Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have been reading about the exploits of World War I and the troops that left from those ships and the streamers that were thrown and then those that returned. Over the Christmas break, I had the immense privilege to go on the Australian Defence Force exchange program to the Middle East. There I met young men and women from my electorate serving their country, but warfare and the Defence Force take a different pathway now. Now our troops go over on a jet. When they come back, they come back in civilian clothes. As they go through customs, you would think they are the team from Bali, or some other place, on a holiday. Instead, they have served Australia.

It was an immense privilege to see the quality of people that we have in the Australian Defence Force. I do not have a Defence background; I do not have a history of exposure to the sort of people we have. I wonder whether it is because of the training we invest in those people, or whether it is the screening process of the people we take into the Australian Defence Force. But, as result of this experience, I have become a strong advocate for the calibre of the people that we have serving in our armed forces in other conflicts.

There is a cost to them. One of them said to me: 'Can I show you a photo of my five-year-old who is starting school this week. My daughter thinks the word "mother" means telephone.' Distance is a factor. The hours that they work are immense.

We have reason to be very proud. I learnt how IEDs are made. They put a ball bearing in a syringe. That IED is then put into a toy so a child will pick up the toy and the limbs of the child will be blown off. It does make you realise that our freedoms are bought at a cost and that we are doing very good work there.

I think Operation Resolute Support, where our Defence forces are training the Afghani defence force to put security back into their country, is a very worthwhile program. It will take some time, but it is very worthwhile. I also think providing air support to the Iraqi defence force is very strategic and measured. For the record, I do not think we necessarily need to put Australian troops on the ground. What we should be doing is providing support to those countries, training them to be well armed and to put security in those countries, so that they can then retake ground and ensure prosperity for their countries. If they have a level of security, ultimately that will bring jobs and investment back into those countries and lift people's standards of living—and that is the great aim.

The men and women currently serving in our Defence forces in the Middle East are people of whom we can all be proud. I spent Australia Day with them. It was very moving to hear them with their bands playing Khe Sanhand I Was Only 19. It does resonate that those two songs were sung by Australian troops on Australia Day. These are men and women of whom we should be proud.

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