Australian steel maker Bisalloy provides armour for Israeli tanks and is due to begin work on the AUKUS submarine deal. The Malcolm Turnbull-backed company is facing protests tomorrow against unlawful supply. Yaakov Aharon investigates.
In 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and then Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma travelled to Israel to sign an arms deal. This deal marked the beginning of a steep increase in Australia’s arms trade with Israel, which often relies on Bisalloy’s specialty steel as central to the supply line.
The International Court of Justice stated in July that it is against international law to arm Israel. It called on all Member States of the ICJ to apply strong diplomatic and economic pressure against Israel in order to bring about the end of the military occupation of Palestine.
While the Australian government has repeatedly denied that there is a two-way arms trade with Israel,
Bisalloy has released numerous statements announcing that their relationship with the Israeli arms trade is as strong as ever.
In the past weeks, it was announced by the Department of Defence that 66 permits for two-way arms exports to Israel were under review, while 16 permits were silently amended or ended due to concern over the “very high number of civilian casualties” in Gaza.
Bisalloy’s shareholders
Between October 7, 2023 and November 14, 2024, Bisalloy Steel Group’s (ASX:BIS) shares have risen from $2.06 to $3.62, or 75%.
As of January 2023, Turnbull & Partners Pty Ltd owned 2.372m shares (as per ASX disclosures), currently worth $8.4m. His company became a substantial shareholder in July 2021. Dave Sharma was obliged as an MP to disclose in December 2022 that both he and his wife had investments in Bisalloy.
The largest shareholder is Bisalloy chairman David Balkin, with 7.78m shares. Balkin served as president of the Jewish Communal Appeal from 2005-2011, where he remains in the roles of director and Honorary Life Governor.
Peter Smaller is the second largest shareholder. Smaller was the president of Jewish National Fund Australia (JNF) from 2012-2017, and remains a director of the charity. Further, Smaller is the executive chairperson of Southern Steel Group, which also owns Bisalloy shares while distributing raw materials to Bisalloy.
Both the Jewish National Fund and Jewish Communal Appeal are fundamentally pro-Israel organisations. JNF’s mission statement is “developing the land of Israel, strengthening the bond between the Jewish people and its homeland.”
A plethora of arms deals
In July 2017, Minister of Defence Christopher Pyne visited Israel to initiate the Australia-Israel Defence Industry Cooperation Joint Working Group.
On 31 October 2017, Bibi Netanyahu, Malcolm Turnbull and Dave Sharma attended the 100th anniversary of The Battle of Beersheba in Israel, where ANZAC cavalry charged Ottoman forces and captured the city.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the ANZAC Museum and Memorial Center. Image by Diego Mittleberg.
Peter Smaller led a delegation to the event consisting of 80 of JNF Australia’s supporters and donors, including David Balkin. The Beersheba ANZAC Memorial Center, mostly built with JNF funds, was unveiled.
Bisalloy Steel released a statement dated 28 October 2017 in advance of the big day.
“Following a successful trip to the Middle East, Justin Suwart, Business Manager – Armour, has returned to Australia with a positive outlook for Bisalloy Steels’ business opportunities in the region, particularly those in one of Australia’s key trading partner countries, Israel. “Israel is already the largest export market for BISALLOY® Armour grade steel, and following meetings with both customers and end-users, we believe there are some strong opportunities to further increase sales in the region,” said Mr Suwart…
“… This was evidenced recently during a visit to Israel by Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to witness the signing of a defence industry cooperation memorandum.”
By November 9, Israel’s state-funded arms manufacturer Rafael, had created an Australian subsidiary, Varley Rafael, opened an office in Melbourne – and soon after that – a factory in Newcastle. Giora Katz, the executive VP at Rafael, said:
“We have recently signed agreements with Australia’s Bisalloy for the supply of metals for the manufacture of military systems and with Varley for the creation of cooperation and the establishment of an infrastructure for joint production of Spike LR2 anti-tank missiles.”
On February 9, 2018, Bisalloy announced that Rafael had handpicked them for a $900,000 contract to provide steel parts for armoured vehicles.
Malcolm Turnbull visited Bisalloy’s Wollongong factory in March 2018 to boost an announcement that Rheinmetall, in a teaming agreement with Bisalloy, had won the contract for the Australian Government’s $5.2B ‘LAND 400’ program, commissioning the production of 200 Boxer Combat Recon Vehicles (CRV) by 2020. The Boxer CRV design relied on Rafael for Spike anti-tank missile technology and the Trophy protection system.
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Enter the Albanese Government
In the first 100 days of the war in Gaza, Israel issued Germany with 200 requests to provide armoured vehicles and tank munitions. An Israeli request in November 2023 specifically asked for 10,000 120-millimeter Rheinmetall precision rounds. In order to approve all of Israel’s requests as a “priority,” Germany relied on existing military stock rather than industrial production.
According to a statement by Australian-owned arms manufacturer NIOA Group in December, it had signed a joint venture partnership with Rheinmetall in Germany. The statement said that NIOA is
“a major tenant at the government owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) munitions facility at Benalla in Victoria where it is manufacturing 120mm munitions for the Abrams tank along with 30mm and 35mm cannon ammunition… the Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions forging factory in Maryborough, Queensland [is] delivering key munitions for allied nations.”
The NIOA Munitions chairperson is Christopher Pyne, who had also initiated the Australia-Israel Defence Industry Cooperation Joint Working Group.
Rheinmetall won a €2.7B contract with the German government in March this year for the production and supply of 123 Boxer Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs).
Meanwhile, Rheinmetall Australia secured another $1B contract to deliver a further 120 ready-made Boxer Heavy Weapon Carriers (HWC) vehicles to Germany. Richard Marles MP, the Minister for Defence, called it
the biggest defence export agreement in Australia’s history.
The Boxer APC and HWC vehicles would be assembled in Rheinmetall’s Queensland factory, and would use Bisalloy armoured steel, Rafael’s Spike anti-missiles and the Trophy counter system.
On April 2, 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Rheinmetall factory in Queensland to mark the beginning of the deal. For the press conference, Albanese stood in front of a new and glossy Rheinmetall tank while wearing an even newer and cleaner hi-vis vest.
However, the conference was interrupted by breaking news that an Australian World Central Kitchen aid worker, identified that afternoon as Zomi Frankcom, was murdered in Gaza. An IDF drone hunted and murdered Frankcom alongside six of her colleagues, despite the fact that they travelled along an IDF-approved route and had switched to different cars three times in an effort to lose the drone’s trail.
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SBS News filmed the conference and appeared to have done their best to paint Albanese in a flattering light as he fielded questions about Frankcom’s death and whether he would take action against Israel. The camera is zoomed in and the tank in the background is blurred.
In return for his services that day, Rheinmetall gifted Albanese a miniature Boxer model.
Albanese at Rheinmetal (Image supplied)
Activists protests
Activists from Wollongong Friends of Palestine will be staging the fourth community picket outside Bisalloy Steel this Friday, looking to “stop all work at the site for as long as possible.”
Safaa Rayan, who is Palestinian and local to the area, has attended the previous three pickets. She has lost sleep worrying over the safety of her family members who remain in Gaza and the West Bank, saying, “To know that a company so close to where I live is actively supporting the country responsible for the murder, displacement and imprisonment of our family members is profoundly disturbing”.
Lena Mozayani, Safaa’s sister, said, “Our aunty and cousins were sheltering in North Gaza, and their apartment building was completely surrounded by tanks. They were totally stuck. They couldn’t access urgently needed medication,” Lena said.
I just wonder when the CEOs and shareholders of Bisalloy will see our families as equally deserving of life as their own families.
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Yaakov Aharon is a Jewish-Australian living in Wollongong. He enjoys long walks on Wollongong Beach, unimpeded by Port Kembla smoke fumes and AUKUS submarines.