Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Mr Leeser, I move:

That this House:

(1) notes:

(a) that February 2024 marks two years since Russia's illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine;

(b) the Ukrainian people continue to show strength, determination and courage in defending their land and resisting Russia's unlawful invasion;

(c) the decision in September 2023 of the Government to retire the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters following the loss of four lives during a training accident; and

(d) the request of the Ukrainian Government in late 2023 for Australia to donate the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters to assist in its ongoing war efforts to defend their homeland;

(2) expresses concern regarding the:

(a) decision of the Government to bring forward its program of dismantling of the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters;

(b) Government's weak and too-little, too-late response to requests for assistance from the government of Ukraine; and

(c) failure of the Government to maintain the former Government's record of delivering a comprehensive package of support that established Australia as the largest non-NATO contributor to Ukraine; and

(3) calls on the Government to demonstrate Australia's continued support for Ukraine by urgently:

(a) seeking advice from defence industry and NATO partners as to what support may be available to facilitate the refurbishment and operation of MRH-90 Taipan helicopters by Ukraine and reconsider the response to the government of Ukraine;

(b) responding affirmatively to the Ukrainian request for thermal power to assist in power generation;

(c) re-establishing Australia's embassy in Kyiv; and

(d) delivering a comprehensive strategy of support covering military, humanitarian and energy supplies.

I thank the member for Berowra for bringing this important motion to the attention of the House. I think I join with all my colleagues on both sides of the House in wishing the member for Berowra a speedy recovery from COVID. I'm here moving the motion in his stead.

The 24th of this month, Saturday, marked two years since Russia, under President Putin, invaded Ukraine in his illegal, immoral war, which the Ukrainians did not ask for, a conflict which has brutally resulted in the cause of some 27,449 casualties—civilian casualties. That is 27½ thousand civilian casualties, including more than 10,000 civilian deaths. Just earlier today, the Ukraine defence force announced that some 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the last two years.

This is a war that President Putin of Russia thought would be over within a day or two. This is a war where he thought Ukrainians would crumble under the might of the Russian military. But, led by President Zelenskyy—this is a president who I think will go down in history as one of the great leaders of modern-day times. This is a man who could have turned tail and run. But he didn't. He didn't want a lift; he wanted support from allies to help Ukraine defeat Russia. He wanted support from allies to defend his homeland. It's an example of great leadership. We have seen the corollary of that in other countries like Afghanistan, where the president of Afghanistan left and the country fell. Kabul fell. President Zelenskyy decided that that was not what he wanted for his people, and he stayed. He stayed the course. It's up to us to support Ukraine. It's up to us to support the government and the people of Ukraine.

The coalition calls on the Albanese Labor government to reverse their decision and donate Australia's out-of-service MRH-90 Taipan helicopters to Ukraine, as they requested in December 2023. We call on a reinstatement of an Australian embassy in Kyiv and join the more than 67 other diplomatic missions which have already returned. Sixty-seven diplomatic missions have returned. We call on the Australian government to respond to the repeated requests Ukraine has made for Australian coal to support their energy needs, just as the coalition government provided coal when we were in government. The coalition also calls for the swift finalisation of a double-tax agreement between Australia and Ukraine to support the rebuilding of this war-ravaged country. We also call upon the government to urgently deliver a comprehensive strategy which outlines Australia's ongoing commitment to Ukraine and ensures long-term multiyear sustainable Australian support for Ukraine. When we were in government we provided significant support; in fact, we were the largest non-NATO contributor to support for Ukraine. Since the Labor government came to power that has dropped down the rankings. We proudly supported Ukraine with military equipment to defend itself. The Labor government has provided equipment which dates back to the Vietnam War. And we are calling on the government to provide these MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, which would immensely help them to be able to evacuate casualties from the battlefield.

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