Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have really wanted to contribute to this debate on national security and the government's pending commitment to send troops to the conflict in Iraq, so I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to rise today.

As a former chief of staff of the Minister for Defence, I have in the past been directly involved in these types of operations. In addition, during the last term of parliament I was the member for Curtin's principal adviser on foreign affairs and trade when she was Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. Back in 2001, when I was the chief of staff for the Minister for Defence, it was not Iraq that we were going to war in, but actually Afghanistan. It directly followed the dreadful attacks on 9/11. Indeed, I was relaxing at home watching television at the very time that the terrorist event occurred. In fact, I was watching the US television drama, The West Wing; what else would you expect a political staffer to be watching?

Soon after the first plane hit the first tower at the World Trade Centre in New York, the television show was interrupted and went to a live coverage from the Twin Towers. It was after 9 pm at night, and I recall it so vividly. I was actually watching live via satellite when the second plane slammed into the second tower. It was at that wrenching moment that we all knew that this was not just an aviation accident but something much more sinister and evil. It was soon after that I got a call from the chief of staff of the then Acting Prime Minister, John Anderson, requiring me to find the Minister for Defence, Peter Reith. In essence, all hell broke loose. We had Prime Minister John Howard in Washington, and we needed to be concerned about his safety and of course the safety of all Australians that were in the US at the time. A National Security Committee of Cabinet meeting was hastily arranged. When that occurred, the next morning we were already discussing the invoking of the ANZUS Treaty with the United States for the first time.

I do not have to go through all of the other events of the next few days. Terrorism had hit our country and many other countries. Since then we have been living with the terrorist threat. I remind the House that these attacks on 9/11, which saw 2,977 innocent people die, including 11 Australians, were before the US or Australia ever went into either Afghanistan or Iraq. It was only after that event that these other actions occurred. Indeed, before the 2003 operation in Iraq, Australians were also subject to a further attack by Jemaah Islamiyah. A total of 88 Australians died in the 2002 Bali bombings.

This issue has been brought home to us because of the actions of extremists. We now face a continuing threat. As the Prime Minister had said:

For more than two years, the civil war in Syria, followed by the conquest of much of northern Iraq, has been sucking in misguided and alienated Australians. There are at least 60 Australians that we know who are currently fighting with terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, and at least 100 Australians who are supporting them. More than 20 of these foreign fighters have already returned to Australia. As a peaceful and pluralist democracy, we naturally shrink from getting involved in conflicts on the other side of the world, but sometimes these conflicts reach out to us, regardless of anything we might do now or have done in the past.

We are now facing an enemy that grandiosely calls itself the Islamic State, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham. It is a travesty that it should call itself by these titles. As the Prime Minister says, 'It is neither Islamic nor a state, but a death cult.'

We are working in partnership with some 40 other countries, led by the United States, in confronting this appalling enemy that is ISIL, which has been involved in attempted genocide, mass killings, beheadings and crucifixions. It is a cult more suited to the Middle Ages than the modern world. But unfortunately it is here and now.

The government has announced the prepositioning of RAAF and SAS forces in the United Arab Emirates. As the chairman of the Parliamentary Friends of the UAE, I am very glad to see that our Emirati friends are assisting with this important struggle. However, it is a pity that we have not got the full backing from the United Nations Security Council on this issue. No formal resolution has been put to the United Nations Security Council. It is a failure on its behalf. I understand that this is because Russia has a veto and they are fully expected to use that veto. It is also possible that the Chinese, who also have a veto, would abstain from a yes vote. That is not as bad as a possible veto, but it would not be a good look.

So I understand that the western nations are not pushing the issue. It simply illustrates the extent of the United Nations Security Council's effectiveness. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad. It must be galling to all those people who invest the United Nations Security Council with so much legalistic authority but who also believe that there is an implied necessity in international law for the world community to exercise the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect.

On our side of politics we are not so much concerned about dithering around on these legalistic and philosophical debates. Instead we prefer to initiate action before too many more people get killed. We simply cannot ignore statements of ISIL when for example its spokesman, al-Adnani, recently stated: 'If you can kill an American or European infidel, especially the spiteful and filthy French, or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the infidel fighters, then rely upon God and kill them in any way possible.' This is what we are up against.

The events in Sydney and Brisbane two weeks ago to stop a potential gruesome beheading in Martin Place in Sydney under the direct orders of ISIL are a case in point. To think that the Australian Greens, particularly Senator Whish-Wilson, were seriously arguing the other day that we should not be calling these people terrorists. They are atrocious barbarians. We cannot ignore that. We have to deal with the issues. But let me equally say that we need to be very careful about rabblerousing statements like those of Senator Lambie. It does her no credit.

I have lived and worked in the middle east in the Gulf state of Bahrain. I was there with my wife, daughter and son. The Bahrainis are warm and hospitable people. I always felt safe and it was a very positive experience. I am proud of the fact that Bahrain has joined the coalition to help fight ISIL. People should be very careful about how they express themselves so as not to create unnecessary divisions when we need to all pull together in facing the current challenges. We need to talk in calm terms and we need to examine our security legislation and ensure it adequately protects the Australian people.

The government is working with the opposition to do this and the Attorney-General is proceeding with three pieces of legislation to deal with the threats. I welcome the fact that the Leader of the Opposition has supported the government position. Unfortunately, it is not clear that he has the full support of his caucus, however all power to the Leader of the Opposition on this issue, if on no other. Let me add that the member for Denison's outrageous personal attacks on former Prime Minister John Howard are beneath contempt.

I was recently asked on an ABC radio interview: 'Why can we now afford to spend all this money on military action in the Middle East, given the government has also been arguing that there was a serious budget problem? Indeed, I understand that the operations will cost as much as $500 million in annual terms.' The answer is simple: part of the reason we need to repair the budget as soon as possible is because more than $25 billion was ripped out of Defence in the course of the last six years. The share of GDP spent on defence in the 2013-14 budget was just 1.59 per cent—the lowest level since 1938. The first duty of a national government is to protect the Australian people and that is what we are endeavouring to do to the best of our ability.

In conclusion, there may be very dark days ahead. In recent combat situations, particularly Afghanistan, there have been many deaths and many wounded. Let us hope this conflict is not protracted. Unfortunately, I think it very well could be. Some military people have said it could take 15 years to resolve the issues. That may be so—that is the daunting prospect. However, from what we can see now and for the short future over the horizon we need to stay the course and commit our best effort to this ugly necessity.

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