Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is directed to Senator Coonan in her capacity as Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I refer the minister to Senator Ellison’s answer to a question last week about the record levels of opium production in Afghanistan. Is the minister aware that the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr Antonio Maria Costa, has now called on NATO forces to use military action to eradicate opium production in Afghanistan, particularly in the south of the country? Has either the UN or the Afghan government made approaches to Australia to request our assistance in those efforts to eradicate the crop? What is the government’s policy on the use of military action to eradicate opium production in Afghanistan?