Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support our government’s position in Afghanistan. There is considerable bipartisan support in this parliament for our commitment to the war in Afghanistan, a commitment entered into under the previous government and supported by us when in opposition. Australia was there at the beginning because Afghanistan was home to al-Qaeda and there was widespread support for action against the Taliban, both domestic support here and international support through the backing of the United Nations. We are in Afghanistan under a UN mandate and at the invitation of the Afghan government and we are there in support of the ANZUS alliance. The United States is our most important friend and ally and the decision to stand alongside the US to prosecute the war on terror in Afghanistan was and remains firmly anchored in Australia’s national interest.

As an alliance partner, article 4 of the treaty required Australia to join the United States in response to the al-Qaeda attack on US soil—the September 11 attacks that also took Australian lives. The Taliban’s support for that al-Qaeda attack on US soil positioned Afghanistan as a legitimate target for military action by the US and its alliance partners. Labor is a strong and committed supporter of international efforts and we have never wavered in our commitment to the mission in Afghanistan.

Our mission there today has three key objectives: stabilisation, denying sanctuary to terrorists and training the Afghan national security forces in the Oruzgan province. We are there with 46 other troop-contributing nations as part of an international strategy which, whilst slow, is working. The mission takes many forms, all of which reflect great credit on the personal and professional attributes of the Australian men and women serving in Afghanistan. Our defence, police and civilian personnel are training and mentoring the Afghan National Army and the National Police. They are conducting high-risk counterinsurgency operations in the Oruzgan province. They are building important community infrastructure such as schools and health clinics and working with provincial authorities to deliver improved governance for the Afghan people. These are vital contributions to the counterinsurgency strategy of the International Security Assistance Force, namely, to shape, clear, hold and build in support of the Karzai government.

Difficult as it is, solid progress continues to be made. Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for al-Qaeda and the momentum of the Taliban insurgency has been blunted. We are seeing tangible improvements in the quality of health, education and infrastructure outcomes enjoyed by the Afghan people. There are more and more Afghan kids enrolled in schools. Access to health services has been extended from 10 per cent to almost 85 per cent of the population and there has been a remarkable improvement in roads and community infrastructure across Afghanistan. Australia’s presence is making a difference, and we will continue to stand firm alongside the Afghan people and the international community until the mission is complete.

It pays to have a memory in this place and it is timely to remind ourselves of the important history which led to Australia’s military presence in Afghanistan. Labor has never shirked from its obligation to protect and defend the nation’s security interests; nor has it wavered in support for our men and women in uniform. A decision to commit our troops to armed conflict is one that must never be taken lightly. They are grave decisions for a government to make. The decision to place our men and women in harm’s way is the ultimate test—indeed, the ultimate burden—of national leadership.

In 1991, the Hawke government committed Australian forces to the first Gulf War—our participation enjoyed by partisan support on the basis of an international coalition led by the United States but with the specific authorisation of the United Nations. In relation to the second Gulf war in 2003, however—and I was leader of the Labor Party at the time—we could not extend bipartisan support to the Howard government’s decision to commit Australian troops to the war in Iraq. There was a critical distinction between 1991 and 2003. The first Gulf War was authorised by a specific UN resolution and was at the invitation of the host nation. Neither of these conditions applied to the second Gulf war. As Leader of the Opposition, I opposed John Howard’s decision to join the US-led Coalition of the Willing to effect regime change in Iraq based on what proved to be the fiction of ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Labor argued that the UN chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, should be allowed to complete the search for weapons of mass destruction and that Australia should not commit troops in the absence of a UN resolution. We counselled patience and proper processes under the auspices of the UN and, although we were ignored by the Howard government, the subsequent unfolding of events in Iraq has certainly vindicated Labor’s position.

These were difficult days for Labor. We were accused of failing to support our troops, we were labelled as appeasers and apologists for Saddam Hussein and we were accused of abandoning our commitment to the US alliance. The critics were wrong on all counts. On the first point, in my speech of farewell to the crew of HMAS Kanimbla in 2003, I was absolutely clear on Labor’s position: Labor opposed the decision to enter into armed conflict without the authorisation of the United Nations but, whilst opposed to the war, we were unwavering in our support for the men and women of the ADF who had been asked by the Australian government to place themselves in harm’s way. They had no choice—that was their duty as members of the Australian defence forces. Our argument was with the government of the day, not with the troops who had no choice but to go.

John Howard, I hear, has expressed contempt for Labor’s position in his recent book and has described his sleepless nights in the lead-up to Gulf War II. Let me simply say this: I sleep well at night, comfortable in the knowledge that Labor stuck true to a principled position which has stood the test of time. Unlike Afghanistan, no-one ever argued that our support in Iraq was required because of the US alliance. Let me remind the House, in this context, of my words to President Bush here in this chamber on 23 October 2003—the words that I uttered as leader of the party. Those words were as true then as they are today:

… Australia looks to itself; to the self-reliance of a proud, a free, a strong and an independent people … Our commitment to the alliance remains unshakable, as does our commitment to the war on terror. But friends must be honest with each other.

And I said:

Of course, on occasions, friends do disagree—as we did, on this side, with you on the war in Iraq.

Beyond the alliance issue, Labor consistently argued that al-Qaeda’s centre of gravity was Afghanistan, not Iraq. Australia allowed itself to be diverted into Iraq—the wrong war and the wrong decision for the wrong reasons. It was Afghanistan that needed to be the focus of the war on terror, not Iraq.

Despite compelling evidence that the real threat to Australia’s national security interests lay with al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Howard government shifted its focus to Iraq. In pursuing the goal of forming the coalition of the willing, we downgraded our presence in Afghanistan to a solitary lieutenant colonel. We paid a price in Afghanistan, not just in terms of lost time but in terms of the resurgence of the Taliban, and we have been playing catch-up ever since.

When the Howard government realised its folly and decided to deploy special forces to Afghanistan in September 2005, Labor extended bipartisan support to that deployment. It was not before time that Australia returned its focus to Afghanistan and to the rebuilding of a fragile nation. We also welcomed the decision to replace the Special Forces Task Force with the Reconstruction Task Force in September 2008 and, again, we supported the subsequent redeployment of the Special Operations Task Group to Oruzgan province in 2007.

Neither the Australian people nor the people of Afghanistan should be in any doubt that Australia will see this mission through. We will not turn our backs on Afghanistan. We will continue to fight against the Taliban and their message of false hope for the Afghan people. We will continue to rebuild Afghanistan and continue our efforts to improve the quality of life for Afghans. Australia has compelling national interests in Afghanistan. We must deny sanctuary to terrorists who have threatened and killed Australian citizens, we must prepare the Afghan people to take control of their destiny and of course we must honour our commitment to the United States and our international partners in the Afghan mission.

We are not blind to the awful price to be paid for our mission in Afghanistan. No mother or father should have to tend the grave of their son or daughter. We know that 21 young Australians have lost their lives in Afghanistan and we know that, sadly, the toll of young lives is still likely to grow. Like many in this place I could not help but be moved by the tears shed by Andrew Wilkie in his emotional tribute to the fallen in Afghanistan. We cannot presume to measure the grief of those who have lost their sons in the service of our country, but we can and will honour their sacrifice.

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