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

I too rise to pay tribute to five very brave, courageous Australians who were obviously very committed to their work and to their country. Private Nathan Bewes, Trooper Jason Brown, Private Tomas Dale, Private Grant Kirby and Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney are now Australian heroes. I do not want to speak this evening in personal terms. I did not know any of these soldiers, although it is possible that as Minister for Defence I might have met some or all of them—when I was minister I had the privilege, on a regular basis, of making personal contact with many of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. But, although I did not know these men, I can be confident in saying a number of things about them and about their families—and, of course, tonight I also extend my deepest sympathies to all the families and friends of each of these soldiers.

It is always distressing to lose a soldier in theatre, but it is even more distressing that four of the five soldiers we pay tribute to tonight lost their lives to IEDs, improvised explosive devices. It is only a personal thing with me, but I think it is even more distressing—if that is possible—when a life is lost to an IED than it is when a life is lost in a firefight. Notwithstanding the fact that the insurgents in Afghanistan do not play by the rules, to me there seems something fairer and more equal about a firefight than the insidious use of explosive devices like roadside bombs. The use of such devices is such a callous act, even in a time of war. It is excessively distressing to see so many soldiers fall to these devices in theatre.

I said I can be confident about a few things, and I can be. The first is that each of the soldiers to whom we pay tribute tonight believed in what they were doing and wanted to deploy. They understood the risks absolutely and were prepared to take those risks. I can also be confident that their families understood that as well. They understood their commitment. They too had a full understanding of the risks involved and were prepared—although, I am sure, often reluctantly—to support these soldiers in the taking of those risks. That is a very, very important point, because it goes to the broader debate about our participation in Afghanistan. People are right to say that this has been a terrible and tragic waste of life. Of course it is. But in the minds of those who have given their lives, and in the minds of those who are closest to them, it was something they believed in doing and, on that basis, a risk worth taking.

The best thing that this parliament can do—and this is important in a week when we will commence a debate about our participation in Afghanistan—for these five soldiers, and those who have gone before them in Afghanistan and those who have been injured permanently in Afghanistan, is to stay the course, to finish the job. We should not allow their contribution, the sacrifice of their lives, to have been in vain. We are doing very important work in Afghanistan. The international community is doing very important work in Afghanistan. Afghanistan goes to the heart of our own national security. It appears we need to be constantly reminding the broader electorate that Australians did lose their lives in places such as Bali and Jakarta at the hands of people who were trained by insurgents in Afghanistan. In addition, in stabilising the country we are not only helping Afghans but also helping to stem the flow of refugees, which is a topic of some debate in this country at the moment.

This is not a job that should be left to one country alone and certainly it is not a job that should be left to the US alone. It is important to give this mission moral authority by making sure it is a truly international campaign. Australia’s contribution in Oruzgan province is important but relatively small in the greater scheme of things. But more than anything else it helps to give the mission that moral legitimacy and that moral authority. It shows the world that this is not just one country acting against another country or indeed an ideology; this is the broader international community doing what it believes it needs to do to protect people everywhere from the sort of people the Taliban were prepared to give safe haven to prior to the intervention.

So tonight, in addition to paying tribute to these five soldiers, more than anything else I want to pre-empt the debate that is coming before us later in the week and remind people that we are there for important reasons. The people who we have there are doing important work and they all do so as volunteers. If anything comes out of the debate in the parliament this week, I hope it is twofold: first, I hope it forces us to become better at explaining our participation in the mission to the broader Australian people—and I am confident it can do that; and, second, I hope that it returns the parliament to an absolutely bipartisan position on Afghanistan. Cracks have been appearing in that bipartisan approach—I know they are, in a sense, at the margins, and there has been no suggestion that the opposition is now questioning our involvement in the project—and I think it is very, very important, if we are going to continue to maintain the support of the Australian community for this mission, to really hold tight in our public pronouncements about the campaign.

I also think we need to start being more transparent and open with the Australian people. We need to be talking about the challenges as much as the successes—and there have been many successes—and we need to better define what it means to win in Afghanistan. I do not think the Australian people understand that. They cannot understand how likely success is if they do not understand what the definition of a win is. I look forward to the coming parliamentary debate providing some of those answers for the Australian people, but more than anything I look forward to that debate reinforcing in the minds of the family and friends of all those who have given their lives in Afghanistan that they retain the support of the Parliament and all of its representatives and that those same representatives will be eternally grateful not only for the very significant sacrifices those soldiers made but also for the significant sacrifices made by those who were closest to them.

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