Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I generally concur with the remarks that this deserves a much more serious and long-term debate. It is a very important matter when a nation goes to war. As we all know, the President of the United States cannot commit that nation to war without first going to both houses of the Congress. That, simply, is what is being sought in this motion. That said, the fact is that the government and the opposition both see this as a serious matter but have not brought it in any other form before the Senate, or indeed the House of Representatives, in living memory.

However, remedy is at hand. Senator Andrew Bartlett from the Democrats has before the Senate now a bill which does deal with this matter at some very considered length. I have written to Senator Bartlett today to say that, if it is not dealt with before 1 July, I commit to carrying on his excellent bill to ensure that the debate that we have just heard called for by both sides, the government and the opposition, will indeed take place in the Senate. So I ask both the government and the opposition to look at that bill from Senator Bartlett seriously. It canvasses many of the difficulties that we have just heard about. It is a serious piece of legislation and it will bring serious debate to the Senate. Like Senator Bartlett, I do not agree that a Prime Minister should have the sole power to commit this country to war. It should be a matter for the parliament.