Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Salaam alaikum. Earlier this month, I was privileged to attend the farewell to regional task force No. 2 to Afghanistan in the presence of Major General Ash Power and Brigadier Andrew Smith. Many units have assisted in the preparation for RTF2—these things just do not happen by themselves—including assistance from volunteers such as Vanessa Laverty and Michelle Potter, who have taken the initiative to form a support group named Partners and Families of Soldiers in Afghanistan. Assistance also came from Defence Material Organisation, Defence Community Organisation, Defence Housing Authority, 2nd Health Support Battalion, Gallipoli Barracks Dental Unit, Headquarters 7 Brigade and the garrison units, JLU-South Queensland, Defence Support group, and JMCO Brisbane.

I was very impressed with the speech given by Lieutenant Colonel Harry Jarvie, who is the CO of the reconstruction task force, and I want the parliament to hear what he told all of us who were present that afternoon at Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera. He said:

First of all, congratulations on being selected to play for Australia. At some stage, every Aussie kid dreams of playing for Australia, and I am now beginning to understand how proud and excited Ricky Ponting and George Gregan must feel when they pull on the green and gold, and lead their teams into a World Cup campaign.

Like the Wallabies, we scoured the country to find the best players available, and have brought together the most powerful and capable combined arms group possible, drawn from over 35 units of the Army, Navy and Air Force. On the 8th of January this year, we came together and started training with the objective of turning a team of champions into a champion team.

We have not done this on our own. And in particular, I would like to recognise the efforts of the Commander 7 Bde, BRIG Smith and the team at the Combat Training Centre and the other units which have provided the specialist coaching that was necessary to allow me to be on the paddock training with my team.

Its early days yet. We have just finished pre-season training, and over the past two weeks we have had a good hit out against the guys at the Combat Training Centre. But no-one can predict how the rest of the year will pan out, and I for one do not underestimate the enormous challenges that lay before us.

However, what I would say is that this is the best team Australia has ever fielded, and I for one am enormously proud to be a part of it and to lead you onto the paddock. And you should be proud of yourselves too.

You were selected for this mission because you were the best man or woman for the job. You have trained hard, and you have been tested on the recent Mission Rehearsal Exercise, and found to be well and truly ready for the task ahead.

Like every other Australian Soldier before you, you probably have some questions in your head about whether you’re good enough, or whether we are good enough. That’s good, because it means you want to be even better. But rest assured, I have worked with a lot of other armies in my time, and I can guarantee that you are the best trained, best equipped and best supported task force ever raised.

The final point I would like to make is regarding the importance of this mission. In our democratic society, there will always be debate about how the ADF should or should not be used. So let me make my views clear. The people of Afghanistan have suffered more than a quarter of a century of wars, starting on Christmas Eve 1979 when Russia occupied the country. When the Russians withdrew in 1989, the power vacuum was filled by warring factions. By the mid 90’s, the Taliban had gained the ascendency and ruled through terror and brutality, perverting the Islam faith to achieve their own political ends.

They destroyed what was left of the education and health infrastructure in the country, and they denied women their basic human rights. Moreover, they offered a lawless sanctuary where international terrorist organisations were able to train and operate with relative impunity. We know this now, because we all bore witness to the result on September 11, 2001, and then closer to home on October 12, 2002, when the Bali bombings killed 202 people including 89 Australians, and left 209 others with serious injuries.

Twenty odd years ago, I joined the Army because I wanted to do something in the service of my nation. And right now, I am absolutely certain that there is nothing more important in terms of protecting the safety of Australians world-wide, than the mission that we are about to embark upon.

There are a lot of good people in Afghanistan, and Australia has a longstanding relationship with the Afghan people, dating back to early white settlement when the Afghan camel trains would move stores through our deserts, and are now honoured by the name of the Ghan Railway that travels between Adelaide and Darwin.

We will give the people of Afghanistan a chance to choose a better future for their children. We will support the new democratically elected Government of Afghanistan, as it works to repair the damage of over 25 years of war, and we will show the people of Uruzgun Province that the future is far better without the Taliban. At the end of our mission, Uruzgun Province will be a safer place, and the people there will be able to see the value of working in partnership with the international community which will ultimately lead to the defeat of the Taliban and the criminals who would otherwise try to bully and intimidate the people into supporting them. In the end, it will be the people’s choice, but we must set the conditions to give them the freedom and courage to stand up for themselves.

Colonel Jarvie went on to say:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would now like to focus my attention on our families and friends. You are the backbone of our organisation. Without your support we would not have been able to train and prepare, and we would not be able to focus our complete and undivided attention on the task before us.

Earlier, I drew parallels between RTF2 and our national teams such as the Australian Cricket team or the Wallabies. In that context, I see our families and friends as the “Fanatics”. That bunch of Aussies who will support the Australian Team come what may. As a husband and father, and my mother’s son, I recognise the enormous burden we place on our families each time we head overseas to do our job, and the sacrifices that we collectively make. But equally, I also know that you are strong, and that you will stand shoulder to shoulder with us. And through you, we will draw strength; the strength that comes from unity of purpose and a shared commitment to a safer and more secure world.

I thank Colonel Jarvie for those wonderful words to his troops. The RTF2 is an amalgam of D Company 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, Big Blue 1, 2CER, which is providing the construction-engineer element, and the 2nd/14th Light Horse Brigade based at Enoggera. These wonderful people have all come together as a team.

I pay tribute to the modern Australian Defence Force. In the last month we have seen the 1st Battalion—an infantry battalion—simultaneously deploy to three different theatres. One company went to Iraq, one went to Afghanistan and one went to Timor. It would have been unheard of just a few years ago to think that that could ever have happened but these days, with the mix and match capability of our operational commanders, with the flexibility that exists in the Australian Defence Force, we can have this wonderful outcome where we can send the best people to the places which will best use their talents, and we are able to do that with the minimum of fuss. Earlier in the speech I said that, in this particular deployment, people were drawn from 35 different units. It is a great tribute to the current operational capability of the Australian Defence Force.

I conclude on another note. The future of another team augurs well indeed. Today I am wearing the tie of the North Queensland Cowboys, the premier rugby league team in the competition, They have opened the season with two magnificent wins. Certainly, people in North Queensland are supporting our cowboys. That team has the largest number of Indigenous players and has the largest number of first-grade players in higher education. It is a wonderful achievement for the North Queensland Cowboys, and I wish them well in the coming season.

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