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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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 »
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Invictus Games, glossing over inconvenient truths – the arms trade and the British royals
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived and the media frenzy has erupted, fuelled by news of the royal pregnancy. As media coverage goes, the Invictus Games team couldn’t have managed it any better. Yet, when it comes to the actions of the royal family, all that glisters is not gold. Continue reading »
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ACT Government provides much needed leadership on refugees
Last Thursday, the ACT Government passed a strongly worded motion calling on the Federal Government to end its “damaging, cruel and inhumane policy” on refugees. It requested that the Federal Government immediately remove all refugees and asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru and resettle them in Australia. Continue reading »
