Email Your Reps: Human Rights for West Papua

So called "Australia’s" Role in Indonesia’s Repression

Bushmasters built in Bendigo were donated to Indonesia under then-Defence Minister Peter Dutton.
Sanca MRAP (Bushmaster-derived) was co-developed by Thales Bendigo and PT Pindad — raising concerns of deployment in West Papua.
The Australian SAS has trained Kopassus, Indonesia’s special forces, long implicated in torture and extrajudicial killings.
The Australian Federal Police trains Brimob, Indonesia’s paramilitary police, deployed in West Papua; their armoured vehicles have killed civilians.
The Lombok Treaty (2006) deepened military & police cooperation, embedding Australia in practices that enable repression.

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Subject: West Papua: humanitarian access, UN observers & accountability

Dear Ms Chesters and Senator Wong,

I am writing in deep concern about the ongoing human rights situation in West Papua.
For more than sixty years Papuans have endured killings, imprisonment, forced displacement, and the destruction of their lands.
Recent reports document escalating militarisation, mass land clearances for plantations enforced by troops, and the poisoning of rivers from the Grasberg mine.
Just last month, Papuan activist Sayang Mandabayan’s home was raided, and nationwide protests in Indonesia were met with armoured vehicles — specifically PT Pindad Komodo tactical APCs deployed by Brimob, one of which was involved in the tragic death of a delivery driver in Jakarta.

While this incident involved the Komodo, serious concerns remain about the deployment of both the Sanca — Indonesia’s Bushmaster-derived MRAP — and Bushmasters already donated directly from Bendigo. These heavy vehicles are designed for counter-insurgency and internal security operations and are highly likely to be used in West Papua, where the military continues large-scale operations against civilians. Their presence underscores Australia’s direct role in arming and equipping forces with long records of abuses.

Australia cannot ignore that its defence ties continue to fuel this system:
• Bushmasters, designed and built in Bendigo, were donated to Indonesia under then-Defence Minister Peter Dutton and remain available for deployment.
• The Sanca MRAP, co-developed with Thales Bendigo, along with donated Bushmasters, are likely being fielded in West Papua’s villages and highlands, where militarised operations already inflict collective punishment on communities.
• The Lombok Treaty deepened military and police cooperation, embedding Australia in practices that enable repression and rights abuses.
• The Australian SAS has provided training to Kopassus, Indonesia’s special forces notorious for countless human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and torture.
• The Australian Federal Police continues to train Brimob, Indonesia’s paramilitary police, who are directly deployed in West Papua and whose armoured vehicles have already killed civilians.

As a constituent in Central Victoria, I urge you to:
• call for immediate, unfettered humanitarian access in West Papua;
• support visas and access for foreign journalists and UN human rights mechanisms;
• acknowledge Bendigo’s role via Thales Bushmaster production and exports, as well as tech transfer to PT Pindad (including the Sanca MRAP);
• suspend defence cooperation, training, and exports that risk enabling abuses, consistent with Australia’s UN obligations.

Investigations by The Gecko Project and Indonesia’s own human rights commission (Komnas HAM) show the link between militarised development projects and the dispossession of Indigenous Papuans.
The August 2025 killing of a young delivery driver by a Komodo armoured vehicle illustrates the dangers of militarised policing in Indonesia’s cities — while the potential deployment of both donated Bushmasters and the Sanca MRAP in West Papua compounds the risks for Papuans living under occupation.

Sincerely,
[Your full name]
[Suburb & postcode]

📧 Email Lisa Chesters and Penny Wong: Human Rights for West Papua

So called "Australia’s" Role in Indonesia’s Repression

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