Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, why did you take Australia into a war when you knew it would make Australians a bigger terror target?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I totally reject the claim that is implicit in the Leader of the Opposition’s question. As I told the Leader of the Opposition in reply to an earlier question, at the time we decided to join the United States and the United Kingdom in the coalition operation in Iraq in 2003, we believed, as did the shadow spokesman, the member for Griffith, that it was an empirical fact that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that this country was a terrorist target long before the coalition operation in Iraq. I would remind the Leader of the Opposition of the words that were in Samudra’s laptop on 13 October 2002 before the attack that claimed the lives of 88 Australians in Bali. This is what Samudra said:

As long as Coalition forces do not leave Afghanistan, there will continue to be casualties from your countries, wherever they may be.

Thus spoke the words of somebody convicted of involvement in the attack that claimed 88 lives.

Is the Leader of the Opposition suggesting, on the basis of that, that we should leave Afghanistan? Is the Leader of the Opposition suggesting that the foreign policy of this country should be dictated by terrorists?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Gillard interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Lalor!

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It remains the belief of the government that if we were to precipitantly withdraw from Iraq there would be every justification morally for the United States and the United Kingdom to do the same thing. If all the coalition forces leave Iraq, that would be an enormous victory for terrorism, not only in the Middle East but around the world. That is the reason why we believe that we should remain there until we are satisfied that the Iraqi forces have a capacity to provide adequate security in that country, standing on their own.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How long is that?

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lalor is warned!

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say simply to the Leader of the Opposition that if his policies had been followed, if his entreaties had been listened to three years ago, Saddam would still be ruling in Baghdad; he would still be financing Palestinians to carry out suicide bombing attacks against the Israeli—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Albanese interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The member for Grayndler will remove himself under standing order 94(a).

The member for Grayndler then left the chamber.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The decision that we took was the right decision based on the intelligence available to us at the time.