Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday I met with representatives of the Assyrian community in my local area and heard their tales of despair over what is occurring in their homeland of Iraq and the persecution that many of their relatives and friends have faced over the last couple of years. Many have had to flee their traditional homelands in places like Turkey and Iraq with nothing more than their passports and the clothes on their backs. Many of their family members have been killed by Daesh in this immoral insurgency that is occurring in that important part of the world.

The conflicts occurring in Syria and Iraq represent one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time. More than 11 million people have been displaced due to these conflicts, with most fleeing to neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 25 per cent of those people who are fleeing these conflicts are children. There are currently more than 3,700 children in Jordan and Lebanon living without one parent, both of their parents or any adult caregivers. The United Nations Security Council has called on all states to join the fight against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and redouble efforts to prevent further attacks by the militant group.

For over a year, Labor have offered bipartisan support for the actions that this government has taken in committing Australian troops to fighting Daesh in both Iraq and Syria. But, at the same time, we have called for greater scrutiny by and greater involvement of this parliament as the representative of the Australian people—the people who have the right to know about the long-term strategy of the Australian government in restoring peace and stability in Iraq and Syria. We believe that the Australian people have a right to know and that this parliament as a representative of the people should have a debate about Australia's involvement and the long-term strategy in both Iraq and Syria.

This is nothing foreign to this parliament. In 1991, the parliament debated for two full days Australia's involvement in the first Iraq war. In 2003, there was a significant debate in this parliament again in respect of Australia's involvement in the second Iraq war. But that has not been the case this time.

We all want to defeat the evil Daesh and stop what is occurring in Syria and Iraq. That is why Labor have offered bipartisan support to this government's involvement in and its commitment of Australian troops to that region—but our support is not a blank cheque. Where the lives of Australian soldiers are at risk, the Australian people deserve and have the right to know what the government's strategy is to bring about and maintain long-term democracy and peace in this region, and that strategy is not evident at the moment, unfortunately. We do not know what the Australian government's strategy in Iraq is if Daesh is defeated. How do we bring about long-lasting peace and an end to the sectarian violence that has plagued that country for decades? In Syria, if we do defeat Daesh, what is the Australian government's approach with respect to the Assad government?

It is a complicated geopolitical situation that is developing in that area. In recent months, we have seen Russia engage in air strikes on the premise that they were fighting Daesh, but it appears that those air strikes were targeted more at anti-Assad forces and shoring up the Assad regime. The US in the past have said that Assad must be removed as part of a long-term solution in this area. Indeed, the Liberal government has stated in the past that the Assad regime is illegitimate, pointing to the killing of hundreds of thousands of its own citizens; yet the foreign minister has in recent months said that the Assad regime may be part of a longer-term solution.

The Australian people have the right to know what our government's strategy is. Labor have offered bipartisan support and we do want to defeat Daesh—particularly in the wake of the shocking events in Paris and Mali—but we want to know how that will occur. Where there are Australian soldiers' lives at risk, this parliament should debate fully the strategy in Syria and Iraq.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think many Australians are proud that Australia, a nation of only 23 million people, is, with the USA and Canada, consistently offering the highest number of resettlement opportunities to humanitarian refugees—and we have been in this position for many years. Recently we have determined to take an additional 12,000 humanitarian refugees from the Daesh, or ISIS, created war on Iraq and Syria.

We are also second only to the USA in commitment to efforts to fight these terrorists' movements. Australia is playing an important role in the global coalition led by the USA by supplying some 300 ADF personnel to help train the regular Iraqi army so they can reclaim and hold territory as part of the Building Partner Capacity mission. We are providing around 80 ADF personnel to support the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service in an advise-and-assist role; and we are contributing to coalition air strikes on Daesh targets in Iraq in support of Iraq ground forces' efforts to retake areas captured by Daesh. So far, we have trained more than 2,100 Iraqi army personnel and some 800 personnel in the counter-terrorism service, and our Air Task Group has conducted more than 480 air strike missions over Iraq and Syria.

On 13 November—just a few days ago—we saw the cowardly attacks on unarmed, defenceless civilians in Paris. They were targeted and shot down or blown up by Daesh adherents with warped minds, who believe that if you do not convert to their religion and their inhuman values then you should die. France was one of the first modern nations to fight to oppose tyranny. Its constitution and its country's culture acknowledge and loudly proclaim its citizens' rights to personal and religious freedom within the rule of law and democracy for all. In the exercise of free will for all people, the French champion human rights, especially the equality of men and women in all things. It is no wonder France and other western democracies are the object of such hatred by adherents to the Daesh ideology, based as it is on cruelty and intolerance. Daesh even beguile their loser and hapless recruits, including some 120 from Australia, by claiming that killing yourself as you murder defenceless victims is some form of glorified martyrdom, far preferable to the pursuit of global peace, individual freedom and respect for the right to life of all.

Just a few days before the Paris massacres, I chaired a special forum here in Parliament House, organised by our UN parliamentary group and in conjunction with the UNHCR regional office. The intention was that we put on the record and acknowledge the extraordinary contributions of these countries nearest to Syria, as we heard firsthand of their efforts and the extreme challenges presented by the Syrian refugee crisis. These nearest neighbours are now carrying an unsustainable burden on behalf of all of us as they offer an open door and haven to the refugees from the conflict. The key participants in this forum were: the diplomatic representative of Turkey, Her Excellency Mrs Gulseren Celik; Her Excellency Mrs Rima Alaadeen, Ambassador of Jordan; and Mr Milad Raad, Charge D'affaires of the Embassy of Lebanon in Canberra. Mr Thomas Albrecht also presented the UNHCR position.

The Daesh created Syrian conflict has triggered the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. The total number of people needing assistance is more than 13½ million, with 6½ million internally displaced. Over the last five years Jordan has accepted over 1.4 million refugees, with 647,000 registered with the UNHCR. Only 100,000 live in refugee camps; the rest are accommodated in villages, towns and cities—wherever they can find shelter. They now make up 21 per cent of Jordan's total population of 6.7 million people. Today, they have the world's biggest refugee camp. In fact, it is the fourth largest city in Jordan. The country has a budget deficit due to the expenditure on the needs of these refugees. In 2015, it will be 3.5 per cent of its GDP. This is typical of the other countries, such as Turkey, which is next door, and Lebanon. These countries are disappointed that, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been committed—and Australia always has its cheque in the mail—on average, only 30 per cent of the funds that are committed ever reach those countries that have that special need.

I say now is not the time for parliamentary debates about the ins and outs of this conflict but, rather, it is time to put our effort into special briefings to the opposition when they need them. It is time, as a country, to unite, to condemn the tyrannous conflict in Syria and the behaviour of Daesh, and to commend, acknowledge and support those neighbouring countries which are carrying such a heavy burden providing refugee haven and support.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was almost exactly 12 months to the day that the member for Berowra and I visited the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. I still cannot shake from my memory the horror and despair on the faces of refugees living in those camps. Some were in tents, others were in shipping containers, but they were the lucky ones; they were in UN-run camps. The others whom we met in informal camps were basically living under plastic sheeting or tarpaulins with open toilets and no sanitary provisions. You cannot visit those areas and come away unaffected.

The enormity of this conflict in the Middle East cannot be overstated. In fact, it is the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, with over 190,000 people now killed and 13 million people now displaced and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Since the crisis began as a civil unrest in 2011, more than 50 per cent of Syria's population have been driven from their homes by armed conflict, violence and persecution and are fleeing in search of safety and protection for their families. In fact, it was not all that long ago that the world saw the devastating images of three- and five-year-old boys' lifeless bodies lying facedown on the sand after being washed up onto a beach in Turkey. Aylan and his brother drowned, along with their mother, attempting a sea crossing in a rubber dinghy to escape the violence in Syria. These are extraordinarily powerful images. They certainly woke the world up to the enormity of the issue. They symbolised the horror and magnitude of this refugee crisis and the desperation of the people. They showed, very starkly, the extent of desperation that existed for those fleeing the violence in the Syrian conflict.

These are certainly very desperate people looking for a future for their families, but, because there is no hope of any kind under Islamic State, which unfortunately now controls a swathe of land in Syria and Iraq, there is not much in the way of alternatives available for these people. The regional impact of the crisis and its enormous displacement really place a moral obligation on those more fortunate nations, such as ours, to play an assisting role. It is true that, in 2011, we committed $130 million in humanitarian funding to assist inside Syria and neighbouring borders. This funding has been directed to UN agencies, international humanitarian organisations and Australian NGOs that are, as I saw, doing a tremendous job in providing life-saving assistance such as shelter, water, sanitation, food and medical aid for many of the people crossing the border. Currently, the neighbouring countries of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have been remarkably generous and are hosting the highest number of refugees. Together, they have taken about four million Syrian refugees into their countries. However, these countries are now straining under the number of refugees. Their public services are overloaded. Their water and sanitation systems are overwhelmed. Regrettably, there are not enough available places in schools and hospitals to accommodate many of these refugees.

In fact, about half of the Syrian refugees are children. Many of them are growing up without access to adequate health care or proper education. The consequence is that many of these kids are being exploited as child labour and many young girls are facing the prospect of being forced into early marriages. This is something that we need to address. This is why we have been calling for greater involvement of the parliament in providing answers to the long-term strategic issues with respect to Australia's involvement in this crisis. We are talking about the potential of consolidation with redrawn borders. With the violence now intensifying, the Australian people deserve to hear the strategy being outlined. Therefore, we call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs to support a parliamentary debate during this current sitting of government to consider Australia's response to the Middle East crisis.

Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In order to avoid making the mistakes of the past, we need to heed the lessons of history. There is some discussion of the lessons to be learned from Iraq and Afghanistan; but, in essence, they are the wrong lessons, and we need to go back further. There is no doubt that the West has become extraordinarily adept at winning wars, which is the first prerequisite to solving some diplomatically intractable problems. However, we also need to win a peace that follows war, and that is where we have been found wanting. Recent history is all well and good, but let's go back further.

At the end of World War I, American President Woodrow Wilson urged restraint but Georges Clemenceau and David Lloyd George thought differently. Indeed, David Lloyd George had stated that they must 'squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeaked'. This is what happened with the Treaty of Versailles, and this led to World War II. Following that conflict, the US prevailed with a more enlightened strategy, one where Marshall aid was provided and where most of the personnel and structures were allowed to remain in place. This has resulted in Germany and Japan being staunch friends and democracies since that time.

In Iraq, in particular, we made the mistake of excluding those who were senior in government, the bureaucracy, the military and the police force. This bred a group of implacable foes, many of whom latterly became part of ISIS and, indeed, constitute much of their leadership. We have no choice but to comprehensively defeat ISIS in the field; they have to know that they have been militarily defeated. We must allow no pretence that they have been anything other than defeated. To that end, far more has to be done than simply plinking a few targets a day from the air, as the West has been doing.

There has been a significant lack of political and strategic leadership from the West and particularly from the US. This has allowed the complication of Russia stepping into the vacuum that vacuous US policy has left. There can and must be no negotiation with ISIS until they are comprehensively militarily defeated. To aid in that, we have to ensure that we stop the multiple and sustainable significant lines of funding to ISIS. We know of the oil revenues that are flowing to ISIS. But ISIS are also selling antiquities. They are getting ransoms from Western governments and donations from mosques and other organisations. They are imposing heavy taxes. They are also raiding banks when they take territory et cetera. This revenue is allowing ISIS not only to continue their military and terrorist activity but also to put structures in place that allow them to pretend that they are a state actor—structures such as health care, welfare et cetera.

This evil that is growing in Iraq and Syria is facilitated by failed states. In that vacuum, this group have set about providing the offerings of state, as I said, such as welfare, employment, schools, safety and certainty. So the question must be: how do we, Australia, play our part in a comprehensive and holistic plan for dealing with ISIS and supporting stable, sustainable governments in that region? Policymakers must note that, of course, it is no accident that democracy seems to shrivel under the Middle Eastern sun. Economists have long noted the detrimental effects of the resources curse. Such effects are also in operation throughout middle Africa. Political scientists observe a minimum GDP development requirement required in order to sustain democracy. It also requires a functional bureaucracy and functioning middle class.

What is true today is that politics is the art of the possible, and that no situation, however grave it may initially appear, is intractable or impossible. In future, free nations must re-evaluate how much heed we pay to the maxim 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Arming rebels, picking winners and imposing values must be critically examined. I hope this will form part of further debate on the situation in Iraq and Syria. In conclusion, I have to say that it is unfortunate that the deputy leader of the opposition did not show any interest in national security matters when her government slashed defence spending to the lowest level since 1938.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.