Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] Our 20-year war on Afghanistan is coming to a close, and the reality on the ground is that the country is now at the mercy of the Taliban. Australia entered this war at the behest of the United States, not as a result of any decision made by the Australian parliament.

The Australian Greens call on the government to apologise to the people of Afghanistan for contributing to the destabilisation of their country. The government also bears responsibility for putting and keeping Australian service personnel in harm's way without any clearly defined mission goals. We thank Australian service personnel for their service and call on the government to apologise to them for continuing a war without clear objectives.

We must also note that there are credible allegations of war crimes committed by Australian special forces that have caused immeasurable grief to families and communities, as well as to the victims themselves. There is significant damage to the integrity and reputation of our defence forces because of this.

The Australian Greens call on the government to rethink our alliance with the United States and pave the way for an independent foreign policy and defence policy for Australia that does not bind us to taking military action alongside powerful and aggressive states. This parliament must now pass war-powers legislation which will require each member of parliament to vote before any commitment to send Australian forces to war is made.