Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I know that there will be many of my constituents who will be very eager to hear the minister's answer to the member's question, in respect of where Land 400 will be constructed.

A few weeks ago I visited the Middle East area of operations and I would like to place on record my thanks to the government, to Minister Payne and to the Defence Industry minister for their support. I have written to the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Binskin, Vice Admiral David Johnston, commander of the Joint Operations Command, as well as Major General John Frewen who is our commander in the Middle East Area of Operations.

It was a fantastic experience, and I note your service, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker Hogan, as well so this will ring true to you, I am sure, in terms of what I witnessed—Australian Defence personnel of all three services operating in difficult circumstances but in a completely professional way and acting as our country's best ambassadors, acting in a way that made it clear to troubled countries—in Iraq and Afghanistan—that we are there to help and lend a hand to them in a difficult hour of their history.

The focus of our efforts in Iraq is combating the forces of Daesh, and it would appear that this fight is proceeding in a satisfactory way. The expectation is that, ultimately, Daesh will be defeated. I note the statement made by the Prime Minister this morning and my question, in respect of this, to the Defence Industry minister is to ask for a report of progress on the fight with Daesh and the work that has been undertaken in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan the situation is more complex. There is an insurgency underway. But in both countries what Australian personnel are doing is providing training to the forces of Afghanistan and Iraq so that those countries have an increased capacity and ability to deal with the very difficult circumstances they face.

What became very clear from all that I observed and all the meetings that I had was that the advice, assistance and training being provided by Australian personnel is being received in a very favourable way by those countries. It is being seen as the provision of support which is, to be frank, invaluable, from their perspective, and which is really making a difference, in terms of the sustainability of those countries in dealing with a set of circumstances which for us, here, is unimaginable.

The professionalism of those involved was deeply impressive, the thoroughness with which people undertake their task, making decisions that go to questions of life and death—for example, whether or not a strike is made or not made from one of the FA18 Super Hornets, which are now over the skies of Iraq. Those decisions are matters of life and death, but I watched Australian personnel going through the process of making those decisions in a deep, thoughtful and thorough way, understanding the enormity of what they were doing and, as I said, in the process absolutely representing our country in a way which could only lead one to have an enormous sense of pride.

The point I want to make is that the mission that we are engaged in in the Middle East is one which has total bipartisan support of the major parties in this parliament. The work that those people are doing is making the world a safer and a better place. In doing so, the honour and the prestige of Australia is being promoted and built. I think I said earlier that the serving personnel in the Middle East are our greatest ambassadors and really do a marvellous job in the way in which they carry out their task in a very difficult way. I know that they are comments which will be received in a bipartisan way by the government, and they are given in that spirit. I guess the question that goes with it is that I am just seeking an update on how things are proceeding. (Time expired)

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