Mr LINDSAY (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence) (10:01 AM) —Yesterday I was privileged to make an extraordinary announcement. It was an extraordinary announcement in the sense that it was about the professionalism of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. Yesterday I was able to announce that the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, affectionately known as Big Blue One to its members, was deploying. There is nothing new about regiments deploying—regiments consist of 800 or so people—but the 1st Battalion is deploying across the world. One company is going to Timor-Leste to look after the good people of that very poor country. A second company is going to Afghanistan to protect the reconstruction task force, again doing good work for the people of Afghanistan. A third company is going to SECDET in Iraq to look after the security of our Australian officials.

It is a testament to the professionalism of the Defence Force that these niche capabilities in one battalion can be deployed simultaneously across the world. It is a great result. To Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Gallaway, who is the commanding officer, his officers and the soldiers of the 1st Battalion: well done. You train and you work hard. You are there when your country needs you, but of course you are going overseas to look after people who are less privileged than we are. It is a great outcome.

I know that, in relation to Iraq, the opposition are absolutely salivating about the next election. The men and women of the Australian Defence Force in my electorate say to me, ‘When can we go back to Iraq?’ They think it is a wonderful opportunity to do great work for the people over there. But of course they also appreciate the other deployments that we have been involved in: Afghanistan, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands. Currently we have reservists in the Solomon Islands. Reservists these days represent about 20 per cent of Australia’s forces deployed overseas. That is not widely known. Reservists these days have a very significant role in deployments that occur, and they come from across the country and across all disciplines, including very technical specialist disciplines. I wish the soldiers from the 1st Battalion well. I hope, trust and know that they will come home safely.