BAE Systems in South Australia targeted by Anti-War Protestors

Written by: Kate O’Brien on 12 April 2026

 

(5.30am and the protest begins. Photo: Disrupt_Arms_Traders Instagram)

In the early hours of Wednesday 8th April, anti-war activists blocked the entrance to the BAE Systems building at Edinburgh, north of Adelaide/Tarntanya, to protest the company’s manufacture and supply of titanium parts for the F-35 bomber jets used by the Israeli and US militaries. The Edinburgh precinct is one of five locations owned by the global company in Adelaide.

The protestors chained the entrance gates shut, and one activist chained himself to the gates, remaining locked on for three hours to send a clear message that providing parts to the US-Israeli war machine makes Australia complicit in genocide and needless military aggression in the Middle East.

The anti-war group Weapons Out organised the blockade protest with the aim to disrupt global arms trade and highlight the fact that merchants of death like BAE make Australia complicit in war crimes.

Davin Burns, a peace activist who chained himself to the gates, stated: “Australia must cease involvement in US-led wars of aggression. BAE Systems is making parts for Israeli and US F-35 jets that are carrying out genocide in occupied Palestine, and an illegal war against Iran.”

A Weapons Out media spokesperson added: "F35 fighter jets are being used to kill and maim people and damage the facilities they need: hospitals, schools and food supplies. Hosting BAE makes us complicit in the carnage. The first casualty of war is said to be truth, but the rest are mostly civilians."

SA Police attended the anti-BAE action and attempted to thwart the entrance gate blockade and threaten Davin Burns with arrest if he did not unchain himself from the gate. Burns refused. A total of 16 police and 9 police vehicles (2 cage vans) turned up at the protest site.

Another attempt by an inspector ('District Officer') to get the protestors to unlock the chained gate was once again rebuffed. This inspector informed the protestors she would consult with BAE to see what they wanted to do.

Two hours into the protest, a counter-terrorism car drove past with the occupants taking photos and videos of the protest. This vehicle drove up and down the BAE entrance on the street and lingered for the duration of the protest.

The action took place from 5.30 am until 8.30 am, when the activists chose to wrap up the protest and Burns unlocked his gate chain. No arrests were made by the police. Weapons Out considered this three-hour-long demonstration a success for the inconvenience and embarrassment it caused BAE Systems.

The Malinauskas Labor government is a big promoter of foreign war profiteers in South Australia such as BAE, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing et al. This war premier has built up a considerable war state/military industrial complex in the state. He’ll go to any lengths to please his war profiteer masters.

The State Development Coordination and Facilitation Act is a recent notorious example. This state act enables the state government to waive and override any of the 31 parliamentary acts that might impede the progress of the AUKUS nuclear submarine project undertaken at the Osborne Naval Shipyard.

Once again, quislings in government override Australian sovereignty to serve the geopolitical interests of the US Empire.

The anti-war activists acknowledged that this action against BAE took place on unceded Kaurna land and recognized their ongoing struggle against the destructive forces of colonialism and capitalism. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.