Once again Brisbane will be hosting Land Forces International Land Defence weapons expo at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 4-6. The Expo is expecting almost 13,000 attendees from “industry, government, and defence” with “718 Participating Exhibitor Companies. For some idea of what these weapons expos entail, read my article about Land Forces 2021.
In preparation for their actions against the expo, Disrupt Land Forces and Wage Peace will be holding a public meeting at Jagera Hall, Musgrave Park this Saturday, 10 September, from 2.30pm-5pm. Speakers at the meeting include Greens member for Brisbane, Stephen Bates; Auntie Debbie Sandy from the Jagera people;
Mujib Abid who witnessed the chaos in Afghanistan last year when the United States withdrew; Anna Carlson, a researcher at UQ on colonialism; women from the frontline affected communities in Sri Lanka, El Salvador, and Afghanistan; and Margie Pestorius on the use of non-violence to disrupt the expo.
The meeting is part of the preparation for what Disrupt Land Forces are calling their Festival of Resistance, to be held during the expo from 1-7 October, beginning with a concert on the Saturday. In addition there will be art, food, culture, chanting, painting, song, dance, and activism around the theme Earthcare Not Warfare. The focus this year is on the impact of warfare on the planet because of the destruction caused by warfare of the planet and the people indigenous to the places where war is being waged. According to the Disrupt Land Forces Facebook page:
Weapons that are being made and sold in Australia are killing people from Yuendumu to Yemen.
All are welcome to attend the planning meeting this Saturday.
