Protest planned for defence industry VIP dinner
A contingent of protestors is expected to demonstrate outside of a VIP dinner attended by top defence experts and industry personnel on Monday ahead of a major military conference next week.
Adelaide Students for Palestine plans to disrupt a VIP dinner hosted at the Marriott Hotel on Monday 18 November ahead of the Maritime/Air/Space Technologies (MAST) conference.
The group is concerned with the “militarisation of university of education”, particularly the University of Adelaide’s participation in the MAST conference.
MAST is a UK-based “global biennial defence event” that focuses on the academic side of defence, and brings together the top thinkers across various fields.
This year’s event is funded by both the South Australian and Federal governments, as well as defence giant Babcock and nuclear submarine firm Huntington Ingalls Industries Australia.
From 19-21 November, delegates at MAST will focus on five main issues: AUKUS, space warfare, cyber warfare, guided weapons and explosive ordnance, and Indo-Asia-Pacific/South China Sea operations and policies.
The University of Adelaide is listed as an exhibitor and a presenter at the conference and will be at MAST alongside defence industry giants such as Babcock, Lockheed Martin, Saab Australia and more.
Adelaide Students for Palestine plans on disrupting the VIP dinner, rather than the conference itself, with member Briana Symonds-Manne saying “it is sickening that weapons bosses should wine and dine while their products are used to bomb civilians in Gaza”.
It follows a student union’s 2023 campaign whereby University of Adelaide students protested their institution’s ties to defence companies.
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Adelaide Students for Palestine also recently took part in the month-long encampment at the University of Adelaide, where students called for the University to divest from its ties with weapons companies.
University of Adelaide has penned numerous partnerships with defence firms including Babcock, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defence Australia, Naval Group and ASC.
Speaking to InDaily, Adelaide Students for Palestine member and University of Adelaide SRC welfare officer Xenon Lane said the rationale for the protest was “pretty simple”.
“In the midst of a genocide, the Labor government lobbied incredibly hard to have a conference,” Lane said.
“Our university is attending the MAST conference and as Palestine activists we think it’s important that these kind of conferences can’t come to Adelaide and expect to go along smoothly without political opposition.”
Fellow Students for Palestine member and SRC postgraduate officer Nix Herriot added that the group wanted to “send a message to the Labor government that students don’t support their project of turning South Australia into the defence state”.
“We don’t want to see this industry of death set up shop here in Adelaide,” Herriot said.
“We’re not on board with that agenda they have.”
While Lane and Herriot were unsure about the number of demonstrators expected on Monday night, the pair said they expected a “sizeable crowd”.
MAST owner and organiser Warren Edge – who has been running conferences for the past 20 years across the globe – rejected the position of the Adelaide Students for Palestine group.
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“It was requested by state government and federal government for me to run this show that I’ve been running for 20 years because of the unique defence ecosystem here,” Edge said.
“You’ve got Lot Fourteen, Tonsley, Osborne, and obviously AUKUS which is the main discussion point for the conference.
“It does upset me a little bit when people haven’t done their research; we’re going to be talking about creating jobs, bringing finance to the community, sovereign capability, supply chains.”
He said the University of Adelaide’s participation would bring an “academic side to the discussions”.
“The idea is that SA is in a unique position here to actually create jobs for university students,” Edge said.
“It’s great building submarines and Hunter class frigates, but what are the real issues? And that is jobs, it’s talent acquisition.
“As the event organiser, it kind of irks me a little bit when I see the posters and the theme of the posters because they’re completely misguided.”
Edge said the VIP attendees on Monday would not be discouraged from attending because of the protestors.
“They’re military guys. Some of them are chiefs of Navy. They don’t get to that position without confrontation at some point in their lives. They’re not scared of people banging drums and shouting,” Edge said.
“[The protestors] won’t get in; the Marriott’s going to put on additional security and there will be a police presence.”
SAPOL confirmed that it was aware of the protest and would be in attendance on Monday.
In a statement, a University of Adelaide spokesperson said: “The University of Adelaide is committed to ensuring that it builds and maintains the research skills, infrastructure, commercialisation, and knowledge transfer abilities required to contribute to national security”.
“The University of Adelaide is committed to supporting the Australian Government’s 2024 National Defence Strategy, and especially so given the defence sector is a cornerstone of South Australia’s economy, contributing significantly to economic growth with an increasing demand for a skilled workforce.”
