Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I am sure all colleagues would agree that there are few decisions that weigh more heavily on a prime minister than a decision to place Australian Defence Force personnel potentially in harm's way, whether it be the Abbott government, the Howard government or the Hawke government before it. This is an area of decision making that governments take very seriously and weigh up very carefully. The Australian government has deployed ADF personnel to the Middle East in order to be in a position where, should the government take a decision to commit personnel and assets to combat, that they are there, that they are prepared, that they are acclimatised and that they are in the best position to give effect to a decision of the government. That decision has not yet been made.

I think that Prime Minister Abbott has really been a model in terms of the way that he has kept the Australian public and the Australian parliament informed of events that potentially will see Australian forces engaged. The Prime Minister has taken this responsibility very seriously. He has made sure that he has been a participant in forums including the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council, and he has spoken to the Australian people through various means to make sure that they are aware of the context in which decisions may potentially be made. In Australia we do not have requirements akin to those of the United States, where the congress does have a formal role in relation to certain military activities. It is the convention and the custom and the practice in Australia that the government of the day—the executive—ultimately takes the decision and bears the responsibility for the commitment of ADF personnel and assets. I know that that is an approach which is agreed between the government and the opposition—that the National Security Committee of Cabinet deliberates, that the cabinet deliberates, and decisions are then made. In the course of that, the opposition is consulted and kept apprised of events. That is the process that we follow in Australia. I think that is the appropriate process and one that the Australian people are comfortable with.

The Australian parliament is clearly an appropriate place for these matters to be discussed and debated. Indeed, only a couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister made a statement to the House of Representatives and there was the opportunity for debate on that statement in that place and in the Senate. I have no doubt that there will be further updates to the parliament by the Prime Minister and by the defence minister and that there will be further opportunity for colleagues in this place, quite rightly, to discuss what are very significant matters. But that should be done in an orderly way, and I am sure that there will be further opportunity for that to occur, as is quite right. What the Australian Greens are seeking to do here today is a stunt. No notice of this proposed motion, to my knowledge, was provided to the government. We do have business before this place, and there will be time—an appropriate time—to discuss matters in relation to potential deployment of Australian Defence Force personnel.