Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. Will the minister detail the nature of the deployment of additional Australian troops and personnel to Iraq as part of Australia's efforts to fight the Daesh death cult?

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Herbert for his question. I know how much Defence matters to him in his electorate, being the representative of some 6,000 Defence Force personnel who live in Townsville and around that area. He is a wonderful advocate in this place for those members of the Australian Defence Force and for their families.

The Australian contribution to the building partner capacity program of approximately 300 Australian Defence Force personnel will be joined by about 100 from the New Zealand Defence Force. It involves the next phase of attempts by international coalition forces, along with the Iraqis, to disrupt, degrade and, hopefully, ultimately defeat the Daesh forces. The troops that will be drawn for this deployment to Taji, near Baghdad, will come largely from Brisbane's 7th Brigade. I know that the member for Ryan and the member from Brisbane have many of those Defence Force personnel living in their electorates. We wish those personnel well in their preparation and training over the coming weeks prior to their deployment to Iraq in May.

The safety and security of Australian Defence Force personnel serving in missions overseas is of the utmost importance. That is why as part of this total deployment of some 400 ADF and New Zealand personnel there will be a very strong and significant force protection component. It is important to ensure that this training mission is done as best we can to alleviate the risks to the safety and security of those personnel involved. They will be based at Taji, which is a large military base some 25 kilometres north-west of Baghdad. The base measures about seven kilometres by six kilometres, so it is almost half a marathon to go right around the perimeter of the base. It is a very large area. There are already some 500 US troops at Taji at the present time.

Our world-class soldiers, members of the regular forces, will be involved in advanced training. They will be behind the wire. They will not be involved in direct combat. That is consistent with the existing deployment of personnel to Baghdad. This is in addition to the Air Force commitment of the six FA18s, the KC30 refueller and the E7 Wedgetail which to date, through a combination of their efforts and Iraqi and coalition forces efforts, have reclaimed some 700 square kilometres from Daesh. This is a commitment to stability and security in Iraq and the Middle East. It is part of our first priority in this country for the safety and security of our citizens, because if we can disrupt, degrade and ultimately defeat Daesh we are not just adding to the security of the Middle East we are adding to security right throughout the world.