We were very pleased to welcome Dr Sue Wareham as our guest speaker. Dr Wareham is the Vice-President of the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia).

The Arms Trade as Promoted at Canberra Airport

Visitors arriving at Canberra Airport currently receive a “welcome” in the form of big display ads for some of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers. Raytheon, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, ThyssenKrupp and others have all been promoted there. So have Austal, proudly stating that its vessels are “delivering Australia’s border patrol capability”.

The ads are inappropriate. They help to normalise warfare and big military spending, and present a sanitised image of what weapons do. They do not represent Canberra.

Canberra has many beautiful natural and cultural attractions and great people. Let’s showcase them at our airport!

Travel author Pico Iyer, quoted on Canberra Airport’s website:

“Airports say a lot about a place because they are both a city’s business card and its handshake: they tell us what a community yearns to be as well as what it truly is.”