Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to note that it is precisely two years today since I made my first speech in this chamber. Much has changed in that time. The nation now has its third Prime Minister in two years. Last year the people of Australia voted to change the government. That, in itself, is a significant thing. In the 69 years that have elapsed since the end of the Second World War, Australians have voted to change their government on just seven occasions. Yet more remarkable than the decision to transfer power from one party to another in our country is the way in which we do so.

Since Federation, Australia has conducted 44 federal elections. While it is common to think that every campaign is more partisan and more divisive than the last, the reality is that each of those elections was fought on issues that at the time aroused passionate debate on both sides. Yet for all the passion and even anger that election campaigns can arouse, Australia's elections have been conducted with a truly remarkable degree of nonviolence. The attempted assassination of the Labor leader Arthur Calwell in 1966 is really the only serious instance we have had of a national political figure being harmed. Even then, Mr Calwell's injuries were, fortunately, relatively minor. That incident aside, the odd water balloon, egg or sandwich being hurled at a political leader is about the extent of it in Australia, and I hope—as I am sure all of the senators do—that this will forever remain the case.

This remarkable record is no doubt in large measure due to the stellar efforts of our domestic security services in protecting our leaders in their efficient and professional manner. But I think it also goes to our political culture. In this country, we are free to express our support for or opposition to a candidate or a policy. We can walk into a polling place on election day—something we are very accustomed to in Western Australia of late—and cast our vote, secure in the knowledge that, when we watch the election coverage that night, the numbers being reported will be vote counts, not body counts. Regrettably, citizens of many other nations around the globe cannot share this confidence.

I was given a stark reminder of this last month when I travelled to Afghanistan and the Middle East as part of the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program along with the members for Petrie, Rankin and Boothby, from the other place. As well as it being a privilege to witness the critical and professional job that Australia's Defence Force personnel are still doing in this incredibly unstable region, the visit was also a sobering reminder that, although much progress has been made since 2001, there is still a very long way to go.

Not long after the change of the government here in Australia last year, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition travelled to Afghanistan together to give due recognition to the significant contribution to the conflict in Afghanistan that our country has made. That ceremony at Tarin Kot base stands as a powerful symbol of the bipartisan support that our parliament gives to the men and women of Australia's Defence Force personnel serving overseas. Yet, despite that, the perception that we have withdrawn from Afghanistan still persists—despite the fact that there are still around 450 Australian Defence Force personnel in that country and almost 1,000 in the Middle East area of operations.

Those I met with during my visit were very keen for Australians at home to understand that our contribution continues. Many of these predominantly young Australians are continuing to operate in parts of the region that remain inherently unstable. They provide training and protection to civilian populations in that country, which does not have the long and stable history of democratic freedoms that we enjoy here in Australia. Amongst other tasks, our ADF personnel continue to do Australia proud, providing security and intelligence services, helping to train both the Afghan military and police force, defusing bombs and ballistics and providing a range of security services.

Additionally, our forces are at the forefront of two activities of the utmost importance, given Afghanistan's continuing instability: patrolling the seas and intercepting shipments of illegal narcotics and, vitally, providing first-class medical services, including for those injured in the violence that, regrettably, is still all too common throughout the region and in Afghanistan. The link between these narcotics and the ongoing violence cannot be overstated, and all Australians should be proud that we are continuing to play a role in combating both.

During my own visit, I was confronted with a stark reminder of the dangers still present in these operations when our delegation attended a memorial service in Kandahar for five British personnel killed in a helicopter crash: Captain Thomas Clarke, Flight Lieutenant Rakesh Chauhan, Warrant Officer Class 2 Spencer Faulkner, Corporal James Walters and Lance Corporal Oliver Thomas, of the British Armed Forces.

Australia too has paid a high price in Afghanistan. Our nation's military commitment has come at a high cost to the families and friends of the 261 Australian servicemen who have been wounded in action there and the 40 who have lost their lives in service to our country and the pursuit of freedom for others.

We also had the chance to visit other centres contained within the ADF's Middle East area of operations, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, to learn more about the ADF's operations in those locations and discuss Australia's commitment with those serving on the ground. In Bahrain, it was a particular privilege to meet with Vice Admiral John Miller, Commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command of the United States 5th Fleet, who took the time out of a very busy and important schedule to outline to us the crucial, critical role that Australia is playing as part of the Combined Maritime Forces in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean.

This force combines maritime resources from more than a dozen nations to patrol these critical and crucial sea lines, combating piracy, terrorism and the scourge of illegal drug trafficking. As we know, terrorist groups rely on funds from trade in illegal narcotics. The work that Australian personnel are doing in this operation is helping to deprive extremist groups of income and hence reducing their ability to commit violent acts around the globe.

Along with my other parliamentary colleagues, I am indebted to the Commander Joint Task Force 633, Major General Craig Orme, and his deputies, Commodore Phil Spedding and Air Commodore Noel Derwort, for the time and effort they took to explain all aspects of Australia's Middle East engagement during our visit. Special mention must go to Major Will Orgill, who was responsible for looking after our group and making sure at all times that we were where we needed to be, safely.

As a Western Australian senator, I was particularly pleased and very, very proud to come across some Western Australians on my visit in Afghanistan. They are doing our state great credit as they go about their tasks in Australia's Defence Force. Interestingly, I met two from the northern Perth suburb of Dianella, a suburb adjacent to the very suburb that I grew up in in Western Australia. It goes to show that the world is a small place in many respects. I pay tribute to the efforts of Captain Nick Wells, as well as Sally-Anne Vincent from our embassy in Kabul. All Western Australians should be proud of the contribution to security that they, along with many others, are making to this important region in the world. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Major Scott Holmes and Sergeant Grant Creswell, who shared their friendship and experiences with me during my brief visit to the Middle East.

Of course, the Middle East is again top of mind in the news this week, as the appalling behaviour of violent extremists in Iraq is on full, sickening display. As the Prime Minister noted over the weekend, these are people who were too extreme for an extremist group like al-Qaeda. Without wishing to replay historical debates over Iraq, I think all of us in this place are appalled by what we have seen over the last few days. It is clear that some form of involvement by Australia may well be needed. Whatever form that may ultimately take is a decision for others.

However, to close, I think it is worth reflecting on some wise words from two former Australian Prime Ministers that will no doubt have a bearing on this issue. In the past day, former Prime Minister John Howard has spoken to The Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom and has reminded us:

It's not "triumphalism" or "bigoted" to assert Western values … it's just "asserting what you believe in … Freedom and a belief that until a tried way is found wanting, you should continue doing it."

That is the key point: freedom and democracy are the best alternatives on offer, and we should not be shy about saying so or acting to protect those values.

I close with the words of a former Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, speaking in this parliament at the time of the 1991 Iraq war:

We all of us wish for peace. But we cannot have peace just by wishing for it or just by talking about it; we have to work for it, and sometimes, tragically, we have to fight for it. The great lesson of this Century is that peace is bought at too high a price, if that price is the appeasement of aggression.

(Time expired)