Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is an honour to speak in response to the Prime Minister’s statement in the House on Afghanistan. We as Australians know that the vast majority of us do not and would never support terrorism. We would never subscribe to the notion that there is somehow justification for taking people’s lives for a particular cause or belief. Making a statement or a point by killing and maiming is simply abhorrent and totally unacceptable. On the other hand, many Australians do not like the idea of going to war whatever the justification, and in a sense this is what this whole debate is about.

We know the threat of terrorism in this country is very real. Only recently more plots to cause widespread death, injury, damage and public chaos in Australia have been uncovered by our intelligence and security agencies. Without any major events having occurred in Australia, it is sometimes difficult for us to imagine the scenario of a terrorist attack, but it only takes us a little reading through the details of plots that have been so far uncovered to realise how close we have already come to witnessing nightmarish scenes unfolding on our own soil.

It is clear that, among many Australians, there is difficulty accepting that Australia’s presence in Afghanistan is actually making a difference. There are doubts about our role in fighting terrorism on foreign soil. There are questions about whether, indeed, the point of us being there is to help stop terrorists. I have no doubt that Australia’s military presence in Afghanistan is making a difference and is helping to weaken the network of terrorists that use that country as a base.

We will never forget September 11 and the more than 3,000 people who died in the al-Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Centre. And it did not end on September 11. Since 2001, some 100 Australians have been killed in attacks by extremists overseas. Amongst those, 88 Australians were killed in Bali in the first bombing there and four in the second in 2005, and our embassy has been bombed in Jakarta. In each of these cases, the terrorist groups involved had links to Afghanistan.

Australia went to Afghanistan to make sure it never again would be a safe haven for al-Qaeda. We went with our friends and allies, as part of the international community. We went with the support of the United Nations. As a result of our efforts in this war, al-Qaeda’s core leadership has been dealt a severe blow. Some have been killed, others captured, many have been forced into hiding and all have been forced onto the defensive. But al-Qaeda remains a resilient and persistent network. Our successes against it in Afghanistan are only part of our effort against terrorism. We are working to counter the rise of affiliated groups in new areas such as Somalia and Yemen, and the violent extremist terrorist groups in Pakistan.

I wanted to know what people in my electorate thought about Afghanistan, to prepare myself for this debate, and what they thought about Australia’s involvement in the conflict. To this end, we did some phone surveys of members in my constituency. We also went to shopping centres and I used Facebook to ask people their views on Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan. The response was mixed. Many do not agree with our troops being there. Some believe that, initially, Australia did the right thing by becoming involved but that the time to withdraw is now. Others think we should remain in Afghanistan until our objectives are achieved. We asked when or in what circumstances the respondents believed it was legitimate for Australia to be involved in international conflicts. Geoff said: ‘All the time.’ Deborah said we should be involved unless it involved harm to Australians. ‘If our country is threatened,’ was the reply that Christine gave. And James said that he believed that commitments to defence agreements must be upheld. Others in our survey were a bit more blunt. Ralph thought we should not, as he put it, ‘blindly’ support an ally and that we should be involved only when our national security was directly at stake. Warren and Deborah said we should be involved only if it affected Australia directly, and Rex said, ‘Not at all.’

We also asked the constituents what they thought about the Afghanistan conflict generally. A significant number of them said they believed that international intervention there had achieved little or nothing. Some thought there would never be peace in Afghanistan. Others thought Australia had done enough and should leave the Afghan people to resolve the conflict themselves. Judith told me that she thought Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan was probably justified initially but that the United Nations should do more to end the conflict. Mervyn believed we were only there because the United States was. Robert, himself an ex-serviceman, said the Afghanistan situation was ‘very sad’ but we should bring our troops home.

I also asked, as I said, my friends on Facebook—of which there were many—what their responses were to our involvement in Afghanistan. Julie thought there would always be fighting over there and that nothing would change no matter what the allied forces did. Cale’s view was that Australia should have had a bigger task force to scrutinise the situation in Afghanistan and check out why we would go to war there in the first place. He also said: ‘We can’t pull out without the system we put in place collapsing. But if we stay there all we are doing is spreading a growing dislike of the Western world.’ He went on to say: ‘If we are to stay there over the next 10 years, make it constructive: build schools, put in water pumps—that kind of thing. But, most of all, try to understand the people. If you win over their hearts this whole mission might not be a waste of time.’

Teresa wanted to relay the simple message that she was grateful for the diggers’ service in Afghanistan. Teresa said she had many American friends who were serving, including one now attending officer training school in the United States, and more than likely will serve another tour there. ‘It is dangerous work and I am very grateful,’ were Teresa’s words.

As we can see, the Afghan conflict is in the minds of most Australians. There are many and varying views about why we should or should not be in Afghanistan. It is fair to say that there is widespread feeling in my electorate on the Central Coast that Australia’s involvement should at least be fully reviewed—and that is what this debate, in some ways, is about. This is understandable, given the length of time and the cost of the international military presence. The allied forces have been in Afghanistan a long time—nine years. But we have to remember that if the insurgency in Afghanistan were to succeed, helped significantly by a withdrawal of the international community, then Afghanistan could, once again, become a safe haven for terrorists.

We must always think about al-Qaeda’s ability to recruit, indoctrinate, train, plan, finance and conspire to kill. They and their partners are very good at all of those things. We cannot afford to drop our guard when it comes to this very fearful and ruthless organisation. I have very little doubt that withdrawal of the allied presence in Afghanistan would present the opportunity for resurgence in al-Qaeda’s influence, and the propaganda victory for terrorists worldwide would be enormous.

Our troops have a clear goal and so do our partners in the international community: to deny terrorist networks a safe haven in Afghanistan. Let us have a quick look at what has been achieved so far. Removing the Taliban government in 2001 and pursuing al-Qaeda in the years since has made a crucial difference in preventing terrorist attacks. From 2001 to mid-2006, US and coalition forces and Afghani troops fought relatively low levels of insurgent violence. The international force in Afghanistan was focused on a stabilisation mission and there were no Australian units deployed in Afghanistan between December 2002 and September 2005.

Through this period, few would now argue, US and international attention turned heavily to Iraq. Australia’s substantial military involvement in Afghanistan resumed when the Special Forces Task Force was redeployed there for 12 months from September 2005 in support of international efforts to target key insurgents. Violence increased further in mid-2006, particularly in the east and the south. Due to significant intimidation and the absence of effective governance in many rural areas, some Afghanis turned to the Taliban at this time.

The mission moved to a counterinsurgency focus. Australia’s contribution increased from October 2008 as we took a growing role in training and mentoring in the southern Afghanistan province of Oruzgan. However, the international counterinsurgency mission was not adequately resourced until 2009. In December 2009 President Obama announced a revised strategy for Afghanistan and a surge of 30,000 US troops. NATO has contributed more; so has Australia.

Australia has two vital national interests in Afghanistan: (1) to make sure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists, a place where attacks on us and our allies begin, and (2) to stand firmly by our alliance commitment to the United States, formally invoked following the attacks on New York and Washington in 2001. The overarching goal of the new strategy is to enable transition—that is, to prepare the government of Afghanistan to take lead responsibility for its own security—but our vital national interests in preventing Afghanistan being a safe haven for terrorists who attack us and in supporting our allies do not end with transition.

Our aim is that the new international strategy sees a functioning Afghan state become able to assume responsibility for preventing the country from being a safe haven for terrorists. Australia’s key role in that mission—training and mentoring the 4th brigade of the Afghan National Army in Oruzgan—is expected to take two to four years, and President Karzai has said the Afghan government expects the transition process to be complete by the end of 2014. This means the Afghan government will take lead responsibility for security. The international community will remain engaged in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and Australia will remain engaged.

There will still be a need for Australians in a supporting role. There will still be a role for training and other defence cooperation. The civilian-led aid and development effort will continue. And we will continue to promote Afghan-led reintegration of former insurgents who are willing to lay down their arms, turn their backs on terrorism and accept the Afghan constitution.

Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan does make a difference. The government support the new international strategy and we have supported the surge. Australia has increased its troop contribution to Afghanistan by around 40 per cent in the past 18 months. We now have around 1,550 military personnel deployed in Afghanistan. Our military force is complemented by around 50 Australian civilians. Earlier this year we took over leadership of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Oruzgan to spearhead our civilian efforts and increased our civilian commitment to Afghanistan by 50 per cent. In fact since 2001 we have committed over $740 million in development assistance to Afghanistan.

The new international strategy is in place. The elements of the surge to support the strategy are now reaching full strength. Afghanistan is a war ravaged country that faces immense development challenges. While the challenges are huge, there are many tentative signs of progress to date. The Afghan National Security Forces are being mentored and trained. The Afghan National Army is becoming increasingly capable and is supporting coalition operations more effectively. Nearly 85 per cent of the army is now fully partnered with ISAF forces for operations in the field. Afghan forces are now in the lead in Kabul.

The ability of the Afghan government to provide services to its people is being built. In primary education, enrolments have increased from one million in 2001 to approximately six million today, and some two million of these enrolments are girls—there were none in 2001. In basic health services, infant mortality decreased by 22 per cent between 2002 and 2008 and immunisation rates for children are now in the 70 to 90 per cent range. In vital economic infrastructure, almost 10,000 kilometres of road has been rehabilitated and 10 million Afghans now have access to telecommunications compared to only 20,000 in 2001.

Australia will do everything in its power to ensure Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terrorists. Like my constituents, I think many of us have mixed views about the war in Afghanistan, but what we can say is that, once we made that decision to go there, we could not simply abandon Afghanistan midway through the process. To do so would simply provide al-Qaeda and other terrorists with a propaganda victory. It would mean turning our back on the work that we have done as part of the international community in trying to make a difference in Afghanistan.

Of course, we cannot speak about Afghanistan without turning our thoughts to the professional soldiers of the Australian Defence Force and their families, who have made such a commitment over these years. They are proud people. These soldiers offered their lives to make sure that this mission was successful. They embraced wartime sacrifice as their highest duty and in return they look to us for wisdom and guidance. Our highest duty is to make wise decisions about this war and ensure that the mission we set ourselves—to make Afghanistan an unsafe haven for terrorism—continues so that Afghanistan can be part of the international community. These are issues that we need to continue to work on.

Our commitment to Afghanistan will not be over quickly. Our commitment to Afghanistan will continue to attract mixed views in the electorate and invoke some controversy. One of the great things about this discussion that we are having is that it enables MPs like me to talk directly to their electorates about their views and to better inform the electorate regarding the motives around why we are there. More importantly, it enables us to help our constituents understand the complexities of what we are doing there, the time line of our presence in Afghanistan and the nature of the mission.

It has been an honour to participate in this debate today on Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan. This is a very important debate for all Australians and I am very glad that I have been able to take part in it.

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