It was one particular comment made by a vendor at the Land Forces expo that made me want to puke: "We all have views and opinions, and everyone's entitled to protest, but we're also entitled to go about our business and we do it peacefully.”

The man is the CEO of a defence technology company that produces armour, explosives, chemical weapons, precision-guided weapons (these are generally missiles, rockets or bombs), unmanned aerial weapons (also known as ‘suicide drones’ or ‘exploding drones’), unmanned aerial vehicles (surveillance drones) and rotating detonation engines (used in jets and rockets). According to the ABC, the company specialises in unmanned ground vehicles. Peacefully.

The company’s website says it equips ‘military communities’ around the world. It receives million dollar contracts to do its work, which it was showcasing at the biannual Land Forces expo – presumably to help get more of those contracts, which is of course why anyone would attend an industry expo. 

The irony of asking to sell chemical weapons “in peace”, while police use similar chemical weapons on anti-war protesters outside the building. Victoria Police reportedly used excessive force including pepper spray and rubber bullets on the roughly 3000 people protesting on the first day of the expo. Melbourne Activist Legal Support told the Guardian it was police escalation that prompted the aggressive behaviour of some protestors that is being reported more widely in the media. The contrast between the scenes outside and inside the expo is stark. 

A few things that go without saying, but are worth repeating:

• Protest is currently under threat in Australia

• Australian police forces are too often the source of escalation at protests, rallies and other mass public gatherings

• Protest is meant to be disruptive

Back to the comment at hand. Why do weapon deserve peace to sell products that promise to deliver violence? Is it a given that the marketing and sale of military weapons must happen in calm, neutral spaces? Many of the tools being spruiked at the Land Forces expo are being sold specifically because of their killing capabilities. It seems to me that protests reminding attendees of that brutal reality – even unruly, aggressive or violent protests – would be expected; part of the job.

The anti-war protests were not solely about Palestine. But some of the ‘big names’ at Land Forces supply Israel with the tools it is using to conduct a genocide: Lockheed Martin, Thales, Elbit Systems. These companies (and others) are responsible for what could so far be more than 186,000 dead Palestinians, and many journalists and aid workers from other countries. Despite Elbit’s likely involvement in the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, the federal government continues to give it contracts – using your money and mine.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said he thinks it was still worth hosting Land Forces in the city despite the protests, because “conferences are really important [and] … generating close to $300 million in business for the city." Earlier in the year, it was revealed that Thales had been granted a $1.3billion contract by the Department of Defence in a shoddy tendering process. 

There’s a lot of money changing hands. The people selling weapons get to mostly make that money in peace – the civilians who may be on the receiving end of those weapons don’t get the same. If the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicides is anything to go by, the military personnel asked to use these weapons don’t live in peace either. Is it poor taste to host a weapons conference the same week the royal commission report is handed down, and questions are being asked about whether deploying explosives is causing brain injuries? 

Questions for someone better paid than me to answer.

– Crystal
Founder & Chief of Everything at Zee Feed
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