John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Certainly as I understand it, a final decision by the Dutch government on the type of commitment that they intend to maintain after 2010 is yet to be made. Needless to say, Australia enjoys an excellent relationship with the Netherlands. Today, as I have done in the past, I commend them for the outstanding job they have done. We would very much like to see the Dutch continue their valuable role, and I took the opportunity to make this point to my Dutch counterpart, Minister Middelkoop. That decision is in the hands of the Netherlands government, as every senator would understand. I can say that I took the opportunity to strongly emphasise to NATO the importance of appropriate leadership arrangements being in place in the event of the anticipated Dutch drawdown of forces in 2010. (Time expired)