Graham Edwards (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary (Defence and Veterans' Affairs)) Share this | Hansard source

The visit of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade to our troops in Iraq continues a long tradition of members of this House supporting our troops on the ground and follows a similar trip to Afghanistan a couple of years ago. I have a strong view, shared by others on this side, that regardless of the deployment or its political support we should show support for our troops on deployment and for their families back here in Australia. The ALP’s support for our troops on the ground in Iraq is without question, and I believe our recent trip to Iraq demonstrated that support. Indeed, I know our troops on the ground appreciated the parliament’s bipartisan support for them.

It was a delight for me to visit all of our troops on deployment. Navy, Air Force and Army personnel in the Middle East are doing a splendid job, and they are worthy of our praise, recognition and support. It was a particular delight for me to visit our troops at Al Muthanna and Camp Smithy and to spend a night with our troops there.

I particularly want to express my appreciation to Colonel Roger Nobel, Commanding Officer of the AMTG, for his leadership and for the manner in which he led his troops—for the very high value he placed on their safety, while at the same time doing the job. I also want to recognise Major Mick Garraway OC of the 5/7 blokes who were deployed to Al Muthanna and compliment him on his leadership and professional ability. I wish both of these soldiers long and distinguished careers in the ADF, because Australia needs men of their calibre in our armed forces.

Make no mistake: these blokes have done a great job. Certainly leadership and management of the troops and the task in Iraq has been difficult. Difficult terrain, difficult climatic conditions and man management challenges have made this a hard task. But these blokes have been up to the job—a job made more difficult because of the fact that an undermanned force was deployed initially. The Defence Subcommittee was made aware of this fact in Australia and it was confirmed to us by senior officers in Iraq.

The situation has now been addressed, but it astounded me to learn that the force that was sent to Al Muthanna was undermanned and, because it was undermanned, needlessly exposed our troops to greater danger than should have been the case. For instance, when troops were sent on leave or were otherwise unavailable for duties, the burden placed on those left to do the job became more onerous and more dangerous. As I said, our troops did the job, but in so doing they were exposed to unnecessary hardship, which could have led to greater exposure to danger and mistakes. The fact is that it is a credit to the blokes in the way that they did the job that they made up for these gaps.

It was also interesting to visit Baghdad and a great privilege to visit our close protection and other troops there. Indeed, the close protection support we received during the whole of our stay was magnificent. At no stage did I feel in danger or at risk. Our close protection troops in Baghdad are doing an absolutely magnificent job, and there is no doubt that as long as we have ambassadorial staff in Baghdad our troops will be needed to protect them. All of our troops in Iraq work in a dangerous and exposed environment, but we draw comfort for their safety because of their true professionalism, their courage, their dedication and their leadership and because they hold the highest traditions of the Anzacs close to their hearts.

Having said that, I want to see our troops brought home. It was clearly explained to us by senior Australian Defence members that the job at Al Muthanna is done. Senior officers have that view, and it is a view I share. I say: bring our troops home. I say that because it is evident to me that if our troops are not returned home then they will be redeployed to some other hot spot in Iraq. The PM said he would bring them home when the job was done. They have done the job and the PM should live up to his word and bring them home. I thank all of those members of the ADF who hosted us, made us safe and who represent Australia in such a way as to enhance our reputation as a nation in the strongest and bravest possible way.

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