George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, I can, Senator Fawcett. The humanitarian assistance to Syria and Iraq is an aspect of the consequences of the rise of Daesh and Australia's determination to deal with all of the consequences of Daesh across a range of fronts. I have spoken about the humanitarian decision that we have made, which I hope all sides of this chamber will welcome, but there is a harder-edged military response as well, because we must defeat and degrade Daesh in Syria and Iraq. With the additional commitment, as I said before, Australia's humanitarian contribution in terms of financial assistance will have been $230 million. In terms of places, the 12,000 places are in addition to the existing 13,750 places under the existing humanitarian program.