Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with the Prime Minister, the Labor leader, the deputy leaders, the defence and shadow defence ministers and all speakers so far in speaking about the situation in Afghanistan. I want to acknowledge all the speakers and, in particular, those who have served in that country.

I won't be going back into history and offering my judgements on our time there. This isn't a time for that. We all know why we went there; we all remember September 11. I want to pay tribute to all the Australians who worked or served in Afghanistan, whether that was with the ADF, the AFP, other agencies, diplomatic corps, NGOs or in any other organisation or capacity that was there in that country to do good. And I want to pay tribute to their families.

To the families of the 41 fallen: I send my love to you. It was right of the defence minister to read out a roll call yesterday of the 41. There's just one thing to follow-up—I know mistakes happen: it's Robbie, not Richard, Poate. I acknowledge that it has now been fixed in Hansard, but he should give Hugh and Jenny Poate a quick call to see how they're travelling.

To the families of those who fell when their loved ones returned home: I send my love to you as well. To those struggling today I send my solidarity. The feelings of pain will pass, but please, please reach out to a mate. Talk to your loved ones. Open Arms is there and ex-service organisations are there. Hold your head up high and know that we made a difference over there—those who were there doing good.

I pay tribute to all those working to evacuate Australians and those Afghans who we're rescuing right now—those ADF members, those aviators and those soldiers. I pay tribute to them—godspeed to you all. And to the Afghan people enduring this upheaval and to the Australian Afghan community in distress I say that we're here with you. I want to assure Australians that we're getting Aussies out of Kabul. Efforts are underway, belatedly, to rescue some former interpreters and embassy staff, and also families, orphan girls and women, including those who have been human rights advocates, journalists and lawmakers. It's difficult work, but it is happening. It's dangerous work, but it is happening.

I worked in Afghanistan a few times—not in ADF uniform, but in security roles as a contracted adviser to provide security. I worked in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan and in Kabul. I worked with Afghan elders and I worked with the UN mission, NGOs and the coalition forces. So I think I can be most helpful in giving Australians an idea of part of the current situation in relation to the evacuation of loyal Afghan staff who served Australia.

On 28 May, the Australian embassy in Kabul was closed. Over two months later the embassy was sanitised by Australian embassy staff—and other agencies, obviously. Two weeks later, Kabul fell to the Taliban. The Australian government had a duty of care to its former staff. They were about to be plunged into immense risk and there was time to be able to extend that duty of care. Why did the Australian government not brief the embassy contractors? It could have enabled them time to get themselves and their families to safety—the paperwork done and the evacuations conducted in safety, rather than this belated rush of evacuation that we're seeing now. That is a question for the federal government to answer.

Let me provide some context of the embassy staff—contracted security guards, for example. They're on the bottom of the pack, the most poorly paid. I note that some commentators are doing the work of the government by suggesting that these guards got hundreds of dollars a day and therefore should just have accepted the risk of the danger that would befall them when the Taliban took Afghanistan. But this is untrue. They weren't on hundreds of US dollars a day. They're the ones who were on the front lines, like our ADF soldiers were, checking vehicles and people for bombs. We know that some of them took bullets in defence of Australia. They've been subject to harassing fire while doing their job. They stopped suicide bombers. They have taken the hit and they've been visible to the public, including the Taliban, so they're obviously now in great danger. When all the prime ministers—the current one, Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, John Howard—visited Kabul, it was the ADF personnel and these people that kept our prime ministers safe.

We want to have a foreign presence and influence in the world, so we need to have a physical presence, and that requires security. From my observations on the ground in Kandahar and Kabul over the years and from talking to Australians who have worked for these organisations, I understand that some of the security companies have been actively engaged in supporting these staff, and that is good. They are mostly ex-military people; they know those guards well. They often said the guards believe in Australia, but they've been screwed over on this occasion. The situation in Kabul, as difficult as it has been, has seen these guards learn a bit of the Aussie Anzac spirit. That is what veterans who have worked for the companies say.

Now, how are they treated? After Kabul fell, they received a letter saying, 'Sorry, you're not getting a visa.' Then, 24 hours later, they were told, 'You are getting a visa,' and they were told to go to the airport. Then they went to the airport with their families, but they weren't allowed through. So my question to the Prime Minister and to the government is: what the hell is going on here? Confusion reigns as tens of thousands of Taliban fighters own the city of Kabul, placing our ADF personnel in danger. The Minister for Home Affairs says that the government moved quickly to get the embassy staff visas. No—quickly would have been June; quickly would have been July or even early August. To honour those Afghans who protected Australians, this must be said. The government were much too slow and neglected their responsibilities and, as a result, they will also have made us less safe the next time we deploy to a country and want to work with the local population.

I want to acknowledge the dedicated work of all the advocates out there, including the veterans who are trying to get their interpreters to safety. I want to acknowledge the work of Kay and Kerry Danes, and Patrick Ryan and the GAP legal team for all their tireless work in supporting the Australian embassy staff. They've been at it for so long and continue, through sleepless nights, to provide support to the people who obviously, because of the service they provided Australia—at the Australian embassy and the DFAT accommodation compounds—are known and are in danger, and they are trying to protect their loved ones. The world is watching; the veterans community is watching. Let it be known that we are a good people and we don't abandon our mates.

I want to join with the Labor leader, as a member of the alternative executive, to call on the Taliban to live up to their commitments. More broadly, there needs to be an in-depth conversation in our nation about Australia's place in the world and the challenges we face in the future, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. We do great work in the world, and that reputation has taken a hit. I urge the ministers to coordinate our response to keep our people safe, get all the Australians out that want to go and as many loyal Afghans as possible.

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