Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for the opportunity to acknowledge his deep interest in the welfare of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and for the opportunity to share with the House a little more information about the logistics of our withdrawal from Iraq. I also thank the Leader of the Opposition, who, during his earlier statement, confirmed what former Prime Minister Howard said this morning—that is, if the coalition had won the last election, our combat troops would be remaining in Iraq. This is now a stark difference between us and the opposition.

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