Group warns Melbourne and Bandiana sites would tie Australia to US war

A national peace group has urged Canberra to scrap plans for US weapons storage in Victoria, including temporary holding in Melbourne and a permanent warehouse at Bandiana near Wodonga.

On 6 July 2026, the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network, or IPAN, called on the Australian Government to reject any permanent stationing of US military weapons, bombs and missiles in Melbourne and at the Bandiana military base.

Under the plan described by IPAN, weapons would be stored in Melbourne while a permanent US warehouse is built at Bandiana in rural Victoria. IPAN says the Bandiana facility is expected to be operational and at full capacity by 2028.

Bandiana lies on the outskirts of Wodonga and next to the township of Bandiana itself. IPAN argues that placing a foreign military stockpile there would put bombs, missiles and munitions inside a civilian community.

Retired Army Major Cameron Leckie, an IPAN spokesperson, said the choice of Melbourne and Bandiana showed which conflict the US was planning for. He argued that both sites sit beyond the range of most Chinese missiles.

“Australia is being positioned as a forward logistics base for a US war against China,” Leckie said.

Bandiana base near Wodonga

IPAN says the Victorian stockpile would lock Australia into US war plans and weaken national sovereignty. According to the group, the move would also make it harder for Australia to pursue peaceful relations with neighbouring countries.

Leckie also raised concerns about nuclear ambiguity. He said the United States does not confirm or deny whether its ships or aircraft carry nuclear weapons, while Australia accepts that position.

As a result, IPAN says there is no guarantee any future stockpile in Victoria would exclude nuclear weapons. For that reason, the group wants the plan halted immediately.

According to IPAN, the arrangement rests on the US-Australia Force Posture Agreement. The group says that agreement legalises US military installations on Australian soil and grants the United States operational control over them.

Meanwhile, IPAN links the Victorian proposal to a wider US strategic shift across the Asia-Pacific. The group says Washington is winding down its involvement in Ukraine and the Middle East and reducing its military commitment to NATO, while expanding its military presence closer to China.

In IPAN’s view, a weapons warehouse in Australia would mark a new step in that military expansion. The group says the plan signals where Washington believes the next war could be fought.

“The deployment and storage of US bombs, missiles, and munitions on our soil is outrageous,” Leckie said, arguing that the plan would compromise Australian sovereignty.