Arrests over Gaza protest at fighter jet-linked firm
Police have arrested five people for protesting Israel's war in Gaza outside the premises of an Australian firm linked to the manufacturing of fighter jets used by the IDF.
A picket at SEC Plating in Belmore in Sydney's west escalated on Friday morning when NSW Police clashed with protesters, allegedly leaving one woman with facial injuries.
The Sydney company is reportedly providing plating services for various parts used in F-35 jets, of which the Israeli military has about 40.
Legal Observers NSW said the clashes escalated when police issued the protesters with a move-on order and were arrested for not complying with a police direction.
"People were walking on the footpath when police issued them a baseless move-on direction and then assaulted protesters when they asked for an explanation," Legal Observers NSW spokesman Adam al-Hayek said.
NSW Police said a "scuffle" had ensued between the two groups when officers attempted to arrest protesters who were not complying with the directions.
Officers had earlier issued a move-on direction to a group of about 60 protesters before arresting a 29-year-old woman who failed to move, NSW Police said in a statement.
Three more protesters were arrested after a second move-on order, including a 35-year-old woman who suffered facial injuries and was taken to hospital, the statement said.
A 24-year-old man was arrested after allegedly taking an officer's body-worn camera.
The five arrested protesters were granted bail to appear in Bankstown Local Court on July 15.
One of the arrested protesters, Rising Tide organiser Zack Schofield, said he witnessed a "sickening" police assault against one of the protesters.
Another detained protester, Maritime Union of Australia organiser Shane Reside, alleged he was targeted for arrest by police for calling out their actions.
Greens senator David Shoebridge told AAP he expected the incident to result in not only a referral to the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission but other legal action.
"When police are deployed to protect weapons companies instead of protecting the right to peaceful protest, we must ask whose interests they are really serving," he said in a statement.
"The arrest of multiple peaceful protesters who are calling for Australia to stop arming a genocide shows how far we've moved from protecting peaceful dissent."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
38 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
US forces make Australia a Chinese target: Hastie
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Hastie has pointedly posed a question that successive Australian governments have not dared to answer, nor even mention. Namely, just what Australia is getting itself into as the US military footprint across the country expands. Will it involve us in a war with China? Hastie's remarks represent the frankest statement on the US alliance by a serving member of parliament since Prime Minister Julia Gillard's 2011 announcement that US marines would rotate through Darwin. Yet at no point in the intervening period has any government or indeed think tank spelt out the implications of this deepening alliance.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Sussan Ley should harness her inner Margaret Thatcher if she wants Aussie women back on side
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley blended autobiography with political reckoning when she delivered her sweeping address this week to the National Press Club. Her remarks and anecdotes were deeply personal, clearly intended to help restore the Liberal Party's damaged credibility after its devastating election defeat. But her speech and earnest manner was also a direct overture to a critical cohort her party had discarded as if we were a one-night stand. That would be Australian women who felt marginalised, taken for granted and in response ultimately showed her predecessor Peter Dutton a metaphorical middle finger on May 3. The question is - will we now listen and will her plea to the nation work? While Mr Dutton distanced himself from the symbolic recognition of indigenous Australians at public functions, Ms Ley has chosen a different path and opened her address with the words: "I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today." Her gesture was loud and clear. To quote Ms Ley as the first woman elected to lead the Liberal party, she absolutely must follow through on this promise. 'I'm not here to speak about milestones or firsts,' she warned the room. 'I'm here to talk about the important work we are going to do over the next three years to rebuild trust with Australians so we're worthy of their support at the next election.' In Canberra on Tuesday, there was certainly some powerful stuff from Ms Ley about how she dug herself out of economic hardship. In a polished and prepared manner, she took the assembled lunch guests back to her 1980s. 'Between graduating from school and becoming - as I described myself - a farmer's wife, I worked my share of the tough jobs,' she said. 'Cleaner, waitress, short order cook … and outback pilot. I was not taken seriously in pilot training. I was nearly always the only woman in the group. 'The privileged boys whose parents bankrolled their lessons attracted more street cred than me. 'I lived in a bedsit under the bridge in Queanbeyan and my clothes were from Vinnie's because every dollar I made went towards flying lessons.' By painting herself as the anti-privilege politician bereft of silver spoons and inner-city elitism, Ms Ley is banking on this narrative cutting through. This is especially among women outside the Teal belt and in the regions - the ones juggling night shifts and school drop-offs, stretching every dollar to cover eye-popping grocery bills or trying to claw their way back into the workforce in their 40s. Ms Ley explained: 'I understand just how tough it can be for those who live a life on the land. 'Balancing the family budget was becoming too hard so I made a decision that many mums have made before (to) get new skills and bring in extra income. 'As I raised my own family I went to university for the first time, aged 30.' Then there was the sting of dismissiveness in blokeish industries, endemic in her generation. 'One male (flying) instructor said 'Why are you doing this? You're no good at it'. I wasn't, to begin with, but that's not the point. 'I was told I couldn't get a crop dusting rating because the chemicals would damage my unborn children. 'I was yelled at, hit on and then ignored. In my early 20s I was working in air traffic control at Sydney airport (as) I wanted to pursue something different. 'I wanted to actually fly. I advertised my recently acquired skills as an aerial mustering pilot in rural newspapers across the country.' She went on to recount the job-hunting hustle including one call to a cashed-up grazier who didn't bother with small talk. First question: 'Can you cook?' followed immediately by: 'What sort of plane do you want?' She said: 'A machinery dealer asked if I was single and mentioned vague extracurricular activities' which got a ripple of laughter in the room. Later changing tack, Ms Ley hit a rare emotional register for a Liberal leader, especially on coercive control in domestic relationships and the threat of violence against women. Ms Ley's candid acknowledgment - 'I understand the fear you feel when you walk alone because I have felt it too' - is the kind of vulnerability that can resonate and long overdue for a party that's struggled to connect with women on this issue. Overall, it was an hour plus speech anchored in lived experience. But I'm wary of terms like existential 'review' and 'reflect and represent modern Australia' which seem like code for soft Left. And a bit of retro sexism will not cut it when the Liberal Party has been promising to 'do better' on female representation for decades and yes it was a relief to hear Ms Ley say she was 'agnostic' on quotas. Politically engaged women - and that is the vast majority of us in 'modern Australia' - want targets and action but based on merit and skills. The impact and style of the late British MP Maggie Thatcher inevitably crops up when analysing an Australian female political leader and with good reason. When she took control of the UK's Conservative Party in 1975, Mrs Thatcher inherited an outfit that had lost not only an election but its sense of purpose. The Tories were drifting, cowed by the Left's narrative and unsure of what they even stood for. Familiar, ain't it just. The Iron Lady, a nickname from a Soviet journalist and one I'm told she loved, didn't seek consensus. Individual responsibility was a passion point for her. Mrs Thatcher smashed it and spoke directly to the people in an uncompromising style which transformed not just her party but her beloved country. Women today aren't voting for inspirational backstories as a type of therapy. We're voting on policies that affect our wallets and families. Get that right Ms Ley and you might find Australian women back on side. Louise Roberts is a journalist and editor who has worked as a TV and radio commentator in Australia, the UK and the US. Louise is a winner of the Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist in the NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism and has been shortlisted in other awards for her opinion work
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Justin Amler: Weak words about ‘diplomacy' play into Iran regime's hands
After 12 days of direct conflict between Iran and Israel — during which Israel obliterated the upper ranks of Iran's nuclear and military leadership, destroying large portions of its nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missile and air defence capabilities — that war has come to a temporary halt. At least, the war with Iran. During the war, Iran launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 1000 drones aimed at Israeli civilian population centres, murdering 28 people, injuring thousands, and damaging homes, hospitals, and scientific facilities. Of course, if it wasn't for Israel's advanced defensive shields systems, which shot down over 90 per cent of projectiles, and millions of bomb shelters, it could have been far, far worse. The strategic brilliance of the IDF — particularly the Israeli Air Force and intelligence services — in this campaign will likely be studied for years to come. While the United States' strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were pivotal, none of them would have been possible without the air dominance Israel established early on. But make no mistake: this war is not over. The ceasefire will no doubt give some temporary relief to sleep-deprived Israelis who over the past 12 days have had to scramble to bomb shelters day and night knowing that death could visit them from the skies at any moment. Yet while Iran remains the central node of this network of terror, its branches — Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis — continue to lash out wildly as part of the multi-prong war that Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when it invaded and massacred Israeli communities. Israel continues to fight in the difficult Gaza environment, where terrorists embed themselves among civilians while cruelly holding onto 50 Israeli hostages who much of the world seem to have forgotten about. Even on the day when the ceasefire with Iran came into force, seven Israeli soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in southern Gaza. Yes, Iran has suffered damage and its nuclear ambitions have been delayed. Yet it is far from clear that its nuclear journey has ended. Estimates vary about how far Israel's attacks have pushed back the regime's nuclear capabilities: years or only a few months? The campaign was undoubtedly an incredible achievement by Israel, which has lived under the nightmarish shadow of a potentially nuclear-armed Iran, dedicated to the Jewish state's destruction, for decades. But nothing lasts forever, especially when dealing with genocidal, theocratic regimes. Iran has already sworn it will resume its illegal nuclear efforts, even as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei surreally insists that Iran won a great victory. Unfortunately, the Australian Government still appears trapped in a Faustian fantasy in the face of these realities, believing that polite pleas to genocidal fanatics will somehow yield peace and stability. It took it a full 24 hours to even comment on President Trump's decision to strike Iran's Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites, begrudgingly offering support with obviously limited enthusiasm. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong repeat by rote their stock phrases — 'diplomacy,' 'dialogue,' and the ever-popular 'de-escalation' — as if merely uttering the right combination of words can somehow change the nature of those who murder, rape, and burn. Hamas in Gaza should be understood in the same way as its sponsors in Tehran. While clearly damaged and severely weakened, Hamas' fanaticism doesn't allow its leaders to reflect on how they might contribute to regional harmony through 'dialogue'. Instead, their dreams of a world without Israel remain intact. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Iranian regime itself won't stop. They must be stopped. 'Dialogue' and permanent ceasefires were never sought with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan once war began — only an unconditional victory and an unconditional defeat. It shouldn't take an Iranian nuclear physicist — assuming any are still left — to understand that the same logic must apply here. There is no true de-escalation when one side is hell-bent on escalation. There is no dialogue with people who have no interest in listening. There is no diplomacy with those who view negotiations only as a means to buy time. So, while others continue fumbling through their diplomatic thesaurus, Israel must stay grounded in the real world — where Iran and its minions, masters of deception, will keep trying to play gullible Western leaders like a fiddle in an orchestra of appeasement. Israel achieved incredible victories in difficult circumstances, marrying masterful tactics with advanced technologies and unparalleled intelligence. Yet ultimately, the only way for a longer lasting peace and prosperity to be achieved for the region is for the fanatics in Tehran to be replaced by pragmatic people who care more about the future of their own people than destroying another's. Until such time arrives, the price of peace, or even basic security and normal life in this case, is eternal vigilance. Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council
