From the Australian Parliament:
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE AND TRADE LEGISLATION COMMITTEE - 04/06/2009 - Department of Defence, Defence Materiel Organisation
Air Chief Marshal Houston -The total number of people participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre 09 is 22,500, of which 5,500 are from the Australian Defence Force and just under 17,000 are from the United States.
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Air Cdre Meier -The additional costs borne by the Australian Department of Defence for the exercise will be about A$48 million. Of note, the American's additional costs to participate in the exercise will be about US$212 million. Those numbers will be refined once the exercise is over and we actually get the fine detail of the fuel usage and things like that.
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Air Cdre Meier -Your final question was the contingency plans for trespassers getting into the live fire exercises in Talisman Sabre. Essentially, if we know there is an unauthorised person into the Commonwealth land at Shoalwater Bay, Bradshaw or any of the other exercise areas, the exercise is stopped. It is then passed over to either the Federal Police or state police to deal with. For Shoalwater Bay, in the vicinity of the training area it is an issue for the Queensland police. Once they cross into Commonwealth land, it is an issue for the Australian Federal Police.
Senator LUDLAM -Your automatic response on learning that somebody has trespassed inside or close to a live fire area is you would stop the clock?
Air Cdre Meier -Yes.
Senator LUDLAM -Thank you for that information. Those are all of my questions.
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From Bryan Law:
Two dozen Christian nonviolence activists are committed to entering the Shoalwater Bay military exercise area during Talisman Sabre to hold Air Cdre Meier to his statement. Organisation and support will be done out of the Martin Luther King House of Christian Nonviolence at Yeppoon.
One key tool these activists will use is the GME MT410 406 MHz Personel Location Beacon, one of the AccuSat series. The MT410 AccuSat is the smallest and lightest PLB on the market, offering a massive 7 year battery replacement life, an ‘industry first' 7 year warranty, a high intensity LED strobe and a ‘Non Hazmat' battery pack for simple and cost effective transportation - all contributing to the unique AccuSat advantage. Rrp $469.
Let me see, a $469 beacon set off at any strategic point in the exercise area "stops the clock" on a quarter billion dollar war game for, I reckon, 2 or 3 days a throw. Maybe a week. How long can a dozen stop it for?
Three cheers for the asymmetric exercise of power, for showing the limits of US militarism, and for doing what we can to stop the murder in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Read on for my letter to the new Minister for Defence, Senator John Faulkner
