Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The year 2001 saw the World Trade Centre collapse when aircraft crashed into it. Ansett collapsed soon after, and people stopped flying for a time. It was train-wreck television, seeing the World Trade Centre go down; I was glued to the television set for 24 hours. I had gone to bed the night before about three minutes before Sandra Sully broke the news on Channel 10. I woke up in the morning, went out to the front yard and picked up the Townsville Bulletin. On the front of it were pictures of the Twin Towers on fire and I said, 'Oh, what movie is this?' So I went inside and turned the TV on and that was it.

Lavarack Barracks and Garbutt air base went straight into red alert. Their plans for potential impact of terrorist attack were instigated seamlessly. That is what they do; they get on with it. Osama bin Laden claimed credit for the deaths. There was joy in the Middle East. It struck me as very strange and incredibly sad that such a tragedy could achieve such absolute joy in places. It shows just what a cosseted life we lead in Australia, that someone could actually have joy in watching that. I do not blame them for what they did, but I thought the reaction was unbelievable.

It is against this background that our position on Afghanistan must be viewed. There were people in Australia who wanted to, and did, sue Americans for the loss of a loved one in the Twin Towers. Grief is what it is, and actions which may seem excessive to some who are standing at a safe distance seem perfectly reasonable and justifiable to others. We then saw the tragedy that was Bali. We saw London and Madrid. All these link back to Afghanistan. Australia was one of the first countries to act in support of the USA in attacking the Taliban and bin Laden. Over time our role has changed. We are now there in a mentoring capacity. Sadly, this has not made it any safer. So, when people say we should not be there, it must be taken in full view of the knowledge of the 24-hour news cycle, the distance of time and the proximity of tragedy.

I do take the member of Lyne at his word. An exit strategy should be part of any military operation. We do not go into these things aimlessly, and 10 years is an awfully long time to be engaged. But every time we go back to this, we have to go back to why we are there, and Bali was just too close for me. Bali was where Australians went to surf and relax; it was a place for the end of season trips and for cheap holidays. To have seen the victims of that attack on Australia is to forever know that we will never be completely safe until other countries take control of their own lives. Bali was too close.

Australian troops went to the front when they were called, and they did so willingly. Australian troops defended the people of Afghanistan and attacked the killers of people. They did so with determination and discipline. Australian troops are rebuilding the nation. We are assisting with the training of defence and police forces. We are building schools and hospitals. We are building roads. We are doing all this with trust and hope in our hearts and minds.

Australian troops have died. Some have died on the battlefield. Some have been shot in the back inside their own compounds. I never spoke to a good mate of mine when he left my football club for another. Here we have a situation where you are mates with an Afghan. You have gone out of your way to include him. You have gone out of your way to help him. You have shared with him. You have protected him. And he has betrayed you. He has killed you and your mates. That is the greatest betrayal of all.

Australian troops are disciplined. There is no revenge. There is a systematic approach to tending the wounded and securing the perimeter. The killer will be caught and will face justice. That is our way.

We grieve. It is felt in every city and town in Australia when we lose a member of our ADF. But it is felt more in cities such as Townsville where there is not only a large population of serving members but an even larger contingent of ex-service personnel. I attended the funeral of Lance Corporal Gavin last week. His family were there. He has three children, with the youngest girl still in a pram. His middle child, his daughter, twirled in her beautiful dress, and his son, Joshua, looked every inch the man of the house in his shirt and tie. Brigadier Smith, the immediate past brigade commander, spoke. The Prime Minister was represented by the Minister for Defence, and the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Shadow Minister for Trade represented the Leader of the Opposition. Lieutenant General David Morrison was there as the Chief of Army. Townsville's mayor, Les Tyrell, was there. We all filed out after the coffin at the end of the service. It was then that they chose to play the wedding song at the exit, so we had this extremely important and sombre procession walking out of the chapel at Lavarack Barracks as Kiss sang, 'I was made for lovin' you, baby.'

We have lost 32 now. I was at the War Memorial last week with my nine-year-old son. Even though he was ready to run, he was respectful, by the very nature of the place, and was quiet all the way around on the tour. There is a place of honour there for our fallen. The current veterans know what it means to them.

We must concern ourselves with the mission at hand. We must concern ourselves with the conditions being faced by the men and women still there. I heard the member for Wentworth speak earlier, and he spoke of this very matter. We here, in this place, cannot know what pressure is. We cannot know what it is like not to be able to relax. We cannot know what it is like to be living with the constant threat of being injured, or worse, by the very people who we are trying to help.

To be killed or injured on the battlefield is one thing—a trained service man or woman can compartmentalise this and rationalise what has happened. What we as a society must acknowledge is that some of the people returning will have problems. That is why we must ensure that the Department of Veterans' Affairs must remain ever vigilant as to the needs of their clients. Management there must never let the service of our returning and retiring service men and women become merely a job. A counselling service must be held separately from areas where they can be viewed as 'having a problem'.

I know that the DVA in Townsville has some very tough cases in front of them; I know that DVA staff in Townsville are doing the very best that they can. We must ensure that the very people who have always been so strong and proud are welcomed and nurtured in their time of need. They must be told that this need is not a weakness—it is being human. The RSL must ensure that a welcoming hand is extended at every function. They must include. They must ensure that advocacy they provide is professional and respectful at all times. The city of Townsville must rally around our Defence families. We must ensure that we respect the space they require, but we can still be good neighbours and friends without intruding. Our schools where Defence mums or liaison are present must be on their toes and look for signs of families under stress, and offer a cup of coffee or a word of encouragement to all. Legacy will become even more important as we go on in time. To see those three children last week lose their father was hard enough. To be a family a long, long way from home and struggle with school fees and transport is another thing entirely. I know the people at Legacy in Townsville; a better group of people you will never find. But they must also renew. Their role has never been more challenging in a very busy world.

So every time I hear someone tell me we should come home, I think of those people who died in the World Trade Centre and in Bali, London and Madrid. I try not to think about how they would feel if we did pull out and their brother, sister, son, daughter, mother, father or loved one were killed as a direct result of us not completing the job we set out to do. We must respect those who lost their lives and make sure we complete the work. We owe everyone that much. Lest we forget.

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