Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support) Share this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to follow my friend the member for Herbert on this condolence motion. He has the great privilege of having the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in his electorate and I know he appreciates that great privilege. Private Ranaudo has now become a part of the wonderful story of that battalion. It has an incredibly proud history. I am very privileged myself to have been a part of that history, having served with the 1st Battalion in Somalia. I know that battalion operates, exists, trains and survives as a family. I echo the comments of the member for Herbert. They will no doubt feel this loss as a family would and treat it accordingly. They will wrap around each other to help each other, and the family, through this. They will incorporate the contribution of Private Ranaudo into the wonderful history of that battalion.

Private Ranaudo was a young man, at the age of 22. He obviously had so much more to give in life. There is a famous old poem that talks about one crowded hour of glorious life being worth an age without a name. Private Ranaudo I think illustrates that. It was a short life, but it was definitely a crowded hour and a glorious hour that he graced us with his presence on this planet. He was a character who was full of the joy of life. You can see that absolutely beaming out at you from the photographs of Ben. Certainly that is what his colleagues from the unit will tell you. He contributed greatly to the esprit of the battalion, and that element—the camaraderie and the mutual contribution that each member of that organic family brings to the table—is as important to the effectiveness of a battalion as the equipment with which it goes to war. Private Ranaudo was in the forefront of contributing that esprit and that effectiveness in his unit. He made a great contribution to our effort in Afghanistan as part of the Mentoring and Reconstruction Taskforce.

Our focus in Afghanistan has become building local capacity to enable us to eventually depart from Afghanistan but importantly also creating the conditions for that departure in building the ability of the Afghan people and the Afghan security forces to take responsibility for their own security. Private Ranaudo helped advance that cause, in bringing that capacity and security to the people of Afghanistan. We have heard reference to the fact that in three years, in his crowded time, he managed to serve in East Timor and Afghanistan. To demonstrate the initiative and drive of this individual, he was accomplished in a large number of courses. He was a self-motivated, self-starting individual, the type of person we prize so much in the Defence Force. He lost his life on 18 July 2009 in an improvised explosive device incident in a cordon and search operation in the Baluchi Valley, which is about 25 kilometres north of Tarin Kowt. That illustrates the ongoing threat we face from IEDs, as has been mentioned. This really is a focus for this government.

We are intent on leaving no stone unturned. We are intent on delivering the equipment, improving the tactics, techniques and procedures of our ADF to deal with this threat and making the operations of our troops as safe as possible. We will reach out to any country, any friend, any ally, to achieve best practice in dealing with this issue. It is now becoming a question of facing not only the technical challenge of improvised ordnance but also the more sophisticated tactics of the enemy. I was at a briefing just the other day at Headquarters Joint Operations Command where they were deconstructing the casualties the British have recently suffered. They, tragically, lost about 15 soldiers in a period of just 10 days. An initial incident involving improvised explosive devices and causing casualties was made much worse, was amplified, by the fact that the enemy, the Taliban, had factored in how the ISAF personnel would respond to that incident and had configured IED placements accordingly, which of course resulted in much more severe casualties. So we are facing a sophisticated enemy. We must compare notes and develop, as far as we possibly can, tactics, techniques and procedures to counter the methods by which the enemy employs these devices.

I should also emphasise that in the same incident where Private Ranaudo lost his life we also suffered the casualty of another private soldier, Paul Warren, who has subsequently lost his right leg above the knee from that incident. Of course, Private Ranaudo lost his battle and has moved on, but the battle will continue for Private Paul Warren and his family. It will require great courage and strength for him to move forward and recreate and reconstruct his life with the disability that he now faces. I know that he has that courage and strength and he is well supported by his wonderful family.

We should also remember that, on top of the 11 fatalities that we have suffered in Afghanistan, there have also been 78 wounded. We should not forget that and we should also salute the service of these individuals who are going to be living with the legacy of their service in Afghanistan for the rest of their lives. Whatever help the community and the government can provide to these individuals should be provided. We thank them for their sacrifice and service as much as we thank those who have lost their lives. I also thank the Dutch medical team in Afghanistan who rendered service to our personnel, the American medical team in Germany and, of course, and in particular, the colleagues of Private Ranaudo and Private Warren who rendered such life-saving emergency assistance on the spot of the incident.

I was also deeply impressed by the fact that at the funeral of Private Ranaudo, Felix Sher, the father of Private Greg Sher, attended to render what comfort and support he could to the family of Private Ranaudo. It shows what a wonderful family they are. I continue to be incredibly impressed by the way they support our men and women in the ADF and the support they have provided to their fellow sufferers in the losses that they endure. It emphasises that, if they can maintain that strength in the face of the direct loss and suffering that they have endured, how much more so should we maintain the course, stay the course, and continue to endure in the face of these losses in order to achieve success and honour the memory of these brave soldiers.

Today we will be talking about Ted Kenna. I look back at that great generation who fought in World War II, and it is interesting to note that we suffered nearly 40,000 fatalities in the course of World War II over a long period of nearly six years. That generation bore that struggle, that sacrifice and that suffering and delivered us from one of the greatest, most malevolent forces of evil the world has ever seen. Today, of course, we are confronted with a similar long-running, enduring task against a similarly malevolent and evil force. No-one should be under any misapprehension about what we face with these Islamic extremists. In no sense should their tenets, their beliefs, be tolerated by democracies around this world. They have an agenda which is absolutist and denies basic humanity and basic human rights. Fundamental tenets of gender inequity are at the source of their beliefs as well as other measures of intolerance to diversity and religious belief. It is a struggle, therefore, that we must endure and continue to fight for, because it is important for that region. There are obvious issues and implications for the whole of Central Asia in relation to Afghanistan and Pakistan’s stability, and we must stay that course.

Although we focus on a security challenge that is confronting at the moment, and there is no guarantee of success, there have been improvements in the situation in Afghanistan. In Oruzgan province alone in the time that ISAF has been there, we have seen the number of children in school rising from 12,000 to 50,000. We have seen 100 health centres open. We have 100 doctors, up from two previously, and the infant mortality rate has dropped from a horrendous 36 per cent to 25 per cent. In these key areas where success will ultimately be achieved, in the social, economic and political areas, some progress is being made. A whole range of areas, of course, still remain to be tackled—good governance and the rule of law, where this battle will ultimately be won.

But it should be emphasised that we are not in fact facing a war on terror here; we are facing a war on ignorance. Doing as much as we can to deliver a new generation of educated Afghanis with equal opportunity will be how we ultimately achieve success in that country, and not just while our troops are there but in our ongoing engagement with them long after. In that respect, the Australian government, fully recognising that, has committed significant resources to that effort. At the last conference we committed $250 million to address those very areas, adding to commendable commitments made by the previous government in this respect.

I thank Private Ranaudo for his service, for his life, for his contribution to this country. In particular now, to his surviving family, we acknowledge and salute their sacrifice and their enduring commitment to this country. We pass our condolences to them. We shall continue to provide whatever support we can to them, and all Australians should continue to recognise their ongoing suffering and provide whatever support and comfort they can bring.

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