Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges and supports the deployed Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel currently serving overseas;

(2) recognises that:

(a) there are currently well over 2,000 ADF personnel serving overseas; and

(b) these men and women are playing a critical role in supporting Australia's national interests by contributing to international security operations; and

(3) notes the Government's ongoing support for our deployed ADF personnel and the $910.7 million provided in the 2015 budget to support major overseas operations including Okra, Highroad, Manitou, Accordion and Resolute.

After a decade and a half of war, conflict in the Middle East is an abstraction for many Australians. Their understanding is largely shaped by fragmented media images. One of the themes common to western democracies over the last 15 years of war is a growing distance between the military who serve overseas and the citizenry who send them. We, as members of parliament, must always strive to close that gap by clearly articulating the reasons why we send Australians to war and ensuring they are supported both morally and materially. This should especially be the case when we share a bipartisan resolve. We are at war with Islamic State, or Daesh. We will defeat IS and free the Syrian and Iraqi people held captive by that evil regime, and that future victory is being made possible by the contribution of the deployed ADF personnel. These men and women are bringing stability to that region and safety to this nation.

In 2014, IS burst on to the international scene. It proclaimed its caliphate across territory in Iraq and Syria. From that position, it has launched attacks across the world. It has targeted the west. It has wrought horror, destruction and fear. An effective response needed to be clear, decisive and overwhelming. From the outset, this government has provided the framework for the fight against IS. Our framework remains to disrupt, degrade and defeat IS. Our sailors, soldiers and airmen, working as part of a global coalition, needed to have the space and time to execute that plan. Almost a year on since I last spoke on this subject, we can see the government's resolve and confidence in that strategy is paying dividends. The ADF have performed magnificently in degrading Islamic State and we are trending towards victory.

In the fight against IS, we are not combating a group of mindless violent thugs. What motivates them is a coherent ideology with its own rules and goals. Theology is the cornerstone of their strategic framework, but it is also the key to their downfall. This is a contest of ideas and IS ideology requires external validation. Put simply, territory and expansion are key components of Islamic State's theology. A caliphate is territory; a caliph its leader. A caliph requires territory from which to wage war and implement sharia. Every victory we have, every metre of ground IS loses, undermines their legitimacy and authority. Unlike al-Qaeda, a caliphate cannot exist underground. Take away its territory and you take away its capacity to exist. The longer a caliph goes without making offensive jihad, as Islamic State refer it, the weaker his authority becomes. There is a strict criterion to be caliph. A shrinking caliphate will lose the allegiance of its fighters.

IS have not had a major battlefield success in Iraq in over a year. Their strategic aims, so closely linked to their world view, are crumbling before them. Every material defeat is a victory for the coalition, a raid against it. They are now facing an existential crisis both material and, more importantly, ideological. Fighter desertions are increasing. That is why the ADF's contribution in the region is so significant. Our troops involved in Task Group Taji have assisted in the training of more than 30,000 Iraqi security forces. These forces have spearheaded the recapture of more than 45 per cent of IS territory in Iraq. They have liberated major centres like Ramadi, Hit and Fallujah, and scores of villages and communities are now free of IS barbarism. They are on track to liberate Mosul. Our air task group has also had considerable success. Its contribution to the 13,500 strikes in Iraq and Syria has helped to contain, impede and cripple IS.

Much of IS's critical infrastructure has been destroyed and its financial support reduced. Over 10,000 square kilometres in Syria has been reclaimed. A special operations task force is also in the region, providing advice and assistance to the Iraqi counterterrorism service. Right now, coalition forces are staging to retake the Syrian village of Dabiq, which occupies a significant place in IS's theology and strategy. According to IS, the armies of Islam will supposedly win a decisive victory over Western forces here. To lose Dabiq would be a blow from which IS might never recover, as it would prove false one of their central ideas. Indeed, Dabiq is the name of their e-magazine, a key component of their propaganda arm that is used to recruit and radicalise young Australians.

The men and women of the ADF are crushing IS. Their contribution is keeping the people of Australia safe. They are protecting our way of life and securing the future of our children. Today we acknowledge their service to Australia, the sacrifice their families endure in their lengthy absences and their vital role in what will be the historic and enduring defeat of Islamic State.

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