Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In recent days for obvious and understandable reasons, there has been a great deal of concern on all sides of this parliament about the unfolding humanitarian crisis on the borders of Syria. I deeply respect the contributions that members of parliament have made and I now wish to update the House on decisions that the government has taken to respond.

Obviously, all of us were shocked as a nation at the disaster that we saw on our television screens. All of us as a nation wanted to help. If I may say so, that is the Australian way: when we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves and do what we can to help. That is what we have already down, collectively and individually. At home and abroad, that is always what we have done. But it is important, as always, to think before we act and it is important that the government has considered the report from Minister Dutton in Europe and spoken to our expert advisors and officials here in Australia in preparing this response.

As the House knows, Minister Dutton consulted with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He also spoke to senior representatives of the International Organization for Migration and the Red Cross. It was obvious after discussions in Europe that the immediate need in order to help people stranded on the borders of Syria is for more money. It is also obvious from discussions in Europe and here at home that there are many, many people, members of persecuted minorities, currently displaced from their ancestral homes who will never ever be able to go back to their homes in Syria.

I can announce today that the government will make available an additional $44 million. This will assist some 240,000 people currently in camps with food, clothing and shelter as winter approaches. This will take the total Australian government humanitarian contribution to people on the borders of Syria and Iraq, under the former government and under this government, to some $230 million.

I can also advise the House that we will take an additional 12,000 people from the Syria-Iraq conflict over and above our existing refugee and humanitarian program. This is an important and generous act by Australia. I stress that we are taking people who are persecuted minorities. We are determined to prioritise women, children and families on the borders of Syria, and in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. All of the people that we bring will be subject to the usual health, security and character checks. We will bring people as quickly as we can but we do owe it to the Australian people to get these checks done and to bring people in in ways that settlement and resettlement services can cope.

Why are we doing this, Mr Speaker? We are doing this, because people are suffering. And why are they suffering? In part, they are suffering, because of the activities of the Daesh death cult. We have seen on our screens what this death cult has done. We have seen the beheadings, the crucifixions, the mass executions and the sexual slavery. We have recoiled in horror from our screens as we have seen new and ever more barbaric ways of killing people that this death cult has devised.

As members know, our armed forces have been engaged in military operations in Iraq for the best part of 12 months. In particular, the Royal Australian Air Force has been conducting air strikes against Daesh targets in Iraq.

At the invitation and request of President Obama, the government has decided to extend our air strikes to include Daesh targets in Syria as well. We are doing this under section 51 of the UN Charter, which gives countries the right of collective self-defence. Iraq is threatened by Daesh forces based and supplied from Syria, and Syria is unable or unwilling to act against those forces. So, in conjunction with our coalition partners, Australia will act.

I am proud of the work of our armed forces who, as always, have acted in our name and under our flag with courage, professionalism and commitment. But, most of all, I am proud of our country. Today we act decently in the best traditions of the Australian people.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to begin by welcoming the Prime Minister's decision to accept an additional 12,000 refugees displaced by the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Importantly, these places are being offered on the basis of need and no other consideration. Our compassion should pay no heed to the colour of a person's skin or the god they pray to.

After all, when we looked with shocked eyes at the photo of Alan Kurdi, we tried to imagine for one agonising moment if that was our child. None of us—no Australian, no parent—stopped to ask which religion the poor little boy belonged to.

We do support and welcome the government's move as an expression of the generous, decent and open-hearted Australia that we all love and serve. Labor welcomes this decision, and I know that Australia will welcome these refugees. The lesson of our modern history is that, every time we have reached out a caring arm to the victims of persecution, it is our nation which has been enlarged and enriched.

I also want to briefly respond to the Prime Minister's remarks on extending ADF operations to Syrian airspace and I will say more during the matter of public importance after question time. But I wish to advise that Labor will support this proportional action within international law on the basis of assisting with Iraq's self-defence. We are a stable, prosperous liberal democracy; therefore, it is important that at all stages we maintain our moral and legal authority. The best gift we could give Daesh and the like would be to abandon our moral authority. Therefore, this decision is not taken lightly.

None of us—even those who would not support the extension of the Air Force operations over parts of Syria—dispute the destructive, genocidal violence of Daesh or the scale and scope of the humanitarian crisis gripping the Middle East. But, even if the enemy is evil, which they are; even if the cause is just, which it is; our methods must be strategically, legally and morally sound. Our alliance, as important as it is, is in and of itself not a sufficient reason to act. This is why Labor seeks clear and specific assurances from the government. Most of them have already been forthcoming, I might add.

The ADF operations have to be constrained to the collective self-defence of Iraq because at the core of this action, this extension, is that we are acting at the request of the Iraq government and the self-defence of Iraq. Further, the use of force must be limited to what is necessary to halt these cross-border attacks and defend Australian personnel. We would also seek and have received assurances that effective combat search and rescue must be in place for our remarkable RAAF personnel, who may, heaven forbid, be downed in hostile territory before the operations commence. Further, the government should formally notify the United Nations Security Council of our decision, and the government, I believe, should agree to a parliamentary debate to explain the long-term strategy for Australia's role in Iraq.

We say these things because the swamp of terrorism can never be drained by military means alone, and all in this parliament understand that. Australia's military actions must be matched by renewed and redoubled international humanitarian efforts to deliver peace and stability to the entire region. These are the assurances which we have sought. We look forward to working through them with the government in a bipartisan way in the coming days, and obviously it cannot be automatically construed as support for further escalation—not that any has been asked for at this point.