Michelle Fahy,

Michelle is an independent researcher specialising in investigating links between the weapons industry and Australian government. Her work has appeared in Progressive International, Arena, Declassified Australia, Michael West Media and elsewhere. Member of MEAA.

 

Recent articles by Michelle Fahy,

‘Nothing to see here’ says Australia as third Thales corruption case starts globally

‘Nothing to see here’ says Australia as third Thales corruption case starts globally

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy turns a blind eye to “unethical conduct” between Thales and the Defence Department despite national audit office warning of capture by weapons giants.

NACC boss 'misled Dreyfus' over Robodebt

NACC boss 'misled Dreyfus' over Robodebt

Commissioner Paul Brereton said one thing to his top NACC colleagues and another to the Attorney-General.

'Recused' NACC boss Brereton at Robodebt meeting

'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.

Buck-passing: Inside the murky arms trade

Buck-passing: Inside the murky arms trade

Australia bears ultimate responsibility for how Australian weapons are being used in conflict zones around the world.

Lockheed Martin, Australian Government: joined at the hip

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.

Australia and the F-35 supply chain: in lockstep with Lockheed

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.

Secrets of the weapons trade

Secrets of the weapons trade

The Australian government is obscuring weapons exports to Israel despite International Court’s ruling to oppose ‘plausible genocide’.

AUKUS: Red flag for arms industry corruption

AUKUS: Red flag for arms industry corruption

The arms trade is known for being one of the most corrupt of all legal international trades.

BAE frigate deal referred to National Anti-Corruption Commission

BAE frigate deal referred to National Anti-Corruption Commission

Referral comes in same week the controversial procurement will face a second parliamentary hearing.

Game-changer: defence industry revolving door database

Game-changer: defence industry revolving door database

Do you have information about revolving door appointments involving Australias weapons industry? Its time to speak up and contribute to a new database set to expose corruption.

Sinking Billions - Revolving Doors - Part 2

Sinking Billions - Revolving Doors - Part 2

The Australian Defence Departments new Frigates project is a jobs merry-go-round for former military officers, bureaucrats, and weapons makers.

Sinking billions - undergunned and over priced - part 1

Sinking billions - undergunned and over priced - part 1

Missing records, billions in over-runs, conflicts of interest, and flawed ships. How the Australian Defence Departments new frigates project is a boondoggle for a British weapons-maker.

Defence angling to exempt itself from state laws that constrain its activities

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.

Richard Marles' 'seamless' transfer of Australian sovereignty

Richard Marles' 'seamless' transfer of Australian sovereignty

Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles openedwith an anecdote praising a former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner. It was an interesting choice given the tax leaks scandal engulfing PwC, which is making headlinesglobally, and last week forced the resignation of its Australian CEO.

AUKUS nuclear waste dump must be subject to Indigenous veto

AUKUS nuclear waste dump must be subject to Indigenous veto

Bipartisan secrecy and Defences 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.

Weapons-makers set to gain more influence in defence operations

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 Australias ability to act independently as a result of AUKUS.

Bombers revolving doorway

Bombers 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.

Undue influence of the arms industry in Australia

Undue influence of the arms industry in Australia

Today Ill 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.

Undue Influence: Defence a tangle of overlapping interests

Undue Influence: Defence a tangle of overlapping interests

The federal governments secret hiring from 2015 of numerous former US Navy officials to advise on Australias submarine procurement was exposed by The Washington Post a fortnight ago.

Will the NACC expose corruption in major defence contracts?

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.

Reputation laundering: weapons companies infiltrating schools to promote education

ALockheed missileblows up a bus full of Yemeni children; in Australia Lockheed Martin gains kudos bysponsoring 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 the word weapons.

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.

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 worlds most lucrative defence contracts. How did this happen?

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.

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 Coalitions weapons announcement on eve of election, writes MichelleFahy.

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 Fahyinvestigates the real beneficiaries of the secret test range.

Brothers-in-Arms: the high-rotation revolving door between the Australian government and arms merchants

A disturbing number of Australias 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 Fahyreports.

Afghanistan is not a war without a purpose.

The Washington Posthas obtainedformerlysecret information about the Afghanistan war, collected from military leaders, diplomats and others. Their account strongly contradicts that of successive US administrations.

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 there?

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.

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 couldnt have managed it any better. Yet, when it comes to the actions of the royal family, all that glisters is not gold.

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.

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