The biennial Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, also referred to as the Indo Pacific Weapons Expo, was held from 4th to 6th November at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour.
Principal sponsors of this weapons expo were the NSW government and Investment NSW.
In lauding the NSW government’s sponsorship of the expo, Premier Chris Minns said that defence exports were a vital component of the state’s economy with the industry worth $3.4 billion last year.
In addition, Defence Minister Richard Marles who addressed the expo, described the robotic and advanced killing devices on display as “beautiful, menacing and extremely cool”, representing “the very best of human ingenuity”.1
The event provoked significant public opposition and protests, with critics condemning the NSW and Federal governments’ support for arms manufacturers linked to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Protests
Two protests groups converged at Darling Harbour on the morning of 4th November.
One, organised by the Palestine Action Group, gathered near the IMAX cinema around 6.30am prior to the expo’s official welcome breakfast for dignitaries at 7.30am.
According to Josh Lees, spokesperson for Palestine Action Group (PAG), police attacked PAG demonstrators as soon as they assembled near the IMAX cinema. He said their tactics included riding horses into the crowd, using pepper spray and making several arrests.
During the melee, one female protester, a journalism student, had her leg broken and was subsequently transported to St Vincent’s Hospital where an X-ray and CT scan confirmed her injury.
Another protest group comprising a broad coalition of organisations led by Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition, assembled at 8.00am in Tumbalong Park which was designated as the official protest zone after the group’s form 1 application to march to the convention centre was rejected by police.
Protesters associated with the gathering in Tumbalong Park, heard from a number speakers including Sue Higginson (Greens MLC), Marcus Strom (Labor Against War), Shane Reside (Maritime Union of Australia), Lilly Barto (Wage Peace) and Marrickville Peace Group’s convenor Nick Deane who performed a stirring spruiking routine.
Critics
Critics of the expo condemned, in particular, weapons manufacturers who were profiting from Israel’s genocide in Gaza. These include the Australian subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, and the state-owned company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Other exhibitors included Lockheed Martin, the main manufacturer of the F-35 strike fighter. According to the Israel Defense Forces, the F-35 strike fighter has been regularly used to “strike terror targets and assist ground forces in very close proximity strikes” in Gaza.2
More than 70 Australian companies have contributed to the F-35’s global supply chain. According to the Victorian government, over 700 of the fighter jet’s “critical pieces” are manufactured in that state alone. It is also claimed that Australia hosts a regional distribution hub for F-35 parts.3
Such arms manufacturers have been criticised by Chris Sidoti, former member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, for being “key enablers of the Israel Defense Forces in its commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza over the last two years”.
Sidoti also said that the Department of Defence’s involvement in the expo as a key stakeholder raised questions about whether it was complying with its international obligations.
“Clearly, it shouldn’t be happening,” Sidoti said. “[Defence’s] involvement constitutes failing to act to prevent genocide, failing to act to ensure respect for the fourth Geneva convention and aiding and assisting the perpetuation of Israeli unlawful acts.”4
Recently, the City of Sydney council also condemned the expo based on a Greens motion.3
In support of the motion, Greens Councillor Matthew Thompson said: “Next week some of the biggest arms dealers in the world will showcase weapons of war they advertise as ‘battle-hardened in Gaza’ as they seek to profit from the misery they cause. That the NSW Labor Government not only allowed this event to go ahead, but sponsored it, rolling out the taxpayer-funded red carpet, is nothing short of shameful.”
Councillor Thompson added: “Our local community has long rejected war and violence, that’s why Council endorsed our Greens motion to condemn the Indo Pacific Weapons Expo and call on NSW Labor to never host an event like this in our City.“5
Notes
1.Richard Marles, ‘Address to 2025 Indo Pacific Conference breakfast’, Nov 4, 2025.
2.Ben Doherty, ‘At Sydney’s mighty arms convention, weapons are sold as ‘solutions’. No one mentions the people they will target‘, The Guardian, Nov 8, 2025.
3. Ibid.
4. Jordyn Beazley and Henry Belot, ‘Israeli weapons companies should be removed from Sydney defence expo, MPs and human rights experts say‘, The Guardian, Oct 30, 2025. More information on companies complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza can be found in Francesca Albanese’s report ‘From economy of occupation to economy of genocide: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967’, UN Human Rights Council, Jul 2025.
5. Councillor Thompson , Notice of Motion: Condemning the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition 2025 / Banning Weapons Expos in the City of Sydney, Council Minutes, Oct 27, 2025.