Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, my question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Abetz. Now, more than a decade after the Australian government followed the United States and United Kingdom in the coalition of the willing into the 2003 Iraq war without consultation with the Australian parliament and without a statement of Australia's national interest, resulting in the deaths of almost 5,000 coalition troops and over 100,000 civilians, can the minister point to the lessons that the Prime Minister has learnt from that decision that he will now apply in the current situation, with the United States again reportedly considering seeking Australian participation in a coalition of the willing for military action in Iraq and Syria?