Linda Kirk (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I refer the minister to the release of Iraq Body Count’s assessment that over 79,000 civilian deaths have occurred since 2003. I also refer the minister to United Nations assessments that over two million Iraqis have fled their country and that over one million Iraqis have been internally displaced. Does the minister agree that Iraq is a human and security catastrophe? What humanitarian assistance is the government providing to relieve the suffering in the refugee camps that now exist in Jordan and Syria and the displaced persons camps that are increasing in size within Iraq?