Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister’s answer to the previous question on Iraq’s democracy and I refer to his comments on national radio this morning on the same subject when he said that Australian troops could be withdrawn when democracy has a reasonable chance, if that is the wish of the Iraqi people. Will the Prime Minister confirm that, under the government’s new Iraq policy, it would now be acceptable for the Iraqi people to accept a non-democratic form of government for their country and that a functioning and sustainable Iraqi democracy is no longer a prerequisite for the withdrawal of Australian troops?

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