David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

On 18 and 19 October, my friend and colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop travelled to Iraq and finalised the legal arrangements for the deployment of Australian special forces to advise and assist the Iraqi security forces. Defence is now working closely with DFAT and other government agencies to meet the administrative requirements and the mechanics to implement the legal arrangements that have been negotiated. Once these are in place, they will pave the way for the deployment of our special forces. The Australian Defence Force takes force protection issues extremely seriously and is developing appropriate measures to mitigate the risks to its operations and the deployment of our people into Iraq. Our special forces are currently positioned in Australia's main base in the Middle East and are ready to assist the Iraqi security forces to prepare and plan for operations. We want to ensure this is done properly. We do not want to cut corners; and here we are focused on the detail and the prudence going forward.