Introduction – strong bipartisan support
Labor is pleased to give our strong bipartisan support for this regional intervention force led by the Australian police, the Australian military and public service personnel.
This action meets all the criteria Labor believes are necessary for the effective and legitimate commitment of Australians to a peacekeeping effort in the Solomon Islands: it has unanimous regional support; it followed a formal request by the Solomon Islands Government and the Parliament; and it included an appropriate mix of police and military forces.
Under difficult circumstances, the Solomon Islands government and parliament debated this proposal at length, and came to an overwhelming majority in support of the intervention force.
It reflected the genuine will of the Solomon Islands people.
The process was right, and so the outcome was successful.
This was best summed by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark when she said – "It is a Pacific solution to a Pacific problem".
We simply cannot stand by and watch as lawlessness takes a stranglehold on a neighbouring country and terrorizes its people.
The process here should be a model for future regional engagements: it is multilateral in composition and multifunctional in its delivery – covering the full range of social, economic and security concerns.
Although future circumstances may differ, it is a model that works.
It shows that Australia can be a good regional partner, and a good international citizen – giving a helping hand to our Pacific friends, consulting with them and showing regional leadership.
It is being done squarely in the interests of the Solomon Islanders themselves.
For the small island states of the Pacific, law and order is the necessary precondition for successful economic and social development.
And all members of this House hope that as a result of this action the people of the Solomon Islands will be able to create political and social stability that are the first steps towards restoring national development and economic growth.
The people of the Solomon Islands, who stood by us during the Second World War, deserve our support.
This is the very least we can do to repay that historical debt.
What's happening in the Solomons – why this is needed
Since gaining independence in 1978, the Solomon Islanders have faced numerous political and economic challenges.
Despite some impressive leaders who have done their best to build a responsible and effective government in Honiara, the Solomon Islands have been inflicted with endemic corruption, resource exploitation and, as a result, economic stagnation.
These pressures came to the surface in 1998 and 1999 in the form of ethnic disputes over land and jobs between the Malaitans and the Guadalcanalese.
Violent clashes between the two groups resulted in many casualties on both sides without any clear political resolution to the underlying problems of land ownership and lack of economic opportunity.
Added to this volatile mix was the number of illegal guns circulating in the Solomon Islands, some of which had come across the border from the decade-long conflict in Bougainville.
This latest intervention is not the first time that Australia has involved itself in trying to find a solution to violence and instability in the Solomon Islands.
In October 2000, Australia brokered the Townsville Peace Agreement, again with strong bipartisan support from Labor.
It included an Australian-led International Peace Monitoring Team to oversee the decommissioning of weapons and the restoration of law and order.
Labor also supported the Government's provision of additional aid assistance to the Solomon Islands to begin the process of rebuilding the democratic institutions.
Regrettably, the International Peace Monitoring Team was withdrawn early.
Labor did not agree with Foreign Minister Downer's statement in June 2001 that, in the future, the only worthwhile solutions to the problems in the Solomon Islands would be ‘homegrown'.
While recognising the sensitivities over external intervention in a former colonial state, the Labor Party argued that unless the law and order situation was addressed immediately, there would no secure future for the people of the Solomon Islands.
Around the same time, a cross-party delegation, led by the President of the Senate with the Member for Dennison as Deputy leader, came to a similar conclusion from their visit to the Solomon Islands.
Labor also disagreed with the Foreign Minister's assessment that an intervention force in the Solomon Islands would not work.
We are pleased to see that he has changed his policy.
In May last year, Labor argued that the growing problem of lawlessness in the Solomon Islands was of direct relevance to Australia's long-term foreign policy interests.
Widespread lawlessness in the South Pacific had the potential to create an environment where drug running, people smuggling, money laundering and other transnational crimes would flourish.
For these reasons, Labor encouraged the Howard Government to re-consider Prime Minister Kemakeza's request for external help.
I would like to acknowledge the way in which the Prime Minister engaged with the Opposition in its plans to lead the intervention force.
The Prime Minister briefed me on his proposal before announcing it to Parliament.
This enabled a full discussion with colleagues and an early indication of Labor's in-principle support for the initiative, subject to the conditions of a formal request, regional support and an appropriate force composition.
I was then able to discuss the proposal with regional leaders including Helen Clark, Sir Michael Somare and Prime Minister Qarase to gauge their support.
In my discussions with regional leaders, I was impressed by the unanimity of commitment to helping a neighbouring state in need.
They appreciated Australia's willingness to lead the intervention force, and shared some of Labor's initial reservations.
But following consultations and dialogue, including at the Ministerial meeting in Sydney, those concerns were addressed and the region has given the intervention its unanimous endorsement.
The Solomon Islanders themselves had recognised that the state was failing to protect its people.
Australians will never stand by and watch a neighbouring country and its people suffer in this way.
Such a situation is untenable both for the people of the Solomon Islands and for neighbouring states.
A failed state in our region was not in Australia's interests, nor in the interests of the Solomon Islands people or the region.
This fact was acknowledged across the entire South Pacific region.
It meets all the benchmarks for bipartisan support
This action meets all the benchmarks that Labor has consistently argued must be in place to give maximum legitimacy to the deployment.
It has unanimous regional endorsement from the 16 South Pacific Forum members.
It was done at the formal invitation from the Solomon Islands Government. And I commend the speed and efficiency with which the Solomon Islands parliament was able to pass crucial legislation to allow this intervention to proceed.
I would like to particularly acknowledge the constructive role played by Joses Tuhanuku (TU-HAN-U-KU), the Leader of the Labour Opposition in the Solomon Islands.
Joses provided much needed support for Prime Minister Kemakaze and was instrumental in the passage of the necessary legislation through parliament.
This intervention has the overwhelming support of the people of the Solomon Islands who want to return to peace and stability so that they can get on with their lives free from intimidation and corruption.
Finally, it is an appropriately sized force, with a balance of personnel between police and military support.
It is also fully consistent with the aims and objectives of the UN Charter.
Article 52 of the Charter explicitly endorses and encourages regional arrangements for the maintenance of international peace.
I welcome the fact that Kofi Annan has given this intervention his strong support.
I note also that the Secretary General of the Commonwealth has endorsed this action.
There can be no suggestion that this mission is anything but the clearest demonstration of how collective security and multilateralism can work in practice.
Like so many of the security challenges we face, not least the threat of terrorism, Australia will need to work closely and co-operatively with other regional countries.
Regional security problems require a regional response.
I think this latest episode in the Solomon Islands shows that no country can stand alone.
I also would like to acknowledge the crucial role played by New Zealand in this endeavour.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Foreign Minister Phil Goff have been instrumental in getting broad-based regional support for this initiative. I commend their efforts.
The commitments made by many other Pacific Island states, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea are a sign of genuine regional support for the Solomon Islands.
In particular, as the Foreign Minister of Tonga said to me, this action in the Solomon Islands has the support of many regional church groups, because it is as much about long-term support for nation building as it is about the immediate security problems.
Labor's regional policy
The principal aim of this intervention is to restore peace and stability in our region.
As such it is fully consistent with Labor's foreign policy focus on the region.
The action forms part of a consistent pattern of Australian intervention in regional conflicts from Cambodia in the early 1990s to East Timor and Bougainville in the past few years.
The action is already meeting with success
The action has met with some early success and is so far fulfilling its promise.
The multinational force arrived in the Solomons only three weeks ago.
Since then hundreds of weapons have been decommissioned and the Australian head of the Intervention force, Nick Warner, has begun the process of identifying the needs of the Solomon Islanders and the tasks required to provide long-term security and stability.
It seems there is a possibility that even the infamous Harold Keke will now submit himself to the police. I hope he does.
However, the situation remains dangerous and the difficulty of the task ahead should not be underestimated.
The amnesty for the return of weapons finishes at the end of this month. I encourage all those in the Solomon Islands who still have illegal weapons to hand them in.
It is possible that this intervention force will need to be in the Solomon Islands for some time to come.
But we all hope that the majority of the Australian personnel can be returned home as soon as possible.
Recognition of our personnel
Labor acknowledges the outstanding effort of the men and women of the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Protective Service and the Australian Defence Forces.
I had the pleasure of meeting with and speaking to some of the many participants and their families at their farewell in Townsville.
I am constantly struck by both the youthfulness and the maturity of the young soldiers and police officers that serve our community.
Many of them had young families of their own. Like all Australians, I am immensely proud of the work that our service men and women are doing.
The intervention force comes at time of high operation tempo, following on the deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and other peacekeeping missions around the world.
But all these agencies have conducted themselves with the highest level of professionalism and dedication.
I would particularly like to thank and acknowledge the role of the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Protective Service and the men and women of the various State police forces that have contributed their service to the previous Peace Monitoring Team and now the intervention force in the Solomon Islands.
Although a show of force from the military was considered necessary in this case, the real burden of disarming the rebels and restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands, will fall on the shoulders of our police.
Throughout numerous deployments in our region and around the world, our police forces have demonstrated a level of professionalism and dedication that is second to none.
As the fight against terrorism in Indonesia after the Bali bombing has shown, it is the police on the ground doing the hard investigative work that will bring these criminals to justice.
I join with the Government in supporting this initiative. We will do everything to ensure that law and order are returned to the Solomons as quickly as possible and our men and women can return home safely.
