John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I was making the point that, on very many occasions in this chamber, I have pointed out what a blunt instrument a formal general business notice of motion is, particularly when deciding issues of such critical importance as those contained in the motion Senator Brown has just moved. I think we would all acknowledge—I certainly would acknowledge—what an important issue this is. It is so important that it is a matter that warrants not a vote in the Senate but the capacity for amendment to the motion before the Senate and serious and proper debate and consideration. If ever a case can be made about the importance of these procedures then certainly it is true in relation to this particular motion.

I would say that the government takes the view that the decision to conduct and sustain military operations is a function of executive government. It is also fair to say that the era of neat declarations of war for conflicts between uniformed and organised forces of two or more sovereign and recognised nation states is thankfully an era that is largely of the past. But the truth is that the nature of security and military threats in the current era is such that military responses need to be flexible and rapid, and they obviously need to be able to occur within a matter of hours, not days or weeks. It is true also, as I know that each and every senator in this chamber is aware, that the Australian Defence Force has elements on standby to meet contingencies on foreign shores, and their notice-to-move time is less than what could be expected for the conduct of a motion on the issue to deploy—let alone the time it might take to debate such a matter, even if the parliament were sitting.

These are the sorts of issues that, on motions like this, need to be examined and explored. I do not for one moment underestimate or understate the significance of the issue that we have debated, but for very many years—since the mid-1990s—I have drawn the attention of this chamber to my concern about using this sort of procedure on issues of significance like this. I wanted to reinforce those substantive points in relation to the issue that the motion addresses and also the process points in relation to this particular matter.

It is of course the view of the government that governments are elected to govern and to provide leadership across the spectrum of executive function, as all senators know. But military operations, particularly in the current era, require decisive and clear direction from the executive. It is these sorts of issues that really should be explored in a debate like this. I am concerned about the use of such a blunt instrument and I reinforce the comments I have made previously on many occasions about the inappropriateness of this mechanism for such a serious matter being dealt with before the Senate.