Senator MACKAY (2:28 PM) —My question is to Senator Hill, the Minister for Defence, the Minister representing the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Is the minister aware of reports last night that confirmed the United Kingdom military command has now classified Basra, a city of over one million people, as a military target? What will the specific military targeting of Basra mean for the civilian population of that city and has Australia accepted the city of Basra as a legitimate military target?

Senator HILL (Minister for Defence) —I did not see that report and I do not quite understand what it means, but there are clearly—

Opposition senators interjecting—

Senator HILL —I will tell you what our position is: there are clearly military targets located in Basra and in the vicinity of Basra—targets within the Australian targeting directives and within our rules of engagement. There are clearly Iraqi military forces operating there and clearly there are firefights with coalition forces. We support the coalition forces winning those fights and helping to contribute to ridding Saddam Hussein of his weapons of mass destruction.

We will continue to do this in a way that minimises civilian casualties, if that is the point being made by the opposition, because that has been a key plank in our military campaign from the start. We will maintain our determination to minimise civilian casualties, even though, as I said yesterday, that is made particularly difficult when the opposition military forces operate from within cities and suburban areas. Nevertheless, we will seek to achieve the military objective in as humanitarian a way as possible.

Senator MACKAY —Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Minister, I am surprised that you are not aware of this; it has been out on the news wires for 24 hours. Does the minister recall comments by the Minister for Foreign Affairs last night that taking a longer time in the military conflict in Iraq is the price to pay for avoiding the targeting of civilian targets? Can the minister now advise whether the United Kingdom's announced position that all of Basra is now a valid military target is consistent with the foreign minister's statements last night?

Senator HILL (Minister for Defence) —I do not think it is appropriate for me to report on the British position. That is something the honourable senator should ask somebody else. As I said at the start of this conflict, we do not target civilians. We are not targeting civilian infrastructure. We do not refer to cities as targets. There are no cities listed in our targeting directives. Our principal target is the military apparatus of Saddam Hussein, which enables him to keep weapons of mass destruction and further develop them to be a threat to us and to others. I regret to say that I think the honourable senator has this matter very confused. I suggest that she give the British Embassy a call.