Mr ALBANESE (7:16 PM) —I am pleased to make a contribution to this debate, but not pleased that I have to—that this situation confronts the world. Of course, as other speakers have commented, there is no doubt that September 11 last year was an incredibly significant event in all our lives. What is important is that appropriate lessons are learnt and that the world moves forward from that horrific terrorist act. I believe one of the lessons of September 11 is that military power is not enough in the modern world; security can be achieved only by a victory of humane, democratic values. The talk and rhetoric coming from the government on this issue has changed substantially over recent months. It was only a short time ago that, because of the Labor Party's principled and consistent position on this issue, the Minister for Foreign Affairs accused the Leader of the Opposition of talking like Saddam Hussein. Now, I am pleased that more rational debate has replaced that simplistic rhetoric, because Australia—and indeed the world—has nothing to benefit from war.

I am not a pacifist, and I believe that the events of September 11 and the proven involvement of Al-Qaeda and their network of support through the Taliban regime in Afghanistan justified the intervention to remove Al-Qaeda and the Taliban from control of Afghanistan—let alone the Taliban's quite horrific policies and human rights record towards its own population. The Iraqi question is a much more complex one. The case has not been made for a link between Al-Qaeda, the Iraqi regime and the events of September 11. What is more, the case has not been made that there has been an escalation in the development of weapons of mass destruction which provide a clear and present danger, which is the appropriate term under the United Nations operations. What is clear is that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime engage in practices which democratic supporters of human rights find abhorrent. Their treatment of minorities within their country, and many of the philosophies that they put forward, we in the Australian parliament do find abhorrent.

But they are not alone on that. There are many nations, including in that region, which ignore human rights, oppress minorities and ignore UN Security Council resolutions. In the grievance debate on Monday, I pointed out that it is now more than 35 years since UN Security Council resolution 242 was carried, on 22 November 1967, calling for Israel to remove its military from, and relinquish control of, the occupied territories. Since that time, the systematic repression of the occupied by the occupiers has been at the core of Middle East politics. Until we resolve the question of the rights of Palestinians to self-determination—which must be achieved in conjunction with the right of Israel to exist within secure borders—the international community's efforts to improve security in that region will be hindered.

There is no doubt that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism is a dangerous threat to our security; just as is the increasing number of fundamentalists occupying settlements in the West Bank and Gaza on the basis of a religious fundamentalist view of the world and their position in it; just as Christian fundamentalists in the United States who have engaged in terrorist activities within that nation undermine that nation's security. It is time for religious intolerance to be put aside by the international community, because unless that occurs we all truly cannot live with security. That security cannot be achieved by missiles and innocent deaths. That security is indeed a battle for hearts and minds over values of democracy, respect for tolerance and respect for human rights.

I welcome the decision of the Iraqi government to allow inspections by the United Nations as a step forward to enable the world to step back from this potential conflict. I truly hope that the outcome of that process is that there is no need for a violent escalation of that conflict. I truly hope also that the world recognises that the people suffering the brunt of the results of UN sanctions on Iraq are many of the children of Iraq, who are suffering from starvation and who are suffering from the failure of medical supplies to go to that country.

All of us in this parliament, without exception, oppose someone such as Saddam Hussein. But the victims of military conflict, just like the victims of the sanctions against Iraq at the moment, are the population of that nation. That undermines our security because it feeds into hatred and negative attitudes towards the West. The United Nations must champion human rights, and champion them consistently, and it must ensure that all UN resolutions are supported and carried out so that the world's population believe that they too have a stake in an international community which is truly cooperative and which truly moves forward to advance the interests of all members of the international community.