Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talks with Special Operations Command soldiers during a visit to the Australian Army's Holsworthy Barracks located in western Sydney, Australia, July 17, 2017. AAP/Brendan Esposito/via REUTERS
The Guardian: Australia unveils plan to become one of world’s top 10 arms exporters
PM spruiks jobs for local manufacturers but Tim Costello of World Vision has previously attacked policy as ‘exporting death and profiting from bloodshed’
Australia is set to become one of the world’s largest arms exporters under a controversial Turnbull government plan.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has unveiled a new “defence export strategy” setting out the policy and strategy to make Australia one of the world’s top 10 weapons exporters within the next decade.
Hailing it a job-creating plan for local manufacturers, the Coalition says Australia only sells about $1.5bn to $2.5bn in “defence exports” a year and it wants the value of those exports to increase significantly.
It has identified a number of “priority markets”: the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific region, Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
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Update: Australia plans to become leading defense-industry exporter (AP)
WNU Editor: Everyone now wants to be an arms exporter .... Germany's cabinet approved record-breaking arms exports (DW).
