John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a statement on civilian casualties in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan.

Leave granted.

I thank the Senate for its courtesy to enable me to make this statement. Yesterday evening, 22 February, the Chief of the Defence Force informed me that he had received reports of an incident in Oruzgan province that had tragically resulted in a large number of civilian casualties. According to a statement issued by ISAF commander General McChrystal, on Sunday, 21 February, an air strike had been conducted against a convoy of vehicles suspected of carrying Taliban insurgents. According to the COMISAF statement, when ISAF and Afghan ground forces arrived at the scene they found four women and one child amongst the casualties from the strike. A number of the injured were taken to medical facilities in Tarin Kowt. While the number of people injured or killed is not yet reliably known, it appears to be a very significant number—27, according to ISAF estimates.

CDF has informed me that current reporting indicates no Australian Defence Force personnel serving in Afghanistan were involved in requesting or carrying out the air strike. However, I can confirm that ADF medical personnel did provide specialist medical support on board the aeromedical evacuation helicopters which provided immediate medical assistance both at the incident scene and at the military hospital in Tarin Kowt.

This incident will be the subject of an ISAF investigation in partnership with the Afghan authorities. I can assure the Senate that I will take a very close interest in the investigation. At this stage I am not in a position to provide further information about the facts of this matter, and it would not be appropriate for me to do so with the investigation pending.

I can assure the Senate that the Australian Defence Force deploys with rules of engagement designed to ensure they minimise loss of life, especially civilian casualties. As would be expected, these rules of engagement comply completely with Australia’s domestic and international legal obligations. The ADF also takes all appropriate steps to ensure its operations do not put the lives of civilians or noncombatants in jeopardy.

The loss of innocent lives in incidents such as these is a tragedy. It is particularly distressing that this has occurred at a time when coalition forces are putting so much effort into Operation Moshtarak in neighbouring Helmand province. These efforts are aimed at protecting the Afghan population, reversing the Taliban’s momentum and creating the space to develop Afghan security and governance capacity. A key objective of Australian and international forces is to create a secure environment in which Afghan and foreign civilians alike can go about their daily life. I have to say that this objective is undermined by tragic events such as this.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my, the government’s and I know all senators’ sincere condolences to the families of those civilians killed in this tragic event, as well as wishing a speedy recovery to those that have been injured.

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

by leave—I thank Senator Faulkner for so quickly acquainting the Senate with the tragic circumstances that have again unfolded with a heavy loss of civilian life in a bombing raid in Afghanistan. The whole world will shudder at the news that this was not Taliban, it was civilians in a convoy, and the death toll does include four women and a child. The question has to immediately arise: how could this happen? It is not as if it is new. In the operation in neighbouring Helmand province there have been two bombing raids that have led a large loss of civilian life in the last fortnight, and that comes after similar losses of civilian life going into the many thousands and rapidly growing. Last year, after what is now almost a decade of operations, the loss of civilian life in Afghanistan was the highest by a long shot, by many thousands, in this whole conflict—and it is rapidly mounting. The Senate will know that I have had a great deal of criticism of the Karzai government, but the Afghan government has criticised and condemned, again, this destruction of the lives of innocent civilians.

The question is: how is it that the ISAF, which are led by the United States, can repeatedly make such horrendous mistakes causing such a loss of civilian life in an age of such technological wizardry? The answer surely is that the human factor is missing. The answer surely is that the relationship between the Afghani people and the ISAF is not satisfactory. It is a long way short of that and the hand on the trigger is far too easy in bombing raids which lead to the loss of civilian life. On this occasion, Senator Faulkner has explained it was a convoy. How on earth could information that said ‘this is Taliban, bomb them’ not be checked and not be corroborated before the disastrous consequences that we see again unfold?

I reiterate that the Greens believe the Australian defence forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan and our effort should concentrate on civil assistance to that nation because of the intractable nature of the war that is going on in Afghanistan at the moment. We are seeing a surge in the number of troops coming, under President Obama, into the fray and to the big operation in the neighbouring Helmand province.

We are also seeing the collapse of the Dutch government over the very question of how rapidly the Dutch troops, who are in a very close relationship with the Australian troops, will be withdrawn. The question is not whether they will be withdrawn but how rapidly they should be withdrawn. The death toll of the troops and the shambles in Afghanistan have caused upheaval and massive public debate in Holland.

Because both the big political parties have determined there will not be a full-ranging parliamentary debate on this issue—that vote was taken just of fortnight ago—we do not have a similar debate in this parliament and we are unlikely to get it. But it behoves us to do so. This is a huge issue not just of international importance but of enormous significance to our Australian defence forces and to our relationship with the region.

There is no doubt that the Afghani people are going through enormous suffering and have been for many decades. Ultimately, it is up to them to determine their own future and their own affairs. This disaster that came across this group of civilians in convoy on Sunday is another very sorry chapter in mismanagement of the occupation of Afghanistan by the ISAF.

I have no doubt that General McChrystal wants to see success in the suppression of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of American troops from this theatre of death and destruction. But the management of the use of lethal force in an age of massive technology has to be much better than we have seen, repeatedly now, through the killing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, which not only leaves the world horrified but totally undermines the safety, security and wellbeing of our own troops in that country. The two things cannot be divorced.

I would be interested to hear from Senator Faulkner or from this government what representations are being made to General McChrystal or President Obama and his administration to have the death of innocent civilians in Afghanistan much reduced if not stopped. The repeated failure to stop these bombing raids, which kill innocent Afghanis and therefore increase the insecurity of our own defence forces, must be addressed. There seems to be a failure, a blind spot and an inability of the US administration, the ISAF generally and indeed our own government to tackle the root cause of this very destructive and, one would think, avoidable repeated killing of civilians in Afghanistan in these circumstances.

Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I never intended to get into this debate. I do not understand it all that well. I thank Senator Faulkner. He always, at the first opportunity, comes and briefs the parliament on this. I think we owe him thanks for doing that.

But I listened to Senator Bob Brown and I think there has to be some response to this. Senator Bob Brown is attacking the USA administration for incompetence. It is nothing unusual for the Greens to do that. They continually do that and they continually get the ultra-left of the Australian constituency. That is their target and that is what they aim at. But then, Senator Brown, you go on and say we should leave Afghanistan to decide its own future. I might remind you, Senator Brown, five, or six or seven years ago that is exactly what happened. We heard unbelievable horror stories coming through where women were being hanged for not wearing the appropriate dress. It was horrific. People had to wear appropriate clothing—or whatever the Taliban considered appropriate—to go into the street.

Is that what you want to return to? Because that is what you have told the Senate you want. You continually attack the Americans, who stand out there and carry the great weight for the world to stop the Taliban encroaching on neighbouring countries. We owe them a vote of thanks for being prepared to stand up and be counted.

12:44:22 I am surprised that you would say that, Senator Brown. War is cruel and it is bloody, and there are always going to be casualties. We all send our sympathy to the families of the people killed in this tragedy; war is tragic. But to take the next step and say we should withdraw our troops and let the Taliban take over Afghanistan, take over Bangladesh, move through and take over all those Muslim countries, is just unbelievable, and it will not be accepted by the 90 per cent of people that support the Labor Party or the coalition. Yes, Senator Brown, you will win the vote of your leftie 10 per cent; you have got their vote. You do not have to do this—you have got their vote. But you should not go and condemn America. The people who called the strike will be going through hell. They will be examining their consciences and whether they could have done better. You cannot just go and put a blanket cover over it, condemning the Americans for standing up for what the rest of the world believes in, which is that people do have freedom that they never had under the Taliban, and advocate that we go back to that terrible regime that was just horrific. I just cannot find any words that would encourage people to go back to that and I think that, if you are honest with yourself, Senator Brown, you would not want that to happen. Women were forced into football arenas and hung because they were not dressed appropriately or they went out without a male escort or family. Is that what you really want? Is that what the Greens are asking the Senate to endorse? I do not think 85 to 90 per cent of Australians would want that. So I have to respond that I think Senator Bob Brown has gone right over the top and I do not think his remarks have the support of the Australian public.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The opposition’s spokesman on defence matters, Senator David Johnston, will want to make a comment on this. He is currently being briefed, with Senator Faulkner’s assistance, by the Department of Defence on this particular issue. That is why he is not here and that is why the coalition is not giving a formal response to Senator Faulkner’s comments now.

John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We can facilitate that when he is available.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But Senator Johnston will no doubt want to seek leave later on to do this, and Senator Faulkner has indicated privately and now publicly that the government will facilitate that when Senator Johnston is available.