Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Under Taliban rule, terrorists once—not that many years ago—trained freely in Afghanistan. As we tragically found out, the objective of that training was to kill Australians; and to unleash its worst against our allies, the United States of America. The transition has begun, thankfully, and by the end of 2014 we are told that the transition plan is for Afghanistan to take charge of its own security.

The process of transition is on course: it began on 17 July 2012. Our Special Operations Task Group will continue to operate and do its work well against the insurgency. Our advisory taskforce will retain a combat-ready capability, and this is the course that is taking place in Oruzgan.

The Australian Federal Police has undertaken extremely important work training the Afghan National Police at the police training centre in Tarin Kot. As the transition continues, our future efforts will focus on leadership training and strategic advisory support at a national level. This will help the Afghan National Police manage its own transition from paramilitary activity as part of the important counterinsurgency to a constabulary force performing what police are supposed to do—that is, regular police work, civilian policing roles.

We heard our Prime Minister yesterday say that our development aid effort will continue. Australian aid, the Prime Minister said, is making a real difference to the lives of Afghan people. That is certainly so. It is helping the Afghan nation on the path to development and peace which is of course so important. We heard the Prime Minister say that in Uruzgan, the Australian-led provincial reconstruction team does great work, contributing to a six-fold increase in the number of schools operating, tripling the number of active health facilities and enabling a stronger provincial administration. As transition proceeds in Uruzgan, the Prime Minister said that our aid workers and diplomats will continue their important task. Of course, her words were backed up by the opposition leader, Tony Abbott. Across the political divide, this has bipartisan support. Our important work, our ongoing efforts in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, have cross-party political support, as they should have. Our troops on the ground, our Navy, and our air men and women need all the support they can get. They need to know that we, as parliamentarians, who have the responsibility for sending them there, are right behind them—and we are.

Yet there are challenges. There are huge challenges to our ongoing efforts in Afghanistan. The Iraq war became known as the conflict which bought the horror of improvised explosive devices to global infamy, and, sadly, the Afghanistan conflict is becoming the face of a new and even more hideous form of deadly violence—the insider attack. The Prime Minister referred to that yesterday. Known in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as 'green on blue'—green representing friendly national forces and blue representing international forces—these attacks have increased dramatically in 2012. Last year, 31 troops died in these insider attacks, and that figure is significantly and dramatically and tragically higher this year. The numbers are so high that some military analysts have claimed that they may represent the highest incidence of intentional friendly-fire attacks in recorded military history.

In response, the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force, United States General John Allen, ordered that all coalition soldiers carry loaded weapons, even at the larger secure bases, inside buildings and even at meetings. The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, blamed the recent surge of green on blue attacks on foreign countries—a reference to Pakistan and Iran—infiltrating the Afghan National Army and brain-washing vulnerable or disenchanted soldiers. The Pakistan based spiritual leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, said that his fighters had been instructed to infiltrate the Afghan National Army and coerce Afghan soldiers to assist attacking coalition troops. He said: 'Thanks to the infiltration of the mujaheddin, they are able to safely enter bases, offices and intelligence centres of the enemy. Then, they easily carry out decisive and coordinated attacks, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy both in life and support.' Terrorism knows no bounds. It is gutless. That is another reason why we need to continue every effort to keep our soldiers safe and certainly to continue our efforts in Afghanistan, because the Afghan people need to know that our support is with them. They need—as everybody does—to have a free country.

We need to leave our troops in Afghanistan. Progress is being made on our goal to help stabilise the country, but there is a lot of work to do, obviously. Unfortunately, there are many people in Australia who do not understand the progress being made. Media programs often show a negative side of war. Of course, it is important that they do show those tragic ramp ceremonies, when our diggers have unfortunately made the ultimate sacrifice. Quite often the media do not represent good things being achieved in Afghanistan. We heard the Prime Minister speak yesterday about the great strides that the coalition has helped to make for education, for minorities and certainly for women, and about the good work we are doing to ensure that there is no safe haven for terrorist activity in Afghanistan. That is not always reflected as much as the tragedy of soldiers being killed on the battlefield and certainly in green on blue attacks.

The soldiers believe that what they are doing is making a difference—and they should know; they are right there in the trenches, in the camps and in the streets of Afghanistan doing good work. If they get pulled out now, they believe the 39 fallen will have died in vain. Certainly those 39 who have lost their lives in Afghanistan are the bravest of the brave; the best of the best. Afghanistan is our war. Everyone deserves freedom—Afghans too. If we leave too soon the country will turn back to the chaotic situation it has been in for the past 30 years. It has been a terrible situation for decades.

The soldiers know the risks; they also know the job at hand and they will know when it is finished. As we heard the Prime Minister say yesterday, the end is nigh but certainly we need to stay there until we get the job done. Until democracy and the rule of law is brought to failed states, we need to continue to play our part. The coalition has achieved so much with so few casualties—though sadly we have had 39 killed and more than 240 injured. Those 39 fallen have paid the ultimate sacrifice, but all in all our soldiers and our Navy and our Air Force since 2001 have done mighty things. The people of Afghanistan are depending on us to continue the work we have done. We cannot leave them with warring tribes, terrorist schools and mediaeval treatment for women and minorities. We must see out a tough fight; we must see out a just fight.

Defence lobbyist Neil James, who served in the Army for more than 31 years and who still serves in the reserves, has commented that some Australian soldiers were undertaking too many deployments as a result of budget cuts to the Department of Defence. Mr James is Executive Director of the Australia Defence Association. As the ADA official spokesman, he is also responsible for the association's contributions to day-to-day public debate and for helping maintain the long-term and informed perspectives the Australia Defence Association has long brought to such discourse. Mr James's military experience over almost four decades has spanned a wide range of regimental, intelligence, liaison, teaching, operational planning and operational research positions. He said:

One of the reasons that people are having to do … too many tours, is there aren't enough of them and the reason there aren't enough of them is that the defence budget is too small.

Unfortunately the defence budget was cut by $5½ billion in the May budget. Mr James went on:

The people of Australia refuse to vote for politicians who will invest sufficiently in defence to give us strategic alternatives.

He said the price was being paid by 'a very small part of the national family who are doing most of the country's war fighting.' He is right. The budget cuts were extremely tough, and they will continue to be tough on our military. I know the working accommodation that was planned for the Kapooka army base at Wagga Wagga, where all recruits for the Regular Army are turned out, has been put on hold because of these cuts.

When we are on the battlefield the job of the Army is always to bring the troops in. Of course if they are injured they are brought in but if they have sadly fallen and died they have to be brought in and then looked after with the greatest respect when they get back to Australia. I plead for the government, and I implore our own side, to ensure fair indexation for military pensions and superannuation into the future. I know that times are tough and I realise that sometimes cuts need to be made. But these people signed up to fight wars to promote freedom and to help our country and other peoples, and when they come home they need to be looked after with respect by the parliament which sends them to wars.

This morning a brave Australian soldier is going to be awarded the Victoria Cross. I do not know his name yet; it may well have been announced since I started speaking. At any rate, the Governor-General and the Prime Minister will make an announcement this morning that another Australian soldier is going to be a recipient of the highest honour for valour in the field. That is a tremendous thing. We know what great things Ben Roberts-Smith, our last Australian VC recipient, did to earn that remarkable honour for courage, and the latest recipient will join the long line of khaki heroes to receive a VC. The first Victoria Cross was awarded in the Boer War and, since that conflict—through Gallipoli and all the other struggles that Australia has been involved in—men have reached the highest point of valour by putting life and limb on the line in a way that is beyond what most mere mortals would even contemplate. It is a great to think that today another VC recipient will join the other military heroes which Australia has turned out.

The war in Afghanistan on Australia's part needs to continue. We are doing great work. We have built airstrips and schools and we have helped many women to rise up from the medieval state that they were in. Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for terrorists thanks to the great work that Australia has done as part of the coalition. That is to be acknowledged, and it should continue. I acknowledge the Prime Minister for her words in the House of Representatives yesterday during debate on Afghanistan. Our efforts need to continue until the job is finished.

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