Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I continue my speech by reminding the House that the war in Afghanistan is one in which Australia has a proud history in its contribution. But I point out, as I was doing just before I resumed, that the locals are actually taking the initiative themselves, whether that be in alternative farming methods or in their own education and health care. One of the pleasing aspects is the fact that the local tribespeople are now seeking the support of the NATO backed coalition to drive out elements of al-Qaeda in their areas and to take back their villages and their safety from this force. That needs to be noted, and it is obviously one of the goals that our troops in our mission areas are trying to achieve.

Western Australia is the home of the SAS as well as many other troops who are making a contribution to this conflict. A number of them have contacted me regarding the reasons why the troops are there and continue to want to be there. Many of them have done a number of rotations. Some of the reasons are, obviously, that they have trained for this particular situation, they are experts in their field and they see this as the fulfilment of their careers. Many people have more than one son or daughter serving in this region. The only comment they have made is that they sometimes believe that eight months is too long for the rotation and that four to six months, particularly for those with families, might be more beneficial.

I need to report to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that yesterday members of the Mandurah RSL—and this is in line with the comments from the member for Cowan about United Nations Day—pointed out to me that were they annoyed not only that we have 1,500 men from Afghanistan heading towards the northern former military camp but also that this is almost the exact number of troops we have deployed in Afghanistan. They wanted me to pass on the message that this should be not a camp for transition for those seeking asylum—who are all, largely, young men. We should be training these asylum seekers to go back and help take back their own villages, their own country, rather than seeking asylum in Australia.

I think this message is shared quite universally throughout the RSLs and throughout the community in general: ‘To those men who are seeking Australia as a destination we are happy to train you, as we are in Afghanistan. If you come here we will train you as well. You should go back and help defend your country because our troops are doing it there for you and you might want to make the same contribution yourself.’ When I was on the deployment which I spoke of earlier I met a young Perth lieutenant, David Uphill, who was in Kuwait, and I know the sacrifices that these young men and women make to serve their country, particularly as reservists. I am just so proud of the young Australians who are involved. Our exit strategy is to leave when our goals have been achieved. I want to conclude by saying that we honour those who make the sacrifice in this theatre. We honour those who have been wounded and we honour all our troops on the ground who are making us proud.

See this speech in context