After discovering many Australians are opposed to having involvement in genocide, the government has calmed fears by assuring Australia does not supply weapons to Israel, just the bits that make them work.
Following Germany’s decision to stop exporting military equipment to Israel, Deputy PM Richard Marles appeared on the ABC to clarify the role Australian exports play in the war.
“All Australia does is sell a small steel component utilised in a complex mechanism commonly referred to as a ‘trigger,’ but other than that we aren’t supplying weapons,” Marles assured.
Marles argued that the selling of weapons to Israel is a “separate issue” to the sale of weapon parts, much like how the bomb bay door mechanism on an F-35 — that Australia is one of the few producers of — allows a bomb to become a separate part of the jet that is conducting strikes on Palestinians.
“Without our involvement, the war would continue as is. Once they figure out another way to make the bomb doors on an F-35 open that is,” Marles said.
The Deputy PM also weighed in on the inexplicable moral dilemma our nation faces: “Either Australia can do nothing and watch countless more people die, or we can risk temporarily losing profit in our steel industry. It’s quite a difficult trolley problem scenario.”
