Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns!' he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

In light of last week's Remembrance Day services held around Australia to honour the 102,729 service personnel who have died in war, I rise to deliver an adjournment speech on an incredible opportunity afforded to me this year by the Australian Defence Force.    Sadly, sometimes we are also reminded of the ongoing and ever-present danger of war when one of our brave soldiers loses their life on the front line in Afghanistan. Yet we can also celebrate our defence personnel such as Corporal Daniel Keighran, who was recently awarded the Victoria Cross—Australia's 99th recipient of that award.

It is important in those sad times and on more joyous occasions to remember the important work our soldiers are doing in war-torn countries, and I have been fortunate enough to gain a firsthand understanding of this. Over the winter break this year I participated in the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program and met some of our great and gallant soldiers working on the front line in Afghanistan. Put simply, this was a remarkable and inspiring opportunity. Our service men and women are doing an incredible job at both keeping us safe and also helping to protect and rebuild a nation struggling with its present.

I learnt Australia undoubtedly has an important role in the war on terror. It is a task we have committed to and which we will see out. For those wondering if our commitment in Afghanistan has been worth it, even as we mourn the loss of 39 soldiers and our Coalition partners the US mourn the loss of more than 2,000 and their list of injured climbs beyond 17,000, I believe it has and there is more still to do. Perhaps more importantly, our own soldiers believe this to be the case as well. In 43-degree heat, the soldiers involved with Operation Slipper daily reinforced to four wide-eyed politicians how they are making Afghanistan and, indeed, the world a safer place.

The operation is part of Australia's commitment to the International Security Assistance Force. This commitment sees 50 nations contributing to the effort to stabilise and secure Afghanistan. It also aims to deny locals the opportunity to further develop Afghanistan as a training base for al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations. Terrorism threatens everything from freedom to practise their religion even to allowing young girls to attend school. However, according to the release of the Central Statistics Organisation's multiple indicator cluster survey for 2010-11, 57 per cent of Afghans now have improved access to drinking water while 63 per cent of primary school-aged boys and 46 per cent of primary school-aged girls are attending school. That is a significant increase. It is also important to note that, because of Australia's involvement in the war on terror, Afghan girls are now attending school in record numbers. It is a great achievement. This year's Asia Foundation report found nearly one-third of those surveyed noted a lack of education and literacy as some of the largest problems Afghan women face.

The first section of our trip was to complete training at AMAD at a base in the United Arab Emirates. As Afghanistan's transition continues from war to law and order, this base will become significantly more important. General Smith, who has the responsibility of overseeing our contribution within the ISAF, spoke to us about the coming transition as our soldiers shift focus from a military contribution to assisting with building the peacetime capacity of Afghanistan's communities, including a mentoring role for our troops with the Afghan National Army at the Kandak level. This is in addition to Australian Federal Police mentoring the local Afghan National Police in their efforts to address the day-to-day realities of community law enforcement.

During our visit to Tarin Kot, the base in Uruzgan province controlled and overseen by the Australians, we were able to tour the Afghan National Army base and to meet with the leadership group there. We watched their troops on parade and spoke directly to the troops and their leadership group through the interpreters. We also had the opportunity to speak to their Australian mentor, who spoke of the strong bond of trust between the mentor and the Afghan leaders that they worked with.

Tarin Kot was where I also got to see the Bendigo-made Bushmaster in action. Corporal Keighran, who I mentioned earlier, was a former driver of a Bushmaster.    The Australian Defence Force has acquired Bushmaster vehicles through two projects, involving delivery of 838 vehicles in various forms, including troop, commander and direct-fire weapons and costing $87 million in the last financial year. The Bushmaster is made in my patron seat of Bendigo, in the state of Victoria.

Australia's commitment to building the Bushmasters, which have an estimated cost of $1 million each, was a clear indication to our soldiers—as they let me know—that their nation considered their safety highly. As they watched their coalition partners head out in their machinery to far bases, our boys going off in the Bushmaster knew that they might come back with a broken ankle but that they would come back. These vehicles actually save lives. Our troops also wear gear from Australian Defence Apparel, which is also made in my duty seat in the electorate of Bendigo. I would like to say thank you to Jonesy and his crew for giving me very direct feedback on the quality of that apparel.

The realities of war were directly experienced when we visited the Role 3 Hospital in Kandahar province's Camp Baker, where Australian reservist anaesthetists and doctors are again working to save lives, this time on the operating table. This is a joint operation—pun intended—with ISAF nations all contributing personnel.

This hospital has a great statistic: if you arrive at the Kandahar Role 3 with a heartbeat, you have a 99 per cent chance of survival. Phenomenal; that is truly incredible. Treating both Afghan army and coalition forces, doctors and nurses at Role 3 save lives first and ask questions later, and are supported by the swoop-in-and-save tactical response of the Blackhawk teams.

Kandahar province itself is approximately 50,000 square kilometres of mostly flat land, and the base there definitely had a different culture to the Australian-run Tarin Kot in Uruzgan. That was evident from the dust, the helicopters and the sense of being closer to direct action.    The presence of contractors was also greater, and as coalition forces draw down and the transition program picks up this will only increase.

Camp Baker is a small area of land within Kandahar that is under direct Australian control. It houses 200 personnel, who all work in various capacities within the broader camp structure. The most hallowed space within Camp Baker is a patch of green grass, probably the size of our table there and lovingly tended over the decade that we have been there. It is the site of many a coalition force barbecue, so I am told, in the harshness of the Afghan climate.

Returning from Camp Baker and my time in Afghanistan, my considerable respect for our armed forces has increased and it has ensured that I remain engaged in issues of defence. Only a trip like this one and an experience in a war zone would provide such an insight, and I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. Our soldiers are working away from their families in conditions of sometimes over 40 degrees, and freezing cold in winter.

Perhaps the increase of green-on-blue attacks is alarming, but also reinforces that nothing will undermine our commitment to the mission in Afghanistan. One young soldier I spoke with shared his experience on this, his third tour. In his first tour he lost his best mate and in the second he lost his commanding officer, both to IED blasts. He admitted that at first he was not too keen on returning, but he is now committed to staying the course and supporting his mates on their mission. This is the crucial point about the camaraderie of the Defence forces—they are there for their mates, hardened through shared experience of war and mutual accountability. Together they will share the load.

In light of recent attacks, and as the death toll of coalition soldiers and Afghan civilians continues to rise, we pause as we did on the passing of our most recent loss, Corporal Scott Smith, to consider the legitimate question: has our involvement in Afghanistan been worth it?    After visiting Afghanistan, let me reassure the Senate that in my opinion it has, and will continue to be. And, as I have said, the soldiers also believe this to be true.

They have an incredible spirit and professionalism and they are determined to succeed. Despite what war threw at them on a daily basis, particularly when four parliamentarians were under their care, we saw their great sense of humour and infinite patience as they struggled to give us a small understanding of the complexities of modern war.

In the past and going forward, as our men and women encounter another enemy and conflict—as they undoubtedly will—willingly they will go, and with our full support. I thank the Defence Force for the experience.