John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brown for his question, because I think it is a very important question. I should say that, despite the courage shown by many ordinary Afghans on election day, I certainly am—and I believe I can say the Australian government certainly is—very concerned about allegations of corruption and fraud in the conduct of the Afghan elections. Of course, the Australian government urges the Afghan electoral authorities to investigate and respond to all the complaints that have been made. It is important to remember that there are constitutionally mandated processes for such investigations. Australia certainly supports the call that has been made by the United Nations for Afghans to respect these processes and to be patient while awaiting final results. You might recall that the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan has called for the constitutionally mandated processes for investigating irregularities to be respected. It is true that, irrespective of who wins the election, there will be a need for the international community to urgently address issues such as governance, corruption— (Time expired)