In January this year, Australia’s Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced that Australia was aiming to become one of the world’s top ten ‘defence export’ countries over the next decade, moving up from its current position of 20th for the period of 2012-2016.
Chemring Group is the world's 68th biggest arms company, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The company was formed in 1905, and now employs just under 3,000 people. The companies profits in 2016 came to £8 million before tax.
In London, activists arrested taking nonviolent direct action against the DSEI arms fair have been in court in a series of trials. A large number of the defendants – mainly accused of obstruction of the highway – have been acquitted or had their cases dropped, successfully arguing that they were acting within their human rights to protest peacefully.
Across Europe, activists have been resisting arms sales to Saudi Arabia, destined to be used the ongoing war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign has seen many thousands of civilians killed.
The British government sanctioned the sale of spy equipment – capable of intercepting, tracking, and monitoring emails, mobile phones, and messaging services like WhatsApp – to Honduras, shortly before a recently disputed election.
