Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. Could the minister please update the House on the status of the nine Australian soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and the overall status of operations on behalf of Australia?

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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition not only for the question but for the concern he has expressed over our soldiers and the bipartisan support we constantly receive from the opposition on matters operational, particularly in Afghanistan. Yesterday the Prime Minister confirmed that on Tuesday night, our time, nine Australian special forces soldiers were wounded while on operations in Afghanistan. The question from the Leader of the Opposition gives me an opportunity to provide the House with an update on their condition and their progress.

I am pleased to be able to say that our most critically wounded soldier made it through the night and has been sufficiently stabilised for transport to Germany, where he will receive the sort of expert care suitable for his needs. However, he is not out of danger, and I ask all members and indeed all Australians to keep him in their thoughts and in their prayers. I can also report that overnight the number of soldiers on the serious list fell from five to three, so that is more slightly good news. Those three soldiers remain in a serious condition, however. They have been stabilised and remain under care in coalition medical facilities in Afghanistan. The remaining five soldiers are in the hands of those who provide excellent care on base in Tarin Kowt.

The incident which led to these casualties is a reminder of the dangers faced by the men and women of the ADF on a daily basis. They put their lives on the line for others, for all of us. Their work is critical to global security and indeed to Australia’s own security, and of course they fight for a better deal for the Afghan people at the request of the democratically elected government of Afghanistan. The work of our troops there is diverse. They are taking the fight to those who want to take Afghanistan back to the dark days of the Taliban regime and those who want to continue to use the country as a breeding ground for terrorists who seek to perpetrate their acts of terror right around the globe, including in our own backyard. Our Reconstruction Task Force continues to build social and economic infrastructure—hospitals, schools, roads and bridges.

The events of Tuesday night remind us that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place and that the challenges to the global community there remain enormous. But we must continue to meet those challenges, and we will. I know that is what the six soldiers we have lost in Afghanistan would want us to do, and I am confident that all those who have served in Afghanistan, including those many who have been wounded there, would want us to do that. They know how important our work there is.

I conclude by thanking all of them for their service and their sacrifices and by reassuring them and their families that the Australian people are a very grateful people for the work they do. I also thank in particular the families, including those loved ones who are nervously awaiting the next update on the condition of those injured on Tuesday night. Their sacrifices are also enormous, and too often the emotional pain they feel can be excruciating. Again, I ask all members and indeed the broader Australian community to keep those who are currently under care both in their thoughts and, of course, in their prayers.