Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Materiel) Share this | Hansard source

Since the House debated our military commitment in Afghanistan last year, I like many members have visited Afghanistan. It has given me a better understanding of the scale of our mission and the challenges that we face. This is a long and difficult war—2,812 ISAF personnel have been killed in action in Afghanistan since those planes hit the towers in New York just over 10 years ago; 32 of those personnel are Australian, and 11 of them have died in the last 12 months. Many more Afghan troops and Afghan civilians have been killed. Australia has spent more than $4 billion on operations and force protection in Afghanistan and the Middle East. The United States spends that much each fortnight. Progress has been hard won. It has taken a long time to get to where we are now, with preparations underway for a nationwide transition of security led responsibility to the Afghan national security forces by the end of 2014. Every loss of an Australian life tests our resolve, especially when the circumstances in which they lose their lives are so incomprehensible. But this is a just cause and the strategy is finally the right one.

We are not in Afghanistan alone; we are there with 47 other countries—one-quarter of the nations of the world. We are there at the request of the government of Afghanistan and under the mandate of the United Nations. We are there like the other 47 countries in ISAF because it is in our national interest to be there. The threat posed by an unstable Afghanistan reaches beyond its own borders. A decade ago it took the lives of more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. A year after that it took the lives of 88 Australians in Bali and injured 202 more. That is why we are in Afghanistan: to ensure that it never again becomes a breeding ground for terrorists to plan and train for attacks on innocent people.

This is not a conventional war, one sovereign state against another, and it will not be won by conventional means. We cannot kill our way to victory. Preventing a repeat of the events of the past requires the establishment of a competent and capable army and police force in Afghanistan. This is the only way to ensure that the Taliban and other extremist groups cannot just wait us out. They cannot just wait us out, because we will leave behind an Afghan National Army and an Afghan National Police Force capable of providing security and stability. This is no easy task as the events of the last few weeks remind us, but it is the right one and we are making measurable progress.

When I was in Afghanistan in July, I spoke with soldiers who had been deployed there on more than one occasion and I asked them what progress they had seen. They told me that in places where they were fighting a few years ago, things are now relatively stable and we have expanded our operations into new areas. Several years ago, they were leading all patrols; now many patrols are being led by the Afghan National Army with Australian assistance.

Some sections of the 4th Brigade are developing faster than others. As the Prime Minister advised the House in her report to parliament today, one of the brigades' kandaks, or battalions, is now close to being able to conduct fully-independent operations with Australian advisers. The others are making steady progress with more expected to be capable of conducting independent operations next year. Australian forces have now handed over 11 forward operating bases to the ANA under Afghan control. Places taken by the Afghan National Army and ISAF over the last summer have been held through the fighting season. The insurgents have not been able to take those places back. When they fight in the field, they lose. This is why they have adopted a hit-and-run strategy using IEDs and high-profile suicide bombings.

I arrived in Afghanistan the day after one of these high-profile attacks in July this year. Insurgents launched an attack aimed at killing the Governor of Oruzgan, Mohammed Omer Shirzad, and a number of other important Afghan officials in the province. The attack failed. None of the insurgents' targets were killed but a lot of innocent civilians were, including many children at a school next door to the governor's compound. The incident proved the progress the Afghan National Army units are making. Our commanders in Afghanistan told me that the ANA performed very well that day, responding to the attack with a well-managed security response. There is a little more work to do, but the strategy we have is the right one and we are on track to transfer responsibility for security in Oruzgan to the Afghan National Security Forces by or before the end of 2014.

My job is to make sure our soldiers have the equipment they need to do this job, and it is a responsibility that I take very seriously. A lot of work has been done in the last 12 months. As a consequence, the equipment our soldiers are wearing and using in Afghanistan has changed significantly since the Prime Minister reported to parliament a little over 12 months ago. In the last 12 months we have rolled out new combat body armour, new combat uniforms, and longer-range machine guns to our troops in Afghanistan. We have also upgraded our Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles in Afghanistan to make them even safer. This upgrade includes the installation of protected weapon stations to reduce the exposure of crew operating vehicle-fitted weapons, internal spall liners that provide vehicle occupants with better protection from direct fire and side blasts, and new seating and flooring that give troops in the vehicle better protection against spinal and lower-limb injuries from the blast effects of improvised explosive devices. Earlier this year we also installed a counter-rocket system at Tarin Kowt and at a number of our forward operating bases to warn troops of rocket attacks. To date they have provided advanced warning of 23 rocket attacks, giving precious seconds for troops to hit the deck or find cover. All up we are spending more than $1.6 billion on new equipment to better protect our troops in Afghanistan. It is a lot of money, but I am sure all members of this House would agree that it is money well spent. It is money that is saving Australian lives.

No-one knows what a soldier needs in Afghanistan better than someone who has actually been there. That is why this year we set up a group called Diggerworks. It is a team made up of scientists, engineers and soldiers who have recently returned from Afghanistan. Their job is to fix the problems that are identified by our troops. It is led by Colonel Jason Blain, who commanded our soldiers in Afghanistan last year.

Twelve months ago the biggest concern our soldiers had with equipment in Afghanistan was the MCBAS body armour. It is very heavy and it is designed for patrolling in vehicles in Iraq, not for patrolling on foot in Afghanistan. It is also very bulky, with a lot of soft body armour that makes it very difficult for soldiers to get in a firing position to use their rifles. The team at Diggerworks worked with Australian industry and have fixed this. They developed new lighter combat body armour called TBAS. I can report to the House that our soldiers are now wearing it in Afghanistan. I have spoken to our soldiers in Afghanistan and the feedback on the new body armour is incredibly positive. Two weeks ago with the shadow minister for defence personnel I visited our troops in Queensland who are training to deploy to Afghanistan and the feedback on the new body armour was the same.

Diggerworks have also done a great job in improving the helmets worn by our troops. An upgrade to 2,000 helmets was completed last month and that included fitting new padding and harnesses inside the helmets to increase comfort and functionality. Next year 1,500 more helmets will be upgraded for troops who are due to deploy in the future.

None of this means that everything is perfect. There is a lot more to do, particularly to counter the threat posed by IEDs.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18:17 to 18:33

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