Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to speak on the motion moved by my good friend the member for Ryan relating to the government remaining committed to the Iraqi people and against terrorist groups through the international community. I remind the House of the recent events in Iraq, yet another example of why we must not cut and run from Iraq. Just last week Baghdad saw one of its bloodiest attacks on Sadr City, when Sunni insurgents coordinated the explosion of five car bombs, killing at least 202 people and injuring 252. Shiite border teams quickly retaliated by firing at the most important Sunni shrine in Baghdad and on two other Sunni neighbourhoods. This tragic loss of innocent life is evidence that the work to build a stable, democratic and free society has not been finished in Iraq. The Australian government certainly remains committed to assisting the Iraqi people to live in a country where they are not oppressed by a Taliban style regime. We have seen the brutality of such a regime in Afghanistan and we should not permit it to be repeated. The presence of Australian Defence Force troops undoubtedly has a place in Iraq until such time that all Iraqi people can live without the pain and suffering so often inflicted by insurgents and terrorists.

It is crucial that we do not have a date for withdrawal. If Australia wants to withdraw from its role in Iraq prematurely, the consequences could be dire. We would, in effect, be abandoning the majority of Iraqi people and placing them into the hands of the insurgents and the terrorists. Furthermore, the insurgents and terrorists will use propaganda to claim victory and to gain a vital recruitment tool to encourage radically inclined Muslims to join their cause. This effect would not be isolated to Iraq in the Middle East but likely flow through to part of South-East Asia, especially Indonesia.

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