Australia Under Fire After Scrubbing F-35 Export Details Potentially Tied to Israel
Australia’s Defence Department has quietly removed online information about the country’s role in producing parts for the F-35 fighter jet, prompting claims that the government is concealing its contribution to Israel’s use of the aircraft in Gaza.
The webpage, which disappeared in late 2023, previously detailed how Australian companies supported the US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, describing it as a project “transforming Australian industry,” according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
It listed more than 70 local firms with contracts worth over 4 billion Australian dollars ($2.6 billion), producing components ranging from flight controls to engine parts.
Supply Chain Links to Gaza War
Australia is one of several partner nations supplying F-35 components through a global production network managed by Lockheed Martin and the US government — a system drawing scrutiny as the UN accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights expert who served on the UN inquiry, said Canberra cannot ignore its role. “If components that are being manufactured here in Australia are finding their way into F-35 aircraft being used by Israel to bomb the hell out of Gaza, we share responsibility,” he said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC earlier this month that Australia only provides “non-lethal” parts to Lockheed Martin and that the US oversees any transfers to Israel.
However, Senator David Shoebridge argued that the government has the power to intervene. “The government can absolutely change the terms of agreements and contracts when required to stop a genocide,” he said.
Transparency, Accountability Concerns
Researchers say the page’s removal deepens concerns about secrecy in defense exports, as the government continues to withhold details about what military goods are shipped abroad or where they ultimately end up, giving the public little ability to hold it accountable.
“The government does not publish this information,” said Suzanne Varrall, an international law and security expert at the University of Melbourne. “The only way to get those details has been through FOI requests, or answers to questions in Senate estimates.”
“It removes the ability for us to question or challenge the [government’s] decisions and to hold them accountable for them,” she added.
Former US State Department official Josh Paul said Australia still has leverage within the F-35 program and could use it to establish clearer conditions.
“What they could say is, ‘We are not providing spare parts to the consortium unless we can be assured that they will not go to Israel,’” he said.
