Kim Stewart

In 2005 the Australian Defence Force (ADF) commissioned an environmental report into the effects of the Talisman Saber 2007 military training exercises on the Shoalwater Bay Training Area just north of Yeppoon in Queensland.

While the Maunsell Public Environment Report gave the military the greenwash it was looking for, it overlooked issues of the known toxicity of military chemicals and important social justice issues.

The military would have us believe that practicing for war can be environmentally friendly, that thousands of troops, hundreds of tanks and vehicles, nuclear-powered warships, weapons testing, land and sea bombing and live firing can leave nothing but footprints and tank tracks.

However, military training exercises use the same toxic tools as real war. Toxic chemical pollution, unexploded shells, active sonar, heavy vehicles and ships, the everyday maintenence of equipment - added to the 30,000 United States and Australian troops participating in Talisman Saber – all have effects on the environment and the communities they interact with.

What's at risk?

The Shoalwater Bay Training Area is a 454,500 hectare area with 300 kilometres of coastline. The Training Area is used by various military groups for about 300 days of the year as well as for major events such as Talisman Saber.

The Training Area is listed under the Ramsar, Jamba and Camba treaties to protect birds and wetlands. It is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and adjacent to the Byfield National Park.

The Training Area is important to many endangered species and habitats. The Public Environment Report lists 38 endangered and vulnerable species in Shoalwater Bay alone, and over 100 endangered and vulnerable species in the combined training areas proposed for use in Talisman Saber.

Although the Public Environment Report says that no nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological munitions will be used during Talisman Saber, in reality all military vehicles and munitions use toxic chemicals and heavy metals with the potential to harm the environment. The toxicity of chemicals used in munitions was never considered in any part of the Public Environment Report.

The commitment of the US and Australian forces to "protect the environment, conserve biodiversity, and protect and preserve heritage ... for future generations", as stated in Final Public Environment Report, is hollow given their environmental track records.

Environmental track record of the armed forces

The United States Department of Defence has been described as the world's biggest industrial polluter. Project Censored estimates that the US military generates 750,000 tons of toxic waste material annually, more than the five largest chemical companies in the US combined.

The US Department of Defence (US DoD) has exemptions from many environmental laws in the US including the Migratory Bird Treaties Act, the Wildlife Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Hardly the actions of a good environmental steward. The US Navy is currently being sued by environmental groups for its use of active sonar, know to cause whale beachings and condemned by the International Whaling Commission.

The US DoD still uses weapons that are widely banned including depleted uranium and cluster bombs, and has the second biggest nuclear arsenal in the world. While the ADF no longer uses depleted uranium, it plans to buy cluster bombs in the near future.

The ADF often boasts of its environmental record, but it has a long history of polluting the environment, including its role in the testing of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and '60s, and sea dumping of chemical warfare agents (such as mustard gas) as well as decommissioned boats, other chemicals and ammunition.

Social justice and war games

Social risks posed by military presence include increased crimes, rapes and violence.

Some off-duty US servicemen engage in drug dealing, prostitution, sexual assault, rape and murder. They often get off without prosecution. During the 2005 Talisman Saber games, US personnel were arrested for drug offences. In 2005 there were 2,374 reported sexual assaults in the US involving military personnel.

Sexual assault is a problem wherever troops are posted. There have been over 500 reports of sexual assault amongst troops in Iraq since 2002, the true figure probably much higher. Drink spiking and sexual harassment are also a problem within the ADF.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that the rates of sexual harassment and assault of civilian women increases in Rockhampton during war games, although there are no statistics and it is recognised that many women do not report sexual assault to police. As far as we know, no action to combat sexual harassment of the locals has been considered by the ADF or the US DoD.

The land on which the Shoalwater Bay Training Area is sited in the traditional land of the Durrumbal people. Traditional landowners are beholden to the military for access to their own land and are therefore not at liberty to speak their minds on this issue.

In April 2007, Maunsell released their revised Public Environment Report. It did not consider many of the social justice issues mentioned here.

After receiving hundreds of submissions from concerned citizens, Maunsell concluded that the general public had to "take the time to understand the commitments Defence is making to ensure environmental sustainability".

We understand them very well as an elaborate and superficial greenwashing exercise that fails to take into consideration the serious environmental and social effects of war games.

The ADF sees Shoalwater as "Australia's single most important area for the conduct of amphibious and combined arms exercises" and has no interest in addressing the impacts of military operations there.

Kim Stewart is a member of Friends of the Earth, Brisbane and helped organise the Peace Convergence which took place in June at Shoalwater Bay. <kim.stewart@brisbane.foe.org.au>

More information:
* Peace Convergence <www.peaceconvergence.com>
* ADF-commissioned Public Environment Report <www.defence.gov.au/exercises/ts07>.