Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition, when he was Minister for Defence, used to be known as Bomber Beazley. Today, as Leader of the Opposition, he is advocating withdrawal and he is advocating a point of tactical difference. He is a man who thinks that he can in fact surf his way into office by saying that a point of demarcation is what is needed here. It is the wrong tactic. The Australian people are wiser than that and can see that this is a simple tactic. The Australian people saw that what was done at the end of the Vietnam War was wrong. They will see that the Labor Party would again make the same error and again pull out in a way that will not treat people in the way that they should be treated for the courage that they have shown.

I began by saying that when I heard the opening remarks of the Leader of the Opposition I listened with a degree of cynicism—certainly, a very high degree of cynicism. I think it disappoints the Australian people to hear the statement from the alternative Prime Minister—as he would like to see himself—that he does not have the moral courage to continue a commitment which was made in good faith by a government and which was supported by the Australian people. We have an obligation to the people who touch the shirt of an Australian soldier and say: ‘Please don’t go. Please stay.’ Perhaps, Leader of the Opposition, you might listen to their pleas if you will not listen to the members on the government benches.

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