Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion to take note of the Prime Minister's statement. Decisions to send Australian service men and women into theatres of war or regions affected by military conflict are amongst the most difficult and serious decisions—if not the most difficult and serious decision—that any government can make. They are the most serious and difficult decisions because they involve placing the men and women of our defence forces in harm's way and asking them to undertake dangerous and risky missions on behalf of our nation. They are also amongst the most important decisions that any government can make because they involve our nation's security, safety, values and role as a member of the international community of nations.

I rise to indicate that the opposition supports the decision by the government to deploy members of the Royal Australian Air Force on a mission to provide supplies to the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq. These supplies will help Kurdish fighters to defend their territory and their people against the vicious assaults that we have seen from ISIL forces in recent weeks—and these have been shocking and vicious assaults. They amount to a program of ethnic cleansing by ISIL against minority groups. There have been massacres, there have been women forced into sexual slavery, there have been forced religious conversions and much more.

The RAAF has already played its part in humanitarian missions in Iraq over recent days. These missions have delivered food and water to besieged groups of civilians trapped on Mount Sinjar and in the town of Amerli in northern Iraq. The Prime Minister has announced that Australia will now join other countries in an airlift of supplies, including military equipment, to the Kurdish authorities in Erbil. The opposition supports the government's decision. We do so because we believe it is in Australia's national interest to play an appropriate role in the international efforts to help potential victims of ISIL—to help assist and protect them, and to help them defend themselves.

Mr Shorten, the Leader of the Opposition, set out in the House earlier today three key principles which motivate the Labor Party in this matter. The first is the responsibility to respond to humanitarian crises and to take action to prevent genocide. Australia is a country which believes in helping others. In times of natural disaster at home and abroad, we have played our part in helping those who are affected. In times of security crises, civil strife and military conflict in our region and beyond, Australia has accepted the responsibility to be part of international action to protect the innocent and the vulnerable. Over the years, we have taken part in such missions in places ranging from Cambodia to Rwanda, from Somalia to East Timor. Where there is a threat of genocide against a whole population it is important for the international community to take action.

Australia's former foreign affairs minister Gareth Evans has been at the leading edge of thinking in recent years about the international community's responsibility to protect people facing such a threat. The tests for assessing whether intervention is justified to protect threatened populations which have been suggested in these debates include whether a genocide or potential genocide is imminent, whether the intervention is a proportionate response to the threat and whether the intervention has international support. Labor believes those tests are satisfied in the circumstances we now face. There is a clear risk of massacres and persecution that would amount to genocide. The intervention that has been proposed is a proportionate response. It involves Australia participating in an airlift of supplies to help Kurdish forces to defend those who are at risk. The intervention is also at the request of the United States administration and is supported by the government of Iraq. The airlift will also have the participation of Britain, France, Canada and Italy.

The second key principle for Labor is the need for a democratic government of unity in Iraq—a government that can provide cohesion for that country and can protect its minorities. The third principle for taking a stand is to remove the motivation, and deny the opportunity, for Australian citizens to travel to that part of the world as foreign fighters. It is for these reasons that Labor supports the government's decision.

There are some who have made comparisons between the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and today. It is well known that the Labor opposition at that time opposed Australia's participation in the Iraq war. Today, I lay on the record—as did Mr Shorten—a number of key differences. Today the Iraqi government is speaking with the international community, seeking our humanitarian assistance. Today we have a United States administration adopting a more methodical and internationally inclusive approach. Today we can also look to the nations of the region, the Arabic leaders, for their part in the solution to this problem. As I said, there are significant differences between the Australian involvement in Iraq in the early 2000s and what is being proposed by the government today. The US-led intervention did not have widespread international support and did not have the support of the majority of the Iraqi population. That is not the case with the current intervention.

The opposition also acknowledges the consultation and briefings that have been extended by the government. In coming days, I urge the government to be as open and transparent with the parliament and the public as is possible. As my colleague Senator Faulkner, a former defence minister, has indicated, the public and the parliament should be provided with information and updates about the mission and its outcomes. It is consistent with the approach that we have articulated on a number of occasions, including most recently this morning, that Labor has sought the government's agreement for this debate—a structured and sensible debate.

In the debate this morning on the motion to suspend the standing orders that was moved by the Greens, Senator Faulkner reiterated Labor's position. We believe under our system of government a decision to deploy members of the ADF, whether for combat operations, peacekeeping or disaster relief, should be made by the executive government; however, we also believe that a government should be as open and transparent as possible and provide to the parliament regular reports on Australia's role. As Senator Faulkner said this morning, Labor strongly commend this approach to the government and, consistent with that desire for appropriate debate, we sought agreement from the government for this two-hour debate today.

In many ways the most important people—the people who are most in our thoughts today—are those Australians who are directly affected by this decision. The people most affected by these decisions are not members of parliament, the media who report on these decisions and the experts and pundits who comment on them; they are the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and their families. These are the people most affected in the most profound way. This is why those of us who make these decisions and debate these decisions should do so in a sober, serious, considered and responsible manner. I say to members of the ADF who take part in this mission: we are extraordinarily grateful for, and humbled by, your service.