Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Moore for his question and very strong support for the global fight against terrorism and the support of democracy in Iraq. Yesterday the nationally democratically elected Prime Minister of Iraq made an announcement which represents a significant milestone in the move towards democracy in Iraq. Prime Minister Maliki announced that the first province in Iraq which will transfer entirely to provincial Iraqi control will be that of Al Muthanna.

The Australian Defence Force currently has some 1,350 of its personnel, of whom we are very proud, across the theatre of Iraq, from the security detachment in Baghdad through to the North Arabian Gulf in one of our Anzac class frigates, conducting surveillance flights with P3C Orions, heavy airlift in C130 Hercules and a variety of other important roles in Baghdad, including security. We have had 460 soldiers protecting some 600 Japanese engineers in the Al Muthanna province. Over that time our soldiers have done us proud. They have trained around 1,650 Iraqi army soldiers of the 2nd Brigade of the National Iraqi Army. They have also supported a number of very important projects. The member for Moore in particular will be interested in the mobile health clinic. There have also been veterinary clinics, water purification, the restoration of a community centre, the refurbishment of bus stations, the development of an ambulance station, the reconnection of electricity and a whole variety of very important tasks.

I am advised that very shortly we can expect the Japanese Prime Minister and the Japanese defence minister to announce the future of the Japanese engineers in Al Muthanna. Should the Japanese government announce that it will be withdrawing its engineers then the Australian government will redeploy our 460 soldiers to Tallil, which is an American air base just north of the Al Muthanna-Dhi Qar border. They will there undertake training at the basic training centre and further provide training for the Iraqi security forces. They will also—

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