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

I indicate on behalf of the Labor opposition that we do not support the suspension of standing orders at this time, and our position is driven by two principles. The first is our position on decisions in relation to the deployment of Australian military personnel, and I will return to that. The second is the imperative for having debates of such serious nature conducted with appropriate notice to senators in the chamber and structured in the appropriate way, rather than simply being brought on through a suspension of standing orders at the commencement of the Senate.

First, our position as a party on decisions to deploy Australian military personnel is clear and has been articulated by both me and Senator Conroy previously and by successive leaders of the Labor Party. These are decisions of the executive government of the day. They are, of course, amongst the most important and difficult decisions which any government can make, but they are decisions of the executive government, not of the parliament. We do, however, believe that once a government makes such a decision it should be announced and explained properly to the public and to the parliament. The government does have a responsibility in the national interest to be transparent—consistent with the safety and security of ADF personnel—about the decisions it makes. That is the point at which there is an important role, and an entirely legitimate role, for the parliament to consider and debate such decisions.

Senators may recall that on a previous occasion, when a similar call was made by the Greens, Labor made it very clear we were willing to have an appropriate and structured debate—and, in fact, the parliament did have an appropriate debate, with notice given to senators. Where we obviously part company with the Greens is on their position that any such deployment should be the subject of parliamentary approval. That is the basis of Senator Milne's position. That is the basis on which the gallery was notified of her intention to move the suspension of standing orders. I respect that that is her position, but it is not the position of the Labor Party and our system of government, the executive. These are decisions of the executive.

As I said, we indicate to the government that, when the government does make further significant decisions about military operations or, indeed, humanitarian operations, we do think it is appropriate for there to be appropriate parliamentary debate and discussion and we would support that.

While I am on my feet and given the comments that were made by Senator Milne and Senator Fifield, I again place on record our thanks to the ADF personnel who are currently pre-deployed to the United Arab Emirates. These personnel enjoy the full support of the Australian Labor Party and the Australian people as they prepare to assist the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga in their fight against IS. I again extend my thanks to their families, who remain at home—the partners, parents, children and friends who will ensure nervous weeks and months ahead as their loved ones participate in this mission. We know that the women and men of our ADF will undertake their mission with their usual professionalism, determination and dedication. They will all be in our thoughts—all of us—until they are returned home safely.