Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Greens join with every other senator and member of this parliament, and Australians from coast to coast, in lamenting the terrible losses of Privates Tim Aplin, Ben Chuck and Scott Palmer in the service of their nation. This is a terrible part of the mounting toll in Afghanistan, and we extend to the families, friends, comrades and communities of Privates Aplin, Chuck and Palmer our deepest sympathy. Together with our colleagues in this Senate, we express our honour and respect for these soldiers who, in the courageous service of their country, have lost their lives.

They will be honoured in the annals of Australia’s history. They have put their lives on the line for the nation, the country they loved, and have lost their lives. And now, and as a consequence, there is extraordinary misery and grieving but, hopefully, the emergent joy of knowing for the families, the friends and the communities that have to endure this dreadful news that a nation honours the lost one.

The circumstances in Afghanistan have not changed for the better. It has been my repeated asseveration that we should have a full and open debate in this parliament on the Afghan involvement by our brave Defence Force personnel, with a conscience vote and with every member of parliament here contributing his or her knowledge and reflecting his or her electorate’s feeling about our long involvement and our continued future involvement in a war where there is no sight of end, exit or withdrawal by the Australian Defence Force personnel.

I might add here, and I know that colleagues will appreciate this as well, that I am very pleased that Senator Faulkner is the Minister for Defence in this country, because his own statement today to the nation on our involvement in Afghanistan shows a deep commitment to international negotiation and to involvement on the ground at the interface in a very complicated situation in Afghanistan, and brings with that an intelligence and a heartfelt humanity and concern for Australians in Afghanistan and for everybody in Afghanistan. This is quite exemplary in the service of this nation in what is an extraordinarily difficult situation for us all to comprehend and come to terms with.

I reiterate that I think we owe it to our Defence Force personnel to have a much more wide-ranging debate about their service in Afghanistan at the behest of our government and, therefore, our nation and, therefore, all of us. I note that the Dutch forces have withdrawn. In fact, the government of the Netherlands fell because of the debate on this very issue—in a country even further away from Afghanistan. The Canadians intend to follow suit next year. I note also the absence of deployment in this theatre by much bigger and closer defence forces such as China and India. Their involvement, of course, would potentially lead to a much swifter outcome.

These are very difficult and heart-wrenching situations, and we must not flinch from taking on that difficult debate and communication with our own communities in honour of the involvement of our brave Defence Force personnel and, indeed, civilian personnel in Afghanistan. We owe it to this nation on their behalf, after such a long involvement—since 2001—and, as Senator Faulkner said, after the death of 16 of these good, true, courageous and committed Australians, and with the toll of another 135 injured.

We have heard today of these wonderful privates who have now lost their lives. I hope that when this parliament returns in August or, if it is that there is an election on the agenda, when the new parliament comes back it will give a commitment to honour that involvement and that the extraordinary anguish for all the people—the families, in particular, of our Defence Force personnel—is not repeated in the deployment to theatres of war in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is incumbent on us to debate this issue more than we have. That said, I appreciate this motion today. It is incredibly important, and I am glad we are united in it. I hope that it presents some balm for the most affected souls who are dealing with this tragedy.