Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Eleven years ago, under Taliban rule, terrorists trained freely in Afghanistan to kill Australians and to attack our ally the United States. Today, international terrorism finds no safe haven in Afghanistan. The 50 nations of the International Security Assistance Force, the 80 nations engaged in development and governance, the United Nations, our Afghan partners—we are all determined to make sure it never does again.

Today the House, and through it the people, should know what progress we are making in Australia’s mission in Afghanistan—and what this progress means for our commitment in the coming year and in the years ahead. The House and the people should know what the government is doing to help Afghanistan prepare for its future after transition is complete. And the House and the people should resolve not only to remember the 39 Australians who died in Afghanistan but to care for those they left at home and for their mates when they return.

2012 has brought important progress in transition in Afghanistan. Three years ago, at West Point, in December 2009, President Obama announced a new strategy: focused on counter-insurgency and designed to achieve transition. Two years ago, at Lisbon, in November 2010, the nations of NATO, ISAF and the Afghan government agreed to the transition plan: for Afghanistan to take charge of its security by the end of 2014.

These are the facts on the ground in Afghanistan today. Three of the five tranches of Afghan provinces and districts have begun transition. All the provincial capitals and 75 per cent of the country’s population are in areas where the Afghan National Security Forces lead on security. The ANSF are close to their full surge strength of 352,000. They lead on more than 80 per cent of all security operations and make up more than three-quarters of all uniformed personnel in the country.

As transition proceeds, international forces will do less partnering in the field and provide more support through smaller advisory teams. This does not mean the end of combat for international forces, but it does mean, gradually and carefully, international forces are moving to a supporting role. By the middle of next year, when the fifth and final tranche is due to begin, the ANSF will have lead responsibility for security across the whole country.

I met General John Allen, the ISAF Commander, on 14 October, during my visit to Kabul. He is pleased with what he sees as the ANSF continues to demonstrate this increasing capability and capacity. With two years remaining before the end of transition, he is confident that ISAF's mission will conclude with the ANSF well prepared to maintain long-term security in Afghanistan. The Minister for Defence will also update the parliament on detailed developments in Afghanistan.

We can and should conclude that today, across Afghanistan, the process of transition is on track. In Uruzgan province, where Australia’s efforts are centred, transition commenced on 17 July of this year and will follow this model. These are the facts on the ground there.

Transition has commenced and the 4th Brigade is assuming the lead on security operations. The main districts are under government control. The Afghan security presence in outlying districts has expanded over the past two years with the growth of the ANSF. Insurgent attacks have fallen. One of the 4th Brigade’s kandaks is now operating independently and, based on current progress, the other three should commence independent operations by the end of this year.

As transition proceeds in the province, Australia will adjust our military and civilian posture there. Our main focus will be at Brigade Headquarters and the provincial Operations Coordination Centre. The ADF will advise and train the Afghan National Army’s logistics, engineering and other combat support elements. Our Mentoring Task Force will shift to a smaller advisory task force model, we will cease routine partnered operations at the kandak level and our presence will consolidate in the multinational base at Tarin Kot.

Let me emphasise that this shift in posture, likely to occur around the end of the year, is not the end of our combat operations in Uruzgan. Our Special Operations Task Group will continue to operate against the insurgency and our advisory task force will retain a combat-ready capability. This is the course of transition in Uruzgan.

On 18 October, Australia assumed command of Combined Team-Uruzgan. We now oversee the critical phase of transition in the province. We will take account of the conditions on the ground and the evolving capabilities of the 4th Brigade. The shift in our posture will be gradual and measured, closely aligned with the broader ISAF transition strategy and consulting closely with Afghan and provincial authorities. This is the key judgement which will be before us in the year to come: judging the progress of transition and delivering the phases by which it is completed.

When I addressed the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in April, the government’s view was that, once started, transition in Uruzgan should take 12 to 18 months and that, when transition is complete, the majority of our troops will have returned home. Six months on, and three months in to transition, our analysis is that this remains the case. As we begin detailed planning for its final phases, which of course remain some time off, it is likely that we will identify the need for some additional personnel and resources to complete those final phases of practical extraction and repatriation. We will apply the lessons of previous operational drawdowns to ensure stability and security through the whole period. And, when transition in Uruzgan is complete, we will remain committed to the ISAF strategy for nationwide transition, advising the ANSF as they develop their command and logistics capabilities and providing institutional training.

The Australian Federal Police has done important work training the Afghan National Police at the Police Training Centre at Tarin Kot. As transition proceeds, our future effort will focus on leadership training and strategic advisory support at the national level. This will help the Afghan National Police manage their own transition: from paramilitary activity as part of the counterinsurgency, to a constabulary force performing conventional civilian policing roles.

Our development aid effort will continue. Australian aid is making a real difference to the lives of the Afghan people, and helping their nation on the path to development and peace. In Uruzgan, the Australian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team does great work: contributing to a sixfold increase in the number of schools operating, tripling the number of active health facilities and supporting a stronger provincial administration. As transition proceeds in Uruzgan, our aid workers and diplomats will continue their important task. This will be the work of transition through the year ahead.

A new threat to our mission has been emerging in Afghanistan for some time—insider attacks. In my discussions with President Karzai this month, it was clear to me that he understands the threat these attacks pose to our mission. In my discussions with General Allen, he expressed his personal sympathy for Australia’s losses. He was also just as conscious as our own commanders of the need for the right mix of force protection measures.

Australia is not alone. Many of our international partners have also suffered casualties. Overnight, we received reports of an insider attack on British troops in Helmand province. Indeed, insider attacks have targeted Afghan troops in even greater numbers than international troops.

This is how we are protecting our troops. First, in order to know how best to counter the threat, our commanders have analysed the attacks and their circumstances. Each attack has specific motivations and specific circumstances. We must understand them to defeat them.

Second, in the wake of the insider attack on 29 August this year, we reviewed force protection to counter the risks of insider threats. Naturally, we do not publicly detail the nature of these. The government continually reviews the professional advice on force protection measures to ensure the risks of such attacks are minimised: I am confident that we are doing all that we can.

Third, the Afghan government has now been conducting biometric screening and other information gathering for all ANSF recruits for two years. Recruits are subject to an eight-step vetting process, supported by information sharing and overseen by the international force. The Afghan Ministry of the Interior, along with coalition partners, works to identify insurgent sympathisers and subversive elements within the security forces. These are important countermeasures.

We know it would be a strategic mistake to overestimate the enemy’s strengths or achievements. To see an adversary’s hand where it may not exist only enhances the propaganda value of an attack. This difficult military environment and determined insurgent enemy breeds asymmetric threats—spectacular attacks, roadside bombs, insider attacks—often designed to influence international opinion. We know the impact of these attacks on the troops and their units, on their families and on the Australian public is very significant. Australia has suffered four insider attacks in all so far, with seven killed and 12 wounded. The greater strategic threat of insider attacks comes not from the attacks themselves, but from the risk that we respond to them wrongly.

The best evidence that we will prevail against the threat from insider attacks is this: we have not allowed it to disrupt our training and operations with the 4th Brigade. Every day, our troops and police, diplomats and development advisers get on with the job. I saw them during my most recent visit to Kabul and Tarin Kot on 14 October and I can tell the House this: their courage will not fail. They are getting the job done every day. And they are determined to complete their mission of training and transition.

2012 has brought important progress in Afghanistan. It has also brought important decisions on our future course there. As a partner of Afghanistan, as a member of ISAF and now as a member of the UN Security Council, Australia will be an active participant in this planning in the coming year. In May, when President Karzai and I signed a Comprehensive Long-Term Partnership agreement, Australia joined a growing group of countries, including the United States, India and China, who have partnerships with Afghanistan to help consolidate and build on the gains of the past 10 years. The Chicago NATO-ISAF Summit set milestones for transition and agreed to a new NATO training mission post-2014. The Tokyo Conference saw international agreement to an aid and development plan and specific pledges of support.

2013 will now bring important preparations for the period after transition is complete. When transition is complete across Afghanistan at the end of 2014, the government of Afghanistan will have full responsibility for security.

The broad outlines of a comprehensive framework for supporting Afghanistan beyond 2014 are now agreed. There will be substantial international financial support to sustain strong Afghan defence and police forces. The international community is looking to commit US$3.6 billion each year from 2015 to 2017. As I announced in Chicago, Australia is contributing US$100 million in three years. There will be a new NATO-led mission after 2014—not for combat, but to train, advise and assist the ANSF. Australia will make a contribution to this mission including through the Afghan National Army Officer Academy.

To guard against any possibility of a return of international terrorism in Afghanistan, I expect the United States and Afghan governments to discuss possible future arrangements for counter-terrorism training and operations. As I have stated previously, the Australian government is prepared to consider a limited Special Forces contribution, in the right circumstances and under the right mandate.

There will be substantial international development assistance and support for Afghanistan’s economic and social development: the ultimate proof against conflict and instability. At Chicago, I pledged Australian development assistance to Afghanistan will rise from A$165 million in 2011-12 to A$250 million by 2015-16, as part of the international community's commitment to provide US$16 billion over four years from 2014.

Beyond 2014, Australia will still have a national interest in denying international terrorism a safe haven in Afghanistan. It will still be in our national interest to remain part of the broad international effort to support Afghanistan—and to ensure the Afghan government remains an active partner. At Tokyo, Australia joined in the Mutual Accountability Framework, by which the Afghan government made important commitments in this respect.

Through our aid program we will encourage the Afghan government to fulfil its reform commitments. It must strengthen governance, combat corruption, promote the rule of law and uphold the rights and freedoms for Afghan men and women guaranteed in the Afghan constitution.

We will also help the Afghans prepare for the 2014 presidential elections. I welcome the Afghan government’s commitment to announce the elections time line soon. Credible, inclusive and transparent elections, following the presidential elections of 2004 and 2009 and the parliamentary elections of 2005 and 2010, are among the most important signs of Afghanistan’s decade-long transformation. So our aid will support the electoral process.

With Afghanistan firmly responsible for the security of its sovereign state after 2014, international political and diplomatic efforts to support peace and stability in Afghanistan and in its region will be central. We will continue to support an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process of peace building which protects the gains of the past decade in areas such as democracy and human rights, including the rights of women and children. We support reconciliation and the reintegration of insurgents who are prepared to lay down their arms, renounce violence, cut ties with al-Qaeda and respect the Afghanistan constitution.

The constructive engagement and support of Afghanistan's neighbours, in particular of Pakistan, is also essential over time. For instance, the Istanbul process to strengthen trade links and tackle common security concerns through what is known as the 'Heart of Asia' region is an important international initiative. In a conflict-riven region, there is growing recognition from regional leaders that all have a long-term interest in a secure, stable, self-governing Afghanistan. I welcome the comments of the President of Pakistan that his country respects and supports reconciliation and peace efforts by the government of Afghanistan. I also welcome the Pakistani government’s direct appeal to the Taliban to participate in these reconciliation and peace efforts. We will work with Afghanistan—and with Pakistan—in those areas where our best judgement is that cooperation against terrorism which threatens both states is effective and real. And we will do whatever else we judge best makes a difference in this difficult and sensitive task.

Our progress since 2009, our plans through to 2014 and beyond, should give Australians cause for measured confidence and resolve. We are part of a sound international strategy: transition to Afghan-led security, then support to Afghanistan for development and peace. Our contribution today is proportionate to our own interest and to the contribution of our allies and the world: our troops number around 1,550 out of a 100,000-strong coalition force, supporting a near 352,000-strong ANSF. Our mission in Uruzgan is clear and achievable: to prepare the 4th Brigade for a handover of full security responsibility. Our commitment to Afghanistan is in Australia’s national interest. We are there to deny international terrorism a safe haven, to stand firm with our ally the United States.

In Afghanistan and in Uruzgan, we see progress, but of course it is not perfect. We know this—I know this—and our plans reflect this. Throughout the three years of the new international strategy, the international coalition and the Afghan government have held a very realistic view of the evolving environment and changes in the nature of the insurgent threat.

We know that as Afghan forces increasingly take the lead through 2013, the Taliban will seek to test them. We know that not every valley or village in Uruzgan or Afghanistan will be peaceful or free from insurgency. There will be difficult days ahead, setbacks in the transition process, days when our resolve will be tested.

We will stand firm. As a nation, we have a job to do. It is a difficult and dangerous one and we are determined to complete it—not to make things perfect, but to ensure that Afghanistan will never again be what it was in 2001: a place where terrorists trained and prepared to attack us. Across Afghanistan, the national government and the Afghan and international forces are making progress in transition. And we are preparing for the future beyond 2014.

Thirty-nine Australians have been killed in action in our decade in Afghanistan. Each that we lose takes part of us. We have not known loss like this in 40 years. Seven Australians have died since my statement to the parliament on our mission last year. Sergeant Blaine Diddams was killed in a firefight with insurgents on 2 July. Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Private Robert Poate and Sapper James Martin were killed by an insider attack on 29 August. Private Nathanael Galagher and Lance Corporal Mervyn McDonald were killed in a helicopter crash on 30 August. Corporal Scott Smith was killed by an improvised explosive device on 21 October. His funeral will be held in coming days.

The poet John Manifold wrote of the 'cairn of words' we build over our silent dead. Yes, we will remember them. And it is right that we give words to our sorrow and pride. But we must do more. Their widows, their children, their wounded mates—these Australians live on, they live amongst us, as we who are left grow old.

I had the privilege of visiting some of them last week. I was overwhelmed by their determination to overcome, to return from their wounding to supreme physical fitness, to return to their duties. But they will never forget the bomb, the bullet, the helicopter crash. They could not forget, even if they tried. We have an obligation to them too. The next decade will see more young Australian combat veterans live in our community than since the 1970s. This is demanding changes in the way the Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs care for service personnel and veterans.

Organisations such as Legacy and the RSL have performed nearly a century of service to care for those to whom we owe so much. Their invaluable work goes on. In continuing to provide this support and care for Australian soldiers, these organisations will be seeking to adapt to the changing, younger profile of the Australian veteran. New organisations such as Soldier On have been established to help our wounded service men and women and their families achieve great things despite their wounds.

Every Australian should know—you can lend a hand. Give generously, buy a badge, visit, become a volunteer. Respect for our soldiers and veterans is precious: please say hello and say thanks. We have known loss in Afghanistan—but we have known more. We have seen astonishing courage. Some Australians have performed acts of the most extreme bravery in the presence of the enemy. Many more demonstrate a quiet courage, in their devotion to duty every day under the strain of war—in the villages, on the airfield, in the workshop. Their service has kept us safer from terrorism. They have given us cause for confidence and an example of resolve. For us, they march down a hard path in Afghanistan. They know that, for our nation, any other path would risk much more. We will support them as they serve us in Afghanistan and when they return. We will see them through.

I thank the House and I present a copy of my statement.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent Mr Abbott speaking for a period not exceeding 28 minutes.

Question agreed to.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the comprehensive statement of the Prime Minister and I welcome this chance to express the coalition's support for our continuing military commitment to Afghanistan. After another year of military operations, it is fitting that we in this parliament should recommit to the campaign. Again I place on record the coalition's pride in the magnificent work of the Australian forces there. Their job is difficult and dangerous but they undertake it with great skill and dedication.

We mourn the 39 Australians killed. They are our finest. We honour them and we will never forget them. They join the 60,000 Australians killed in World War I, the 39,000 killed in World War II, the 340 killed in the Korean War, the 521 killed in Vietnam and others on our national roll of honour. We also pay tribute to the 242 who have been wounded in the line of duty. Those who have not recovered fully from their injuries must have the best possible support.

We grieve with the families of the dead and the wounded. The dead, the wounded and the grieving have paid a heavy price but it has not been in vain. The best available assessments are that al-Qaeda has largely lost the capacity to inflict harm on Western countries, if not the will. It remains dangerous and we must remain vigilant, but it is on a path to defeat. In Afghanistan, the best advice is that the International Security Assistance Force and its Afghan partners have continued to make security gains. As the Prime Minister has noted, Afghan security forces now have lead responsibility for all the provincial capitals and for the areas with most of the country's population. But progress is fragile. The Taliban remains difficult to dislodge across significant parts of the country's south and the border with Pakistan, where insurgents continue to find safe haven, remains porous.

Assessments are mixed about whether the Afghan security forces will be ready to cope with taking on prime security responsibility after 2014. There is no certainty that hard-won gains can be held. There was never going to be a clear victory in this war. Still, each village that is no longer subject to extortion, each child whose horizons have been lifted and each girl who is now able to go to school and make her own life constitutes a kind of victory. Every day when life is better than it would otherwise have been is a victory and every day is better thanks to the presence of Australian forces.

Australia went to Afghanistan with our allies and we will leave with our allies. The United States, Britain and other contributors to the International Security Assistance Force have laid out a clear time frame for transition to full Afghan responsibility for combat operations by the end of 2014. All the contributors to the International Security Assistance Force emphasise that Afghanistan will not be abandoned beyond 2014 and I welcome the Prime Minister's commitment to an ongoing training role for our forces and to a likely and important anti-terrorist role for our special forces.

In Uruzgan, our area of prime responsibility, progress has been better than in the country as a whole, according to our own military commanders' assessments. That is why the task force can be smaller and troops can be withdrawn sooner than previously expected. In July, the Afghan government confirmed that Uruzgan was moving to Afghan-led security responsibility. If the transition goes to plan and the Afghan forces there are able to do their job, the bulk of the Australian forces should be able to return by the end of next year.

Our troop numbers are already dwindling. Within weeks the 750-strong 3RAR Task Group will be replaced by a smaller 7RAR Task Group, numbering about 450. Our role will shortly change from 'mentoring' the Afghan forces to 'advising' them. Our infantry will no longer be permanently at any of the current forward operating bases. They will do little, if any, patrolling with the Afghan Army but will, instead, advise them in the conduct of their own independent operations.

Our soldiers should not be in Afghanistan a moment longer than is necessary but should not leave while there is a job to do. If the transition from mentoring to advising to withdrawing leaves behind an Afghan Army capable of managing its own security, that will represent a job well done. In any event, our soldiers will be able to leave with their heads held high and their professionalism universally respected. They will have done all that and more than has ever been asked of them.

Australians were recently reminded of the evil we face in Afghanistan when the Pakistani Taliban attempted to murder a 14-year-old schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai, for advocating a fair go for women, including girls' rights to education. Thanks to our soldiers' work, more schools are open in Uruzgan and many girls are getting an education for the first time.

Since the departure of the Dutch in mid-2010, the Australian mentoring task force has had a bigger job. With more responsibility has come more danger. This helps to explain the loss of 28 soldiers in the past three years, compared to 11 in the previous eight years of our involvement. I thank the Prime Minister for the very full account she has given of the efforts to protect our soldiers from treacherous allies. Betrayal like this saps our will to fight. That is why the Taliban devote such time to turning Afghan troops. It is reassuring that our own soldiers speak highly of their Afghan allies, most of whom they regard as worthy comrades. Having spoken to our soldiers, I cannot imagine a situation where our opponents have more determination or more warrior cunning than our Australian soldiers.   

The Howard government originally judged that it was in Australia's national interest to help evict the Taliban from power and to secure an Afghanistan that would never again grant sanctuary to al-Qaeda. It is to the credit of the Rudd and Gillard governments that they have maintained their predecessor's commitment and were even prepared to strengthen it following the withdrawal of most Australian forces from Iraq.

First, al-Qaeda represented a direct threat to all Western countries, as the September 11 atrocities demonstrated and as subsequent ones, such as in Bali and London, have confirmed. Al-Qaeda and its associates have murdered 108 Australians. It has also been a deadly threat to our own country from within, as shown by home-grown terrorist plots—all of which, thankfully, have so far been foiled. Second, it is in Australia's enduring national interest to be a reliable ally and friend. It is in our national character not to let down our friends when they need help. It is right that we have made a contribution to the worldwide struggle against Islamist extremism. Third, it is consistent with our best values as a nation to back efforts to remove an oppressive regime and to help establish a freer and fairer society in Afghanistan—especially for women.

I have to say that Afghanistan is unlikely to become a pluralist, liberal democracy any time soon. But that does not mean that Afghans have no wish to be free to choose their own rulers and their own way of life. Of course, after we have expended so much blood and treasure for so long, it is fair enough for Australians to ask why more has not been achieved. Still, the enthusiastic participation of great numbers of Afghans in multiparty elections in 2010, despite lethal intimidation, suggests that the desire for freedom and democracy is not merely a Western conceit.

We must count the cost of our continued commitment, but we must also count the cost of prematurely abandoning that mission. Should the international coalition's mission fail or end too soon, there is a strong risk that Afghanistan would once again descend into feudalism and once again become a base for international terrorism. If the Taliban were able to reassert control in Afghanistan, there would be a high risk that neighbouring Pakistan, a nuclear armed country under great internal pressure from its own extremists, could itself become critically destabilised. That is why this is not a distant struggle that we can safely ignore. I fully understand why many Australians would prefer to have our military forces out of harm's way, but we should be very wary of rushing for the exits and seeing much that has been achieved turn to dust. That would not be the right way to honour the sacrifice of our soldiers.

Whatever the future holds, there is no doubt that the Australians in Afghanistan have acquitted themselves in the best Anzac tradition. There is no doubt that the experience of Afghanistan has honed the skill and professionalism of our armed forces. We all hope and pray that they will never again have to be put in harm's way, but we would be foolish indeed to expect a world without conflict or to imagine an Australia that does not need powerful armed forces. One day, perhaps, the lion might lie down with the lamb and swords might be beaten into ploughshares. But, until that day comes, we would be unwise not to maintain armed forces fit to intervene wherever Australia's interests and values are at stake.

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the document.

Debate adjourned.