Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to give voice to veterans from across Australia who are appalled by the failure of the Morrison government to act urgently to protect the Afghan interpreters who served alongside our troops, shoulder to shoulder, from being threatened, hunted or killed by the Taliban now. Many veterans have actually spoken out on this issue, pleading with the Morrison government to speed up the process of bringing these interpreters and other locally engaged civilians who worked with the ADF or other government agencies back to safety.

The former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard got this right when he said that we have an ethical duty to ensure that we provide safe haven to those Afghans who aided Australia's cause. Unlike our allies in the US or the UK, we are not organising special airlifts to bring these people home or, indeed, fast tracking their visa process to ensure that they're here safely. We should not underestimate the toll and moral injury this issue has on and for our veterans. As Pete, a veteran from my community in Newcastle put it, 'Australians don't leave our mates behind; Australian soldiers were not trained to do that.' Pete felt so strongly about this issue that he burned his medals in front of me and asked that they be presented to the Prime Minister in the Australian parliament.

Likewise, Stuart McCarthy asked me to—Prime Minister, you know the significance of these medals, I ask you not to let a— (Time expired)