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

This is a very serious issue, and I have to say that it is absolutely correct for the opposition to pursue it. If we were in opposition and I thought that our special forces soldiers were being underpaid or somehow unfairly treated or that a recovery action was taking place unfairly, I would be pursuing it as well. What disappoints me about the debate is that it seems to have descended into a debate about who is more supportive of our troops: is that side of politics more supportive of our troops or is this side of politics more supportive of our troops? I was always hopeful that that would not become a debate in this place. This is one issue that should rise above politics. We should always collectively endeavour to ensure that there is a bipartisan spirit so that when our troops are in theatre they know that all parliamentarians are behind them in every way and that they are not going to be the subject of political debate in this place.

In addition to that, I said earlier by way of answering a question that I do know these people well. I do not know them as well as I would like to know them—I do not claim to know everything about them—but I do know the Special Air Service Regiment well. They are a very tight family which maintains a very tight circle of trust. It is unusual for us to be having any form of debate about their operations or even their conditions of service, because they are a group of people who like to resolve things within.

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