Residents of Wollongong have staged a public protest, demanding the Australian government immediately cease its support for what they call a terrorist and war criminal following the United States' military action in Venezuela.
Protest targets local MP over US aggression
The demonstration took place on Monday, January 5, 2026, outside the Wollongong office of federal Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes. Protesters gathered to voice their fury at the US government's recent invasion of Venezuela and the subsequent kidnapping of the nation's leader, Nicolas Maduro, from the capital Caracas. Maduro is reportedly under guard in New York.
US President Donald Trump has stated his intention to seize Venezuela's substantial oil reserves, sell its resources, and bring the Latin American country under US control.
Nick Southall, a member of the group Wollongong Against War and Nukes (WAWAN), did not mince words. "They're basically terrorists, they're creating terror, they're creating fear and hoping that everybody will fall in line because we're so terrified of the implications of what they're doing," he said.
Calls to abandon AUKUS and Port Kembla base plans
Fellow WAWAN member Mel Barnes branded Trump's actions a clear war crime and accused MP Alison Byrnes and the broader Australian government of complicity. "She is part of a government that is accepting war crimes from our so-called allies," Ms Barnes stated. "This is a war crime, let's be clear ... bombing a sovereign nation and kidnapping a head of state. We are allies with an unjust war criminal. If it can happen in Venezuela it can happen anywhere."
Ms Barnes used the protest to urge Ms Byrnes to advocate for an end to the AUKUS security pact and to scrap any possibility of hosting nuclear submarines in the Illawarra region. "This is the time we need to pull out of AUKUS and scrap the US-Australia alliance," she declared to cheers from the crowd. "There's still a proposal that a nuclear submarine base will be built on the east coast and Port Kembla is one of the frontrunners."
Political response and wider condemnation
In response, Alison Byrnes, who is currently on an overseas holiday, issued a statement calling for calm. "I absolutely appreciate the concern of our community about the implications of these developments, and we are monitoring the situation closely," the MP said. "We urge all parties to avoid further escalation and ensure regional stability through dialogue and diplomacy."
She added that Australia had long-held concerns about Venezuela but believed in upholding international law and supporting a peaceful, democratic transition.
Other voices at the protest were highly critical of the Australian government's muted response. Dr Marg Perrott from the Socialist Alternative slammed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's statement on the US attack as "the weakest thing you could possibly imagine." She noted that unlike the Iraq invasion, the Trump administration had not even fabricated an excuse.
Deidre Stuart, a Greens councillor for Wollongong City Council, expressed dismay over Illawarra steel allegedly being sent to Israel and stressed the global impact of Australia's actions. Megan Guy from the Wollongong Undergraduate Student Association argued that bombing and kidnapping a president had "absolutely nothing to do with democracy" and highlighted the dangerous tensions between the US and China.
The protest proceeded legally, as the 14-day restriction on public assemblies following the December 14 terror attack at Bondi Beach applies only to the Sydney metropolitan area and does not include Wollongong.
