Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Fawcett for this question. I also thank him for his service, both in uniform and now in this place in the committee work he does. First of all I have to say that all Australians should be extremely proud of the contribution that our men and women in the ADF are making to the security and stability of the Middle East. Today over 1,000 ADF members are deployed across the Middle East. Our people are contributing to international coalition efforts to combat Daesh and other terrorist groups, building the capacity of security forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and supporting maritime security and peace operations.

The professionalism of our defence personnel and the high standards by which they all conduct themselves was pressed upon me repeatedly by officials in Afghanistan, Iraq and also the UAE. I saw firsthand the results of the efforts of our ADF men and women. Their contributions are utterly magnificent, and everybody here in this place and in our nation should be extremely proud of their contributions. When I spoke to our men and women, two things struck me. The first one is how incredibly proud they are of each other. When I asked what the one thing that they would take away from their experiences was, it was all about the men and women that they work with; also, how much they have learnt by working alongside their colleagues in Afghanistan, Iraq and the UAE. The second thing they said is that deploying into the Middle East also provided them with a greater degree of appreciation for what it means to be Australian and how lucky we all are that we were born here in Australia.

In Afghanistan, the ADF continues to support the Afghan government's efforts to provide stability for its people. For example, over eight million Afghan children are currently enrolled in schools in Afghanistan. Today 40 per cent are girls. We should all be very proud. (Time expired)