Mr SOMLYAY (6:20 PM) —Like many members of this parliament, I have been negligent over the past 9½ years in that the problems of the people of East Timor have not been a top of the mind issue for me. Since my election in 1990 I have tended to concentrate on domestic issues such as economic growth, taxation reform, tariffs, welfare, and internal regional issues. These were the issues which were of primary concern to my electors and to organisations and lobby groups within my electorate. East Timor was never raised during these 9½ years as a top of the mind issue. It was not something we had to focus on as a matter of urgency.

There was, however, one exception, a constituent of mine by the name of Mrs Olive Taylor, a member of the Noosa branch of the Liberal Party. Olive had a background in defence and her late husband was an international pilot with Qantas. Olive had a passionate concern for the people of East Timor and she never let an opportunity slip by without raising the plight of the East Timorese. Even in election campaigns when the topic of conversation was far removed from East Timor, Olive would go to public meetings and get to her feet and push the case for the problems of those people.

Like most Australians I was complacent, and like most Australians I left these problems to others whom I thought knew more than I did and who could handle foreign relations far more competently than I could. I accepted the assurances of the experts on both sides of this House over the past 25 years. East Timor has always been someone else's problem. So, Olive Taylor, all that time you were right. Your perceptions were far better based than many of your complacent colleagues, including me.

The eyes of the world finally focused on East Timor immediately prior to, during, and after the independence ballot. We sent unarmed Federal Police to supervise the ballot, we sent officers of the AEC, and Tim Fischer led a delegation of members of parliament to supervise the ballot. What happened after the results of the ballot were announced is now a sorrowful chapter in world history.

When the violence broke out Australians, including me, received a very loud and clear wake-up call. Australians saw atrocities never seen before in this region. We have seen over recent years atrocities, murder and the torture of people in Rwanda, Somalia and Kosovo, but that was far away, wasn't it. East Timor is part of our backyard. Nothing in my 9½ years has generated such a reaction from the people of my electorate as has the slaughter of the East Timorese. Families watching the nightly news saw men, women and children being butchered before our very eyes. We may never know the extent of the carnage.

The reaction of the Australian government was swift and right in the circumstances. It reflected quickly the mood and anger of the people. No member of a civilised society can stand back and condone the wholesale slaughter of his fellow men. I refuse to believe that the average person in Indonesia condones the wholesale slaughter by the integrationist militia, apparently aided and abetted by the Indonesian army.

No-one knows how this situation will evolve or how long it will take to resolve, but it does highlight a problem for this country. We have tended to put our heads in the sand and we have ignored the problem on both sides of the House. That problem is defence forces morale and conditions of service. Really, there have been decades of neglect and decades of erosion. Each one of us in our electorates have servicemen and we have ex-servicemen who have left the service and who wish they could have continued being servicemen, but the economics and the reality of pay and conditions are such that these people have no choice but to leave the defence forces.

I believe there are key points to note in regard to this issue of conditions of service. The Defence Efficiency Review conducted recently set defence personnel ranks at the lowest level since before the Vietnam War. Now we see we have a problem and we have to face that problem. How do we resolve it? Conditions of service erosion in recent years include: inflation has outstripped pay rises for at least the last three years and maybe more; rations and quarters charges for single defence personnel have increased; married quarters entitlement ratios have decreased to the disadvantage of servicemen; remote locality leave travel entitlements are affected by things like fringe benefits tax; constant changes to the defence superannuation scheme have increased the age entitlements that can be received. Resignations in the Army are far outstripping recruitment.

These are notes I have made resulting from quite a few years of dealing with defence personnel and their complaints to me as constituents. Complaints they make include that they are not happy with defence leadership. There is a perception that the ADF lacks leadership at the highest levels. They say that there is serious dissatisfaction with the Chief of Defence Force as well as other key army leaders who have sold out defence personnel for their own gain. There has been a series of senior leaders in Defence who were effectively sacked or passed over because they had the integrity to say `enough is enough'. They complained bitterly about cuts in the defence budget.

Another problem area which has to be addressed is isolation. Because of Australia's vast coastline, the Army particularly has seen an increasing trend of moving troops to isolated locations such as Darwin, Puckapunyal and others. Prime locations in urban areas are being sold with no concept of the long-term effects. As I say, these are issues that the men are raising with me.

The view on conscription is that it should be discouraged. Good recruiting and conditions of service will rectify this situation. A good soldier is one we can use for at least 10 years, not one year or two years. It would be better to have half the number of volunteer soldiers with higher morale than soldiers who do not want to be there. There would not be one professional army officer who would support conscription in this situation. The East Timor crisis, they believe, will in the short term lead to an increase in recruitment. This crisis has also helped to increase morale and revitalise the Army. Army personnel actually look forward to overseas operational service; this is what they are trained for.

In conclusion, it is time, at the turn of this century, to address what has happened to our defence forces and their readiness. I have the greatest of respect and sympathy for the men and women who have gone to East Timor to serve their country, and for those who will also go in the coming months. I feel for their families, the mums and dads, the wives and the kids and the loved ones. This nation owes them a great debt and I think we should start paying it now. Thank you.

Sitting suspended from 6.31 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.