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

I rise to begin some comments, given the time of the day, on this very significant motion moved by the Prime Minister, and to indicate to the House my support for the motion. I do so as one of just a handful of members who were here in this place when this country made its commitment to a military engagement in Afghanistan some two decades ago, and I also do so as one of the few who have carried the portfolio burden for the defence of this country. I acknowledge, in that regard, the current Minister for Defence, the honourable member for Dickson, and indeed the member for Hunter, who was also the Minister for Defence during some part of this engagement in Afghanistan.

I want to express at the outset our enormous gratitude to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force who have served in Afghanistan and, indeed, more broadly in the Middle East. Afghanistan has been Australia's longest military engagement, stretching over some two decades, far longer than those which we usually refer to—namely the First and Second World Wars—and far longer than Vietnam, Korea and other engagements in which Australians have been involved.

Some 39,000 Australian personnel served in Afghanistan. As we know, tragically, 41 of them were killed; their names were read into the Hansard record by the Minister for Defence in his contribution to this debate. In addition to those 41 brave Australians, countless more were maimed and wounded, and hundreds, if not thousands, of families have been affected by their period of service in that country.

This was not just an engagement in which Australia or the United States were involved; it also became an engagement in which the forces from NATO were involved. Our defence men and women served alongside defence men and women from many countries in Europe as well as from the United States of America.

And we should never forget why we went there. I say this in the context that four in 10 Australians today either were not born at the time this military engagement began or were aged less than 10. In other words, almost half of Australians alive today would have no or very little recollection of why we went to Afghanistan in the first place. We should always remember the circumstances of 20 years ago, as to why we did that. I will return to that when this debate continues on another day.

Debate interrupted.