John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek the indulgence of the House to make a few remarks to mark the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack in the United States. This fifth anniversary is an occasion for both remembrance and reaffirmation. It is an occasion to remember the tragic loss of life, which included some 10 Australians. It is also an occasion to mark what an extraordinary change in the affairs of the world that terrorist attack ushered in.

It represented a cruel, unprovoked, premeditated attack on the United States. It was designed to inflict the maximum possible damage and death. Its purpose was to terrorise the civilian population of that country and hopefully cow the resolve and the will of the American people. None of those objectives have been achieved. It is true that there is greater apprehension now, understandably, all around the world about the possibility of terrorist attacks, but the determination and the resolve of the people of the United States as well as the people of many other countries, including Australia, to stand firm against the threat of terrorism denies the goal ultimately sought by the terrorists. We Australians sadly lost some of our country men and women in that attack. Again, of course, and in much greater numbers, Australians died in the two Bali attacks in 2002 and 2004.

The most important observation to make today is that fighting terrorism is a cause that involves us all. It is not just for the United States. It is not just for the United Kingdom or what used to be called the West. It is not just for Australia. It is for the entire world. If terrorism is to be defeated ultimately—and it will take years; let us not delude ourselves—it will require the marshalling, the commitment, the resolve, the resources and the spirit of men and women all around the world. It will involve the commitment of all faiths as well as people of no faith at all.

Very particularly, it will involve and require the commitment of people of the Islamic faith. The most blasphemous thing of all about terrorism as we understand it in the modern world is its obscene invocation of the sanction of Islam to justify the murder of innocent people. Nothing could be further from the goals of the great religions of the world than to have the faiths attested to by those religions used as a justification for wilful murder.

So, as we in this place remember the events of 11 September, we remember those who died and we remember the courage of the police and firemen of that great city of New York and all the other people who worked so hard to bring assistance and comfort to those affected by that attack. Let us not only remember but let us reaffirm our determination to resist, with all the means available to us, both physical and spiritual, the depredations of terrorism. Terrorism is a threat to our way of life. The attack on 11 September was not just an attack on the people of the United States; it was an attack on the free people of the entire world. In our responses, let us understand the grim reality that, whereas in so many other cases prevention is better than cure, in relation to terrorism there is no cure. The only effective antidote against terrorism is to prevent it occurring in the first place. That is why the emphasis that countries have placed on stronger intelligence services and the greater investment in those intelligence services is so very important.

We only have to be instructed by the experience of the plot that was apparently discovered in the United Kingdom recently. If all the reports are to be believed—and I have no reason to disbelieve them—that particular exercise could have involved the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people. It was aborted by excellent intelligence work by the relevant British agencies. We have much to ponder on, five years on from 11 September. But the most important lesson from it, and one that all of us must understand and embrace, is that this is a fight for all of us; it is not just a fight for a few.

Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

May I have your indulgence, Mr Speaker, to speak on the same matter.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition may proceed.

Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to offer a few words of support to the remarks the Prime Minister has made and to say how much I appreciated the opportunity to be with him, my colleague the shadow minister for foreign affairs, some of the Prime Minister’s ministerial colleagues and the ambassador, Robert McCallum, at a small ceremony a couple of hours ago at the United States embassy. It was a modest thing but it was a poignant and moving small ceremony. It was a privilege to be a part of it—a small part of what is an enormous memorialisation of that appalling day five years ago across the United States. The way in which citizens of the United States have supported each other and the families of those who were tragically killed on that day made them feel part of society and they told their stories and ensured that children understand what happened to their parents, where that is relevant.

It really is inspirational to see a community determined to support itself emotionally, physically and spiritually, ensuring that a cataclysmic event like that which could have so winded a society in fact strengthened it. It was a terrible tragedy, a vicious crime, but the United States as a community has emerged not only stronger, harder and more determined as a result of the experience it has been through but also more affectionate and regarding of others’ concerns and needs. For those who are allies of the United States it is inspirational to see that.

I was very glad that five years ago the Prime Minister was in Washington in the United States when this event occurred. It enabled the Prime Minister to speak for all of us with our friends and allies in the United States and to state how determined we as Australians all were to ensure that this thing was seen through to the end. Shortly after that, the parliament decided that the ANZUS treaty would be invoked and we went to war. These are not small matters. These are serious matters, and that state of conflict basically then focused on Afghanistan, and it persists there and is not yet solved. Australian soldiers and service personnel are, of course, fighting and struggling in this conflict.

We know that, as a result of our experience over these last five years, only through vigilance and courage will we win the battle against those who seek to destroy our society and the societies in which they are largely located. We know they may break our hearts, but they cannot diminish our resolve and our spirit. There have been wins and losses over the last five years. In many ways, our police and intelligence services are much better prepared now than they were. They are far more knowledgeable and far more effective in their mutual cooperation. They are obviously capable of disrupting the plans and patterns of activities of terrorists and have done so on numerous occasions.

There have, nevertheless, also been appalling atrocities—and the Prime Minister referred to them. Two of them, of course, very deeply affected Australians much more so than even September 11, enormous although that effect was. They are challenging our spirit and resolve and, basically, we are coming through on the front of spirit and resolve. They are also challenging our intellect and, in many ways, our cleverness and our capacity to understand the true nature of what it is we are up against. We are up against a challenge to the character of our society, and we understand that and we are pushing back. We are also up against a challenge, a battle, for the hearts and minds of the Islamic world. That is the main objective of the people who have done us so much damage. There is a spiritual struggle now in the Islamic world to ensure that those in mainstream Islam succeed in beating off a challenge from what the Prime Minister described as a ‘blasphemous interpretation’ of the noble faith of Islam.

We must recollect in everything we do, whether it be here or how we operate internationally, that that core feature of the struggle is important to us as well. We have allies in the Muslim world and we need to listen to them. We need to make certain that as well as us being victorious they are victorious. That is a very deep challenge and a very difficult one. Not everything we have done since September 11 has necessarily achieved, supported or enhanced those objectives. We have to be resolute; we have to be effective; we have to be forthright; we have to be clever.

This is a challenge that will outlast, I am afraid to say, the political careers of both the Prime Minister and me. It is a challenge that will go on through several generations. I can only hope that we get better and better at meeting it, that we have the same reserves of courage, resilience, love and affection that have been shown by survivors of September 11 five years ago, and that we hold up the way in which the families most deeply affected by it have been so magnificently supported.