Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this most significant of issues in this forum. As the grandson, son and nephew of men who have served for Australia in the AIF in the First and Second World Wars, I put on the record my support for the Afghanistan deployment. I would like to acknowledge all the speakers who have come before me in contributing to this debate for the deep thoughts and carefully considered arguments which they have offered up. In the shared bipartisan views as well as the divergent arguments that have been put forward in this place we have seen both a chief responsibility and one of the greatest features of our national parliament. The Afghanistan deployment is one of the most significant issues before our country, and it is right and fair that it should be discussed in this forum. The Australian deployment in Afghanistan is of national significance and also the deepest personal significance for the families of the 21 Australian soldiers who gave their lives for our democracy in Afghanistan and of the 156 men who have been injured as a result of this conflict.

In light of that sad and serious toll, it is important to discuss in depth our reasons for maintaining a military presence in Afghanistan. As we have heard, Australia’s contribution of 2,350 personnel and equipment in the Middle East area of operations, of which 1,550 troops are in Afghanistan, is our most significant contribution since Vietnam. All Australians feel the responsibility and significance of Australia’s deployment in Afghanistan. Coming from a region on the Darling Downs which is closely linked with the Australian Defence Force, that significance is felt more sharply and the responsibility is that bit heavier. The people of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs have a long history of firsthand experience with the ADF. We know what it is like for Defence to be a major employer and understand the contribution made by personnel to our national defence and our national character but also, most importantly, our international reputation.

While the Darling Downs is not instantly recognisable as the home of defence bases as are other cities such as Townsville, the ADF has been part of our community for decades—almost a century, in fact, through both Borneo Barracks at Cabarlah and the Oakey Army Aviation Centre. Like many regional and rural areas, the long-term allegiance to the ADF is also evident in local cenotaphs scattered across my electorate and in countless memorial halls and RSLs. It is also clear from the connections so many people in my region have to defence personnel, whether they are currently serving or provided the service in the past, as is the case with my family. Thus, for this region there is an added resonance to the debate about our future in Afghanistan, which is taking place in all communities across Australia. Nine years after Australian troops were first deployed in Afghanistan, it is fair for Australia to be asking what the purpose of our deployment is and whether it should continue. I believe the answer to the latter question is an obvious yes. Our deployment of troops should continue for the reasons we first entered into the war: to stand against terrorism and to stand with our ally the United States but also to reflect Australia’s obligations as a mature democracy that accepts its international responsibilities.

As all Australians understand, our deployment in Afghanistan began in the gravest of circumstances, following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. As someone who was in parliament at the time—in fact, in cabinet at the time—I can say that Australia readily embraced its responsibility both as a fierce opponent of any form of terrorism and as an ally of the United States, and sent a deployment to Afghanistan under the United Nations mandated International Security Assistance Force as part of the global fight against terrorism. While Australia’s original deployment was an important part of international solidarity, it was about more than just being a good ally. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were anathema to Australia and to Australians. Afghanistan had long been a training ground for terrorists, including those who perpetuated the attacks in Bali and Jakarta and against our embassy in Indonesia. Over the past decade close to 100 Australians have been killed in terrorist attacks, including 15 Australians in the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in the United States. Therefore, Australia’s deployment to Afghanistan must be to dismantle a terrorist safe haven and has always been strongly guided by a will to protect Australia’s national security interests.

In the nine years since the initial deployment, our chief objective has changed. However, it does not follow from this that our purpose for being in Afghanistan has diminished. While the objectives of the deployment have evolved, the deployment remains in Australia’s national security interests, just as it was in 2001. Australia’s role in Afghanistan is threefold: to deny refuge to terrorists, to stabilise Afghanistan and to honour our alliance obligations under the ANZUS treaty.

The coalition supports a strategy that in the first instance denies Afghanistan as a training ground and an operational base for al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations. We also support the stabilisation of the Afghan state through a combination of civil, police and military training for local Afghans to enable them to achieve self-determination within a reasonable period of time. Australian troops are now training the 4th Afghan Brigade with a view to providing them with the skills to ultimately take full responsibility for the security of their own citizens. It is a task that is not only challenging but also worth the investment of time to do it properly. The 4th Brigade being capable of controlling Oruzgan is the key to enabling our troops to withdraw so that the Afghans can control their own destiny, a safe and secure place where people can live without fear of reprisals from the Taliban and other criminal elements. While this is an important task, it is also true that it is dangerous and progress can be elusive. Nonetheless, on evidence from the Department of Defence, progress is being made.

To leave abruptly or to impose an artificial deadline at which point Australia would withdraw both our troops and our support puts at risk compromising all the progress that has been made to date. The Australian deployment in Afghanistan is not stuck in a quagmire; it is not a deployment that persists for pride, hubris or a misplaced sense of loyalty. It is a deployment that shows Australia is true to its word and is serious about its responsibilities as a modern global democracy. If Australia is to fulfil its responsibilities in this sense, we cannot engage with other countries only if and when we choose.

In the past, our nation has shown that it believes in democracy with sufficient strength that we have fought to help ensure other nations can begin their own journeys towards their own democracies as the best way to preserve freedoms and basic human rights. I still believe that to be the case, but the path to democracy is not something we should impose from above and nor should we set strict rules about how other nations’ democracies should look in practice. But if we are no longer prepared to defend the ideal of democracy as a political model worth aspiring to then we are failing in our duties as a mature and resilient democracy.

While it is true that the Australian contingent of 1,550 troops is small compared to our allies the United States and Britain, it is both an important symbol of our allegiance to the ideals and practices of democracy and an important purpose driven deployment that is achieving real objectives. It is easy to defend democracy from a country such as Australia where many of the most fiercely fought-for rights, such as the freedom of speech and the freedom of self-determination, are so ingrained that their day-to-day existence is no longer a marvel but is more like a taken-for-granted reality. Equally, some may say that it is easy to argue in favour of our soldiers’ mission from this place rather than from the soil of Afghanistan.

In preparing for this debate I read the reports of progress in Afghanistan. One of the statistics that was truly remarkable was the percentage of female students now enrolled in schools there. From around one million students attending school in 2001, none of whom were girls, today there are more than six million children at school, one-third of whom are girls. Other reports indicate an increase in the availability of basic health services and the development of community based infrastructure projects. When I look at such reports I cannot be swayed by any argument that the work of Australia’s deployment in Afghanistan is futile.

Australia made a commitment to help secure the future for Afghan citizens and to work to prevent their nation from becoming a future breeding ground of terrorists. It is true that progress to date has not been perfect. The Karzai government has work to do before the nation is free from the influence of corruption, but I believe it is wrong to view Afghanistan as an occupied country. Rather, it is a fragile political environment in which everyday people are increasingly taking both responsibility and control. I also acknowledge that we cannot eliminate terrorism from all parts of the region, let alone the world, but through our deployment Australia can help, and is helping, to ensure stability to prevent Afghanistan from falling back into the clutches of terrorism. This is important not only for the country itself but also for the region.

Ultimately, our success in this objective and the fate of the region will depend upon the people of Afghanistan. One day Afghanistan will and must be responsible for its own security and for its own destiny, but if we walk away now we risk condemning the people of Afghanistan to failure before the first benefits of success can be appreciated and, worse still, signpost a message that democracy is only for some and at some point worth giving up on. I cannot and will not subscribe to this view.

While this debate has been ongoing in the formal environment of this place, I am mindful that the real work is being completed in Afghanistan where the troops who accepted the consequence of our parliamentary debate are going about their work with pride and with purpose. Australia is playing a significant role training and promoting the development of the Afghan people in determining their destiny. This is not a task to be taken lightly and its significance should never be underestimated. To fight for the liberties of the people of Afghanistan freed from the influence of terrorism is to uphold the spirit of the reason that Australians were deployed to Afghanistan in the first place.

To expect a simple realisation of this objective would be at best naive and at worst deliberately turning our back on the task that we set out to achieve. Australia has made a commitment to the international forces that are rebuilding Afghanistan and has made a commitment to the people of Afghanistan. As a nation we have borne the most serious and sad consequences of our deployment in Afghanistan, but our resolve must remain unshaken. We are committed to this mission and to getting the job done. For us in Australia we are a country that has been so blessed for so long with democracy—one of the few countries that have enjoyed democracy for more than a century uninterrupted—and we have never really had an enemy on our shores. We must play our role in ensuring that fruits we earn from our democracy are shared amongst other countries less fortunate than ours. In doing that we must also be mindful of the tremendous sacrifices the men and women of Australia’s defence forces, Federal Police force and NGOs make in securing that democracy and that freedom for others.

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