Port Kembla

Stephen Kuper – DEFENCE CONNECT

A group of concerned local special interests groups have launched their latest attack on the potential use of Port Kembla on the NSW South Coast as the proposed east coast submarine base, but true to form they miss the forest for the trees, blinded by their own special interests. Full disclosure, this piece will have strong elements of impassioned opinion.

By now, most regular readers of Defence Connect and listeners of our podcasts over the years will know that I am a proud son of one of the nation’s last remaining steel cities: Wollongong. I had the privilege of growing up close to the beach, building lasting friendships that continue to this day. I enjoyed a quality of life that was frankly unbeatable. I could complete my entire academic life close to home. On weekends out in the rapidly developing and cosmopolitan city, I knew virtually everyone. It was a community and one that continues to hold a massive part of my heart. My family migrated to the region from the ashes of post-war Europe, took to the Australian life with gusto and built a lasting life (spawning three children, nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren), becoming leading members in the local Australian–Croatian community, working at the old MM copper smelter and BHP, now BlueScope Steel Works and now the coal mines that dotted the escarpment.

Meanwhile, for me, my first jobs were in support of local small businesses and a national retail business. Many of my friends continue to live in the area and to this day have started to raise their children there, and I hope (wife permitting) to eventually return home to raise my young family there. So why then would people be opposed to providing future generations the same opportunities? Because that is precisely what the signatories of the “Port Kembla Declaration” want to force on the community.

And that is why I decided to respond to the misguided, naive and frankly selfish view of the South Coast Labour Council, local branches of the Teachers Union, elements of the Socialist Left and the organisation Wollongong Against War and Nukes (WAWAN) who have launched the “Port Kembla Declaration” in opposition to the potential development of Port Kembla as the nation’s east coast submarine base.

Full article in DEFENCE CONNECT and next NOA newsletter.