Stop the War Coalition (StWC) is an Australian anti-war group initially formed in Sydney in 2003About Stop the War Coalition Stop the War Coalition Sydney website. Retrieved 22 January 2009 in response to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the general "war on terror" of which the Australian Government has been a strong ally.

Campaigns

Obama administration StWC was involved in organising a protest of US President Barack Obama when he was to visit Australia in March 2010. StWC criticised the Obama Administration for "dramatically escalating the war in Afghanistan", citing the authorisation of more aerial bombings, and targeted killings in Pakistan than the former US President George W. Bush oversaw during his terms in office. StWC also accuses the Democrat Government of increasing military threats against Iran and of bombing Yemen.Join protests during Obama visit, Socialist Alternative, 9 March 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan In the past, StWC was involved in mobilising people against former conservative Liberal Prime Minister, John Howard and his strong support of the military occupations of both IraqBe alert! Be alarmed! Bush is coming to Australia Stop Dubya website. Retrieved 23 January 2009 and Afghanistan and continue to oppose the Rudd-Gillard Government's support of US wars, calling for "the complete withdrawal of military personnel from both countries and for Australian military spending to be replaced by Australian aid to those countries".Submission paper to the Australian Government Australian Government, Department of Defence website, 30 September 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2009

War on terror

StWC protested against the Australian Government's controversial Anti-Terrorism Laws which were revised and passed by Parliament on 6 December 2005.Senate passes counter-terrorism laws ABC News, 6 December 2005. Retrieved 25 January 2009 The Bill includes the crime of Sedition which had been effectively defunct since 1960.New sedition laws target anti-war movement Green Left Weekly, Issue 647, 2 November 2005. Retrieved 25 January 2009 StWC Sydney told a crowd of 1, 000 protesters a day before the Bill was passed that the laws "would pose a threat to anyone who disagrees with Australian foreign policy, while compromising everybody's civil liberties".Terrorism laws 'ridiculous', protesters told Australian Associated Press and Sydney Morning Herald, 5 November 2005. Retrieved 25 January 2009

StWC were among many groups campaigning against the incarceration of former Australian Guantánamo detainees, David HicksCheney visit prompts protests Sydney Morning Herald, 22 February 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2009 and Mamdouh Habib, Green Left Weekly, Issue 552, 3 September 2003. Retrieved 25 January 2009 who were held without trial by the US, as well as supporting the campaigns for Joseph "Jack" Thomas who was the first Australian charged under the Anti-Terrorism Laws and Dr Mohamed Haneef, an Indian doctor charged over a collapsed terrorism plot in the UK, subsequently having his Australian working visa cancelled by former Minister for Immigration, Kevin Andrews.Haneef police 'pushed legal boundaries' ABC Sydney, 22 September 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2009 StWC accuse the Australian Government of leading "anti-Arabic racism" and "anti-Muslim attacks", which they argue are a pretext for these case examples. After the Cronulla race riots of 2005, StWC convener Pip Hinman likened the political climate to that of the anti-Asian racism during the period of the White Australia Policy, blaming the Government for the riots and accusing them of overshadowing the Right Wing political platform of the former One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, in the 1990s.From Cronulla to Canberra: racism gets the official go-ahead Green Left Weekly, Issue 657, 22 February 2006. Retrieved 25 January 2009

StWC also organised the protest against the 2007 Australian visit of former US Vice President Dick Cheney for his role in the Iraq War and occupation. The protest took place on 22 February, during Cheney's three-day visit to discuss Australia's unpopular involvement in Iraq and general commitment to the "war on terror".Cheney gets frosty reception in Australia International Herald Tribune, 25 February 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2008 Around 200 protesters were refused by police to march through the streets of Sydney, which was under high security for the Vice President's visit.Iraq War Protests Greet Cheney's Australia Trip Reuters, 22 February 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2008

2008–09 War in Gaza StWC called on the Rudd Government to cut all ties with Israel during the 2008–09 War in Gaza. Green Left Weekly, Issue 777, 30 December 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2009 Julia Gillard, the Acting Prime Minister, angered Palestinian supporters over her refusal to condemn Israel's bombing campaign in which white phosphorus was used.Spent shells prove Israeli use of white phosphorus, Gaza doctors say The Times, 15 January 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2009 5000 demonstrators were reported to have marched in SydneyGaza protest chokes central Sydney ABC News, 18 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009 and as many as 12,000 gathered in Melbourne to protest the Israeli attacks on Gaza on 18 January, the same day as Israel announced its ceasefire.

2007 APEC conference

StWC initiated the 8 September protest of the 2007 APEC conference and visit of former US President George W. Bush in Sydney. Figures of protest attendees vary widely from 3000 estimated by police to 10,000 estimated by protest organisers.17 charged following APEC protest ABC News, 8 September 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2009 The summit saw the biggest security operation the country had ever seen, which included 3, 500 police and security guards and 1500 Defence Force personnel. The then Prime Minister, John Howard and New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma were criticised along with the police for what were seen as "heavy-handed" tactics,Heavy-handed APEC police criticised ABC Sydney, 10 September 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2009 such as the arrest without bail of Greg McLeay, a 52-year-old accountant who accidentally strode too close to a motorcade while crossing the road with his 11-year-old son,Pumped-up cops are stepping over the thin blue line Sydney Morning Herald, 9 September 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2009 the erection of a 2.8-metre-high security barrier for public restricted zones of the city,Sydney braces for tough APEC security ABC News, 16 August 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2009 a $600,000 high-pressure water cannon bought especially for the protest and the removal of many police officers' identification badges during the demonstration.Hundreds of APEC police removed badges: photos ABC News, 19 September 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2009

2006 G20 summit Protests of the 2006 G20 summit and visit of former US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in Melbourne took place on 18 November, where the main rally of approximately 2,000 people was relatively peaceful but in other parts of the city, a much smaller contingent of around 70 Black Block-styled anarchists called the Arterial Block took part in civil disobedience and fought with police.The battle of Collins Street The Age, 19 November 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2009

2006 War in Lebanon StWC took part in the 2006 protests against Israel's War in Lebanon. On the annual Hiroshima Day rally on 6 August, while the war was still taking place, Melbourne protesters burned the Israeli flag on the steps of Parliament which drew public criticism from the Victorian Greens, some of whose members were present at the demonstration. StWC argued Israel's incursion into Lebanon was not an anti-terrorism measure but "a war of annihilation" and "expansion".Anti-war march fuels flames of protest The Age, 7 August 2006. Retrieved 22 January 2009

Police monitoring In 2008 it was revealed through The Age that the Victoria Police had been spying on several activist and community groups in Melbourne,Police spying on activists revealed The Age, 16 October 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2009 including StWC, with an officer of the controversial Security Intelligence Group, posing as an activist and infiltrating these groups. Mick Armstrong of StWC and Socialist Alternative said "On the one hand you've got police saying 'we will be open and co-operate with you' if you tell them what you are doing ahead of a rally... but then you learn they are still spying on you. It's completely unjustified."The spying game The Age, 16 October 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2009 The revelation of the police action was widely condemned by activists and commentators.Nothing new about cops spying on the left Socialist Alternative, Edition 135, November 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2009RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Police Spying 'Infringing on Civil Liberties' Inter Press Service News Agency, 31 October 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2009Surveillance & spies: Undercover police in Melbourne' Mutiny, Issue 32, 23 November 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2009

Associates and notable supporters StWC has no formal membership but is made up of and organised by several groups, organisations and individuals. The following (although not exclusively) have been involved in either directly organising, supporting or working alongside StWC:Judge backs police ban Sydney Morning Herald, 5 September 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2009Open Letter Union Solidarity, 29 September 2005. Retrieved 29 January 2009Union support grows for 'Troops out!' rallies Green Left Weekly, Issue 586, 23 June 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2009Protest Against Visiting Israeli Deputy PM!

AID/WATCH Andrew Ferguson Anti-APEC Network Anti-Bases Coalition Architects for Peace Australian Democrats Australian Greens Australian Lawyers Alliance Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network Australian Student Environment Network Bill Hartley Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group Carmen Lawrence Chilean Popular and Indigenous Solidarity Network Civil Rights Defence Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine Committee for Peace and Justice in Lebanon Communist Party of Australia Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Daryl Melham Electrical Trades Union of Australia

Fair Go for David Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth Freedom Socialist Party Gaza Defence Committee Geelong Trades Hall General Union of Palestinian Workers Greenpeace Australia Pacific International Socialist Organisation Islamic Council of Victoria Islamic Friendship Association Islamic Girls and Women's Group Japanese for Peace Jews Against the Occupation John Robertson Just Peace Western Australia Justice Action Justice for Hicks & Habib Kerry Nettle La Trobe University SRC Labor Council of New South Wales Latin America Solidarity Network Maritime Union of Australia Marrickville Peace Group Medical Association for the Prevention of War Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network Monash Student Association Moonie Valley Peace Network National Union of Students

New South Wales Teachers Federation Nuclear Free Australia Peace Organisation of Australia Pennant Hills Peace Group Queensland Peace Network Radical Women Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) Research Initiative in International Activism Resistance RMIT University SRC Rod Quantock Socialist Alliance Socialist Alternative Stop Bush Coalition Stop G20 Collective Students Against War and Racism Students for Palestine Swinburne Student Union Sydney Korean Progressive Alliance Sydney University Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies Terry Hicks Union Solidarity Unity for Peace University of Melbourne Student Union Victorian College of the Arts Student Union Victorian Trades Hall Council Western Sydney Peace Group

See also Stop the War Coalition (UK) A.N.S.W.E.R.