Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

War will always remain a very serious business. When the circumstances are such that government orders our soldiers to load live ammunition into their magazines and be deployed to areas of conflict around the world, then the reality is that people will die.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10:13 to 10:33

We hope that the training and preparations that our commanders and soldiers undertake will put them in the best possible position to keep themselves alive and inflict upon our opponents death, where necessary; defeat, on all occasions; and the loss of territory and materiel, where that is part of the mission.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10 : 33 to 11:09

We hope that the training and preparation that our commanders and soldiers undertake will put them in the best possible position to keep themselves alive, to inflict upon our opponents defeat, the loss of territory, the loss of materiel and, if necessary, death. Our opponents have a similar approach but they certainly do not operate with any sense of honour, integrity or respect for human life. That is very much the hallmark of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in their operations in not only Afghanistan but also Pakistan. Today I pay tribute to Sergeant Todd Langley. I extend my condolences to his wife, Reigan, his four young children and his parents, Val and Neville. It has been reported what a great guy Sergeant Langley was. His parents made comment on that. His parents made comment on what a devoted father he was. All of us who are parents—and I think we are all parents in this room—always feel that sense of sadness when we are away from our children. We enjoy the games we play, particularly when our children are younger. But it goes to the uniqueness of service in the Australian defence forces that this parliament asks our soldiers to leave their families for extended periods of time, months at a time in most cases. Particularly in this current period of conflicts, there is a need for our soldiers to be deployed in various places around the world, and that is hard for those families, and for the children most of all. As his parents, Val and Neville, said, it is hard for the little kids—their dad was away for a number of deployments. It is most tragic of all, of course, that he will never return to them.

When we look at the supreme sacrifice that Sergeant Langley made for his country and to our national interest—and the 27 other soldiers and officers who have passed before him in Afghanistan—we should remind ourselves that there is a good cause here and it is a good cause that has been worth fighting for. We can never allow terrorism and the instability that the Taliban and people like al-Qaeda offer the world. We can never allow them to maintain areas in the world where they are secure, where they can train and practise their deadly and despicable crimes. We can never allow them the freedom to operate with impunity in any place in the world. We must be prepared to go after them, to attack those home bases.

One of the principles of opposing terrorism is to attack the home bases of these people, so that they will always be under pressure, so they will always feel that they are under surveillance, that someone is coming to get them. That is what is important, that we are prepared to do what needs to be done. But, when we see the cost of that, when we see that 28 soldiers have given their lives for this cause, this very good cause, and that their families have suffered and will continue to suffer for the future, it bears testament to the responsibility that we have in this place to do none of this lightly, to identify: is this the right way forward? I commit to that. I believe it is the right way forward. This parliament is committed, in the majority, that this is the right way forward. We must maintain pressure in Afghanistan. We must maintain our presence and fight to the end that has been decided. But our decision comes at a cost: people will die; people have died; families have suffered. That is a tragedy and we should never lose sight of that.

Our mission remains the opposing of terrorism, the opposing of extremists and the need to create in Afghanistan an increasingly stable democracy, a society where there is social advancement and a society where people can seek the opportunities of the future. That will not be the case if we are defeated or if we pull back from the course or go soft on these people. We can expect, if we do not have the commitment and the resolve to carry on, that the terrorists—the Taliban and their mates al-Qaeda—will once again assume control over that country, that they will once again have a safe base from which they can train for their terrorist acts and export them around the world. They will continue to oppress their people. Women will be treated like second-class citizens. Girls will not be allowed to go to school. Boys will be under increasing pressure to be extreme in their views and in their religion. That is not something that we want in the world.

We must be prepared to do what has to be done, but it comes at a cost and it will always come at a cost. On this occasion, Sergeant Langley has given his life. I pay tribute to him. I offer my condolences to his family. We will never forget him. We will never forget his family. On behalf of all members here, I wish his family all the best for the future. We hope that they can move on with their lives as well as possible. On behalf of a grateful nation, and from my own perspective, I pay tribute to all that he has done for our great country and the terrible sacrifice that his family has accepted in our national interest.

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