is my way of trying to make sense of the times we live in, especially as I have a young child who will be inheriting this planet, which we aren’t treating very well, or each other.’ Follow David and Treena and Omar online as they join other peace activists in Rockhampton at Twitter twitter. com/peaceconvergenc, Instagram instagram.com/ peaceconvergence, Facebook facebook.com/peaceconvergence, https://peaceconvergence.org, and YouTube http://bit.ly/talsab. it, brother, just keep walking. Byron disappears in my rear view mirror as I drive back to Ballina, never to return. Phil Donoghoe Ballina
Rail/trail
John Scrivener’s latest antirail rant (Letters, June 21) still fails to connect the dots – that the main reason trains can’t compete economically with trucks is that roads are built for trucks at the expense of other road users, while trains are expected to pay for railways. John correctly quotes the figure of $900 million estimated to restore the 132km Casino to Murwillumbah rail for heavy trains. Alongside $877 million for the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale (17km) highway upgrade, restoring the railway looks like a bargain. Alistair Bell Byron Bay continued on page 13 The Byron Shire Echo June 28, 2017 11