Shoalwater bay





Talisman Sabre 2007

Talisman Sabre 07 Troop Numbers

Here are the numbers participating in Talisman saber 07
(SOURCE. DOD Public Environment Report -TS07-Final ,Page 19 )

TROOP NUMBERS:                                     26.100
                                                                         12,400 Australian 
                                                                         13,700 USA

made up of:
LAND BASED PERSONNEL                         6,500: comprising
Townsville                                                           1,500
Bradshaw FTA                                                      600
SWBTA                                                                4,000
Rockhampton                                                           500

NAVY BASED PERSONNEL:                        12,000comprising
Coral Sea                                                            11,000
Amphibious Task Group (SWBTA)                       1,000
Clearance Dive Team  and                                            ?
Logistics Elements Ashore                                             ?                        
 
AIR PERSONNEL                                         1.700 comprising
Canberra                                                              250
Rockhampton                                                           ?
Townsville                                                                ?
Amberly                                                                   ?
Delamere                                                                  ?
Darwin                                                                      ?

DENERAL EXERCISE CONTROL GROUP
(GECG) PERSONNEL:                                     200 comprising
Safety
Umpires
Environmentalists  

NOTE
When talking up the "Economic "benefits to Rockhampton  ADF and DOD  talk  nearly 30,000 troops spending money.
When talking down social and environmental impacts ADF and DOD talk only 500 in Rockhampton and 4,000 in SWBTA
There are no figures available for Personnel involved directly or indirectly in Public Relations Activities. E.g. 7th fleet Orchestra public performances, media office staff or  Guided tours/flights and receptions for local dignitaries and supporters.

  

Dr Zohl dé Ishtar
Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
University of Queensland
Nobel Peace Prize 2005 nominee

Talisman Sabre and Australia’s Guam Connection

The June 2007 Australia-United States Talisman Sabre exercise binds Australia into the US military expansion currently sweeping across the north-west Pacific Ocean. This increasing militarisation is anchored on the small island of Guam (known in the Indigenous Chamorro tongue as Guåhan), only four hours flight north of Cairns (east of the Philippines) which the US claims as its own.

Read an abbreviated version of the article
Download a PDF of Dr Zohl dé Ishtar's abbreviated article.(150Kb download)
Download a PDF of the full article, but grab a packed lunch. It's comprehensive.(300Kb download)

"Defence greenwash on war games a toxic lie"

by Kim Stewart, BA, BSc honsA

In 2005 the Australian Defence Force commissioned an environmental report into the effects of military training exercises in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) just north of Yeppoon. While that report gave the military the greenwash they were probably looking for, it overlooked issues of the known toxicity of military chemicals and important social justice issues not addressed anywhere else. For the more cautious of us it also provided a valuable insight into the natural values at risk by war games in that area.

Read the full article here.
Download a PDF of Kim Stewart's article here.