The three pillars of Labor's foreign policy and the war against terror

The hard struggle against terrorism continues for Australia and our friends with successes and sad losses. But through the three pillars of Labor's foreign policy – the American Alliance, support for the United Nations, and Asian engagement – we can give Australia a stronger role, a clearer purpose and a better outcome in the war against terror.

The primary objective of the fundamentalists is to control the Muslim heartlands. This is a battle for the minds of the Islamic world: a fact that must fashion our strategies and policies. Anything we do that needlessly advances hostility and strengthens the case of the extremists hands a victory to them.

Australia is in this struggle geographically because al Qa’ida's regional groupings, such as Jemaah Islamiyah, have placed us within their fields of jihad. We are in this struggle politically because, with friends and allies, we have been targetted. We are also in this struggle socially because the spirit of freedom and tolerance, the decent treatment of all men and women and the quest for social and economic security are values that we must always defend.

The war against terror must be above the partisan considerations of politics. Labor does not walk away from this struggle. An Australian Labor government will be an implacable enemy of the fundamentalist terrorists.

Labor joined this war when we offered bipartisan support for invoking the ANZUS Alliance (for the first time in its history) after September 11. We supported the deployment of Australia's military forces to the immediate conflict in Afghanistan and the wider war against terrorism.

A clear-cut attack had occurred on the United States and the source of that attack was clearly located. Should another attack produce an identifiable source, we would be prepared to support similar action. In the meantime, we support increased international cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement agencies in tracking down and destroying terrorist activities.

We opposed the Howard government's decision to join the so-called Coalition of the Willing because we believed Iraqi issues needed to be resolved within the United Nations.

While we held no brief for Saddam Hussein's survival and believed that weapons inspections and UN sanctions were necessary, we feared that acting outside the United Nations' mandate would undermine the international coalition against terror. It would divert the armed forces of our major ally from the main battle and possibly turn Islamic populations against us and against moderate Islamic governments. That our judgements have proven sound gives us no joy.

In the lead-up to war Mr Howard did not offer the advice the United States actually needed. Only belatedly did he join the argument for United Nations involvement and by then, the die was cast. In early 2003 he sent Australia to war for a purpose that was not true – in search of weapons of mass destruction that did not exist.

The maintenance of the United States Alliance is a central pillar in Labor's foreign policy.

Overwhelmingly, the international role of the United States is a force for good. Those of us who live in free lands and enjoy the benefits of a free society should always be thankful for America's role in the Cold War and the fight against communism. We must always value and encourage American engagement in the Asia-Pacific.

This is not to suggest, of course, that US foreign policy has always been ideal or that the Australian Labor Party would ever hesitate to argue against poor American policy. Labor governments have always tried to maintain a mature Alliance, with room for disagreement. Differing with the United States by no means makes you anti-American. Far from it.

The Howard government has replaced the independence of Australia's views with a policy of compliance. When did it ever express a view on how Iraq should be administered once the occupation was in place? Where was its position on the premature dissolution of the Iraqi National Army? What was its view, as an occupying power, on dismissing school teachers and public servants in the de-Ba'athification program?

What did it have to say on the regime for prisoners in Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities? What was Australia's position on the way contracts were awarded to foreign companies for reconstruction? The Provisional Authority's decisions saw Iraqis increasingly submerging, hurt and angry, into traditional tribal, ethnic and religious groupings, with bitterness and a non co-operative attitude to the occupying forces.

Our ally's interests have not been advanced. Our opponents in the war on terror see nothing but gains. Yet from Australia there has been neither warning nor argument, just passive acceptance.

The bigger issue is this: the government's failure to influence the course of events in Iraq, both during and after the initial conflict, and to prevent significant harm to our ally's standing. This is the real cost of Iraq to the free world.

Labor has always believed that Australia's military commitments should be time-limited when they are undertaken in regions where Australia does not have strong permanent interests. This was the case in Afghanistan. A Labor government will withdraw the Australian troops operating in Iraq under Operation Catalyst by the end of 2004. We will follow appropriate advice to ensure the security of the Australian diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

In Iraq, the United Nations has committed itself to nation-building and put in place a timetable for full sovereignty. Labor welcomes the increased involvement of the United Nations in Iraq. Labor has consistently said that we would respond positively to a new UN resolution.

The best contribution we can make is to help rebuild Iraq, its services and infrastructure. This will happen in four significant ways under a Labor government, at an additional cost to the Budget of $75 million over two years.

Our first commitment is to border security, so vital to Iraq's economic and social development. Our Customs Service has helped a number of developing countries strengthen their border controls and customs arrangements. A Labor government will work closely with the Iraqi authorities and the United States to provide additional expertise, training and resources for border security.

Our second priority is health care and humanitarian aid. Our proposals there include a specialist oncology hospital in Baghdad, training for Iraqi health-care providers and interventions to reduce infant, child and maternal mortality.

The UN is one of the three pillars of  Labor’s foreign policy and our third contribution will be to the UN mission in Iraq. UN Resolution 1546 calls for nations to protect the Iraq mission. Both sides of politics agree that Australia can not contribute fighting troops or peacekeepers to this UN force.

However, we are ready to contribute 20 to 30 non-combatant personnel (service or civilian) to assist with logistics planning, strategy and administrative support so the UN can encourage a new democracy to emerge under its mandate and guidance

This policy allows us to maintain our commitment to withdraw from the Coalition forces in Iraq by Christmas, while meeting Labor's long-held determination to support the UN and its operations.

Finally, a Labor government will continue to deploy the RAAF Orion detachment and ships like the HMAS Stuart in the Gulf under Operation Slipper. The frigates' role is to protect major Iraqi oil terminals at the head of the Gulf. This will continue under Labor, as part of the counter-terrorist functions of the deployment.

Labor's highest priority in the war against terror is south-east Asia.

Unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, this is a region where Australia's engagement must be permanent. This is not just a matter of geography: it is because of our economic and military weight in the region and our expertise. We are a more valuable ally to the United States here than anywhere else in the world.

This imposes a serious discipline: we have to calculate every action taken by ourselves and our allies for the contribution it makes against terrorism in the region.

Australia must engage more effectively with Asia - the third pillar in Labor's foreign policy. In the past, Labor governments were able to shape the pattern of regional arrangements, most notably through APEC. The Howard government, trying to position itself politically against us, has produced statements designed for the 24-hour news cycle. But in the region, they resonate for years.

With his "Deputy Sheriff" comments, Mr Howard turned our beneficial relationship with the United States – as seen by the region – into something more awkward. His advocacy of the now defunct doctrine of "extended pre-emption" – a position Australia could never pursue without local support – again compromised Australia's capacity for regional leadership.

Mr Howard did not prepare the ground for the Iraq engagement through diplomacy in the region. This failure, in particular, has undermined Australia's capacity to build trust among the local Muslim states. To be a useful ally in the war against terror, we need to remove all impediments to Asian engagement.

Closer co-operation with Indonesia is an essential part of this strategy. We need to confront both the immediate threat of terrorism and the underlying social and economic factors that give rise to terrorist recruiting grounds.

Labor recognises that more needs to be done to strengthen Indonesia's counter-terrorism capacities. The new Indonesian National Police faces enormous funding, training and operational challenges.

A Labor government will provide further funding so Australian Federal Police can assist the counter-terrorism work of the Indonesian Police. These two initiatives, in education and policing, will cost $37.5 million over two years.

The war against terror is a long, tough war. The starting point for Australia is the field of jihad in which we live. The Howard government carries too much baggage to effectively engage with south-east Asia. Its actions in Iraq have made us a bigger target and diverted resources from the real war against terror.

Labor has an alternative vision and strategy in these dangerous times. We believe in time-limited deployments in areas where we do not have strong permanent interests; closer engagement and permanently building our security in Asia; and we see every aspect of this war - our relations with the United States, our relations in the region - from the viewpoint of what maximises the security of our people and our friends.