Events

The schedule of events for Disrupt Land Forces is growing like a jungle in the monsoon. Launching at Camp Sovereignty on Sunday 8th and closing with a future-focused forum on September 14th, this will be a fertile week of antimilitarist action. Every day more humans, more ideas, more actions emerge. Key public events will be listed here, subject to change, sure to be expanded! If you want an action or event you are organising to appear here, email us here.*

Thanks to the wonderful team at Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS) – there will be three Know Your Rights sessions before the actions begin. These are repeats of the same session, you do not need to attend all three.

Wednesday 4th September – 6-8pm – online – register here to receive link
Saturday 7th September – 11-1pm – online – register here to receive link
Sunday 8th September – 11:30-1pm – In person at 717 Flinders St.

For the 48th consecutive week we are rallying for an end to the genocide in Gaza. Our demands are the demands of an entire generation: land back, liberation, end colonial occupation.

The Australian government, itself a colonial entity built on white supremacism and militarised violence, is complicit in the devastation of the Palestinian people.

We call for all states to STOP ARMING ISRAEL. We call for an ARMS EMBARGO NOW.

Palestine must be free, from the river to the sea, in our lifetime.

Lest We Forget The Frontier Wars: a truth telling circle hosted by Uncle Robbie Thorpe at Camp Sovereignty to launch the Disrupt Land Forces mobilisation. First Nations peoples on this continent have suffered the genocidal impact of British military invasion since 1788. This genocide continues through over-policing, incarceration and the alienation of indigenous lands for extractivist and military projects. Hear from First Nations mob defending Lee Point, Warlpiri and Kokatha country and pursuing justice here in Naarm. Demilitarisation starts at home. Let it begin with us.

Bring your wheels to tour the weapons corps of Naarm! Beginning at Docklands Reserve, we will slow roll our cars, bikes, skateboards, prams and roller blades on a wheely tour of the Military Industrial Complex. Sound systems, marching bands, megaphones, pots and pans, vuvuzuelas, trumpets and drums are welcome. Bling your ride with some liberation flags and banners and let’s roll. Meet at Docklands at 2pm, return to Docklands by 5pm.

Frontline impacted people of Naarm: bring your poems, songs and stories to share at the Mission to Seafarers, 717 Flinders St Docklands, from 6pm. Projector, screen and a small sound system are available.

What gives us hope? How do grief and rage sit within our communities? What stories of resistance inspire and lift us up? How do we keep going even when the task ahead is impossible? Everyone is welcome to listen and share stories at the Mission, 6pm Monday 9 September.

The Red Rebels will visit the conference calling for Earthcare not Warfare.

All are welcome to join the Rebels in a ‘Die-in’. Come and express your grief, come and express your rage. Wear all white and be willing to lie on the ground periodically.

US Imperialism on trial! Join the proceedings as a witness or simply as a court observer in the war crimes trial of the millenium. Presided over by the humans of Anak Bayan, US Imperialism will be held accountable for decades of exploitation and bloody coups in the global south. Expert witnesses from impacted territories such as Indonesia, East Timor, West Papua and the Philippines, will give testimony about the US regime’s brutal crimes. The trial will run at the Convention Centre from 6pm. A march to the Philippines Consulate will follow.

Every day during Land Forces the Quakers will lead a 30 minute ‘intentional silence’, followed by a speakout session. We invite people impacted and appalled by this trade in death to participate. The Speakout session invites participation from those impacted by war and is open to all who passionately oppose war profiteering.

The silence will begin at 12pm for 30 minutes. The speakout will begin at 12.30pm each day, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 11-13 September, at or near the Southbank footbridge

Picket the opening day of Land Forces, the biggest weapons expo in the southern hemisphere! The Land Forces ‘VIP Breakfast’ starts at 7am. Defence Ministers, generals and the bosses of global weapons corps will try to slime their way into the Convention Centre. Be there to greet them.

A mass rally is on at 10am, organised by Students for Palestine. If you can only come to one event, come to this. Not in our names. Not in our town. Not with our money. Let’s unite like never before to shut this shit down.

Rally to oppose the billions the Australian government is spending on contracts with Hanwha, a South Korean weapons company. Hanwha has partnered with Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, to build military vehicles for the Australian Defence Force in Avalon. Join the protest to demand weapons companies stop profiting from the genocide in Gaza. Earthcare not warfare! Life jobs not death jobs! Hanwha, Elbit Out!

Join us from 6:30 pm as we gather to mourn the devastating loss of life in Gaza. In a world where we witness genocide streamed directly to our devices, we stand in defiance of the indifference shown by world leaders and the profit-driven motives of weapons manufacturers. We invite Pro-Palestinian community groups and all who oppose genocide to unite in this space of collective grief and resistance. This peaceful gathering is a stand against the ongoing atrocities funded by corporate interests. Let us come together to demand peace, justice, and the freedom of Palestine.