Mr MARTIN FERGUSON (3:44 PM) —It is my pleasure this afternoon to speak in support of the amendment moved by the Leader of the Opposition and member for Hotham, Simon Crean. In doing so I say squarely that the amendment is about principle, and about Australia's standing not only internationally but also in the region in which we live. This war does not have the support of the international community. It does not have the support of the family of nations, the United Nations. It is not in our nation's best interests. This war is wrong. This war is immoral. This war makes Australia, a peace loving country, an aggressor for the first time in our proud history. This war destroys Australia's independence and makes us subservient to the president of a foreign country—a president whose grubby little ambassador continues to meddle in our domestic political affairs. This war will make Australia a terrorist target. This war will make every Australian a target, both at home and abroad.

The Australian community appreciates and understands that the Howard government's handling of the situation involving the disarmament by force of Saddam Hussein has been a complete shambles from day one. The government's decision to predeploy troops was wrong and its decision now to commit them to the war of George Bush and Tony Blair is wrong. More importantly, the Prime Minister's claim that the decision his cabinet has taken is directed at the protection of Australia's national interests could not be further from the truth. Labor squarely agrees that Saddam Hussein must be disarmed, but the path the Prime Minister is leading our nation down is not in Australia's best interests. He has committed Australian forces—our young men and women, our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our cousins, our neighbours and our nation—to a war that is not under a UN mandate but at the request of one person and one person alone: the President of the United States.

The Bush led coalition of the willing has openly cast aside the United Nations processes that, frankly, should be the cornerstone of democracy in a modern international world. In the absence of an agreed UN Security Council resolution authorising military action against Iraq, there is simply no basis for military action to disarm. The war is immoral; it is wrong. In that regard the Prime Minister is failing the people of Australia, who, correctly, overwhelmingly oppose action against Iraq without United Nations sanction. The Prime Minister may claim, as he does from time to time, that he is speaking for Australia on this issue. But we all know that that is completely false. We saw this frankly on display during the debate yesterday afternoon, when he turned his back on the Leader of the Opposition. That showed his contempt for the Australian community and for the country he supposedly represents, both as Prime Minister domestically and as our leader internationally.

The Prime Minister claims that he made the decision to commit our troops to war because it was in Australia's national interests. We should simply ask this question: which nation's best interests would they be? They are certainly not Australia's best interests; they can only be the best interests of the nation of the United States. I believe that Australia has historically prided itself on its independence and its willingness to call it as it sees it internationally. In the 21st century, we should not be dictated to by the foreign policy of any other nation. We should put Australia first. We should put security at home first. We should put the people of Australia first. We should put the interests of our region first. Australia has, until today, prided itself on its independence, not its subservience.

I also want to raise some very important questions today about our security at home, which is part and parcel of the debate concerning our involvement in Iraq. It also goes to my responsibilities as shadow minister for transport and infrastructure. I suggest to the House this afternoon that the Prime Minister, through his actions at the behest of George Bush, has made Australia a fragile nation and a prime target for retribution. Whilst the Prime Minister has been trying to convince us that Australia's involvement in the coalition of the willing is just, his government has taken its eye off domestic security issues and has failed to give a comprehensive guarantee—despite frequent questioning, both in the House and in the community at large—that Australians at home will be safe.

Despite using the events of September 11 and Bali to try to justify Australia's standing shoulder to shoulder with the US, the government—as I well know from my briefings as shadow minister, both with the private sector and the government—has done nothing to protect us and everything to expose us as a vulnerable target, both domestically and internationally. Mark my words: this war will lead to more terrorism and more terrorist acts on Australians, both at home and abroad. I ask the Prime Minister this afternoon: what is your government going to do to protect our nation's infrastructure in the event of retaliatory attacks? This question has been put to the government previously, yet the government remains conspicuously silent on this vitally important issue of national security. I believe Australians are entitled to an answer to this fundamental question. From my portfolio responsibilities as shadow minister, I understand only too well the potential for devastation on our home shores, loss of Australian life and the maiming of Australians, both young and old.

I raise these issues because they must be answered by the Howard government. The decision to go to war only increases the vulnerability of our transport sector to attacks by terrorists. Our aviation sector will today be—and will continue to be—under heightened security threat, as will our rail, maritime and road transport sectors, particularly in our capital cities. What about the road tankers transporting fuel across the country or the trucks filled with flammable liquids—not to mention our energy sector and the power stations? These are all prime targets for terrorist attacks. This is all infrastructure of vital importance to our nation, yet the government has done nothing, despite being frequently asked, to assure the people of Australia that it is alert to the threat and that it has acted in the best interests of Australia to protect our nation and Australians at large from this threat.

We have had the government's anti-terrorism campaign flooding our televisions, airwaves and mailboxes, yet the Prime Minister, through his warmongering, is only adding to these fears. Australians are entitled to go to bed each night with more than a fridge magnet hanging in the kitchen. It is obvious that, in the event of Australia going into an international conflict—a conflict led by the United States without the backing of the United Nations—the result will be a security risk at home, something that this country has never experienced before.

I say in conclusion that this is a black day for our nation and, more importantly, a black day for the international community. To be frank, Australians have had a gutful. They are sick and tired of this government's compliance with every demand the United States makes. The Prime Minister has no idea what the consequences of his actions will be in committing our troops to the Bush war. (Time expired)