Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] Of course, I'm supporting the motion moved by the Prime Minister and supported by the Leader of the Opposition. This is an alarming and difficult time for the people of Afghanistan, for the Australian-Afghan community and for our defence personnel who served in Afghanistan. The scenes of people fleeing through the streets trying to approach the airport in Kabul and trying to board planes have been distressing and disturbing. So many Australian-Afghan community members are worried about what will happen to family and friends that they are in touch with in Afghanistan. Of course, their fear is understandable. The last time the Taliban were in charge in Afghanistan, we saw all types of brutality and oppression, particularly for the women and girls of Afghanistan, ethnic minorities and anybody who opposed the Taliban rule.

The women and girls of Afghanistan have seen some real improvement in the 20 years since the Taliban was last in charge. We've seen rates of high school education increase by 600 per cent. We've seen women's life expectancy increase from 56 to 67 years. We've seen mortality during childbirth fall to a third of its previous level. More women are in paid work, in the public service and also in the Afghan parliament where they made up, until the Taliban was back in charge, more than a quarter of the Afghan parliament. We saw those improvements in the last 20 years and we see that the improvements are very tenuous now.

We don't know whether the Taliban will keep their promise to respect the rights of Afghan women. I think anybody who watched the way they ruled last time would be sceptical on this matter. There's still so much that needs to be done to achieve true equality for Afghan girls. Too many are still not in formal education. The progress that has been made has to be protected. It's no wonder that so many women and girls are fearful for their safety under the new regime. It's very important that the international community continues to do what it can to support the protection of human rights in Afghanistan, including the rights of women and girls and including, of course, the rights of ethnic minorities, religious minorities and those who disagree with the rule of the Taliban government.

It's important to soberly reflect on the way the withdrawal happened and what it means for the reputation of Western powers, including our very good friend and ally the United States, the NATO countries and others who still have personnel in Afghanistan that they're trying to get to safety now. It's important for us to think about whether the manner of this withdrawal has a long-term impact on geopolitics, not just of the region but also, more broadly, closer to home for us. However, we have an immediate responsibility to think about the way we help and support the Afghans who helped and supported our people when they were in Afghanistan: our soldiers, aid workers, diplomats and the Federal Police. Former prime ministers and members of parliament have all spoken about the need to help those who helped us. There's a moral obligation that's obvious here. People risked their lives and risked the lives of their families to help Australians when we were on the ground in a very dangerous place. We have a responsibility to help and protect them in return.

But there's another reason that it's important for us to do this. Our soldiers will be engaged in future conflicts—maybe next year, maybe next decade; we don't know when the next conflict like this will occur—and in those conflicts, when they happen, we will need to rely on local people to act as interpreters and security guards and to work with our people on the ground. The way we now look after the people who looked after Australians will really affect the way people are prepared to help us and our soldiers in the future, so it is important that we do everything we can to get people safely out of Afghanistan. We know that the humanitarian component of Australia's immigration intake wasn't reached last year, won't be reached this year and is unlikely to be reached next year. We need to make sure that we can safely bring people who assisted Australians in Afghanistan and their families here to Australia.

In Australia we have the luxury of not having to risk our lives when we disagree with our political opponents. That is not true of Afghanistan. We know there are people who need Australia's assistance and protection, or the assistance and protection of the international community—people like Malalai Joya, who has visited Australia in the past. She was elected to the Afghan parliament as a young woman who was outspoken, standing up for the rights of women and girls, criticising the war lords and their brutality. Having been elected to the Afghan parliament, she was then banned from the parliament for being so outspoken. What people like Malalai Joya face in Afghanistan today does not bear thinking about. We have nothing in our political system that allows us to comprehend the sort of fear that critics of the Taliban would be feeling right now.

I want to finish by speaking for a moment about the Australians who fought in Afghanistan. We know, of course, that 41 made the ultimate sacrifice, and their families, friends and comrades will be thinking about them at this time. But all of the Australians who served overseas with honour, representing their country in working with the international community to provide a better future for Afghanistan, would be having a very difficult time of it at the moment. We have not done nearly well enough in looking after our veterans when they have returned from conflicts, including Afghanistan. This has been a war fought by professional soldiers a long way away, and for some Australians that has meant it has been out of sight and out of mind. For those who served and for their families, it's been constantly in their minds, not just in the last few weeks, as the situation there has worsened, but for many years now. We need to do much, much better in supporting our veterans when they return and in supporting their families as well.

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