Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister outline the role Australia is playing in development and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan?

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. I was pleased last week to represent Australia at the successful International Support Conference for Afghanistan in Paris. That conference very much underlined the Australian government’s approach, which is that in Afghanistan we need to secure two things: firstly, peace and security through combat or military enforcement action; and, secondly, to build the Afghan nation through civil reconstruction.

The conference in Paris was a very necessary step in aligning the civilian contribution and the military contribution and an important follow-up to the Bucharest NATO summit. It sent a strong message of international community commitment to Afghanistan’s rebuilding, reconstruction and development. Nearly US$20 billion was pledged, including a $250 million contribution from Australia, which of course is in addition to our troop commitment in the south of the Afghanistan, part of which involves a reconstruction task force.

Australia joined with the international community in making the point that the time has now come for the Afghan government itself to assume a greater responsibility in the administration of civil reconstruction and to assume a greater responsibility in addressing the major threats to Afghanistan’s stability. I made the point to the conference and generally that Australia saw four main threats to Afghanistan’s reconstruction: firstly, the ongoing security situation; secondly, the need for the Afghan government to ensure good governance; thirdly, the essential need for building the capacity of state institutions; and, finally, the need to address and attack Afghanistan’s significant narcotics problem.

The conference underlined these things and also made the point that, in addition to an enhanced international community commitment to this civil reconstruction, there needs to be greater coordination of international efforts. The conference expressed its very strong support for the United Nations Special Representative, Mr Kai Eide, in his role. In the course of the conference I had the opportunity of speaking to Mr Eide and also the Secretary General of NATO, my foreign minister counterparts from the United Kingdom, France, Pakistan and Italy and the Secretary of State of the United States. In these meetings I emphasised Australia’s long-term commitment to Afghanistan, including the essential need to parallel-track both military enforcement action and civil reconstruction. I also emphasised Australia’s very significant concern about the potential deleterious consequences to our troops in the south of Afghanistan near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It is quite clear that the potentially deteriorating situation on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is a matter which is now of necessary interest not just to Afghanistan and Pakistan but also to the region and the international community generally.

I indicated that Australia pledged $250 million for civil reconstruction. We particularly see that as occurring in agriculture, good governance, law enforcement and capacity-building of state institutions. My attendance at the conference as Australia’s representative followed upon a trip to Afghanistan, where I had the opportunity of having discussions with the new Commander of the International Security Assistance Force, General McKiernan, about the implementation of the political and military strategy from Bucharest and also the prospects for civil reconstruction. It is true to say that the work being done by Australian troops—both in a military sense and also in a reconstruction sense—in Oruzgan province in southern Afghanistan is very much appreciated by the international security forces and very much admired by NATO members and the international community.

In conclusion, I welcome very much the recent announcements from NATO states that their military commitment is being upgraded. I welcome very much the announcement overnight by the British Secretary of State for Defence, Des Browne, of the increase in the United Kingdom’s contribution in Afghanistan, which is its largest military contribution. I welcome very much the announcement by the Italian Foreign Minister that the so-called caveats applied to the deployment of Italian forces will now be made significantly more flexible, and I welcomed this in my discussions with Foreign Minister Frattini.

It is unambiguously the case that Australia’s long-term commitment in Afghanistan, both militarily and in civil reconstruction, is in our national interest. There is absolutely no doubt that it is also in the international community’s interest. There is no doubt that Afghanistan, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, is currently the international hotbed of terrorism. And that terrorism is potentially quickly mobile—to the north and west for Europe and to the south and east for Asia and Australia. That is why Australia’s ongoing, long-term, enduring commitment to Afghanistan is of both a military enforcement and civil reconstruction nature.