Australian Greens Dissenting Report
The Australian Greens welcomed the opportunity for an inquiry into the systems and processes that Australia uses to deploy Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel overseas. This is one of the most important decisions that a government has to make and the result of making an incorrect choice is catastrophic. We have seen the results of this poor decision-making play out repeatedly over the last quarter of a century.
In the last 25 years we have seen governments led by both major parties unilaterally wage war across the Middle East in Australia’s name without the consultation of the parliament or the consent of the Australian people. There is deep irony in the fact that the instigating factor as to whether and where Australians have been deployed since 2001 has been a vote of elected American representatives, not our own.
What we have seen play out because of recent decisions to deploy the ADF in Iraq and Afghanistan is nothing short of a humanitarian disaster. Nowhere is this more evident than in Iraq where in 2003 the government unilaterally decided to wage a war that has left 500,000 people dead[1], millions displaced, and a country torn asunder by tensions which we unleashed. Even today as I am writing this report, Australian troops remain deployed in the Middle East under Operation Okra and Accordion. The Howard Government started this chain of events without consulting parliament, against the will of the Australian public and even without consulting the Federal Executive Council or Governor-General.
Today, there are 45 Australian families whose loved ones will never return home as a result of a secretive and unaccountable decision with no proper oversight. These families will live with this reality forever. At a bare minimum, they should know exactly who supported the deployment of troops to Afghanistan and Iraq and why.
Australia is relatively unique among democratic countries in its lack of parliamentary authorisation or oversight on military deployments overseas. For example:
Since our inception, the Australian Greens have pushed for more accountability and transparency in how Australia makes this important decision. We will continue to push for a system that requires both the consent of the people and consultation of parliament to determine how and when Australia goes to war.
Recommendation 3
Recommendation 4
These practices should be replicated in the Cabinet Handbook
Recommendation 5
Recommendation 2
We have serious concerns about the government’s interpretation of Section 8 of the Defence Act as an alternative to Section 68 of the Australian Constitution in regard to conflict decision making. Any and all advice that the government has supporting this interpretation should be released to the Australian community.
This is a matter that would benefit from formal consideration by the High Court. While the Australian Greens accept that the court will likely not entertain an advisory opinion, there is a strong public interest in the matter being authoritatively determined. A possible vehicle for that would be an application to consider the domestic legality of the Howard Government's decision to use section 8 of the Defence Act regarding the deployment of Australian Defence Force personnel as part of the 2003 United States led invasion in Iraq and determine the legality of that deployment.
The Australian Greens agree that as a bare minimum a written statement should be tabled outlining strategic goals, orders given, the legal basis of any operation and a humanitarian impact statement. Additionally, this statement should outline the support which will be provided to veterans on return from service.
Recommendation 6
The Australian Greens would support this recommendation if it included a legislated requirement for crossbench members from both houses of parliament to be members of the committee. Explicitly, this committee should in no way infringe upon the oversight role of the Senate committee or the Senate Estimates process.
Senator Jordon Steele-John31 March 2023
Footnotes
[1]Study: Nearly 500,000 perished in Iraq war | UW News (washington.edu)
The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has commenced an inquiry into how Australia makes decisions to send service personnel into international armed conflict.
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