Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The first point I make is that the Australian government deals directly with the Afghan government and, while the views of individual military commanders are important, we would not necessarily negotiate directly with the commanders. As I said, we know that the brigadier general has requested specific types of military equipment for the 4th Brigade. Despite the support that we provide, we also have a policy of making sure that equipment is consistent across the entire ANA and not particular to the 4th Brigade. There are arrangements in place for equipping the Afghan National Security Forces and we are very much, as I said, a major donor to that effort. We are continuing to work with the National Army's 4th Brigade to increase their capability so as to be able to hand over those security functions to them, and I think progress is pleasing.