Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, with your indulgence, I wish to speak on the same matter. I want to say at the outset that the Labor Party gives its strong and unqualified support to the deployment of Australian troops to East Timor. We understand that this will follow detailed discussions on missions and associated matters, producing a clear mission statement after the Vice Chief of the Defence Force has concluded those discussions with the Timorese government. At that point in time, the Prime Minister has stated his intention that what is an in principle approval will move to being a definite approval and troops will be deployed. We support that, as we supported the pre-positioning of troops and mechanisms for transport when the government chose to do that some days ago by sending amphibious ships to both Townsville and Darwin. It was obvious at that time that the government was anticipating the possibility of a request being forthcoming from the East Timorese authorities. As we in the opposition saw the situation developing, we thought that it was important that Australia should respond positively to that. So we understand it.

As the Prime Minister has said, the deployment is in response to a formal request received from President Gusmao, Prime Minister Alkatiri and the parliamentary president. I noted, at least on news broadcasts this morning, that the person who apparently is leading the dissident forces also expressed a desire that Australian troops should be moved in to keep the peace. If that is the case, that is good news indeed. As the Prime Minister says, the circumstances into which our troops will go have already produced a not insubstantial number of deaths and injuries. Our troops are going into a definitely dangerous situation. I am sure that the Prime Minister, as he indicated to us all, has this weighing heavily on his heart, as it must weigh heavily on the hearts of all members of this parliament. We wish our troops well. We strongly support them in the activities they will now engage in when this situation shifts from in principle approval to actual deployment. We want the troops going into Timor in this situation to comprehend that they have the wholehearted support of all elements of the parliament in this very difficult situation.

To some extent, the Prime Minister in his remarks was able to cover off the matters that are being deliberated on between the Vice Chief of the Defence Force and the Timorese authorities in the clear issue of a mission statement. It is very necessary that that should be put in place. It ought to incorporate, as the Prime Minister states, a reference to securing Australian and other foreign personnel who may be placed in danger in the region, to its primary function being to stabilise the situation in which they find themselves and to creating a secure environment for a negotiated resolution of these matters. I think it is very important that the Timorese people understand that this is the purpose of this deployment and that the troops are there for the peace and good order of the totality of the society and there to engage with the goodwill of all the relevant authorities. We do have special responsibilities now placed upon our shoulders in East Timor. Those responsibilities grew out of the role that was played by Australia in the processes that midwifed the birth of the East Timorese nation. A substantial number of Australian serving personnel have spent some considerable time in East Timor.

It has to be noted that, in the course of the last few weeks, the disagreements that have emerged in the police and defence forces involve troops who were trained by Australians and who are led by an individual who was trained by Australians. That does impose special responsibilities on us. It is important that we get these things right. I hope that, as a result of the years of contact between Australian serving personnel and those who are engaged in the acts of dissidence at the moment, there will be a level of trust established that will ensure that the mission comes to a successful conclusion.

Once you are involved in these situations, you can never walk away from them. The situation we now experience with this arc of instability in the region to the north of us is the most substantial foreign-policy national-security problem that confronts our nation and this is where we must focus our attention. This is a backdoor which is our backdoor and therefore not one from which we exit. There will be, I think, over the years, substantial burdens assumed by Australia and the Australian military in this area.

I conclude with these thoughts. It is the case now that in the Solomons, Afghanistan and Timor we have found ourselves obliged to go back in after a settlement had been reached which we believed permitted us to exit. This imposes upon all of us who have some responsibility for the development of Australian foreign policy and national security strategies the need to think through the character of our commitments at the time when those commitments are made, to learn from any errors that may have been made and to see how things can be done better.

It is not a critical statement that I am making here today and I am not at all attempting to diminish the bipartisan character of this, but I simply point out the obvious. When circumstances are that you are obliged to go back in with the level of regularity that we now see, then there clearly is a requirement on us to start to think these things through in some detail. There are other areas of the South Pacific in that arc of instability where it is conceivable that Australian assistance may at some point be sought. East Timor is clearly an immediate area of national security deliberation and, as I said, is currently the most important area of concern for us.

Finally, our troops. It is necessary that our troops should have the best possible support that we can provide them. They need to be assured that they have the support of all Australians as they go into this very difficult situation. Our prayers are with them. We expect the best of them. They have always delivered for us; we expect that they will deliver again. Our thoughts will remain with their families, their friends and their loved ones as their deployment proceeds and, hopefully, comes in a brief period of time to a successful conclusion.

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