Kristin Perissinotto, the media officer from the Electrical Trades Union spoke about workers rights and conditions, the impact of war on climate, First Nations people, and refugees and people seeking asylum. Ms Perissinotto made a simple comparison of the cost of Nuclear Subs and that of women’s safety, refugees and creating jobs for workers.
“One nuclear submarine will cost $20 billion to build … and it’s estimated that our entire cost will be $100 billion. So I thought it would be fun to compare that to some of the spendings that the LNP (government) have committed to in the 2021 budget. And the first one initially close to my heart is the spent on women’s safety. So this was Scott Morrison’s women’s budget in 2021. And he puts he’s putting aside $1.1 billion for women’s safety. That’s $86 per Australian woman. And it’s also 1%, or less than 1% of the entire cost of the what the estimate is for all of our nuclear submarines. So the Liberals go on about how good they are for the economy, but they’ve only pledged $3 billion for new jobs.”
Ms Perissinotto also spoke of the cost of war:
A lot of my generation in Australia, who were born here and grew up here, don’t know, don’t really know that law. All we know is that what we see on the news, like what’s still happening in Afghanistan due to Australia’s involvement is, we’re pulling out troops, and now they are under the terrors of the Taliban. We see depicted on the news, the occupation is still going on in Palestine. But we don’t really know the threat of war. But every time in the last couple of months that I’ve said this to someone older than me that my generation doesn’t understand the real threat of war. They look me in the eyes, they said, but ‘you will’.
Rally votes for Nuclear Free Queensland
The AUKUS Rally of about 100 people passed the following motion put by Janette McLeod (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
“So to conclude today, what we’d like to do is have a couple of resolutions to ensure that we’re all here committed on on the same side. So the first resolution that we’ll put today is around the Brisbane City Council. As people probably know, the Brisbane City Council has had, for a long time, with a bit of a gap in the middle, a nuclear free zone policy. And that policy is still in existence. So that’s, that’s the first thing. And then the second thing is that even though there’s this in Brisbane, there is nothing at the state government level regarding being nuclear free, which is, you know, pretty absurd. So, let’s put up a show of hands to say, Brisbane City Council, please actually actively keep your keep your nuclear free policy, make sure that it’s actually implemented. Let’s not let any nuclear subs sneak up the Brisbane River. And further the state government. Could you introduce a nuclear free policy for the whole of Queensland because that’s what we need.
So let’s have a show of hands. Nearly everyone put up their hand.
Ian Curr
12 Dec 2021
Kristin Perissinotto (ETU) full speech is recorded below (please correct any mistakes in the comments section below).
Kristin Perissinotto – ETU
FRI, 10/12 4:30
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
nuclear submarines, war, spent, government, cost, australia, scott morrison, brisbane, policy, asylum, pledged, women, bear, people, refugees, brisbane river, union members, happening, applause, decarbonize
SPEAKERS
Janette McLeod WILPF, Peter Catt, Kristin Perissinotto ETU
Peter Catt
Next speaker is Kristin Perissinotto from the electrical Trades Union. She’s the media officer. And she’s also the (Electrical Trades Union) Rep for IPAN (Independent and Peaceful Australia Network). She’s passionate about workers rights and conditions, the impact of war on climate, First Nations people, and refugees and people seeking asylum. Make Kristin Perissinotto welcome, Thank you.
Kristin Perissinotto ETU
A lot of my generation in Australia, who were born here and grew up here, don’t know, don’t really know that law. All we know is that what we see on the news, like what’s still happening in Afghanistan due to Australia’s involvement is, we’re pulling out troops, and now they are under the terrors of the Taliban. We see depicted on the news, the occupation is still going on in Palestine. But we don’t really know the threat of war. But every time in the last couple of months that I’ve said this to someone older than me that my generation doesn’t understand the real threat of war. They look me in the eyes, they said, but ‘you will’.
Kristin Perissinotto ETU
Following the US into war, spending huge amounts of money on weaponry and fostering a fear about China shows us that our government is not interested in the people, in the citizens of Australia. They’re interested in attaching their name to the Pacific countries like the US. This government has made it pretty clear that they don’t care about US citizens don’t care about us voters. They don’t care about the people who will bear the cost of war. First Nations people will bear the cost of AUKUS and the cost of war, refugees, people seeking asylum, they will bear the cost of AUKUS and the cost of war, young people will bear the cost of AUKUS and the cost of war. And workers will bear the cost of oAUKUS and the cost of war. And this is already happening. There are 40 families who moved to France uprooted their lives during COVID move to France and set up a new life there as part of the design phase for the French deal. Those 40 people lost their jobs overnight, and they were locked out of Australia due to Scott Morrison’s policy, so they can’t even come home. So this has already happened. And we’re not even anywhere near close to the start of this. So you can bet that Scott Morrison that will do this for years to come … hopefully not too many years, he’s around. But this will continue to happen if we do go ahead with AUKUS with our nuclear submarines.
Kristin Perissinotto ETU
So speaking of costs, I know the coalition are all about the economy. So I’ll speak that language. One nuclear submarine will cost $20 billion to build estimated, and it’s estimated that our entire cost will be $100 billion. So I thought it would be fun to compare that to some of the spendings that the LNP have committed to in the 2021 budget. And the first one initially Close To My Heart is the spent on women’s safety. So this was Scott Morrison’s alleged women’s budget in 2021. And he puts he’s putting aside $1.1 billion for women’s safety. That’s $86 per Australian woman. And it’s also 1%, or less than 1% of the entire cost of the what the estimate is for all of our nuclear submarines. So the Liberals go on about how good they are for the economy, but they’ve only pledged $3 billion for new jobs.
Kristin Perissinotto ETU
And I’m no economic expert, but I do know that people need a secure job in order to contribute meaningfully to the economy and continue to do so into eternity. Sorry, three 3% of what we’re going to be spending on nuclear submarines will be spent on jobs. $0 was pledged for supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, although a shitload more was pledged for keeping them out of this country. Even though like I said, with Australia’s involvement if the Afghan in the Afghanistan war, and all of our partnerships across the world we have a lot on our hands when it comes to some of those refugees, and yet nothing is spent on supporting refugees and people seeking asylum. So obviously, that is 0% of the price the we’re going to be spending on nuclear submarines. And finally, the coalition’s investment in climate action. The LNP allocated 30 million dollars for one renewable project in the Northern Territory. Nothing for a just transition to work for workers, which is what something we desperately need nothing towards a clean recovery from COVID. And nothing towards a genuine effort to decarbonize, that is less than 0.1% of the cost of just one submarine spent on our climate. (Shame!) There are plenty of people and other industries and sectors that will be bearing the cost of war, a couple of them we heard about today, earlier today, and we will hear about, and there’s even more that we won’t talk about today.
Kristin Perissinotto ETU
And a lot of union members might wonder why the unions are getting involved in this issue. What have we got to do with all this doesn’t affect our membership. But the link is really simple. It’s people. Because unions are made up of people, unions are people. And people are going to be bearing the cost of war, not the government, the people into generations to come, many, many future generations will bear this cost. So we will continue to fight for workers, fight for people, fight for their communities, and support and uplift the voices that should be heard on this issue and just simply are not. Our ask is very simple. No AUKUS, no war, no nuclear submarines. And also we should vote the government out come the election next year. Thank you.
Peter Catt
Thank you, actually, that was fantastic. Thank you. Behind the scenes, whenever we gather like this, there are people who make sure that we can be seen and particularly make sure we can be heard. So I’d ask if you could just give a round of applause pleased to Ian Curr who makes (Applause) sure that all of this stuff happens. And wrap it up there we’ve got Jeanette McLeod from the Women’s International League for peace and freedom Thank you Jeanette.