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

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Next month marks 20 years since the Howard government's participation in the catastrophic invasion of Iraq, a war that killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and left millions more with a trauma that will last generations. Is it the government's view that the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was illegal under international law and conventions?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the senator would know, the Australian Labor Party at the time placed its views on these issues on the public record. I don't intend to add to them and nor do I believe at this stage in 2023 that this is the most important foreign policy priority that the government faces. The more important foreign policy priority that this government and this parliament faces is the fact that we live in the most difficult strategic circumstances since World War II. We have to make decisions as a people, as a government and as a parliament about how we deal with that.

The government have been clear that we will deal with that by utilising all levers of Australian power, through investing in strategic capability but also by investing in our diplomatic capability—investing in our diplomacy and in our relationships—because that is part of how we can try and keep Australians safe, how we can work to keep Australians safe at a time when we face these difficulties in our region. I've spoken at length about this.

It may be that you wish to engage in historic accounting. That is a matter for you, Senator Steele-John. My focus is very much on what we have to do now and into the future.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Steele-John, a first supplementary question?

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

N () (): Minister, of all the responses I had prepared for, an effective 'no comment' was not one of them. Let me try one more time. The United Nations has declared the invasion illegal. The advice given to your party was that the invasion was illegal. The broad legal consensus is that the US invasion was illegal. Is it the current view of the Australian government that the US invasion of Iraq was illegal under international law and convention? (Time expired)

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't propose to add to the response I gave to the primary question because it is the same question. I'm sure through estimates you can speak to the international lawyers in the room, if you wish to do so, because this ultimately is a question that might be determined by an international tribunal or court, but as foreign minister at this time, given the responsibility and privilege of the job I have, I am really clear about what my priorities are and I outlined them in the earlier answer.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Steele-John, before I invite you to ask your second supplementary question, I'll remind you to ask the question and refrain from commentary. So please ask your second supplementary.

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

Twenty years on, will the Labor government, in the name of all who have died and all who continue to suffer, commit to releasing all relevant documentation surrounding the advice to the Howard government about the invasion of Iraq so that Australians can judge for themselves the actions that were committed in their name and whether those actions were illegal, given that we went to war without a single politician being asked to cast a vote?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In relation to the first part of the question, I will take on notice what documents can or can't be released. I'm sure we can have a conversation about this further at estimates. As I said, obviously the Australian Labor Party has made its previous views on these matters clear.

But I would also point to your last comment. I think your last comment suggests that, as per the Greens policy, there should be a parliamentary vote before the executive can commit the ADF to any conflict or to any other part of the world. I have made it clear in discussions in estimates that that's not a view that I share. It is not a view that the government share. We do believe in ministerial accountability. We do believe the parliament should be entitled to scrutinise the decisions of the executive. The executive should account to the parliament for such a decision. But it is, in our view, important for the security of the country that that remains a power and prerogative of the executive.