Alan Ferguson (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I can say this much: at least the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate made a measured statement, stating his party’s position, which I do not agree with, but at least the contribution that he made was rational. I will make some comments about it later. But I was appalled at Senator Allison’s contribution. It was full of mistruths. I have heard the Democrats described as ‘the fairies at the bottom of the garden’. I guess the best thing to say is that you would have to be a fairy at the bottom of the garden to believe some of the things that Senator Allison said.

Also, the only thing that I can draw from both Senator Allison’s contribution and Senator Nettle’s contribution is that they wish that Saddam Hussein was still in power in Iraq. I can draw no other conclusion. Because Saddam Hussein only murdered 300,000 or 400,000 people—cold-blooded murder! I am not surprised that Senator Nettle is leaving the chamber because there is one thing they cannot deny—that had these events not taken place there is nothing surer than that Saddam Hussein would still be in power and he would still be killing people at the rate that he was killing them before. So your 600,000 could be anything up to one million. Nobody believes that figure of 600,000.

As a matter of fact, at estimates the Chief of the Defence Force was asked, ‘Is there any official count of people who are killed in the Iraq war?’ I think Senator Nettle may have been there when that question was asked. The Chief of the Defence Force said, ‘No, there is no official count, but the most believable estimate is around 50,000.’ And you say over 600,000, because you only believe what you want to believe, Senator Nettle.

We had Senator Allison saying that they could have got rid of the Saddam Hussein regime by civil disobedience. Has she got any concept of what civil disobedience is and how people who used civil disobedience were treated in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq? They were murdered. They were tortured. They were put through all forms of torture. And Senator Allison came here and said they should have overthrown the Saddam Hussein government by civil disobedience! I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life.

She then talked about other methods and how other countries had managed to obtain their independence. I think she referred to the American Civil War. Before the American Civil War took place you did not have a dictator who was killing people at a rate of knots, which is what happened in the time of Saddam Hussein. I cannot believe some of the things that Senator Allison was saying in trying to justify her case.

She talked about the humiliation of Australian troops. It is an insult to say that our troops have been humiliated. Our troops have never been humiliated in Iraq. They have fought with distinction in Iraq. I am sure Senator Nettle would not go and see them, but in fact those who are there and those who have returned have all fought with distinction. They have never been humiliated. They have represented their country very proudly. It is an insult to talk about the humiliation of Australian troops.

Senator Allison talked about retaliatory terrorism. Retaliating to what? Was 9-11 retaliatory terrorism? It happened two years before the Iraq war even occurred. Was the Bali bombing retaliatory terrorism? It happened before the Iraq war even started. So we have this ridiculous statement from Senator Allison about retaliatory terrorism against the Western world when the most significant of these events started before the Iraq war even started. What a ridiculous argument from Senator Allison!

She talked about a whole range of other things. She mentioned Richard Woolcott and a whole range of other people, most of whom are leading left-wing commentators. Senator Allison dragged out those commentators that suit her argument—like most people do—but most of them are unbelievable.

I congratulate Senator Evans on his measured response. I am pleased to see that the Labor Party are not supporting this urgency motion. He said that the position of the Labor Party has been vindicated by the events that have taken place since the termination of the initial part of the Iraq war. If the Labor Party believe that their position has been vindicated, it is also fair to assume that they would have been happy to see Saddam Hussein stay in place, because there is no way that he could have been driven from office and taken out without these events taking place.

I accept Senator Evans’s arguments that from the start the Labor Party have never supported the Iraq war. They did not like the reasons for going. I accept the arguments that he put.