Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to incorporate my speech.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

Today, the Senate acknowledged the death of Abdul Hakim Taniwal—an Australian-Afghani, who was killed so tragically last Sunday in Afghanistan.

Mr Taniwal was the scholarly and soft-voiced governor of Paktia province in Afghanistan, and a close friend and confidant of President Hamid Karzai.

He was a charismatic political figure known for his skill in bringing together hostile groups in the country’s volatile tribal regions near the Pakistani border.

Mr Taniwal, his nephew, driver and bodyguard were killed when a suicide bomber threw himself under their vehicle, detonating the explosives as they were approaching the governor’s office in the provincial capital, Gardez, some 80 miles south of Kabul.

His death shocked foreign diplomats and political leaders around the world, who have praised Mr Taniwal for his service to his country. Having escaped the Taliban regime, he and is wife came to Australia as refugees, and lived outside Melbourne.

He returned home to Afghanistan in 2002, at the invitation of President Karzai, who sought his assistance in the fledgling new government .

He joined President Karzai’s administration, serving first as governor of Khost province, then as a member of the Cabinet as Minister for Social Welfare and Employment and Minister for Mines and Industry.

Just less than a year ago he agreed to take on the job of governor of the Paktia province

President Karzai described Mr Taniwal as a great patriot. He fought against violence and corruption in Paktia;

He did much to bring the warring tribes together there; and he made a significant contribution to the national reconciliation program being undertaken in Afghanistan.

Mr Taniwal was the first Afghan governor to be killed in office since the Karzai government took office in late 2001. Several other governors have survived assassination attempts, and two cabinet ministers have been killed in Kabul.

In an interview with The Washington post in 2002 in his former office in Khost province, Mr Taniwal said he had been reluctant to leave his family in Australia but wanted to help his friend, President Karzai establish a strong democratic government after years of bloodshed and repression in Afghanistan.

He said he believed in bringing all Afghans into a national dialogue, including former Taliban members who were willing to return to civilian life—and he was attempting to do the same thing in his new post in Paktia province.

“I am not a commander. I am a peaceful man, and I want to resolve this peacefully ... I want to finish the Kalashnikov culture,” Mr Taniwal had said in the interview in Khost, as he was attempting to negotiate with a renegade militia commander.

Mr Taniwal acknowledged that his children were worried about him returning to Afghanistan to serve in the Karzai government, but that he had agreed to help calm the trouble in the turbulent eastern region.

“This is my home, and I wanted to do something for my people, “. “I am not alone here.” he said at the time.

Mr Taniwal’s influence came in part from the respect he received as an elder of his Tanai tribe. He was exactly the kind of man that President Karzai was trying to position in senior posts around the country—replacing the warlords and mujahideen commanders with educated men who could promote education and the law.

His son, Zmarak, said his father had fervently believed he could help rebuild his homeland.

Let us hope that his life and his work are not in vain and that there is continued international support for the government of Afghanistan in coming months.

His death reminds us of the dangerous work that our service men and women are doing in Afghanistan and the sacrifices they are making for the cause of democracy.

At the funeral, Mr Karzai praised Mr Taniwal for his efforts and his contribution.

“The enemies of Afghanistan are trying to kill those people who are working for the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan,” he said.

Telling words, since at the funeral, another suicide bomber killed six people and wounded at least 30 others.

Mr Taniwal is survived by his wife and children, who have many reasons to be very proud of the quiet sociology professor who has given his life for the country he loved.

Our thoughts and prayers are with them all.