Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thirty-nine thousand Australians put their lives on the line serving in Afghanistan. Forty-one of our finest Australians gave their lives, something which we will always remember and honour. Our diggers went to Afghanistan to find and defeat those responsible for supporting the 11 September terrorist attacks and, together with our allies, they did that job admirably. But we asked them to stay and to do even more to provide a semblance of security and hope for the future to Afghanis who would otherwise be subject to the barbaric rule of the Taliban and their evil ideology. They did that job, too. For two decades, their presence gave women and girls in Afghanistan the chance of an education, the chance to work, the chance to leave their own home without permission. Their presence helped keep many women and girls alive and prevented them from having to endure what they would have been subjected to under Taliban rule—rape, forced marriage, public beatings, murder. Despite the lies and propaganda of the Taliban, this is what Afghan women and girls once again face the prospect of. Now that our soldiers are no longer in Afghanistan, we must step up and protect those who they were protecting for the last 20 years. Australia can and Australia should continue the legacy of our soldiers and our veterans by making an increased commitment to rescuing thousands of Afghan women and girls from the brutality of the Taliban.