Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, which means it failed.

The motion asked for the Government "not to purchase weaponised drones, and instead direct funding to strengthening Australia’s diplomatic network and increasing Australia’s aid budget from its current record low".

Full motion text

That the Senate—

(a) is deeply concerned that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is reportedly planning to purchase weaponised drones;

(b) notes that:

(i) the Obama Administration is estimated to have killed at least 7 000 people with these lethal unpiloted aircraft during its term of government,

(ii) the Bureau of Investigative Journalists estimates that up to 1 168 civilians have been killed in United States (US) drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia alone,

(iii) due to the lack of transparency surrounding the US’s lethal drone program, and the practice of categorising unidentified people killed in strikes as enemies even if they were not the intended target, it is impossible to tally the exact number of civilian deaths, and

(iv) weaponised drone strikes exacerbate the very threat that the ADF is seeking to confront; and

(c) calls on the Australian Government not to purchase weaponised drones, and instead direct funding to strengthening Australia’s diplomatic network and increasing Australia’s aid budget from its current record low.