The #Senate this morning debated a #bill that will require #both #houses of #Parliament to vote before the #Government can send #Australians to #wars overseas.

90% of Australians support this reform with most astounded that the Parliament does not already have this reform.

The #Albanese #Labor Government and the #Liberals #oppose this.

Both are committed to keeping the decision to send Australians to war as a #secret decision made by a handful of #cabinet members with no democratic #oversight.

Currently, in Australia, the #PrimeMinister or #DefenceMinister can #unilaterally take Australia to war with no parliamentary oversight before that decision is made.

#Polling has routinely shown an #overwhelming #majority of Australians want there to be parliamentary oversight prior to the #deployment of #troops.

War power reform bills have been proposed in various forms for over 20 years, but have been routinely rejected by the Liberal and Labor parties.

The Albanese Labor Government has sent 85 military personnel, including an RAAF E-7A Wedgetail aircraft and medium-range air-to-air missiles, to the #UAE.

This decision was made in a closed room by a handful of Labor cabinet members, with zero parliamentary or public engagement or consent.

We now know that the information collected by the E-7A Wedgetail is being provided to the #US in this disastrous war of choice on Iran.

Senator #DavidShoebridge, Greens spokesperson on Defence and Foreign Affairs, said: "The Albanese Labor Government has dragged Australia into another US #foreverWar, and the public never got a say.

"Having Parliament vote before sending a country to war is common in #democracies. That is the case in #Germany, #France, #Finland, #Denmark and #Spain, to name a few. But the war parties here want to keep making that decision in a dark room that only they can enter.

"The majority of Australians do not support #Trump and #Netanyahu's war on Iran or the Albanese Labor Government backing it in. This is why the war parties are so resistant to giving Australians a say on this latest disastrous war.

"We are living through the chaos of a war that was supported by a handful of powerful people without public consent. If we had this law in place, then the Government would have had to justify their position before committing troops and the public would have had a chance of stopping it.

"Right now we are seeing death and violence spreading across the #MiddleEast, and Australians are feeling the #economic #impacts with cost-of-living increases and #chaos.

"Australians should decide if we go to war, not #Washington, not a handful of people in the war parties and not #Trump.

"We needed this law before #Vietnam, before #Afghanistan, before #Iraq and we certainly need it now." #auspol

RE: https://rssfeed.media/@abcfeeds/116267050746804338

Now if only the #liberals hadn’t blocked liberal voting moderates and climate change believers from joining branches and running. I remember years ago the story about a long standing liberal voter trying to join his local branch but being rejected because he believed in renewable energy. This was in Victoria or NSW but I’m sure it was happening everywhere. The legacy of Howard chasing the right wing religious vote.

Drill the Great Barrier Reef, baby, drill
#auspol #ausnews #vicnews #canavan #coalition #liberals #nationals #oil #gas #fuel #renewables #mining #rhinehart #hancock

https://www.victoriannews.com.au/opinion/drill-the-great-barrier-reef-baby-drill/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social