Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

No. We have a very clear position that we will not simply withdraw our support for the Iraqi people through our presence on the ground, which is playing its part in ensuring that the Iraqi people have in place a mechanism by which they can pursue a stable, secure, peaceful and democratic Iraq. We are not going to abandon them at their time of need. Questions relating to the competence or otherwise of the American intervention and administration are matters for the American people and the American government to answer. Of course we would be concerned about reports that a certain number of weapons have found their way into the wrong hands. Of course we would be most concerned about that. Clearly, if that is true then there is a huge message for the American administration to significantly increase its capacity to ensure that that does not occur. But we pay tribute to President George Bush and his determination to free the people of Iraq from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and we are joining with the United States and many other countries in ensuring that the Iraqi people have a chance of peace. (Time expired)