Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the past week, I have spoken to Afghan families and individuals in Reid. They have told me their stories. They have spoken of the fear they have for loved ones in Afghanistan, those family members desperately trying to find a way out of Kabul. Their stories are of young female relatives, sisters, spouses and children. We know that there will be harder days ahead and harder scenes to witness. Sadly, we are at the start of a great humanitarian crisis, and Australia cannot shirk its responsibilities in this regard. After 20 years, we cannot turn our back on Afghan people. We must be generous. We owe it to those who worked alongside Australia to build a better Afghanistan.

I want to thank and acknowledge Minister Payne, Minister Andrews and Minister Hawke for their work, and I especially want to thank the ADF on the ground in Kabul, the diplomats and the immigration staff for their courage, their professionalism and their compassion. They are working under extreme circumstances and they are continuing to do everything they can to get as many people as possible out of Kabul. I also want to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of our ADF personnel. We will never forget the 41 Australians who lost their lives in service of our country. For our veterans, this is a very, very difficult time. The task ahead for all of us is to ensure we do all we can where we can.