Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) joins with the Prime Minister, Opposition Leader and Defence Minister in acknowledging the service of the more than 30,000 Defence Force personnel deployed in the Middle East since October 2001;

(2) supports the sentiment of appreciation outlined in the Prime Minister's speech at the welcome home parade for more than 250 Darwin-based soldiers marking the end of their deployment to Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, during 2013;

(3) acknowledges the enormous sacrifice of Australia's mission in Afghanistan—during which 40 soldiers lost their lives and more than 260 personnel were injured;

(4) affirms its pride and ongoing support for the Australian Defence Force as one of the most highly trained, professional and respected forces in the world;

(5) pays tribute to these personnel through its support for the national day of commemoration to be held on 21 March 2015 to recognise the contribution and sacrifice of Australian troops who served in Afghanistan and the Middle East; and

(6) acknowledges the great courage and personal sacrifice of our Defence Force personnel and their families to keep our country safe and to build a better future for the people of Afghanistan and the broader Middle East.

There are times when saying thankyou simply does not do justice to the sentiment being expressed nor does it properly capture the sense of debt and appreciation that the speaker is attempting to convey. This is one such occasion. As the motion states, next year on 21 March there will be a national day of commemoration to formerly honour the service of the more than 30,000 Defence Force personnel who deployed to the Middle East since October 2001. It is important for all of us to look back on that time and reflect on the success of the operations in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

In October 2001, the world was still reeling at the terror attacks on the United States that left thousands dead and shook the free world to its very core. Australia was part of the broad based, multigovernmental military force put together by key allies of the United States to respond to the September 11 attacks. The coalition was tasked with breaking up the terror organisation al-Qaeda that had masterminded the American attacks. Its brief was also to hunt down al-Qaeda's leader Osama bin Laden and with an eye on the long term to reduce the risk of other strikes taking place in the future. Two years later, Australia also joined with the United States in a multination troop deployment as part of what was briefly referred to as the coalition of the willing.

While not sanctioned by the United Nations and resisted by some members in the national parliament, the Howard administration was unflinching in its support of our ally and the objectives outlined in Iraq as part of the broader objective of fighting terror. The 13 years that followed were among the longest ongoing military operations in our history. In particular, the Afghan conflict had been described as our longest war. We had deployed personnel on land, on the sea and in the air. Our P3 Orion aircraft carried out unceasing patrols of the sky, warning of missile attacks and dangerous enemy movement. Our ships kept the Gulf peaceful and, further, patrolled, and intercepted pirates and drug smugglers. On land, we have worked with 47 other nations to bring a new stability to the Middle East. Led by the Americans, our great partner in an alliance first forged in blood and fire in Darwin, we have toppled a dictator who murdered many. I will not shy away from the fact that our duty in the Middle East was also extremely hard. The preparation involved practising survival skills; being able to shoot efficiently, and to don gas masks in an instant; and becoming proficient in all of the equipment that personnel carried night and day.

A significant portion of the 31,000 Australian personnel deployed to the Middle East had passed through Robertson Barracks in the Northern Territory. Once they were deemed by their instructors to be capable of meeting the demands of this arduous posting, they were allowed to proceed to the theatre of operations. Often disaster could come out of the clear blue sky with speed and no warning—Katyusha rockets, mortar fire, machine guns; all could be directed their way. The days were long: 14 to 16 hours on duty, seven days a week. I am told that a favourite saying of personnel in the Middle East, and particularly Afghanistan, was: 'The days are long but the weeks are short.' This gives a context for the lives many troops experienced. Letters and parcels from home were a highlight. The wounding or death of someone known was a most significant event, but there was nothing left to do but to soldier on. The same applied at home, where family members not only kept the home fires burning but also provided a rock and the very foundation of faith in our family, and faith in the future. Last month, it was my pleasure to join in the last few kilometres of the 400-kilometre Families of the Fallen walk, from Mataranka to Robertson Barracks. This remarkable trek was about raising awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder as well as to raise funds for the returned soldiers to walk the Kokoda Trail. Ray and Pam Palmer are the parents of Scott Palmer, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2010. Ray and Pam have channelled their grief at Scott's death into helping servicemen and servicewomen who carry psychological scars from their deployment. The federal government also recognises the importance of post-deployment mental health support, and has in place a comprehensive range of screening and referral services to help personnel.

I would like to finish by putting on the record my thanks and my acknowledgement of the enormous sacrifice of the Australian mission in Afghanistan, and by once again affirming my pride and ongoing support for our Australian Defence Force, as one of the most highly trained, professional and respected forces in the world.

See this speech in context