Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

It is hard to know where to start. This is a motion which should have been given the ability to have been voted on formally. The minister may want to make an explanation as to why on earth he would oppose a motion offering, on behalf of the Senate, condolences to MSF for the deadly bombing of its hospital by United States forces in Kunduz, Afghanistan, which killed 22 people, including 12 MSF staff and 10 patients. This is the only trauma facility of its kind in north-eastern Afghanistan. The motion proposes nothing more than does NATO Supreme Commander General Philip Breedlove—and NATO has the lead in Afghanistan and we have been working with ISAF forces there since 2001—who has publicly supported the call for an investigation by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, not by the US military itself.

This is, prima facie, a war crime. It should be treated in a much less cavalier fashion than simply the denying of leave on a motion in this place. It needs proper and independent investigation.