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

I did not say anything about the reasons, but if you say that you believe that you have been vindicated then you must believe that Saddam Hussein should have stayed there.

I saw Mr Rudd on television some three or four weeks ago. I saw him asked four times a simple question about the ramifications of an immediate withdrawal, and four times Mr Rudd refused to answer the question of what would be the ramifications of an immediate withdrawal. So there is no point in coming into this chamber and criticising what the government have done if there are no other plans by the alternative government as to what their position would be.

The other thing that has been overlooked is the progress that has been made in Iraq in that time. The insurgents, and the killing of Arabs by other Arabs—those insurgents who come from outside Iraq as suicide bombers—receive all of the publicity. Think about all of the progress that has been made. I could name tens of projects that could only have taken place because the coalition of the willing is there protecting those who are building these projects for the people of Iraq.

There have been new water projects, where 4.2 million people can now receive potable water which they did not have before. There have been 36,000 new teachers trained. That would not have happened without the regime change and without the coalition of the willing being there. There have been 154 health facilities built. We never hear the Democrats or the Greens talk about the good things that are happening in Iraq at present. (Time expired)