David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program and the recent opportunity that I had to participate in that program. Before I relate my experiences, I would like to reflect a little on the ADFPP and why it exists. In doing so, I acknowledge my heavy reliance on the history of the program as presented on the ADFPP website.

Early this decade, it became apparent to both the then government and the Defence Force that the numbers of parliamentarians who have had direct experience with the Australian Defence Force were far fewer than had been throughout most of the last century. It was considered that this lack of direct involvement or experience was not ideal when it came to parliamentarians’ understanding and consideration of defence and national security issues. As such, it was considered desirable to increase parliamentarians’ exposure to the ADF by providing them with an opportunity to directly interact with ADF personnel and to experience many of its activities.

The ADFPP has the following objectives: to provide an understanding of the unit’s role and missions; to provide an opportunity to experience life as a service person and to provide an awareness and understanding of defence capabilities, personnel and management issues. The pilot ADFPP was offered for the 2001 parliamentary winter recess period. Seven senators and one MP participated in the pilot program. Following the success of this pilot program, the Minister for Defence approved its ongoing implementation in January 2002. Since then the program has continued to offer parliamentarians an opportunity to experience the diverse range of ADF activities firsthand. Options available include deployment to the Middle East, training with the Special Air Services Regiment, participation in naval exercises, officer cadet training and even a voyage on the Young Endeavour.

I participated in the 2008 program as a relatively new member of the Senate at that time, and found the opportunity to spend time with members of our Defence Force and to hear of and even experience some of the challenges they face to be an absolutely fascinating and an extremely valuable experience. So when the 2009 program for the ADFPP was released earlier this year, I read it with great interest as I was again keen to participate and to learn more about our defence forces and the people who represent and protect the interests of all Australians. Upon doing so, I was immediately struck by the inclusion of a new option—that of spending time with our defence forces in Afghanistan.

Despite suspecting that this option would be oversubscribed, I applied and was extremely fortunate to be selected. I understand that my name, together with that of the other participant, the member for Calare, John Cobb, was actually drawn out of a hat. Luckily, we were the two that went. So earlier this year, we set off for Afghanistan.

The ADF uses a charter plane to regularly move personnel and freight into the Middle East region. This was how we were transported and, as such, we had the opportunity to spend 20-plus hours on the plane travelling—we actually stopped at a couple of places along the way; it takes a long time to get there—and interacting with ADF personnel who were also making their way to the Middle East. We were able to talk to them about their expectations if they had not been there before and also about some of their past experiences if they had. That was a very valuable experience.

At the pre-trip briefing held at Headquarters Joint Operations Command in Bungendore, I asked what risk there would be to us from the trip. The answer I received was that the biggest risk would be from the drivers from the allied nations on the base in Kandahar. But I learned a little bit more about the risk on the plane, that being that both the bases we would be going to in Kandahar and Tarin Kowt regularly come under indirect rocket fire. But more about that later.

The ADF conducts a training course for all personnel arriving in the Middle East theatre at Billabong Flats, a base Australia maintains in Kuwait. This is where we were taken to upon arrival. The training course is designed to acclimatise personnel to the risks they will face in the Middle East and normally takes four days. But because we arrived a few days before Anzac Day, this was compressed to permit ADF personnel to partake in the activities planned for that day.

Mr Cobb and I were slotted into this training course and probably participated in about 50 per cent of it over the following days. This included briefings on everything from dangerous insects to actions and protocols to minimise the risks of underground explosive devices, training on the appropriate medical response if someone was injured—specifically noting the use of the tourniquet in the event that someone actually stood on a UED—and also dry rapid fire training, conducted with real weapons in full body armour but with no ammunition. Interestingly, we learnt at this point that our troops now take a new stance when in a firefight—they face the enemy more directly rather than adopting the traditional side-on stance. This is because the body armour provides more protection when you are facing your enemy. The statistics have apparently shown that our guys are also more accurate when they adopt the face-on stance. I found that quite interesting.

Outside the training with the troops, we also received briefings on the operations of Billabong Flats and the logistics required to support our activities in the Middle East. A lot of the briefings noted the changes required to be made following our withdrawal from Iraq.

From there, we travelled to an Australian Air Force base in a nearby friendly host nation, and from there we flew  into Afghanistan. We arrived in Kandahar about 2 a.m. on the morning of 25 April, which of course was Anzac Day. I feel truly privileged to have had the opportunity to have attended the dawn service with our troops while they were serving in a live theatre of war. Every single one of our defence personnel in Kandahar that morning faced a real live threat to their person, as they do every day. And they do so in the service of our nation and in the interests of every Australian. They also serve with and know people who have been injured or even killed in the line of duty—people from both Australia and other ISAF nations. Their dedication to the job they do, their expertise and the respect they earn are something every single Australian back home should be very proud of.

After the service we all participated in the traditional Anzac Day breakfast, including the rum coffee, and during the day we were all allowed two real beers. This is a very unusual situation for serving personnel, but I believe it is a great tradition and one which, in itself, highlights the Australian spirit. No other nation gets it—not even New Zealand. In conversations I had with representatives of other ISAF nations who attended the dawn service, I was told how they were struck by the poignance and strength of feeling that the service had invoked and that they had gained a sense of what Anzac Day has meant for Australians and still does. But it was clear that, unless you are an Australian or a New Zealander, you can never fully understand what it means to us. Later, we spent the day receiving briefings on the support provided for Australian operations in Oruzgan Province and, indeed, for the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, from our operation in Kandahar. This included briefings with the Special Forces commander in Kandahar, the rotary wing section and others.

The other main event that affected me most while in Kandahar was one that drove home to me the conditions that each and every one of our personnel face every minute of the day that they represent us in Afghanistan. We had been trained in Kuwait what to do if we came under indirect fire. This happens when the Taliban operatives sit a few kilometres outside the base and indiscriminately shoot live rockets into the base. As mentioned, I had been told that this happens a few times a week in Kandahar. One of those times occurred while we were there.

We had been told that the danger from the rockets is the shrapnel. As such, when sirens go off you run to the nearest concrete wall or other blast-proof structure and lie face down. After two minutes, if the all clear is not given, you are instructed to get up and run to the nearest blast-proof bunker. The reality is that the blast-proof walls and bunkers will protect you from shrapnel but, if you take a direct hit, you die regardless. This applies wherever you are, whether you are eating, sleeping, working or doing anything else. So, we hit the deck and waited. I recall lying there thinking about the possibility of a direct hit, or even of a rocket landing nearby and shrapnel blasting over us. It was, to say the least, a very sobering moment of my life. As it turned out, I did not hear any impact and I do not know whether the rocket failed to explode or did so a sufficient distance away not to be heard by us. But, given that a number of local contractors had been killed by indirect rocket fire just a few hundred metres from the Australian camp a few weeks earlier, I knew the danger was real—and it is a danger that every one of our people face 24 hours a day, every day, while they are in Afghanistan.

From Kandahar we moved to Tarin Kowt. While there we experienced the food that was on offer at both the Dutch dining area and the Special Forces area. Coincidentally, we were there when the issue of food quality in Tarin Kowt broke publicly in Australia. Can I say that the move to deliver better food for those not eating in the Special Forces area was long overdue and it was shameful that it took public pressure for the government to act on something it had known about since at least last year. Of course, I was also present while a number of stories were told about our dear Prime Minister, including the one about the hair dryer. They have been worked over pretty well, so I will not dwell on them here. We again received briefings on the operations and met diggers from all aspects of our operations in Tarin Kowt.

I also learned a number of important things while I was in TK, as it is affectionately known. One of these was what a fantastic vehicle the Australian made Bushmaster is. I cannot believe that the government is looking at putting money into an alternative vehicle from outside Australia, because this vehicle saves Australian lives. People might still get injured if they go over an underground explosive device with a Bushmaster, but they survive. The other important matter of note is the role of the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. What a lot of people back home fail to realise is what the addition of the ‘mentoring’ role to what was the Reconstruction Task Force actually means for our troops. It means our troops are actually out there fighting alongside the Afghan army every day, putting their own lives at risk.

It was an honour to be able to travel to Afghanistan and I feel very proud of the sacrifice that our troops make on our behalf.