Kim Wilkie (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to echo the comments of my colleagues, led by the Leader of the Opposition last Wednesday in the House. Before turning to the specific issue of Afghanistan, I think it is pertinent to the matter at hand to reflect on this week’s commemoration of the Battle of Long Tan 40 years ago. Last Friday, members of the RSL Manning sub-branch in my electorate met for lunch, a chat and to remember past mates ahead of this week’s commemoration. As Manning sub-branch President Alistair MacPherson said, the Long Tan anniversary is particularly important to remember because of the way that Australian soldiers returning from Vietnam were treated. ‘When the soldiers came back to Australia,’ Mr MacPherson said, ‘they were spat on and disgraced. It’s taken a long time for the Vietnam chaps to get over that. They were only young boys—hardly hardened soldiers.’ I again commend the efforts of RSL branches in my electorate. On their behalf I urge all of my constituents to spend a moment tomorrow to reflect on the Battle of Long Tan, to reflect on all those who served in the Vietnam War and, especially, those who never returned home.

I now turn to Afghanistan. I would like to begin by adding my concerns to those raised by others about the injuries sustained by some of our troops over the last few days. I join them in offering my wishes for a speedy recovery. The fact that these injuries were sustained highlights the fact that the soldiers we already have deployed in Afghanistan are operating in very dangerous circumstances and that the additional troops we are sending will be exposed to great danger. The reason they are in danger is the failed policy of the Australian government and the fact that it cut and ran in Afghanistan before the job was finished. Make no mistake: this government is responsible for putting the lives of these newly deployed soldiers at greater risk because of its past actions. I will expand on this shortly.

Let us turn to the current situation. As other members have explained, we currently have 240 Australian soldiers in Afghanistan made up of SAS members, commandos, an incident response regiment and logistics personnel. They are supported by two Chinook helicopters from the 5th Aviation Regiment. While the opposition have grave misgivings about the war in Iraq, we fully support this new deployment of our troops to Afghanistan—as Labor did in the past. As the Leader of the Opposition has said before, Afghanistan is terror central—the central office of al-Qaeda working with the Taliban. That is why it is vital that we get rid of terrorism root and branch and our presence in Afghanistan is part of achieving that objective.

The Howard government’s yo-yo commitment to Afghanistan is indicative of its confused approach to the war on terror. It is a confused approach because, rather than concentrating the resources and capabilities of the ADF on the destruction of al-Qaeda and its acolytes in Afghanistan, the Howard government chose to commit Australian resources to the invasion of Iraq. As we know, the links between Saddam Hussein’s regime and al-Qaeda were tenuous. Since the invasion, the world is none the safer.

Let us look at what happened in Afghanistan to put it into perspective. When the coalition forces invaded the country, we took over the capital city and some of the major Taliban strongholds in the region. We did not take over the whole country. So all that happened was that the Taliban knew that they were being attacked in certain provinces and they moved their resources and their people out of the areas that were being taken over by the coalition forces and into other areas where they previously had not been dominant. They then continued to establish new networks and new terrorist cells in those areas. That is because we did not do the job properly in the first place. So now, as Osama bin Laden and the forces of the Taliban and al-Qaeda regroup and embark on their plan to reactivate their terror networks, this government has been forced to admit its failure. For all the rhetoric about not cutting and running and needing to stay the course in Iraq, the Howard government has a lot of explaining to do for its lack of commitment to Afghanistan.

Members will recall that, in 2002, the Australian government, as I said, withdrew our troops from Afghanistan. At one stage, we had one soldier on the ground in Afghanistan. We knew the task had not been completed but that was our only force in that country. That is outrageous! Labor supported this move at the time in good faith, as a result of the information supplied to us by the government. But as we now know, as I have stated previously, the government has been less than honest about the security situation in Afghanistan. It has now transpired that the troop withdrawal in 2002 was undertaken in the face of private diplomatic protests from the Afghani government. In a letter dated November 2002 the Afghans pleaded with the Australian government to continue their military support because, as it said, ‘terrorism is alive and well’. Unfortunately, this plea was ignored.

The government has now reversed that decision, and Labor fully support the deployment, but we know there are grave dangers. I know that members on both sides of the House feel great pride in our men and women who are serving overseas and are acutely aware of the dangers they face. Unfortunately, as was said previously, the difficult situation in Afghanistan has been exacerbated by the actions of the Australian government in withdrawing our troops back in 2002. While the political situation in the north of the country is stabilising, the southern precincts are becoming increasingly fragile. I recently met with officials from the International Crisis Group in Brussels, who have been closely monitoring the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. The ICG made the following comments:

In a state of effective war for most of the last quarter century, Afghanistan was a Cold War battleground before a fratricidal civil war was allowed to fester for much of the 1990s. With the extremist Taliban in power it played host to al-Qaeda. However, having refused to give up al-Qaeda leaders, the regime was quickly removed in late 2001 by U.S.-led Coalition forces. Following the political roadmap laid out in Bonn, the country has since seen the ratification of a new moderate Islamic Constitution and the election of a president and National Assembly. However, the ultimate goal of a stable, sustainable state remains delicately poised. The south and eastern regions bordering Pakistan see an ongoing insurgency while a policy of cooption has seen warlords and the powerbrokers of past eras entrenched. Opium production has exploded; the country is now responsible for 87 per cent of the world’s supply. While a fledgling Afghan National Army is gaining confidence, police and judicial reform remain neglected and district authorities (are) often a source, rather than succour from, fear for the local population. Exacerbated by security problems developmental progress has been painfully slow, with Afghanistan having some of the lowest social indicators in the world.

These concerns appear to be evident to everyone except the Australian government.

In January, ICG chief and former Australian foreign minister—the best foreign minister I think we have ever had—Gareth Evans, wrote in an article in the Financial Review:

Beyond basic security, the crucial issues are good governance and the rule of law, which must be at the core of the new compact. The current state of affairs is unacceptable for the local population and wastes donors’ time and money. Why promote alternative livelihood programmes for opium farmers when their provincial governor is a known drugs trafficker? How can you promote a justice system today when those responsible for yesterday’s massacres remain in positions of power? Governors with records of human rights abuses and involvement in drugs are on a merry-go-round of presidential appointments: when locals in one area object to an official, he is simply moved to the next province. In many regions police commanders with no professional training run what are, in effect, private militias. That such positions of power have been awarded to the very people who fed the civil war has been a major source of public disillusionment with the transition process.

We need to deal with those sorts of issues. It is vital that we do not lose sight of the need to look after the Afghani people. Their plight must not be ignored.

As the member for Barton made clear in his contribution to this debate, the Afghani people are being terrorised by bandits who are using extreme violence to try to intimidate and scare villagers. Our troops have already made a contribution to protecting the Afghani people. And I know that they will continue to do so under this new deployment. Australia is one of 25 countries providing assistance in Afghanistan in terms of fighting terror and reconstruction. Last week, the editorial in the Australian made the correct point: ‘Australia has a duty and interest in setting things right in Afghanistan.’ The Labor Party will continue to support our troops and their endeavours in that country. We will pray for their safety and that their cause is successful.

Debate (on motion by Mr Cameron Thompson) adjourned.

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