Writer
Michelle Fahy
<p class="p1">Michelle Fahy is an independent researcher/writer investigating the secretive links between the weapons industry and Australian government. Her work has appeared at Declassified Australia, Arena, Progressive International, and elsewhere. View her archive and support her mostly unpaid work at <a href="https://undueinfluence.substack.com/"><span class="s1">https://undueinfluence.substack.com/</span></a></p>
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NACC boss ‘misled Dreyfus’ over Robodebt
Commissioner Paul Brereton said one thing to his top NACC colleagues and another to the Attorney-General. Continue reading »
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‘Recused’ NACC boss Brereton at Robodebt meeting
Minutes released under FOI show Paul Brereton present throughout the majority of a NACC senior assessment panel meeting on Robodebt, only leaving the room towards the end as a decision was made. Continue reading »
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Buck-passing: Inside the murky arms trade
Australia bears ultimate responsibility for how Australian weapons are being used in conflict zones around the world. Continue reading »
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Brereton’s NACC cloaked in military-grade secrecy
Monday marked the first anniversary of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. This deep dive into the NACC’s first decision discovers secrets upon secrets, and the military seemingly at every turn. Continue reading »
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Lockheed Martin, Australian Government: joined at the hip
There is a remarkable “revolving door” of top people between Australian government and Defence Department roles and the world’s no 1 weapons-maker. Continue reading »
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Australia and the F-35 supply chain: in lockstep with Lockheed
Australia is one of six western countries that are complicit in the ‘genocidal erasure’ of the Palestinian people by continuing to supply Israel with arms, according to Dr Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon and newly elected rector of Glasgow University. Continue reading »
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Secrets of the weapons trade
The Australian government is obscuring weapons exports to Israel despite International Court’s ruling to oppose ‘plausible genocide’. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: Red flag for arms industry corruption
The arms trade is known for being one of the most corrupt of all legal international trades. Continue reading »
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BAE frigate deal referred to National Anti-Corruption Commission
Referral comes in same week the controversial procurement will face a second parliamentary hearing. Continue reading »
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Game-changer: defence industry revolving door database
Do you have information about revolving door appointments involving Australia’s weapons industry? It’s time to speak up and contribute to a new database set to expose corruption. Continue reading »
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Sinking Billions – Revolving Doors – Part 2
The Australian Defence Department’s new Frigates project is a jobs merry-go-round for former military officers, bureaucrats, and weapons makers. Continue reading »
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Sinking billions – undergunned and over priced – part 1
Missing records, billions in over-runs, conflicts of interest, and flawed ships. How the Australian Defence Department’s new frigates project is a boondoggle for a British weapons-maker. Continue reading »
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Defence angling to exempt itself from state laws that ‘constrain’ its activities
Far more transparency is required about which ‘important public policy objectives’ Defence wants to subvert to its needs. Continue reading »
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Richard Marles’ ‘seamless’ transfer of Australian sovereignty
Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles opened with an anecdote praising a former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner. It was an interesting choice given the tax leaks scandal engulfing PwC, which is making headlines globally, and last week forced the resignation of its Australian CEO. Continue reading »
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AUKUS nuclear waste dump must be subject to Indigenous veto
Bipartisan secrecy and Defence’s poor record with Indigenous groups at Woomera are red flags for consultations over an AUKUS nuclear waste dump. Human rights experts say government must establish an Indigenous veto right. Continue reading »
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Weapons-makers set to gain more influence in defence operations
Multinational weapons companies could end up more deeply integrated into Australian military operations if Defence gets its way with legislative reforms. This comes on top of significant public unease about Australia’s ability to act independently as a result of AUKUS. Continue reading »
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Bomber’s revolving doorway
There is a never-ending conga line of politicians, intelligence, military and defence officials quick-stepping through revolving doorways onto the boards of lucrative military weapons companies. Continue reading »
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Undue influence of the arms industry in Australia
Today I’ll give you a snapshot of the intersection between the arms industry and the Australian government – the power and influence on one hand, and the secrecy and lack of accountability on the other. Continue reading »
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Undue Influence: Defence ‘a tangle of overlapping interests’
The federal government’s secret hiring from 2015 of numerous former US Navy officials to advise on Australia’s submarine procurement was exposed by The Washington Post a fortnight ago. Continue reading »
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Will the NACC expose corruption in major defence contracts?
If Australia is serious about detecting and exposing corruption in arms deals and other defence contracts, the National Anti-Corruption Commission bill needs to be significantly strengthened. Continue reading »
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Reputation laundering: weapons companies infiltrating schools to promote education
A Lockheed missile blows up a bus full of Yemeni children; in Australia Lockheed Martin gains kudos by sponsoring the National Youth Science Forum. BAE Systems sponsors underprivileged kids in Australia while being complicit in the killing of thousands of needy children in Yemen. All you see in industry marketing pitches is euphemism, with nary a mention of Continue reading »
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LobbyLand: Department of Defence captured by foreign weapons makers Thales, BAE
The culture of cosiness; the revolving door; and undue influence. The relationship between government and military industrial companies is just one strand of the evidence showing the urgent need for a national anti-corruption commission. “Undue influence” is a noted marker for corruption. Continue reading »
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A special investigation: Naval, builder of Australian submarines, at centre of numerous global corruption scandals
The arms company at the centre of a deadly criminal saga and numerous global corruption scandals, Naval Group, was selected by the Australian government to build our new fleet of submarines – a deal heralded as ‘one of the world’s most lucrative defence contracts‘. How did this happen? Continue reading »
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LobbyLand ‘Culture of cosiness’: colossal conflicts of interest in Defence spending blitz
In Part 1 of her three-part investigation, Michelle Fahy investigates the corporate influence on government policy and how weapons makers cultivate relationships with politicians and top officials in the public service. Continue reading »
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Pork Missile: Government fires cash at weapons-maker EOS in Battle for Eden-Monaro
ACT remote weapons systems manufacturer, Electro-Optic Systems Holdings, that has hitched its wagon to countries known to be engaged in gross violations of human rights and likely war crimes, wins big from the Coalition’s weapons announcement on eve of election, writes Michelle Fahy. Continue reading »
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Are Australians paying for secret US weapons tests at Woomera?
Australian taxpayers will fork out close to $1 billion for the Woomera Range Complex upgrade, used by the ADF, the US and UK. With revelations that the US military denies Australia access to computer source code needed to operate key components in our war-fighting equipment, Michelle Fahy investigates the real beneficiaries of the secret test range. Continue reading »
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Brothers-in-Arms: the high-rotation revolving door between the Australian government and arms merchants
A disturbing number of Australia’s military personnel, senior defence and intelligence officials and politicians leave their public service jobs and walk through the ‘revolving door’ into roles with weapons-making and security-related corporations. Nowhere is government and industry more fused than in defence. Michelle Fahy reports. Continue reading »
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Afghanistan ‘is not a war without a purpose.’
The Washington Post has obtained formerly secret information about the Afghanistan\ war, collected from military leaders, diplomats and others. Their account strongly contradicts that of successive US administrations. Continue reading »
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Selling arms with impunity
Australia’s military industry exports are increasing rapidly fuelled by $195bn in federal funding to 2025-26 and strong collaboration between federal, state, and local governments and agencies. Team Defence Australia showcases Aussie weapons-making ingenuity at arms expos world-wide, all year round. Where is all this cash and activity leading us? And do we want to go Continue reading »
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Invictus Games do nothing to remedy government failure to properly care for veterans
No amount of royal fairy dust or ministerial speech-making at the Invictus Games can hide the abject failure of successive Australian governments to fulfil their moral responsibility to veterans. Continue reading »
