David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank Senator Bilyk for being chair with me on the Parliamentary Friends of Ukraine since I came into this place in 2019. We have worked very well together on this issue, and I do thank her for her hard efforts.

While we are celebrating the anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 24 February 2022, it can't be lost on any of us that this war has been running since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. We have learnt lessons from that, as have the Ukrainian army. We are now seeing a complete rout of the Russian troops. They have effectively lost this war. They have certainly lost the war that they set out to fight, and that is to decapitate the Zelenskyy administration in Kyiv, and then go over and take over the country. That is never going to happen. Why isn't it going to happen? Because like-minded nations have stood side by side with Ukraine and given them the arms, material and financial aid that they deserve. They deserve it richly, because, as we've seen, they've fought these fights.

We've seen these Russian tactics before, whether in Aleppo in Syria or in Grozny in Chechnya. We've since seen how they fight a war of attrition, in Mariupol and now in Bakhmut. These aren't new tactics for the Russian army, but they are tactics that are bound to fail as long as the West keeps on arming Ukraine and as long as the West keeps on giving Ukraine the weapons they need to fight the war. I've been saying for close to a year that the West needs to supply the main battle tanks and fighter jets. Thankfully, we've seen those main battle tanks promised and some delivered. What we need to do now is convince like-minded countries to send in those fighter jets, which are so desperately needed for air defence and ground strikes, to hit those dug-in trenches where the Russians are hiding away through this winter.

As most of you will know, particularly our foreign minister, I visited Ukraine in August last year. It wasn't unauthorised; I was invited by the Ukrainian government. It was an incredibly eye-opening trip. I went for two reasons. The first was to go there—I did a lot of interviews with media there—to tell Ukrainians that we haven't forgotten about them and that even a country as far away as Australia remembers what they're going through and is there to support them. The second was to be able to come home and say to Australians, 'We need to stand with Ukraine.'

I've seen the damage that this Russian army has done in Ukraine. It's not pretty. I wouldn't suggest that anyone go there just for sightseeing purposes. I went there and I saw the Bushmasters that we donated, which are being used in this battle incredibly well. I met with the troops that are using them. Sadly, now some of those troops are no longer with us. They've been lost in this war. It reminds me every day that we in Australia, and all our like-minded countries, need to do more. We need to do far more. Yes, we have promised $475 million in military aid. Sadly, not all of that has made its way into the country yet, and I encourage this government to speed up those deliveries.

On my first morning in Kyiv, I went for my morning run and I ran past our embassy. We share a building with the Canadian embassy. You can see the Canadian flag flying there. The Australian flag is not there, because our ambassador is not there. The most important thing I learnt while I was there was the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Every person I met was waiting to be called up. Whether they were a taxi driver or a barista making a coffee—anyone you met in the street—everyone was saying: 'I'm up for this fight. I'm up for this fight, and I'm dying to go.' Every person I spoke to—and, I think, every person in that country—will fight to defeat Russia. We need to be doing our bit to support them, and we must.