Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I want to begin by welcoming the Prime Minister's decision to accept an additional 12,000 refugees displaced by the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Importantly, these places are being offered on the basis of need and no other consideration. Our compassion should pay no heed to the colour of a person's skin or the god they pray to.

After all, when we looked with shocked eyes at the photo of Alan Kurdi, we tried to imagine for one agonising moment if that was our child. None of us—no Australian, no parent—stopped to ask which religion the poor little boy belonged to.

We do support and welcome the government's move as an expression of the generous, decent and open-hearted Australia that we all love and serve. Labor welcomes this decision, and I know that Australia will welcome these refugees. The lesson of our modern history is that, every time we have reached out a caring arm to the victims of persecution, it is our nation which has been enlarged and enriched.

I also want to briefly respond to the Prime Minister's remarks on extending ADF operations to Syrian airspace and I will say more during the matter of public importance after question time. But I wish to advise that Labor will support this proportional action within international law on the basis of assisting with Iraq's self-defence. We are a stable, prosperous liberal democracy; therefore, it is important that at all stages we maintain our moral and legal authority. The best gift we could give Daesh and the like would be to abandon our moral authority. Therefore, this decision is not taken lightly.

None of us—even those who would not support the extension of the Air Force operations over parts of Syria—dispute the destructive, genocidal violence of Daesh or the scale and scope of the humanitarian crisis gripping the Middle East. But, even if the enemy is evil, which they are; even if the cause is just, which it is; our methods must be strategically, legally and morally sound. Our alliance, as important as it is, is in and of itself not a sufficient reason to act. This is why Labor seeks clear and specific assurances from the government. Most of them have already been forthcoming, I might add.

The ADF operations have to be constrained to the collective self-defence of Iraq because at the core of this action, this extension, is that we are acting at the request of the Iraq government and the self-defence of Iraq. Further, the use of force must be limited to what is necessary to halt these cross-border attacks and defend Australian personnel. We would also seek and have received assurances that effective combat search and rescue must be in place for our remarkable RAAF personnel, who may, heaven forbid, be downed in hostile territory before the operations commence. Further, the government should formally notify the United Nations Security Council of our decision, and the government, I believe, should agree to a parliamentary debate to explain the long-term strategy for Australia's role in Iraq.

We say these things because the swamp of terrorism can never be drained by military means alone, and all in this parliament understand that. Australia's military actions must be matched by renewed and redoubled international humanitarian efforts to deliver peace and stability to the entire region. These are the assurances which we have sought. We look forward to working through them with the government in a bipartisan way in the coming days, and obviously it cannot be automatically construed as support for further escalation—not that any has been asked for at this point.

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