Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, last Tuesday when the House came together, we spent our first moments talking about the loss of Brett Wood. Today, unfortunately, just a week later, we need to mark the fact that overnight we have lost two more of our defence personnel in Afghanistan. At this stage, their names have not been released to the public. That is in accord with the wishes of their families. At the appropriate time when their names are known, of course we will have a condolence motion which honours them in full and honours the details of their service to the Australian nation.

What we can say today is that one man, an Australian Army officer aged 27, lost his life when the helicopter he was in crashed. Five others were injured in that crash. They are in a satisfactory condition. He was not the pilot at the time, but he was a pilot and he had been deployed in East Timor and also on Queensland Operation Flood Assist during the course of our very devastating summer when the work of the helicopters was just so important to Queensland communities in search and rescue, in evacuation and in ferrying supplies around.

The second young man who lost his life lost it in a separate incident. He was 25 years old. He was at one of our forward patrol bases in the Chorah Valley. He was on guard duty. He was there with an Afghan National Army soldier. Whilst the details are still not clear, it appears that the Afghan National Army soldier shot and wounded the Australian soldier and, despite very prompt medical attention, he died from those wounds. The Afghan National Army soldier fled the scene. Of course, all steps are being taken to apprehend him and the incident will be fully investigated.

I understand that many Australians hearing the details of the incident which are available to date would feel a sense of puzzlement about why something like this would happen and would be asking themselves, 'Given we are there to help, what explains this—that an Afghan National Army soldier would shoot and kill an Australian soldier?' I think many in our community probably feel a sense of anger as they hear this news. As people go through those emotions, I would say to the Australian community that we do need to fully investigate this incident before we draw conclusions and before we start speculating about what this means for the circumstances of our deployment in Afghanistan.

I conclude by saying the following two things. Firstly, whatever details we learn in the future about the helicopter crash or about this shooting, first and foremost today our minds are on the two Australian families who have been required to face up to this news overnight and in the early hours of this morning. They are bearing a huge burden and all of our thoughts and all of our good wishes are with them. Secondly, whilst I understand on hard days like this one the Australian community does question our involvement in Afghanistan, I think that is very natural and very understandable too. To Australian community members who are asking themselves that question: it is in our nation's interests to continue our deployment in Afghanistan, to see our mission through and to make sure that Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for terrorist training. If we were to leave a vacuum there in the security circumstances, we know who would fill it—it would be terrorists from around the world. So we do need to see our mission through. But today, of course, the burden of the cost lies on our shoulders and the shoulders of the Australian nation. But, first and foremost, it lies on the hearts of the families who are grieving today and our thoughts are with them.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, I rise to support the remarks of the Prime Minister. On behalf of the coalition, I offer condolences to the families of the soldiers who have been killed and I express the coalition's continuing support for the mission in which those soldiers were engaged. As the Prime Minister said, there will be a time to consider the circumstances under which these deaths have taken place and to draw the appropriate conclusions. But I think there are two observations that are worth making at this point in time. First, there is no such thing as casualty-free combat. Regrettably, as long as our soldiers are in Afghanistan there will be sad moments for our country and, obviously, sad moments for this parliament. The second point to make is that serious countries do not slip out from under their responsibilities no matter how hard those responsibilities become. Our soldiers should not stay in Afghanistan a moment longer than is absolutely necessary but it is necessary that they stay while there is a vital task that only they can perform.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! As a mark of respect I invite honourable members to rise in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the House.