Natasha Stott Despoja (SA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (Senator Coonan) to a question without notice asked by Senator Stott Despoja today relating to United Nations Peacekeeping.

I know, especially with an election looming, that we are all very focused, understandably, on key and pressing domestic issues, but I want to raise in this place the issue of peacekeeping, especially when what we are dealing with is not a looming international crisis but a current international crisis in Darfur, in Sudan. We commemorated in this nation last week, on 14 September, the 60th anniversary of the first UN peacekeeping mission. Indeed, Australia has a proud history in peacekeeping missions. Four Australians were the first personnel of a multinational force deployed to Indonesia to monitor a ceasefire between the Dutch colonialists and Indonesian republicans 60 years ago. I am proud to see that since then our country has provided huge contributions to peacekeeping missions. We have participated in 73 missions in 64 countries.

I note today that there was an interjection from at least one senator: ‘Remember East Timor.’ The Democrats, more than most, remember East Timor because of our proud support for East Timorese independence over a long period. We commended not only the government role but the role of our troops in that peacekeeping force. But that was 1999, when Australia was ranked seventh in the world in terms of our contribution to peacekeeping missions. Where are we now? As of last weekend, reports suggest our world ranking is 67. That is completely inappropriate for a nation like ours, a nation that at the moment is committed to a number of conflicts and theatres of war. I used the figures in my question to the minister today—the fact that we have 1,575 personnel deployed to Iraq. Obviously that is the biggest single deployment that Australia has to a theatre of war at the moment. That number is part of 160,000 coalition troops. I am not suggesting that we cannot or are not making a difference there, but think of the difference even a few troops or personnel—some of that number—being deployed to a UN peacekeeping mission such as that in Sudan would make.

I would like the government to answer more specifically—and I note that the minister came back with additional comments today—why our ranking has declined and is so comparatively bad, given our proud history and the resources we currently have. I acknowledge the ADF deployment of around 15 personnel to southern Sudan. But please remember, colleagues, that this is a different conflict. There may be some overlap, but I am referring to a different conflict to that for which Operation Azure, currently in Sudan, has been deployed. I am talking about Darfur, where we know that a crisis is unfolding. We know that we should be playing a bigger part. Anything from 200,000 to more than 400,000 people are dead and 2½ million have been displaced. I am not sure whether colleagues are aware of the most recent fighting, despite negotiations between warring parties, in the last couple of weeks and even days. Certainly on 10 and 11 September there were a number of civilian deaths as well and there have been recent attacks by helicopter gunships in battles between the Sudanese government and ground forces. These attacks resulted in many civilian deaths. I am not sure if our country is aware of its obligations.

We have all said, ‘Not another Rwanda.’ But this is what is occurring in Darfur. I urge this government, in the midst of all this electioneering: please spare a thought for what is going on in Darfur. We have a proud history of peacekeeping. I want to hear from this government why we are not heeding calls to support what is a UN backed mission, as opposed to Iraq—which, let us remember, was not—why our peacekeeping contributions are declining and, specifically, why we are not involved in Darfur, because we should not have that blood on our hands as a nation. I hope that we do not. I do not want to see another Rwanda. I urge all colleagues to find out what on earth is going on with our government’s deployment strategy in this regard.

Question agreed to.