Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Nine years ago this month, Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan began. Behind the Vietnam War, it is the second-longest conflict in which Australians have been involved. Thankfully, to date, we have not suffered through the domestic social upheaval or the heavy loss of life of the Vietnam conflict, which saw more than 500 killed in action or lost through other causes. But the tragic deaths of 21 soldiers, the wounding in action of another 152 and the nature of the warfare in Afghanistan and our ongoing role mean that a debate such as this before the parliament is timely and appropriate. There are many views about this war within the community, and it is only reasonable that those views are freely and responsibly aired.

This debate brings back to me memories of another debate in 1991, when parliament was called back for a special sitting to discuss our nation’s involvement in war. As a first term parliamentarian I vividly recall the opportunity provided in January 1991 to debate what was to be the first Iraq war. It was an intense debate. The galleries were full. There were protesters and supporters outside the building. There was deeply felt emotion on both sides, but especially for many Labor members who had fresh memories of their own opposition to the Vietnam War just a few years earlier but who were in a government making a decision to send troops to war. As I said in that debate:

There is no greater exercise of government power than to send the nation’s armed forces to war. There can, therefore, be no more difficult decision for a government or a parliament to make than to participate in or to wage war. In peace-loving civilised countries like Australia, such decisions are only rarely made …

I recall that I was stopped dead in my speech by a number of female protesters in the public gallery who removed their clothes to display the word ‘Peace’ written across their breasts. Perhaps it is the only time any speech I have ever made has evoked such a passionate response. But it was a serious matter then and it is a serious matter now. As I said also in that speech:

There is nothing glamorous about war. It is not like the Hollywood epics. The real war is a horrible thing full of suffering, anxiety and despair. There are no victors, just some who are hurt less than others. War destroys not just enemies and cities and countries, but also lives and families, hopes and ambitions and the plans of a generation. No civilised country would go to war if there were any other options.

Some may say it is easy for members of this House to sit here in comfort and send our soldiers to war. Even though the cause be just, this is not the case. Even though the public may support the Australian commitment, the decision is not easy. No member of parliament can put his fellow Australians in a position of danger without feeling something of the enormity of his action. When I became a member of parliament, I hoped that I would never be asked to participate in a decision on whether or not our country should wage war. I regarded it as just about the ultimately difficult decision that a member of parliament could ever face. So I approach this debate also with a heavy heart but also with a deep consciousness of my responsibility. At present more than 1,500 Australians have answered the call and are serving in Afghanistan, our largest commitment to a theatre since Vietnam. They deserve our respect and the admiration of all our people and we hold the obligation to ensure that they are properly equipped and supported. That care cannot lessen on their return. Too many come back sick of body and mind. We pray that their return will be sooner rather than later.

But it is important that we remember the reasons why we are at war. In 1996 Osama bin Laden moved his terrorist operations to Afghanistan on the invitation of the Taliban. When the Taliban took over power in that country later that year, bin Laden’s own power was cemented and an alliance was formed between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The path that led to the appalling acts of al-Qaeda on 11 September 2001 has been well covered by this House, at the time and in another debate in parliament in March 2003 which was centred on our second commitment to Iraq, so I do not propose to go through those details again. But those actions and the Taliban’s subsequent refusal to bring the terrorists to justice gave the rest of the world no choice but to act. In a sense our involvement in Afghanistan is an extension of the original decision to go to Iraq to quell terrorism and the threat to peace around the world.

We should not forget why Australia was there in the first place—to help secure our country from the threat of terrorism. Terrorists can strike anywhere and take Australian lives, as we saw most tragically in New York in 2001 and Bali in 2002 and 2005. The war against terrorism is a new war. There is no real frontline or trenches or marching armies. This is a war that has cost more Australian civilian lives than military. No-one is immune from the risk anywhere. The Taliban allowed the country they controlled to be used as a training ground for some of the world’s worst, most ruthless and most heartless people. A country that was part of the cradle of civilisation was being raped in modern times by those who wished to destroy civilisation. Let us not therefore weep for the rapists, the Taliban. Its extreme evocations of Sharia law and the demonstrated disrespect of women give it no right to be regarded as a legitimate government, let alone one that deserved the respect or recognition of other countries. The toppling of the Taliban regime was undeniably a good thing, and it remains critically important that the Taliban insurgency that has sprung up in various provinces of Afghanistan and Pakistan is contained or stopped.

This parliament is demonstrating a strong unity in its view that we must stay the course in Afghanistan. I recognise that there are individual concerns within each member’s heart, and that is understandable given that we are talking about people’s lives and the frustration of slow progress. Critically, we cannot show weakness. Signalling a premature withdrawal, or that we will be turned by the threat of terrorism, only encourages those who wish to do us harm. It also sends a pathetic message of subservience, and no level of respect to the brave soldiers who have lost their lives or have served in this cause. We want the Afghan people to rule themselves in peace. We do not want a never-ending presence there, or to continue to tell them how to live their lives; but we do want to engender a better society than what has gone before. The appalling manner in which the Taliban treated 50 per cent of its own citizens, its women, is reason enough for Western intervention. The Taliban would never have allowed a political debate like this one where there is a potential for dissent, and indeed such dissent is likely.

There is nothing black and white about this war and our involvement. War always involves shades of grey. Simple nostrums about peace at all costs would not work here as they would never have worked in any other field of conflict. The Taliban has not gone away. Al-Qaeda may not have the same numbers in Afghanistan but it remains only a phone call or an email away. Greater global instability is always possible if we allow it or at least do nothing to try to prevent it. Given that Afghanistan will never have a parliament like this one, has a different dominant religion, has a different approach to democratic ideals and has a long history of vigorously rejecting the advances of other countries, what should we do? Do we recall our troops and leave with a job half done or do we stay the course, especially as our future security depends upon a more secure Middle East? The Nationals, in coalition with the Liberal Party and in cohesion with the Labor Party, have always accepted that this mission in Afghanistan is necessary. None of us here do that with any light-heartedness and nor with any spite. We do not wish to do any unnecessary harm to a country that has already suffered enough. We are all men and women of goodwill and we all wish to leave Afghanistan in a far better place than we found it.

We respect the Australian soldiers who have answered the call of their country to go to Afghanistan. They are serving in the same traditions as their forefathers in our armed forces who went to Anzac Cove, to World War II, to Vietnam and to other conflicts. They have answered the call to help preserve our peace. We respect and honour their role. Whatever differences there may be about a cause, no-one in this parliament should do anything other than respect their contribution and recognise that they are doing their duty for their country. They are responding to their government’s call. The people of this nation want to live in a safe and secure nation and our defence forces play a vital role in that. Indeed it is conflicts like Afghanistan—like the debate we are having now and those we had in 2003 and in 1991—that remind us that we must always be prepared and ready to respond should someone threaten to take our peace away from us. It is folly to allow our defence forces to fall into any kind of decline. It would be folly were we not to ensure that they were adequately equipped to do whatever task they are called upon to do. That is a responsibility for us as legislators and for the government of the day.

I pray for peace in Afghanistan, and in particular for the safe and secure return of our Australian contingent—and soon. But I know that peace will not be found at the wishing well. We have to work for it. Sometimes we even have to fight for it. Once peace is achieved we must then build on it. We must free the world of terrorism and guarantee an enduring peace for this generation and for the future of the world.

See this speech in context