Bruce Baird (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was my privilege to join the delegation of eight members who visited Iraq from 22 to 27 October. During that time we visited Dubai, Kuwait and parts of Iraq: Al Muthanna province and the international zone in Baghdad. It was a particularly interesting time. The visit was difficult for us as a delegation because of the security involvement and the danger that was present. I commend those people who escorted us. I think of the leadership of the team, including Commodore Geoff Ledger, who was in charge of operations in Iraq at that time; Captain Trevor Jones, who was on duty protecting oil terminals north of the Arabian Gulf; Lieutenant Colonel Roger Noble; and our ambassador in Baghdad, Howard Brown. I would like to pay particular tribute to the members of the protection unit, including Kurt Black Sinclair, Luke, Fletch, Cliff Bell and Adrian Beard. They were outstanding young men who did a wonderful job in protecting us, and we thank them very much for their assistance and cooperation.

I was impressed by the professionalism of the Australian defence personnel, male and female, right across the board. I was surprised by the high morale among the troops, despite the very difficult, dangerous environment in which they were located. They are on rotation for a limited period. They exit after three months and return to Australia after six months, so that assists morale. We can all be very proud of the young people we have there. In the way they outlined the details of their operation, they were articulate, impressive and professional. All of them were people you would hire for any job in an Australian corporation. We should be pleased with their approach. I was also very impressed with their flexibility in thinking. It was not a stereotyped, gung-ho approach but one that indicated their sensitivity to the different cultural environment in which they were placed. We thought the way they related to people and their cooperation in the local area, particularly in Al Muthanna province, was excellent. It is a credit to them and the way they operate that, until the death of Private Kovco in the last few weeks, none of our people was killed during activities in Iraq.

We did a number of things. There was a visit to look at air operations. Flying over Iraq was very interesting and impressive. We visited the Kuwait facilities, looking at supply headquarters and mixing with the troops there, and then we visited a number of people in Al Muthanna province. There were great briefings from an impressive group of people doing a worthwhile job.

We met with some of the Japanese defence force leaders, who were also a very impressive group. Our job in Al Muthanna province is to provide defence for them, and it certainly seems to have worked very well. It was interesting that there was an Australian with them who speaks fluent Japanese to be able to communicate. The Japanese people who met us for lunch and talked to us about their role were a very personable lot.

In Dubai, we visited the naval vessel HMAS Newcastle. It was patrolling the area around the gulf oil platforms, which produce 80 per cent of Iraq’s wealth. It is involved in boarding various vessels. We also met with Air Force personnel and, as I mentioned, visited Al Muthanna province and Camp Smitty.

It was also our privilege to meet the Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq, Mr Hajim Al-Hassani. Mr Al-Hassani is a Sunni who left Iraq under the former regime and studied in the United States. He was particularly interesting as he talked about the challenges that lie ahead and how Iraq would like the cooperation of Australians, particularly in relation to agriculture and the programs they would like to see for dryland farming and desalination of soil. He was very complimentary about the quality of the troops that we sent to Iraq and spoke of Iraq’s wish to see them stay there on a long-term basis.

No matter what our views may be on the various sides of the chamber regarding the question of whether it was appropriate to go into Iraq, there is no question that we should be involved in the rebuilding of Iraq. They have enormous challenges in terms of infrastructure, and I was proud to see the role that Australians were playing. It was also interesting that the Australian troops in Al Muthanna province had been involved in the rebuilding of some infrastructure there. We saw the Aussie kangaroo on a number of projects there, which identified that those were projects in which Australians had been involved. We were well regarded because of that. It is an interesting approach in that not only are we providing defence but we are also involved in the rebuilding activities and in providing aid.

The Governor of Al Muthanna province was very complimentary about the Australian troops and our involvement. He also called for the involvement of Australians in providing expertise in dryland farming. He said that during the days under Saddam Hussein the area had been totally ignored, as the injection of money had gone into the areas surrounding Baghdad. They were left somewhat decimated in terms of their agriculture, and they want to rebuild the area. It was also interesting that it seemed to have quietened down very much in that area, so there is hope that at some stage in the not too distant future they may be able to withdraw troops from the area.

I was pleased to hear about the work that we have been involved in, Australia having committed $173 million to Iraq’s rehabilitation and reconstruction; $47 million to the UN and World Bank Iraq trust funds; $70 million to reconstruction with a focus on governance and rehabilitation of the agricultural sector, supported electricity generation and distribution, water sanitation and food supply distribution; and approximately $8 million to assist refugees and internally displaced persons. We have since March 2003 deployed over 30 technical experts to help establish government services and directed assistance to capacity building for police and officials from the trade, human rights, agriculture and foreign ministries and the Board of Supreme Audit.

The ADF deployment of 1,400 people helping to restore Iraq’s security obviously has a key function. Particularly interesting is that we are also providing opportunities for Australian companies to get involved in the reconstruction of Iraq. Australian firm WorleyParsons is undertaking a $US800 million oil rehabilitation project, and Woodside Energy Ltd has signed a two-year agreement to identify oil and gas projects in northern Iraq. So there are spin-offs in terms of our involvement in the area, including the ability to search for oil and be involved in rehabilitating the oil exploration and processing projects.

SAGRIC and CSIRO are partners in an agricultural contract valued at up to $155 million. We had high-level visits to Iraq by the Prime Minister, Mr Downer, Mr Vaile and the Minister for Defence, and the Iraqi ministers for trade and agriculture have visited here. Australian companies have reported securing 43 Iraqi contracts, valued at over $460 million, in the last financial year, and it is hoped that the number will be greater in the foreseeable future.

On our visit to Iraq, my colleagues and I were impressed by the professionalism of our troops. Of course, there is a challenge ahead for the Iraqi people in terms of rebuilding the country. There are many challenges but we will not walk away from those challenges. Rebuilding remains pre-eminent. We will work with the Japanese for as long as they are involved in Iraq. All of us, from all sides of the chamber, who were part of our delegation recognised the challenges as well as the great opportunities to develop a special relationship with the people of Iraq, to work with them towards a future which provides greater promise and the potential to live in a democratic environment with institutions which will reflect greater human rights than ever experienced under Saddam Hussein. I commend this report to the House.

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