Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Further to that, does the parliamentary secretary consider it not unreasonable that Australia, given its pivotal, key strategic relationship with the United States of America—I do not think there is any question that it is our most strategic and important relationship, particularly in relation to defence, with the close cooperation between the two nations and the announcement made in November last year by the Prime Minister and President Obama of marines being stationed or deployed on a rotating basis, if you like, in the Northern Territory—could at least ask the United States, given their continuing heavy reliance on cluster munitions, the five per cent failure rate, our treaty obligations and the fact that this bill itself has been introduced by the government, what they are doing to at least reduce the failure rate of these munitions? I am surprised that that is not something that on a government-to-government level, given our close and pivotal relationship with the United States, we would be asking. Isn't that a reasonable question to ask the United States about how they will get from five per cent to one per cent?