Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) concerning reports that over two dozen members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will take part in the annual Ulchi-Freedom Guardian war games alongside American and South Korean troops later this month,

(ii) that the war games will take place against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea, and a heightened risk of miscalculation leading to war,

(iii) that North Korea routinely denounces the war games as preparation for an invasion, and in 2016 conducted a nuclear test following the exercises, and

(iv) that the participation of ADF personnel in the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian war games will insert Australia into a potentially very dangerous conflict between unpredictable nuclear states; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) immediately withdraw Australian participation in the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian war games, and

(ii) directly urge United States President, Donald Trump, to de-escalate tensions, rather than continue to ratchet them up.