Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. Is it the case that the government has characterised Australia’s participation in the war in Iraq as being for, firstly, the search for weapons of mass destruction, then regime change, then protecting the Japanese and now a fourth phase of security overwatch? What intelligence assessments have been made of any additional risks that will be faced by our troops undertaking this new role? Given that it appears the British and Italians are scaling back their involvement in the region, what will be done to ensure our troops have adequate backup, including helicopter and artillery support and, if necessary, medical evacuation capability?

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