Mr RUDD (3:00 PM) —My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to recommendations made to the United States congress by General Petraeus concerning a draw down of US forces and also to the UK’s plan for the reduction of its forces in southern Iraq. Given that the Prime Minister before the last election promised not to increase Australian troops, before doing the opposite after the election, what is the Australian government’s plan now for the draw down of Australian combat forces in Iraq?

Mr HOWARD (Prime Minister) —We do not have any proposal to draw down the forces in Iraq. Unlike the Labor Party, we do not propose to reduce Australia’s forces in Iraq. So far as the Americans are concerned, I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that prior to the surge there were about 130,000 American combat troops in Iraq and the surge has added approximately 30,000 and, as I read Petraeus, he is talking about a possible phase down to the pre-surge levels. I remind the Leader of the Opposition that the force levels that Australia had prior to the surge are exactly the same as the force levels we now have. We think the battle group in southern Iraq is doing good work. We think it is a good thing to provide humanitarian assist-ance. We think it is a good thing to provide training. We think it is a good thing to provide backup security for the local forces. We think it is a bad thing to say to our closest ally in her hour of need in Iraq, ‘We are going to partially walk away from you.’ Because that really is what is happening. I know there are those opposite who tend to denigrate the role of our forces in Iraq. They say—

Mrs Irwin —No, they don’t.

Mr HOWARD —Oh yes, they have. They have talked about them just being symbolically present. They have talked about them not doing very much at all. The reality is that they are doing good things for the people of Iraq and, while they continue to do good things for the people of Iraq, and until the Iraqi people can look after themselves, I believe they should stay. That is our policy. I know that when you ask Hawker Britton, ‘Is it a popular policy?’ they come back to you and say, ‘No, it is not a popular policy,’ and that of course is the basis on which the Leader of the Opposition has made his policy on Iraq. It is a Hawker Britton policy. It is not a Rudd-Gillard policy. I just say to the Leader of the Opposition that this is too serious a group of matters to be determined by a public relations firm; they ought to be determined by the national interest of our country.