Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Prime Minister's statement updating the House about the developments in Iraq and the movements of IS. It is natural that as a pluralist democratic nation we do not jump at the chance to become involved in international conflicts. However, with at least 60 Australians currently fighting with terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, and at least 100 more Australians supporting them, the conflict is obviously reaching out to us. As the Prime Minister has said, nothing can justify the actions of this death cult. It is in Australia's best interests that we stand ready with the world to help the new Iraqi government disrupt and degrade the IS movement and regain control over its own country. As Edmund Burke famously said, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Last week I was honoured to join the Prime Minister in sending off not only good men and women but also the best of the best when we farewelled troops from RAAF Base Amberley. The Australian Defence Force Air Task Group has now arrived at Australia's main support base in the Middle East. The Air Task Group includes approximately 400 Royal Australian Air Force personnel as well as FA18F Super Hornets, a KC30A multi-role tanker transport aircraft and an E7A Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft.

Australia's terrorism alert level has been lifted from medium to high in light of recent statements issued by ISIL calling for attacks against members of the international coalition, including Australians. The Australian government is regarding those threats as genuine and is taking the necessary action to ensure the safety of all Australians. The Islamic State terrorists have their sights set on the West. It is Australia's duty to stand with the world and ensure these violent radicals are stopped. Australia must join with the international coalition and prevent these extremists from further threatening all that we hold dear: our freedom, our democracy and our way of life. In this case, international military intervention is necessary. Australians do not want this; no sane person would. We live in a remarkable, tolerant, multicultural society. Yes, we could do it better, but what we see around the world, the intolerance and the hatred, shows just how well we have done.

We have not come to this point easily. There have been difficulties with that growth, because as we have built our society through different waves of migration we have confronted change: different people; different cultures. From 1770 to today Australia has borne this change. New people are different. From colonial days through early British migration, post World War II and post Vietnam to today, different people have arrived. In the fifties and sixties people spoke of 'wogs' and 'Ities' and 'dagos'—less culturally sensitive in those days but with a touch of larrikin humour. With my maiden name of Righetti, I received my fair share of 'wog' and 'spaghetti' and other colourful tags, albeit none with any malice. Then there were concerns about the Vietnamese migrants and then about Japanese and Chinese investment.

Out of all this has come a remarkable multicultural society, a cultural mix that is a key factor in what Australia is today. We are justly proud of our society and we are properly concerned when it comes under threat. Indeed, it could be said that our society is like the environment: different species and varieties make it stronger and more resilient. If we were all the same, we would be weaker and considerably more boring. However, there is an understandable view that at times we should put up the shutters and leave the rest of the world to its own folly and to the bastardry and evil that brews in other places, because over the years we have seen the cost of wars counted not only in the number of deaths of so many fine young Australians but also in the cost to wives and children. We have seen the challenges faced by returning soldiers both physically and mentally—challenges better handled today but still fraught with pain and suffering.

We have put troops on the ground in the Middle East many times in decades past. My father flew in the Middle East as a fighter pilot with 3 Squadron in World War II. He was shot down and became a prisoner of war. My son has served there as well. In Afghanistan, great nations have fought wars through history, and yet it appears that little has changed except that Afghans live with conflict and death as a constant companion.

Against this remarkable canvas of history, ranging from our multicultural success to this ever-present conflict in the Middle East, we stand today considering our reaction to events so far away. I do so as a member of our nation's parliament representing over 100,000 people, so my contribution to this debate cannot be as simple as a jingoistic call to arms.

As I move through Ryan and I talk to my constituents I see, as I am sure my colleagues do too, the mix of reactions to what people see played out on their televisions: beheadings of the innocent, rape, kidnapping on a massive scale, murder, pure evil, children taken from their parents, young women given to ISIL fighters and education systematically dismantled. The reaction in our community has been one of revulsion and swift in condemnation, but mixed with the not unreasonable fear and a question as to whether this will be resolved by yet another war. There are those who would point to the past of that troubled region and suggest that it is European and Western forays into the Middle East, from the artificial boundaries of centuries past through to the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that when combined with the liberalism of the internet has created a maelstrom of conflict where intervention is fruitless.

But Australia's initial reaction to what we have seen is right. Such barbarity as we have seen, such evil unsupported by my any moralism or religion, cannot be left unchecked. Australia's reaction is right if for no other reason than the stark fact that the world is a much smaller place than it used to be. The turmoil of the developing world is at our doorstep. In decades past the trauma of far-flung countries was largely unseen and unheard and, importantly, confined by geography. But not today, because all of the elements of these conflicts play out before us and, sadly, often play out in our own society or in those of our neighbours; not today, because if we allow this evil to prevail across Iraq and Syria and beyond, we will pay an even greater price in the future; not today, because true evil unchecked can reach into the very heart of our own society. Already we see young Australians drawn into this web of evil. This is not new—people have joined crazy and barbaric cults before, but largely their evil has been confined. But today, just as the internet has reached into the Middle East with messages of freedom and hope, the same internet provides an immediate reach into our own society. This morning's news highlights that fact.

There are no easy options, just a stark choice between careful and considered action supporting the victims of this evil and doing nothing. This will be a long and tortuous road, but we must prevail. It is Australian society, more than most, that demonstrates the wonderful success of multicultural society. It is a beacon of hope that we must defend from the evil and barbarism of these fanatics. I support the government's actions and I acknowledge the support of the opposition. This is an action taken on behalf of all Australians. It is just and it is correct. It is fraught with danger, but it must be done.

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