Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The war in Afghanistan is at a crossroads and the time for making difficult decisions is upon us. For the global community the stakes are high. For the Afghan people, they are even higher.

When we gather in Bucharest in April, the partners to the Afghanistan project need to embrace a new strategy to win. To win not just the military battle, but the battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. Broadly, there are five keys to winning the military campaign.

The first is reaching agreed and common campaign objectives. The second is securing a coherent campaign plan. The third is clarifying chains of command and lines of responsibility. The fourth is securing new NATO troop commitments. The fifth is growing the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police Force to the critical mass and skill level they need to hold our military gains and to enforce the rule of law in their war-torn country.

Winning the hearts and minds of the local population will require the partners to do more on the non-military side. First, we must do more to build an economy free of narcotics. Second, we must do more to provide guidance and assistance on governance issues. And, third, we must focus more acutely on the establishment of a justice system not so vulnerable to corruption and manipulation.

In short, it is about giving the Afghan people hope, hope that a democratic Afghanistan can deliver for them a decent society and a decent standard of living.

It is appropriate to acknowledge that, on both the military and non-military fronts, significant gains have been made. We have enjoyed some success in targeting the insurgent leadership and we have disrupted their coordination and lines of command.

Six million Afghan children are now receiving an education and 80 per cent of the population now has access to basic health care. But so much more needs to be done.

Today I am able to inform the House, the Australian community and the wider global community that the new Australian government has taken a number of decisions which will demonstrate we are willing to back our criticisms of the Afghanistan mission with real and meaningful action.

The government has decided to adjust Australia’s defence contribution in Afghanistan. While maintaining our engineering and security effort, we intend to increase our focus on training.

This means the Australian government has decided to maintain our current level of military commitment to Afghanistan, but to increase the focus on training and mentoring of the Afghanistan national army.

We are making these changes with an eye on the longer term future of the country, noting that the government of Afghanistan needs to be able to develop the security forces which will provide the security for their own citizens into the future.

The adjustments to Australia’s military commitment will be focused on enhancing the capabilities of the Afghan national army while retaining our reconstruction and combat effort in Oruzgan.

Based on both our reviews and consultation with our partners, the new government believes the time is right for Australia to evolve the role of its forces so that the additional task of training the Afghan army can be embraced and adopted.

This will be achieved by providing an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team which will be responsible for the training of an Afghan national army battalion which will shortly commence operations in Oruzgan province.

The introduction of this training team will be an important step in assisting the development of the Afghan security forces. As part of the broader effort of our Dutch partners, the Australian training team will commence operations later this year. The core of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team will be highly skilled officers and senior non-commissioned officers with experience in infantry operations. The team will also include integral force protection troops and assets.

The training team will be embedded with an Oruzgan based Afghan national army battalion—commonly known there as a Kandak—which normally consists of around 600 soldiers. The Australian Defence Force personnel will mentor and advise key commanders within the Kandak during both training and operations. The mentoring and training team will assist the Kandak Headquarters in military operational necessities such as logistics and personnel management, force protection planning and coordinating combined operations.

The commitment of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team will help rebuild the security institutions of the Afghan government, particularly in the Oruzgan province.

The training team will develop the skills of the Afghan security forces to enable them to do the job that is currently being undertaken by coalition forces. The need for this shift in focus is well recognised by the international community.

ISAF’s operational mentoring and liaison teams have been operating successfully with the Afghan army throughout the various provinces in Afghanistan. Given this success, the international community is increasingly moving towards providing greater training to the Afghan national security forces through these teams.

While this adjustment to our military commitment will not result in an increase in the number of troops that we have deployed in Afghanistan, Australia will maintain all of its current force elements including the Reconstruction Task Force, the Special Operations Task Group, the Rotary Wing Group and the Control and Reporting Centre.

The Reconstruction Task Force will continue to make its important contribution to the reconstruction and security of Oruzgan province. It will retain a construction and security capability as well as continuing to manage the trade training school and provide project management experience to assist the people of Oruzgan in rebuilding their province.

The Special Operations Task Group will also continue its work in providing security for the province by taking the fight directly to the insurgents. This work creates a more secure environment for the international community and the Afghan government to deliver development assistance in the Dutch and Australian supported province of Oruzgan. Further, the Rotary Wing Group and the Control and Reporting Centre, based in Kandahar, will continue to provide vital air transport and battle airspace management for the international community’s efforts in southern Afghanistan.

In addition to the initiatives that I have announced today, the government will soon announce an enhancement of its efforts on the non-military side of the equation.

The government remains firmly committed to international efforts to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan. As I noted earlier, a strong, highly trained and competent Afghan national army will be critical for the future security of the country.

Australia’s continued military commitment to Afghanistan and its ongoing participation in the International Security Assistance Force mission reflects the critical role a stable Afghanistan plays in regional and international security. Australia has a direct interest in working with our international partners and the Afghan government to ensure that the country does not again become a base for terrorist activity. Australia remains committed to working with the government of Afghanistan to improve governance and security and to develop its capacity to deliver improved services to its citizens.

I look forward to working with our ISAF partners in Bucharest and beyond to deliver a safe, secure and stable Afghanistan.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent Mr Baldwin speaking for a period not exceeding 8 ½ minutes.

Question agreed to.

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me state for the record that the coalition, whether in government or in opposition, will never withhold or withdraw support for our troops, particularly when they are serving overseas. In receiving this statement today, the coalition supports the statement in principle. Our work in Operation Slipper commenced some 6½ years ago. The International Security Assistance Force, led by Major General Mark Evans and supported by Brigadier Stuart Smith, has done an outstanding job. Whether it is through the National Command Element, the liaison offices, Reconstruction Task Force 3, the Special Operations Task Group, the Air Force control and reporting centres, the force level logistic assets or, indeed, other support elements, the Australian military has a great presence and has made a great contribution. Indeed, in this House last week we moved condolence motions for Special Forces Sergeant Matthew Locke, Trooper David Pearce and Special Forces Commando Luke Worsley, who gave their lives in defending the freedoms and democracies that Australia stepped up to the plate for after 9-11 to make sure that there was a democratic, free Afghanistan, which was free of terrorist elements that rain down not only on that country but indeed across the world. We stood up to the plate at that time, I am proud to say, and the Labor opposition supported that.

Some of the work that has been achieved over there includes the training of 130 Afghanis who are being trained by our people in the reconstruction task force in the trade training schools. One hundred and thirty-five members of the Afghan National Army have been trained by the reconstruction task force. Some of their work has included the redevelopment of Tarin Kowt provincial hospital, the renovation of Tarin Kowt high school and major causeway constructions over the Garmab Mandah River. The ANP checkpoints on the eastern and western edges of Tarin Kowt have now been completed. The Yaklengah health centre has been renovated. The Talani school has been refurbished. Training has been implemented—that is, put in place and commenced—at the Afghan health and development services. Twenty wells throughout Tarin Kowt have been established to provide clean drinking water for people. This is the fine work of the Australian military in areas such as Afghanistan.

The issue that we have in relation to this statement is that, to date, the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow minister for defence, I and our shadow parliamentary secretary, the member for Herbert, have not actually been briefed on the processes of this ministerial statement and what it means. We support the idea of increasing training, but there are some questions that we have to ask which would normally be asked during a private briefing, such as questions concerning the allocation of special protection forces for our trainers. We do not intend to be political in relation to this statement; we intend to be supportive of our men and women who serve overseas.

Much has been said by the minister in relation to the information provided by NATO. I am informed by previous ministers for defence and for foreign affairs that we have always had access to and been included in NATO information. I can only assume that, with this restructuring of the force, the Minister for Defence, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister must have had information provided to them that showed the necessity of developing this battalion of Afghanis to provide greater security and protection in their growth and development as a country providing their own security. The minister has mentioned the need to stamp out the narcotics trade. This is very important. The effects on the local people there and, indeed, across the globe are quite dramatic. The human rights injustices created by the Taliban and the terrorists that have been active in that area have been beyond a dimension that we could ever understand. Without prolonging this, we support this ministerial statement in principle as we have always supported our fine men and women who serve in the Australian military.